Assassin's Creed producer speaks out, we listen intently [update 1]
Not to belittle the feminist movement, or to say something that makes it seem like girls are material things, but the producer of Assassin's Creed, Jade Raymond, is quite beautiful. A beautiful, intelligent gamer? Not just that, friends! She's helping to make games for our enjoyment. Raise your bottles and toast this lady, for she makes our lives that much sweeter. No bottles? Hmm... then, raise your controllers! Let's see what she's going to tell us about Assassin's Creed.
The game was never intended as a part of the Prince of Persia universe (although we still hold to our hypothesis that the engine being used will be seen in future PoP titles)
The game is based on the book Alamut, by the Slovenian writer Vladimir Bartol.
As far as stealth or action, it seems focused on fast-paced action, while being "socially stealthy" -- blending into crowds to get close for an attack or to escape undetected. No sneaking around corners or hiding in shadows, though.
Why the Crusades as a setting? Jade replies: "We really believe as a company that in order to reach the next level in entertainment, you need to look for richer subject matter and for there to be more meaning and depth to games." So, since this is a pretty rich part of history that's been relatively untapped in gaming, it does seem a good choice.
There's a big twist in the game. It's not quite a sci-fi quirk, but there are elements relating to the modern day. This is interesting news, honestly. Twists are good.
There are some heavy RPG elements to the game -- a goal being the "satisfaction of levelling up".
Like the time rewind in Prince of Persia games, there's some secret gameplay element when you get in big trouble in Assassin's Creed... but... it's still under wraps. Damn.
There's more, but these were the points that made us stroke our beards and go "hmmm". Maybe your reaction was different, maybe not. Either way, check out the pieces we didn't cover and continue to get excited for this game, even though it's not coming for a while.
[update: If you're interested in the book Alamut, check it out on Amazon.com!]
