Pitching my dream Assassin’s Creed Game while I wait for Shadows:
So, with all the new info we’ve been getting on AC Shadows, it’s shaping up to be a decent game. It’s a game the fan base has been asking for since the Pre-RPG era, a dream come true. But something’s been on my mind for a while now, what would my dream AC game look like?
Name: Assassin’s Creed: Reformation
Setting: The Protestant Reformation, 1517-1521
Style: Classic AC (Parkour based, no RPG mechanics)
Before I go in depth on the story, I’ll break down my ideas for gameplay mechanics
Stealth: In “Reformation” stealth will have a new system incorporated into it; Fear. It functions in multiple phases:
Phase 1: Sound-based Detection, if you make noise while in stealth, (Whistling, knocking something over, sprinting in between cover, breaking windows, etc.) Enemies will become Paranoid, occasionally looking over their shoulders and performing check-ins.
Phase 2: Paranoia: If an enemy discovers a body, they’ll report it, and rather than returning to normal after a set time, patrol patterns and the frequency of check-ins will be permanently affected. Enemies will patrol is squads, sharpshooters will watch the base below them, and idle enemies will position themselves closer to alarm bells. The enemy will actively search for you until you clear the base out. (And they’ll set traps and ambushes)
Phase 3: Delusion: Once you drain the guard amount at a base to a handful, guards will be scared and jumpy. They’ll constantly look over their shoulders, they’ll stick together and strategize how to survive. The dialogue will shift from fear, to hysteria, some guards will run away, only to get shot by an officer if one’s still there. They’ll pray for mercy and forgiveness.
Enemies can now detect you if you’re hanging on a ledge directly below them, and can see you if you’re free-running along a tightrope. The light extinguishing mechanic from Shadows will remain. Social Stealth and crowd blending return.
Combat:
Parry and Dodge based combat, resemblant of the older games, but with some new things to freshen it up.
Parrying is used to break the guard of the basic enemy, who are armed with a variety of swords. Parrying an attack will give you the opening to kill, disarm, kick, or grab as a meat shield. You cannot parry an attack from heavy enemies, and officers can counter your follow up after a parry. This forces you to break the officers guard before finishing them.
In order to get an opening to finish a heavy, you can break their guard, (Though that will take a hilariously long time to do) Or you can perform a perfect dodge, dodging at the last possible second. This causes the heavy to be thrown off balance from the attack missing, giving you a short window to finish them. Officers cannot be thrown off balance by perfect dodges, regular soldiers can, but they take less time to recover from a perfect dodge than heavies do.
Officers have access to Matchlock pistols, Sharpshooters have Crossbows and a Hunting Knife, and can throw smoke bombs.
Enemies will no longer wait in line to attack you, they’ll strategize, opting for sneak attacks, they’ll grab you and try to disarm you. Enemies will react to their comrades being cut down, some being scared, others angry, and others apathetic and cocky. Fear will also play a role, you can perform brutal finishers and assassinations to terrify your opponents. You can perform environmental kills. Use rope darts and hidden blades in combat, break your opponent’s limbs and sever tendons.
Gadget List:
Smoke Bombs
Crossbow
Matchlock
Hallucingenic Darts
Throwing Knives
Rope Darts
Matches
Weapons:
Swords, Rapiers, and Machetes.
Hatchets, Battle Axes, Tomahawks, and Sickles (Hatchets, Tomahawks, and Sickles can be dual wielded)
Sledgehammer, Mallet, and Club.
Dual Hidden Blades, Knives, and Fists.
Heavy Weapons allow you to parry attacks from heavy enemies
Parkour:
Parkour strikes a resemblance to AC3, not as flashy as Unity, but the character you’ll be playing as fits Connor’s Parkour Technique the most. Back and Side Ejects return, with the Parkour Pathing taking inspiration from Unity and Mirage.
The main protagonist:
Axel Zimmerman (Just a placeholder name)
Age: 24 (At the beginning of the game)
Axel joined The Brotherhood when he was 12, he had just lost his mother and father to smallpox, and had nowhere else to go. He spent his time training and reading, slowly being molded into the ultimate assassin. He wasn’t prodigious, but he had the work ethic to be great, and the teacher who was patient with him. He was taught to distance himself emotionally from his kills, as assassins were supposed to act as Sentinels, not warriors. He developed an interest in psychological warfare, slowly breaking the target down through fear and paranoia. Destroying them mentally before finishing them physically.
By the time he was 18, he was proclaimed ready to be an Initiate, this is the first assassination of the game. Killing a Templar agent disguised as a Friar, overcharging indulgences to fund the Templar-controlled Catholic Church. The mission goes off without a hitch, Axel poisoned the Friar with poison blades while walking through a crowd, the poison killing him quick.
(Montage of Axel embarking of a variety of missions, from security to assassinations)
As the Reformation begins six years later, Axel, now a Master Assassin, is tasked with dismantling the Templar in Wittenberg and the surrounding areas. The targets are:
- A Templar Bishop who is using the persecution of Protestants as cover for hunting Brotherhood members and allies. (Death via Black Box mission)
- An Assassin hunter from France, responsible for the complete eradication of Assassin presence in Paris. He must be killed before the same happens in Wittenberg. (Black Box)
- A German Inquisitor brutally executing Protestant leaders in the city, intent on killing Martin Luther. (Burned alive in his own chapel)
- A British Mercenary Leader, who wages Proxy War against the Brotherhood under the pay of the Templars. (Driven to insanity from hallucinogenic darts, drowns himself)
(There are plenty of other targets to be slain, but these are some of the highlights)
Axel’s character arc is a reverse of Altair’s character, he starts out as a humble Initiate, who follows the Tenets to a tee. As he continues to fight the Templars, witnessing the horrors they commit, he deems that the Templars deserve a fate worse then a blade to the throat. He starts brutalizing enemies, leaving messages carved into their corpses. He threatens civilians and prioritizes killing the target in the worst ways possible. He compromises the Brotherhood with his mind games, he enjoys the kill. He turns into the Assassin’s Creed equivalent of Jason Brody from Far Cry 3.
(I’m not much of a writer so I’ll stop here)
Side Content:
Fortresses: Massive enemy bases filled with enemies, can be claimed for the Brotherhood to be used as fast travel points. Twelve in Total. You can abandon the Fortress, causing it to be reclaimed and the security improved. Can be done three times per fort. This improves the money total you’ll receive for clearing it.
Assassination Contracts: Random Targets that allow you to practice your stealth skills. (New Contract each week)
Rescue Missions: Protestants and Brotherhood Members held in Prisons in the Countryside, will refresh with prisoners every week. Four in Total. (The prisons are larger than the Forts)
Church Services: Protestant Preachers who need to be protected from Templar Agents while they give sermons. The catch being that you can’t kill the agents in broad daylight, so bench and environmental kills are necessary. Eight in total, refreshing every week.
Synch Points: Self-Explanatory.
Parkour Challenges: Dozens of these scattered throughout the map.
Bars: You can get a drink, eavesdrop on Templar Guards to get intel on any Fort or Prison nearby. (Guard Layout, Shift Changes, etc.) You can talk to townspeople, and story characters might show up from time to time.
Hunting Challenges: Also Self-Explanatory
Trading Posts and Merchants: You can trade animal skins and fur here, and you can sell items and treasures. (Tool Refills as well)
Legacy Outfits from previous games are available at any captured Fort, or at the Brotherhood Headquarters in Wittenberg.
Fight Clubs: So you can practice combat, but at a captured Fort or the HQ, you can duel fellow Assassin’s for practice.