Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell Games Built Entirely For VR, Ubisoft Announces
It’s been a rumor for over a year, but Ubisoft has finally made the official announcement: the Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell series will both be built from the ground up for VR.
The announcement was made during the company’s virtual keynote on Facebook Connect, and was met with tangible excitement from the game developer’s loyal fanbase. But Ubisoft has otherwise kept things quite hush hush, giving away little to no detail.
What We Do Know So Far
Ubisoft has made one thing very clear: the games are going to be exclusively built for virtual reality using Oculus tech. The goal is to provide a truly immersive VR experience that matches the quality of the original titles.
To make this happen, Ubisoft is going to be sending in their big hitters. In the lead is Red Storm Entertainment, the company’s lead development outfit, alongside collaboration from Ubisoft Reflections, as well as Ubisoft Mumbai and Düsseldorf. These guys have come up with some great work in the past, and I very much expect them to hit it out of the park once again.
Ubisoft is not new to VR, having started back in 2016 with popular titles like Star Trek Bridge Crew and Eagle Flight. And by bringing in two legit AAA franchises to the table, we’re expecting this to be a game-changing development for the VR industry.
Can Ubisoft Live Up to the OG?
Let’s take a short walk down memory lane for a second, because Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed are bona fide classics. For many gamers, these two series are what entrenched their love for the craft. For me, these are the qualities that make the two series stand out:
Assassin’s Creed
For Assassin’s Creed, I’m there for the incredible lore, the world building, the feeling that I’m actually living what’s happening in the game. Assassin’s Creed does an amazing job at making you feel you’re the character, and that the character is you (as cheesy as that sounds!). Having VR thrown into the mix should take this to yet another level.
The game also takes the player through various exotic locations that should really benefit from VR, with some of my favorites set in Africa (there’s a serious dearth of the continent in video games). The Garden of the Hesperides, for instance, is a blend of Greek mythology and old school fantasy gaming.
But it’s not really about the epic locations (although they’re awesome). It’s about the feeling of full immersion the player goes through, with ‘out of the main storyline’ experiences like the uncountable side quests or something as simple as table game gambling with an 18th century Englishman.
I particularly enjoy Hazard, the dice game you encounter in the medieval Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. According to forums like assassinscreed.fandom.com, gambling in the game series,“is a great source of income, especially since we ensure that the Borgia guards always lose.”
The basic rules of Hazard are – rolling the “Throw in” (7 or 11), you win instantly, but rolling the “Throw out” (2, 3, or 12) you lose the game and the stake. Rolling anything else counts as a “Chance”. The game is supposed to have originated in 13th century Arabia and was popular in English high stakes gambling rooms. It is sometimes even called the godmother to the popular dice game of craps.
Back then, it was probably played as a high-roller, hard mode, where you win all or lose all, just as is replicated in Assassin’s Creed gameplay. Unlike casino games that are made a little easier with the use of bonus cash or application of strategy, in Hazard, luck is the only thing that counts. Its modern online counterparts are more customer-friendly and often offer free first rounds, as a way of welcoming and easing the player into the game. Yes, they usually come with specific terms and conditions, but are worth checking out on websites that list no deposit bonus options for example.
I am genuinely longing for the day when you can play all of the medieval gambling games in VR, but for real cash and with all of the conveniences like bonuses etc. Sounds like time travel? Almost. But it surely is the future.
The core of the Assassin’s Creed game is also stellar. Becoming a true assassin is a memorable journey, and the connective tissue across storylines and individual titles make you feel like what you’re doing matters.
Splinter Cell
For me, Splinter Cell is all about gameplay. Instead of being a crude shoot ‘em up, Splinter Cell thrives on creativity, stealth, the use of cool gadgets, and improvisation. The storyline is perhaps nothing to write home about, but it’s just so darn fun that it doesn’t matter.
Despite the game’s clear leaning towards a super stealthy gameplay style, Splinter Cell is unique in offering players the chance to develop their own unique playing identities. You can really become a one-of-a-kind killer.
In Blacklist, for example, you were rewarded for picking a style and sticking to it through its innovative skill tree feature. While some of the diehards felt this betrayed the essence of the game, for me it adds layers, making Splinter Cell a very well-rounded shooter.
All I can say is that I can’t wait for the reappearance of those classic trifocal goggles…
Ubisoft, Please Give Us More
The prospect of Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed in VR is tantalizing, and has had many fans ready to set up custom-made countdown clocks (okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration). But what’s made the announcement so exciting yet so debilitatingly difficult is the notable lack of detail.
In this news blurb, we’ve given you literally everything that’s out there for these games. Ubisoft has taken ‘keep your cards close to your chest’ to a whole new level. All I can say is, please give us just that little bit more.
Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell Games Built Entirely For VR, Ubisoft Announces,
No Comments