So it seems to me that most of us are a tad wary of the annual releases of this series, as well as it straying from its origins (from simply assassinating guys in AC1 to fucking tower defense in Revelations). Would it comfort anyone knowing that the development team working on this project has supposedly been working on this for several years, much like how AC3 began development as soon as AC2 was released? And as far as the IP is concerned I too am concerned that AC as a franchise is going down a dark road that likely will never return to the simple days of strategically planning out assassinations, and in turn takes on mini games and more action paced gameplay (blow them the hell up and stab the bad guys). It certainly isn't Assassin-like but then again we haven't really gotten a truly focused Assassination centered game since AC2, and the mini games took roots there as well and have since to envelop the series. My point is, the Ezio trilogy is often praised by both fans and critics/reviews as excellent games, balancing the mini games and assassinations to form a fun yet focused game, while AC1 was criticized as being too repetitive in its approach to the planning and gathering of information prior to the assassination attempts. Meanwhile, AC3 with their mini games have attempted to integrate those with the story itself, which I personally believe worked towards the games advantage in the development of Connor, the plot and other characters in the series, however many opposed this due to the lack of focus on actually assassinating key figures and instead fluffing much of the time spent in game.
What must AC4 do in order to achieve the success of AC2 and revive this series before Ubisoft murders the thing?
I for one personally believe that the focus of the game needs to shift to the present day and the (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER) crisis involving Juno having escaped her imprisonment. In fact, I felt that AC3 needed to be a Desmond focused game, having gained all the past experience of both Altair and Ezio, Desmond and his crew would of been given the opportunity to develop as characters, enhance the plot of the present day and for once give a majority of haters a reason to care about the future events.
With the announcement of AC3 being set in Revolutionary America, I was slightly disappointed with the lack of attention shown to Desmond however I believed the period and time to be an ideal one (at first). As I finished the game I began to think about our history and understanding of colonial America and the Revolutionary War and realized that this time period simply doesn't work for an Assassin's Creed game, not necessarily because it is too close to the present but because the detailed history and recordings of day to day activities during the American Revolution conflict with a hooded, fully armed assassin to run about killing numerous guards over the course of a day or even daily over years. I don't believe the Templars to be so all powerful as to eradicate all those eye witness accounts and historical recordings, even with the help of Connor tipping off Heralds and Print Presses to withhold his activities. The Revolutionary War era set mainly in the cities and away from the turmoil of warfare just doesn't do the game justice.
Ideally, if they had to go with that time period, the French Revolution would of been preferable to Americas, due to the sprawling city of fucking PARIS, the chaos and mass murders/assassinations of both the citizenry and historical figures, and more history to work with. Yet, with AC4 we are thrust back into the past of pirates and buccaneers, and even though I struggle with accepting Edward Kenway as both an Assassin and a Pirate, I do believe the setting, time period and locations he will surely have to visit as an ideal playground for an Assassin's Creed game.
I know this was a long post, but any thoughts on this?
