Having a nose around Constantinople
The demo begins in what looks like a market, is that typical of Constantinople?The E3 demo takes place in the Imperial North district. As one of Constantinople’s many ports, this busy part of the city is host to multiple markets with spice shops, butchers, fishmonger, tailors and other stores. The spice market seen in this demo is very typical of Constantinople’s city life. A dynamic city full of life and people – a crowd Ezio will have to push and shove to move across.
• Who is the person Ezio is talking to in the beginning of the demo?
Yusuf is the leader of the Constantinople assassins order. He’ll be the one to show Ezio the ropes in this new city. Yusuf has been quite satisfied for many years as the head of the Assassins in Constantinople. Despite his tendency to self-aggrandize in the most amusing way possible, Yusuf is a charismatic leader and has kept the Assassin’s brotherhood intact through difficult times, protecting the innocent from the powerful.
• Who are the people Ezio used to distract the Janissary?
The Romani, often referred to as Gypsies, are a new faction in Assassin’s Creed Revelations. With two dancers, one fire breather and one guitarist, they are sure to make an impression – and distract anyone.
The Romani are a stateless people originally from the eastern reaches of Persia. Over many centuries their population migrated west, eventually reaching as far as Eastern Europe and northern Africa. Sometimes referred to as Gypsies, this unflattering term arose from the misapprehension that the Romani originated in Egypt.
• Players will be able to craft their own bombs in Assassin’s Creed Revelations, what is the one Ezio uses?
In Assassin’s Creed Revelations, we created a crafting system that is simple to use without compromising its depth; we managed to find a system that covered both. Usually in video games, you need to find a specific list of ingredients to craft a unique item. In our game, we have the complete opposite; we created a non-linear crafting system where every combination of ingredients actually creates something useful. Each bomb can be created to fit your style of play and the situations you are confronted with. Experimentation is key; sometimes happy mistakes are the most useful. However, there isn’t an infinite amount of bombs. Each bomb must be crafted using components collected throughout the game. More common components are available in shops or in the Assassins dens. Others might be found only in a specific part of town, or by looting guards.
All these different bombs interact with low-levels of the game; basically we are letting players modify the gameplay to their liking. For example, in the demo, Ezio uses a bomb which produces a thick smoke screen. Ezio can then assassinate targets caught in the smoke without being noticed. He can also use it a screen to block the view of guards and pass by without being noticed. It’s a very versatile system which can be adjusted to each player play style.
• How come Ezio is able to see through the thick smoke screen?
With age comes wisdom. In this demo, Ezio uses his evolved instincts, his Eagle Sense. Eagle Sense is a natural step forward as Ezio can instinctively pick up cues in the environment to analyze a situation and formulate a strategic response. As showcased, he uses it this to feel and visualize where enemies are around him. But it also provides an approximation of where enemies will go. It also allows you to detect traitors in the crowd. For example, you can scan a crowd to feel the heartbeat of each person and detect who the traitor is. For the linear sequences, Eagle Sense enables players to use Ezio’s abilities and be able to pick up environmental clues to help them get unstuck.
• Ezio slides down a zipline using his Hookblade, what is this new gameplay?
The Hookblade is an Ottoman modification to the classic Hidden Blade that allows you expand navigation and combat options. It improves flow by increasing Ezio’s mobility. It enables free running to be more fluid, speeds it up and makes the overall navigation experience more fun. The Hookblade itself is an eagle head whose beak creates a hook. This hooks up to elements in the environment and enables Ezio to propel himself (or someone else). It’s a very dynamic and versatile weapon.
With the Hookblade, the player will be able to use Ziplines to navigate from roof to roof across larger streets or gaps. It also enables you to fast-travel through the city. Unlike traditional fast-travel were you are passive as the world loads, with the Zipline, you are active. For example, you can unhook from the Zipline and drop onto enemies for an air assassination.
• Ezio is assisted by Assassins, the ability to call assassins in combat is back?
As you can see, you are still able to call your brotherhood for assistance during a fight or to assassinate a target. In Assassin’s Creed Revelations, we are giving your assassin recruits more personality, making them more meaningful to the player. There are more options to customize the assassins by selecting their weapons and their class. We also added more missions related to the assassins: new recruitment missions, as well as missions when they reach specific levels in their progression. We’ll be more revealing more about that in our future communications.
• Ezio uses what seems to be a flamethrower, this existed?
The Byzantine Empire used “Greek Fire” machines, an incendiary weapon typically used in naval battles. As you can see in the demo, it was a pretty powerful and effective machine. The Hand-held siphons used by Ezio appeared as early as the 10th century and were used extensively by the Byzantine during naval warfares.
• The demo is impressive; will there be more of these “wow” moments in the game?
As you can see in Revelations, the team is revamping presentation. It is an evolution in the series as the game includes multiple epic sequences with high production values – all playable like the demo. They are intense moments of high adventure punctuating your overall experience. Yet, the evolution of presentation is not strictly about revamped missions design, cinematic and in-game camera work but also about characters and performance. We have a cinematic shader in cut scenes which enables us to show pores and scar details, and all of the other in-game graphics which have been improved – the game is truly beautiful. We are also rethinking how we integrate performance of actors. We have a new tool called MOCAM, created here at Ubisoft, which captures key features in the actor’s face and translates the performance directly into the engine.
Assassin's Creed Revelations is due for release on November 15th, 2011 on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
