It’s something a lot of us had been hoping for, if not downright expecting: An Assassin’s Creed game set not in an iconic historical era, but entirely in the present day. Sounds like it’s not going to happen anytime soon.
“I doubt we would do a modern day AC,” wrote Assassin’s Creed IV lead writer Darby McDevitt today in a Reddit AMA. “There are just too many mechanics we would have to develop to make it believeable [sic] … vehicles, plausible modern cities, a huge array of ranged weapons, etc. The modern day will most likely remain as a “context” for all future games, something to tie them all together.”
Someone had also asked if McDevitt saw the ages-old Assassins vs. Templar battle resolving itself. McDevitt said nope, those two groups are going to fight for a good long while longer. “As for the Assassin Templar storyline resolving,” he said, “I don’t think so. Its been going for 80,000 years already. Why stop it now? There will certainly be a resolution to the most recent plot developments, but the overall conflict will probably rage forever, just like most deeply divided philosophical conflicts…
Of course, he couldn’t end without a tease: “While not in the AC universe, I think Watchdogs will scratch the itch for a modern day AC. Just wait…!”
Ha. Eagle-eyed gamers have noticed a couple of easter eggs that hint at overlap between the Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed universes. Sounds like those are just for fun, and not signs of any sort of official cross-over.
It would appear that our dreams of a parkour-enhanced Splinter Cell-meets-Mirror’s Edge Assassin’s Creed game may never come to pass. But really, with so many modern-day open-world games out there, it’s kinda nice to hear that this series will continue to focus on the past.
IamA Developer on Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag AMAA! [Reddit]
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18 responses to “Don’t Expect A Modern-Day Assassin’s Creed Anytime Soon”
Um, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Assassins Creed already set in the modern time?
In fact, when AC1 first came out it was set in the futuristic world of 2012.
The modern time gives it context, the backstories of Altair and all that I think are what he’s referring to.
However it is very disheartening that with the death of Desmond and how it plays out in part 4, they’ve more or less done away with the Assassins vs Templars plot in the modern day. Very disheartening indeed. It felt like it was all building up to a grand finale of assassins in the modern day, but then *bang* its over, Desmonds dead and you’re a nameless drone in the modern day again. It was Ubisofts copout to keep milking the franchise dry obviously.I know, I was being a smartass 😛
A modern day Assassins Creed…or Hitman as it’s known
Yeah but the latest Hitman game wasn’t even worthy of being called Hitman :\
I have to say it was the first Hitman game I’ve ever really enjoyed, so I guess we’re in agreement there 🙂
Enh. Felt like a re-tooled Blood Money, to me. Just a lot more ‘gamification’ thrown in, with all the point-scoring bullshit. More options to do things, though, which I appreciated.
Agreed. Far too linear for me.
What attracted me to play was the details of the cities and such of the past, not the present.
Honestly, the fact that AC explores these specific parts of history is what makes it stand out. How many action/adventure games are set in the US Colonies or in Venice during the renaissance? It’s the settings that are the main stars of each AC game.
Really? You’re worried about believability with a plot like the one across the AC franchise? Really?
Why anyone wants it, I don’t know. Exploring history is the best aspect of this franchise.
If you want modern day AC, why not just play Watch Dogs?
‘CAUSE IT’S NOT COMING OUT LIKE, FOREVER.
So he’s essentially saying: “That would mean developing something genuinely new and original for the players to experience instead of just recycling what we have. That’s far too much work when all we want to do is milk the franchise for as much money as we can!”
I play the AC games for the historical sections, not for the modern day sections (which I have to admit, I actually enjoy).
Despite what this article says, I still think AC and WD are part of the same universe, you are totally gonna be an Assassin field agent (with a handler named Shaun no doubt) investigating this newfangled ctOS from Abstergo because its somehow controlling the minds of the residents of Chicago or something along those lines.
Given that we know next to nothing about the story, anything is possible.
So you can have boats, horses and carriages but not contrived futuristic vehicles? You can have pistols, cannons and bows and arrows but not a selection of ranged armaments? If they’re really concerned about all that, just set it up at some old Templar sites in the middle of nowhere and maybe have an Abstergo labs live-in base. It’s a trick a lot of other games use when they don’t want to have to account for everything.
What if…. wait for it… all the modern sequences in the game so far are actually a guy in the future controlling his past avatar! GET M. NIGHT SHYALALMALAMAN ON THE PHONE! TWIST!