dark corners. Another feature Ubisoft
could take from the Splinter Cell series
is Sam Fisher’s various movement
speeds. Different amounts of pressure
on the stick result in eight different
speeds for Fisher, which gives a
feeling of control that’s missing from
Assassin’s Creed. Obviously these
additions would mean a complete
revamp of the control system.
1. Don’t Release
One This Year
That’s right, don’t bother. Ubisoft
is always keen to point out that the
games are in development much
longer than a year, with work starting
on sequels a game or two back from
release. The thing is, not everything’s
about length.
After the recent uproar about
Assassin’s Creed: Unity being more
buggy than Starship Troopers, not only
would a delay allow time for more
polish, but it would also placate fans –
it’d be almost as if Ubisoft cared how
we feel, changing its strict schedule to
make us happy. I’m not talking about a
short delay, either – a couple of years
would be ideal.
A fortunate side effect of Assassin’s
Creed going away for a bit is that
we might actually miss the series by
then. Absence makes the heart grow
stabbier, or something like that. It
would also give Ubisoft time to get
these next bits in...
2. More
assassinations
For all the reported issues, Unity
did make a few baby steps towards
improving the series – one of these
steps was putting the focus on
assassinations and making the player
more vulnerable in combat. I mean,
it’s not like it’s called Guard Murderer
X: Counter Edition. Assassin’s Creed
should be about silent killing and
graceful escapes, all while looking
rather dapper.
Keep pushing the series in the
direction of Unity, with the
aforementioned vulnerability and the
murderous sandboxes – the game
still telling you the number of sentries
and entrances – but give the player
more options. Place more entrances
and exits, let players come up from
the sewers or slip through a skylight –
allow them to walk through the front
door if they wish.
There could even be routes into the
building unique to that mission: hiding
in a delivery cart, stealing a disguise,
blowing a hole in the side of a building,
that sort of thing. These unique
instances could also improve the
assassinations themselves.
3. Hitman-Style
Assassinations
If you’re going to give the player a
sandbox, you should also give them a
spade and a bucket. Wrist blades are
cool and everything, but we’ve seen
it all before. Unity had a few unique
assassinations: drawing someone into
a confessional and stabbing them in
the face, poisoning someone… and
then stabbing them in the face. The
point is, the outcome is always the
same – someone’s getting stabbed in
the face.
Obviously the Brotherhood doesn’t
want its kills to be interpreted as
accidents, the organisation thrives on
fear, so these other options need to
be at least as dramatic as a stabbed
face. Apparently explosions and falls
from a great height leave a terrible
mess. It would be interesting if you
could somehow manipulate the
environment to take out specific
targets. Think: ‘Curtains Down’ in
Hitman: Blood Money.
4. Better stealth
mechanics
There’s an easy way to fix Assassin’s
Creed’s hit and miss stealth – get
the people who made Splinter Cell:
Blacklist to design the stealth. Sam
Fisher was pretty nimble in Blacklist,
he also managed to stick to the bit
of cover you wanted him to, climb
the righ Ё