نسخه بعدی بازی محبوب Assassin’s Creed در لوکیشن لندن و با نام Victory منتشر خواهد شد

As is apparently annual tradition now, the setting and time period of the new Assassin’s Creed game has been leaked, and has been unveiled by a lengthy report from Kotaku which has everything from mission descriptors to actual screen shots.

The name is reportedly ‘Assassin’s Creed Victory,’ and it’s set in Victorian London. It will be the first Assassin’s Creed game helmed by Ubisoft Quebec, and the Kotaku report details a new game featuring grappling hooks for traversal, and combat set atop trains and moving carriages. And though he’s not mentioned, I’m pretty sure we can all assume Jack the Ripper will be lurking around somewhere as a Templar agent (or maybe he’s an Assassin and all those prostitutes were Templar).

Whatever the case, the collective reaction from press and fans alike is “meh.” And that’s not a good place for a flagship franchise to be.

The “meh” can be broken down into two parts. First, it’s suspect that after the disaster that was this year’s AC: Unity launch, that Ubisoft is still going full steam ahead making Assassin’s Creed an annual franchise. I suppose that this is a new portion of Ubisoft developing the game, and that technical lessons can be learned from Unity which may make it possible not to repeat history, but still, the decision is questionable and the timing of this leak/announcement so soon after the release of the last game is unfortunate.

But the real lack of enthusiasm is directed toward the Victorian London setting which is just so…expected for the series. Yes, there are major differences between Victorian London and Revolutionary France, but the problem is we’re still trekking around Europe with a white male Assassin hero as our lead. Nearly all of the complaints about Unity outside of the technical concerns were directed on how after a fresh start in the form of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, the series appeared to be regressing with the new ship-free Paris setting, and getting back to sprawling cityscapes and dense crowds just wasn’t all that exciting anymore.

And needless to say that outside of a few history buffs of steampunk enthusiasts, a Victorian London Assassin’s Creed game isn’t anything to get excited over either. Certainly a good game could be set there, but it’s going to be pretty similar to Paris outside of the slight time jump and skip across the channel. Combined with the ever present white male hero Assassin, it just doesn’t feel fresh. (Though I am willing to bet there will be a playable female character in this game once more information comes out. With how much flak Ubisoft took this past year over that issue, there almost has to be).

I don’t really need to explain all the other places Assassin’s Creed could take its concept from ancient Egypt to feudal Japan, with characters who could range from Vikings to Knights to Ninjas, but Ubisoft seems very intent on keeping a large chunk of Assassin’s Creed games concentrated in Europe, outside of their brief adventures to the US and the Caribbean. And their most different game to date, Black Flag, is not-coincidentally one of their best.

I’m a little worried about how Victory will fare in 2015 after what happened with Unity this year. These games are massively expensive to produce, so they essentially have to be major hits in order to be worthwhile for Ubisoft. But I think many players may stay away come next fall because A) they’re worried about more potential technical issues a-la-Unity or B) they’re simply bored of the series, and a Victorian London setting does little to excite them. Right now, I have to believe Ubisoft won’t release another game as broken as Unity, but I’m certainly not over the moon about this new setting and concept. If I skipped Unity, it would take a lot to make me not skip this as well.

That said, perhaps Ubisoft Quebec will step up to the plate and deliver a much-need home run. We only know a little about the game so it’s possible they’ll be incorporating enough feedback to make the series feel fresh again, even if the location doesn’t indicate that immediately.

What do you think of the potential of Assassin’s Creed Victory?

Update: Ubisoft on Kotaku’s report:

“It is always unfortunate when internal assets, not intended for public consumption, are leaked. And, while we certainly welcome anticipation for all of our upcoming titles, we’re disappointed for our fans, and our development team, that this conceptual asset is now public. The team in our Quebec studio has been hard at work on the particular game in question for the past few years, and we’re excited to officially unveil what the studio has been working on at a later date. In the meantime, our number one priority is enhancing the experience of Assassin’s Creed Unity for players.”
Follow me on Twitter, like my page on Facebook, and pick up a copy of my sci-fi novel, The Last Exodus, and its sequel, The Exiled Earthborn, along with my new Forbes book, Fanboy Wars.

Check out how Shadow of Mordor’s Nemesis system might work in other games: