Assassin’s Creed is heading to new, interesting places. Ubisoft has announced the Assassin’s Creed Chronicles trilogy today, where each game will take place in a different time and place, all connected by Assassin’s Creed lore and 2.5D action platforming.
The first game, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, was revealed last year as part of the now dead Assassin’s Creed Unity season pass and will launch on April 22nd. It will be followed by two more adventures, one in India and the other in Russia, which will launch separately later in the year.
I think this is probably the first time I’ve been excited about Assassin’s Creed since Black Flag was announced. I love the way the games play with mythology and history, and each new game brings a gorgeous, well-realised world to play in that I can’t get enough of. Assassin’s Creed makes me a tourist. But what I have to do in those worlds bores me senseless. A change in perspective, from 3D open worlds to the realms of 2.5D platforming might be exactly what the series needs, even if only for these spin-offs.
What makes this trilogy really stand out from the rest of the franchise, though, is the art. Assassin’s Creed’s art design is normally pretty conservative, favouring realistic depictions of cities with high fidelity graphics over style. Not so in Chronicles, though. Each game is blessed with a distinctive aesthetic that relates to the time and place that the Assassins are gallivanting around in.
China’s style is evocative of a watercolour, with locations formed out of paint and ink. India’s bright, almost gaudy, and exotically vibrant. And Russia is bold and intimidating, a monochrome world punctuated with red, inspired by Soviet propaganda. You can see the differences in the announcement trailer below.
Keep an eye out for the first game next month.