If there's one thing that's certain in the game industry, year after year, a new Call of Duty is released like clockwork. However, a new franchise that caught fan's attention in 2007 would get that same treatment; Assassin's Creed. However, it wasn't until Assassin's Creed II, which came out in 2009, that the franchise would see a yearly release. It even escalated further, with multiple titles releasing in the same year. Assassin's Creed III and Liberation both released in 2012, and this year we saw the generationally separated Assassin's Creed Unity and Rogue. So an Assassin's Creed in 2015 isn't a shocker.
According to a leak which was posted on Kotaku, the new game will be titled Assassin's Creed Victory, and it will take place in the Victorian era in London. Victorian, Victory, you get it right? We'll have a brand new protagonist, a brand new location, some brand new gadgets and some new gameplay elements. It'll run on Ubisoft's proprietary Anvil graphics engine, so if you liked how gorgeous Unity looked, you have a lot to look forward to in Victory.
The timing of the leak is somewhat unfortunate though. As amazing as the game looks (or at least as amazing as the screenshots lead us to believe), many fans won't forget the disappointment they felt with Assassin's Creed Unity, the first current-gen only title that had some unfortunate bugs and framerate issues that made the game a much worse experience for many gamers.
I myself gave Unity a 7.5/10. While I personally only experienced two huge glitches, both of them in multiplayer, I did commend Ubisoft on the advancements and new additions to traversal, making the journey from point A to point B a lot more enjoyable. I certainly noticed a dip in framerate, and when comparing it to games like Dragon Age Inquisition, or even last year's Assassin's Creed IV, the difference is quite substantial. Yes the game looks great, but if it doesn't play as smooth as it looks, you in turn lose a lot of the immersion.
Despite Unity being a fairly good game, though not as good as some of the earlier entries in the franchise, there was no denying that neither the console or PC versions of the game were without fault. The post-release embargo didn't make things any easier either. Ubisoft requiring outlets to hold off on their scores until the morning of the release day, meant that die hard fans already bought theirs first thing, or even attended midnight releases for it.
The point is, trust in Ubisoft's ability to produce another Assassin's Creed, just a year after Unity, has wavered. But hang on a second, Ubisoft Montreal is not the studio in charge of Assassin's Creed Victory. Instead, Ubisoft Quebec is at the helm. This is notable because Quebec hasn't yet developed a full Assassin's Creed title, and instead worked on Assassin's Creed III's Tyranny of King Washington DLC and Assassin's Creed IV's Freedom Cry DLC.
So is this a good sign or a bad one? Depends on whether you have your glass half empty or half full. A fresh perspective from a new team might just be what the series needs. Also after this year's performance issues, I'm absolutely sure that both Ubisoft the company and the Quebec team will do an extensive amount of optimization this time around.
On the flipside, a new less experienced team at the helm could mean some mechanics, either new or old might be missing, altered or even added that make the game worse. It's all speculation at this point of course, but being skeptical is just plain smarter than throwing your money at a pre-order. I'm looking at you Destiny Ghost Edition
Am I excited for Victory? Sure, I'm a sucker for these games. On one hand, it's silly to fully condemn a company due to one bad release, considering older games in the series we're fairly fantastic, but on the other hand, the consumer needs to be vigilant. We're still nearly a year away from getting our hands on Victory. Let's just hope it's enough time to create a more stable Creed to take part in.
