Assassin’s Creed Becoming a Full Live Service?
-For the Uncensored!
It’s no secret that Assassin’s Creed, developed by Ubisoft, has had a long history with gamers for tackling controversial topics, such as the Crusades, all the way to Industrial Revolution England all the way back to the founding of the Assassin’s Creed Order, and even ventured to the Templars side of the story. The series is a beautiful and passionate timeline of men and women who have used violence to calm a past trauma, leading to new revelations in history, while only pawns in there own destiny. For those who are unfamiliar with the series, the first game, Assassin’s Creed, released on November 13th, 2007, created by Patrice Désilets, Jade Raymond, and Corey May (Corey May stayed as writer of the series until Assassin’s Creed Syndicate in 2015, Désilets and Jade left shortly after the first game’s inception). While Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, released on November 10th, 2020, spanning over nearly a decade, proves that Ubisoft is willing to see Assassin’s Creed franchise to the bitter end. Assassin’s Creed even had a feature film starring Jeremy Irons, and Michael Fassbender in 2016 which I enjoyed. It has made its way to every platform from Nintendo, XBOX, PlayStation, and PC computers. What does it say when you have a series that has such a fond or distasteful memory with players that now leads us to the sad state of this article.
Apparently, someone at Ubisoft thinks it’s a good idea to make Assassin’s Creed a full live service. According to Tech times, “these games are basically "never-ending” and it’s an unfortunate thing to think about. I cancelled my pre order of Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint because it required an Internet service at all times. I don’t really want an online service game. I do enjoy the notion of having a game in full isolation. Away from prying eyes. You can call me a luddite all you want, but let’s not get confused on this issue. Video games for me will always be the new cinema. When I write books, I think about video games, far more than movies.
I think some fans would agree that it’s time for Ubisoft to retire the series. Hell, they even had there mythological games, like Odyssey and Valhalla, but the problem with Assassin’s Creed is that maybe the series had too much of a good thing already. I wish, and if anyone at Ubisoft is reading this, make a Templar path game. While players are rather opinionated on 2013’s Rogue, it doesn’t mean that there’s no journey to tell of the Templars.
Once you start a brand, it’s hard not to milk it dry. A series can only live on nostalgia for so long. Creating funds from a legacy series that can be as divisive as it was celebrated for nearly a decade in its long running time frame, is a serious gamble.
Straddling linear stories to the now open world franchise that moved into Odyssey, now makes the series a long running cinematic experience that can wow you on a great day but also bore you the next. The problem is not with the graphics and the gameplay of a series like Assassin’s Creed, but the lack of a story can kill a series reputation without even trying.
It’s not that a series can try too little, but too much of a good thing can mean different outcomes. Some people enjoyed Odyssey, Origins, and Valhalla, but at least Sony Santa Monica studios sequel to God of War with Kratos journeying to the Norse lands, to try and escape his past, didn’t have to create a 60 hour journey to prove their point (As an aside, 2018’s God of War was a modest 25-30 hours). It’s virtually impossible to have a life if you have to review games that long in order to make a YouTube channel or craft an article encompassing the narrative beats without spoiling the plotline. Challenging isn’t the half.
The problem is, why make people pay for a good thing when people already like it? I see a single benefit in Assassin’s Creed going to a full live service. It could offer more story, but when a game is long enough, like Odyssey and Valhalla, it stands to reason why they would want to make AC a live service anyway. I think it’s better to find out what a new IP could do over beating a series, like Assassin’s Creed, to death.
I would also argue that Assassin’s Creed needs to take the series into the Templar side over the Assassin’s because we have seen so much of that now.
I think the series needs to either be retired, or take us into the Templar side of this story, because an online service seems like the last place for Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed. I am glad to have played Assassin’s Creed, but today, maybe it’s about saving face, and not trying to make a brand that has already told enough of a story to incite curiosity for future fans, is equally heart breaking and sad.
Or wait and put the series on hiatus so that they can figure out a game plan for Assassin’s Creed future. No pun intended.
But what are your favorite Assassin’s Creed games and characters? What do you think about Assassin’s Creed going full live service? Let me know in the comments section. Thanks for reading, and have a great day.
Sources:
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/262603/20210708/live-service-games-what-are-they.htm
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 15 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline, Apocalypse Soldier, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. Also, he writes on https://louisbruno.substack.com, where you can support him directly, and where he will posts sporadically (the bulk of his work will appear on substack officially). Also he can be found on Our Freedom Book https://www.ourfreedombook.com/thereallouistbruno17. His newest series, City of Sand is out now:https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-bruno/city-of-sand/hardcover/product-rke9jz.html?page=1&pageSize=4. Also, if you can’t subscribe so that you can get members only content, please be sure to share the articles, as well. Every little bit helps.