Assassin’s Creed: Rogue @ EGX

It’s no secret that I am a fan of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series, even going so far as to having a couple of tributes permanently etched into my skin. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was one of my favourite games of 2013, and so after finishing it I, like many others, waited with anticipation over the months that followed for the reveal of the next game in this now annual series.

The wait was not long, however, as of March of this year images for Assassin’s Creed: Unity began to leak, and an official confirmation followed merely days later. Around this time it was revealed that another Assassin’s Creed game was in development exclusively for last generation consoles, and in August of this year Assassin’s Creed: Rogue was officially announced.

As interested as I am in Assassin’s Creed: Unity, it was Rogue that really caught my attention. In part due to me not yet making the leap to current gen, but mostly because it is the final game in the chapter known as the ‘North American saga’, and will be filling in the gaps between Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed III. As luck would have it, Ubisoft had a playable version of Rogue at EGX 2014, and I got to have some much anticipated hands on.

The demo started off with series newcomer Shay Patrick Cormac and his crew sailing in the North Atlantic. The scenery is stunning, with snowy cliffs and mountains doing a great job of portraying a feeling of cold, a huge contrast to Black Flag’s warm and exotic Caribbean setting. After entering a restricted area and coming into contact with a small fleet of enemy ships, I got to try my first bit of gameplay.

Making a welcome return from Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, naval battles are set to be a big part of this game too. As much as I enjoyed these battles in Black Flag, here I just found them tedious. This is in no part a slight on the game, however. The controls were as solid as ever, and Cormac’s ship was as responsive as I could have hoped for, and I could feel the shifts in the ships speed and bearing. But my time was limited, and I wanted to climb things, so I wasn’t able to enjoy this element as much as I would have liked.

After the battle I found a small port town, docked my ship, and went exploring. There were several targets to take out, and after a couple of satisfying stealth kills, I managed to find myself surrounded by adversaries and had to fight my way out. The combat was underwhelming, mostly falling into the sequence of guard – counter – repeat ad nauseam. A frustrating amount of my counter attacks missed or had the command ignored completely, leaving Cormac open to be beaten like a fleshy piñata.

After the armed residents whose ideals opposed Cormac’s own had been aggressively shuffled off this mortal coil, I was able to run about the town a little more freely. I found a sea shanty. And then it hit me – the differences between this and Black Flag, mechanically at least, are so minimal I’m not entirely convinced they’re there at all.

Back to the ship, then, and onward to my objective. Sailing through a narrow valley, smashing through sea ice as my destination drew closer was strangely satisfying, and did a great job of capturing a sense of true peril and adventure. The cold water also hurts Cormac when he swims in it, which is a nice touch.

Another naval battle ensued, this time with icebergs to avoid for added danger. Disappointingly, I didn’t manage to board an enemy ship during my short time at sea, or have a chance to see what other surprises were lurking in the frozen depths waiting to be found, so I’m looking forward to spending some proper time exploring the North Atlantic when the game is released.

As I approached my final destination the sun began to set, and as it grew dark it began to snow. The bright, crisp colour of Cormac’s surroundings drained away to almost completely black and white. If the earlier colour palette did great job of portraying cold, this took freezing to a level where even penguins would need a coat. I genuinely felt frozen and uncomfortable, and as I made my way through a glacial ship graveyard I felt complete isolated and alone.

Speaking of penguins! Ubsisoft’s amazing attention to detail of the time periods represented in the Assassin’s Creed games was on show here, even in this short demo. Throughout the ship graveyard there are families of penguins dotted around. I thought this was weird as penguins live south of the equator, surely Ubisoft couldn’t have messed up such a common detail so severely?

Well, no, they hadn’t. With a little bit of research I found that during the time period Rogue is set there was a breed of penguin called the great auk who used to forage in the North Atlantic, and who sadly became extinct in the 1800’s. So I take my hat off to Ubisoft for that little detail, even their demos make me learn things.

The demo ends as Cormac crouches on the tip of a broken ships bowsprit, the sweeping camera showing off the incredible landscape as the aurora borealis blazes green in the night sky above, and a deadly naval conflict takes place in the distance. The scene is absolutely stunning, and hopefully sets the tone for the game to come.

As much as I am looking forward to the game, the demo left me feeling underwhelmed. Despite the new setting and gorgeous scenery, everything just felt a little samey. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d been here before, and from the rehashed mechanics down to the shanty collection and even the UI, it felt more like an expansion pack for Black Flag than its own game. Assassin’s Creed: Rogue launches in November, which is only a few weeks away, so I will not have long to wait to see if my negativity is unwarranted.

Tags: assassin's creed rogue, great auk, penguins, Rogue, Ubisoft