Ubisoft's expecting a lot from Assassin's Creed 2 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC), especially since its predecessor holds the record for fastest selling new IP when it released. How much is that "a lot"? Yanis Mallat quantifies at the GameOn: Finance conference this week.

All-new character, all-new setting - what did it take Ubisoft to jump from Assassin's Creed to its sequel? Patrice Desilets had to call the shots in terms of creative direction for Assassin's Creed 2, and from what we learn in this video interview, the switch from Altair to Ezio and the setting of the Third Crusade to the Italian Renaissance took a lot of research. They even went for some tours in Italy! (Maan, being in video development is so cool, huh?)

There's something about the stealthy Altair in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) that appeals to some people. Unfortunately, Altair can't remain in the shadows forever; he'll have to come out and fight (and run like mad) eventually. Which is why Patrice Desilets of Ubisoft walked us through the basic details of Assassin's Creed's "fight-or-flight" system. You'll have to agree with us (and with Mr. Désilets) that there's something utterly familiar and enjoyable about it.

Watch the video after the jump!

After smoothing out some of the bumps for Ubisoft's upcoming Assassin's Creed on the Xbox 360 and PS3, Patrice Desilets, the game's Creative Director, engages in a more light-hearted interview with NZGamer talking about some of the features which make Assassin's Creed a game to watch out for next year.

Desilets described the game as a sandbox type environment where Altair has free rein over pretty much everything around him. He explains this by saying:

In sandbox games the story is really secondary to the action. In Assassin's the story element, the narrative, is just as important as the toy. So everything you do in side-quests and in missions is what drives forward the story. So for example, when you enter a city and you must investigate a target you get the story. You may have to eavesdrop on some people talking about your target – you will learn more and get more story. You may pick someones pocket and find a document which explains what's going on. Story.

He also explains that the bird-like movements of Altair were a deliberate design placed into the game. It fits well into his role as an assassin, attributing him to a bird of prey much in the same way that he describes The Prince (of Persia) as a puma.

There were even vague hints of a strange futuristic element that Desilets refused to comment about. However, considering the already grand scope of the game physics, the four years put into development was well worth the wait.

Assassin's Creed is set to be released early next year for the PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Sony PlayStation 3. You can check out the full interview through the read link below.

Here's an interesting "story" that concerns upcoming game Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC) and Ubisoft Montreal Creative Director Patrice Desilets. What we can say about the director is that he freely speaks his mind.

One such example is when he said that the Nintendo Wii is just similar in power to the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox. Patrice Desilets also had a few things to say regarding the PS3 and Xbox 360 builds of Assassin's Creed.

The director mentioned that their team is having problems with both consoles. He was quoted a few days ago saying:

Right now we have a big challenge on the 360 to make it fit on a DVD, to put five languages, to put all the data on eight gigs. On the Blu-ray side we're really good, but then the memory is quite different. How we handle memory is really different between the two machines and we're struggling right now on the PS3.

This time, Desilets is revealing that his "boss" (perhaps it's Ubisoft Montreal Producer Jade Raymond?) called him the day after he made his comments and that they "exchanged a few words". When asked again about the problems, the creative director shared, "There's no problem anymore. It's gone. I learned my lesson".

We certainly hope it's the truth though, because we certainly can't wait to get our hands on Assassin's Creed. The title is expected to hit video game shelves on November 13.

In an interview, Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed (Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Windows PC) creative director Patrice Desilets stated that the upcoming next-gen video game is not possible on the Nintendo Wii, saying the console is all about casual games. Desi lets believes the Nintendo Wii is comparable to the Sony PlayStation 2 and the original Microsoft Xbox.

"In terms of processing power and graphics capabilities the Wii is roughly equivalent to the PS2 and the first Xbox," he said. After talking about Assassin's Creed as a title that uses the current technology to do the Crusades justice, and boasting of Ubisoft's proprietary engine that allows "over 150 individual AIs running at a single time and huge cities where everything is interactive and climbable," Desilets concluded that such game is not possible on the Nintendo Wii hardware.

Assassin's Creed is scheduled for release this November 13 on the Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360, with the PC version soon to follow. The video game is supposed to be under the "flower box" category, a unique gaming experience Desilets defined as "a sandbox experience that is heavily story driven."

For more on the interview, click on the Read link below.

Buy: [ Assassin's Creed (PS3) ]
Buy: [ Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) ]

As we come close to the November release of Assassin's Creed, the folks from developer Ubisoft Montreal tell us more about the video game, what we need to know, and why Assassin's Creed is one of the must-haves for the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 this holiday season.

Project Manager of Animation Elspeth Tory goes deep into how fluid Altair's moves are, thanks to 12,000 animations made for him. Ubisoft Montreal devs wanted to make the game world as realistic as possible by adding tons of animations, and we can see that just by looking at NPC movements and the way enemies react to the player's actions.

For Creative Director Patrice Desilets, it's all about next-gen game design behind Assassin's Creed development. Ubisoft Montreal began working on the video game back in 2004 without any ideas what consoles of the next generation will be, so the company aimed for the highest quality according to Desilets. The fruit of their efforts is a video game with convincingly real enemy AI and a layered albeit linear storyline.

Hear it straight from Ubisoft Montreal by watching the Assassin's Creed video below:

Find the other video at the full article!

Buy: [ Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) ]
Buy: [ Assassin's Creed (PS3) ]

Just how big a game is Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed? Big enough, it seems, that the developers are reportedly having problems with the game's PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions.

As the game's creative director Patrice Desilets explained during an interview, the 360 version in particular was having issues with disc space. The PS3 version, on the other hand, was giving the dev team problems because of issues with the console's memory. As Desilets elaborated:

Both have their own challenges. Right now we have a big challenge on the 360 to make it fit on a DVD, to put five languages, to put all the data on eight gigs. On the Blu-ray side we're really good, but then the memory is quite different. How we handle memory is really different between the two machines and we're struggling right now on the PS3. But we have people who are really dedicated and we're having help from Microsoft on one side and Sony on the other side to have the same quality on both systems. It really depends on the week basically as to who's best.

While the game has unique issues for either console, Desilets did reassure the fans that Assassin's Creed will have the same quality for both systems. In other news, Ubisoft's also intent cramming more collectible knickknacks than Altair has knives and swords under his immaculate-white robes. Goodies for the said pack for the 360, PS3 and PC will include a comic book, and a resin figure of the aforementioned protagonist.


Buy: [Assassin's Creed (PS3)]
Buy: [Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360)]

If you've seen Ubisoft's Assassin Creed (PC, Xbox 360, PS3) during last year's E3, you'll know that it truly deserves all the accolades it was awarded with. Now we can get into the nitty gritty of the details as Ubisoft Montreal Creative Director Patrice Desilets talks about the game and its many unique features.

Asides from writing the game and an engine from scratch, Desilets explains that such an endeavor would not have been possible with the previous generation of consoles. The high-end specs of the game, as well as many of the features planned into it, just wouldn't fit the limiting capacity of the PS2, for example.

Desilets wanted players to take full control of the character Altair, with all the contextual movements associated with practically every part of the assassin's body. She explains this in detail:

We started with the concept that the player should have full control over the Assassin's body and that the Assassin should be able to interact with the world in an intuitive and natural way. The new gameplay comes from how the living and breathing world reacts to your second-to-second actions.

The need for artificial puzzle elements like moving walls or fire traps disappears because for the first time we can base our gameplay on social rules and the natural traps found in real cities. So each player will be able to tune the difficulty level of the game when choosing how they behave in the world.

Aside from that, various items continuously used by Altair in the game improve and become more efficient. For example, improved gloves give him the ability to gain better grasping ability, which changes the way he climbs or grab on to things he normally wouldn't be able to reach.

The dynamics of the game also come into play as every individual, and even the entire environment, right down to the extras on the street, are free for Altair to interact with - either as a way to escape or slow down any pursuers chasing him.

All of this was made possible by the Scimitar engine designed purposely for the game, with gameplay made the top priority during the development of the Assassin's Creed. While the game itself won't support any multiplayer or online functionality, Assassin's Creed looks like a truly worthy game to carry the flag for the next generation of consoles.

All versions of the game are with a November release date so gamers won't have much longer to wait until they can try their hands on a little medieval espionage.


Buy: [Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Assassin's Creed (PS3)]

  

In an interview with Develop magazine, the developers of Ubisoft Montreal sat down for a much-needed lowdown on the design and production of the game they hope to redefine the next-gen core of games. Together with producer Jade Raymond and technical director Claude Langlais, creative director Patrice Desilets spilled the beans on what they've been up to with the highly-anticipated Assassin's Creed (for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC).

According to Desilets, the game, including the engine and tools, were built from scratch to reflect a game that was a blend of freedom, open-ended interactivity and randomness. At length, Desilets described the game as "a sports game with swords and free running."

"Personally, my own grail is to give action players the same freedom of movement found in sports games, but also a similar experience where no two ‘matches’ are the same," Desilets explained. They had set forth to create a world where the player should be able to interact "with no suspension of disbelief."

So they wanted to make the world of Assassin's Creed as a fully interactive, living and breathing world where a sneaky, mobile assassin could traverse with limitless possibilities. In order to shelf a game with that open-endedness, they had to redefine what is accepted as the normal course of art and level development.

Artists have to "learn" the level design and coordinate with level designers and other artists to create the intricate details of the city. And they don't only make sure it looks good: the artists first make sure that the design and the art actually works with the character and stay within the level design rules.