Rumor: No Assassin's Creed this year, Watch Dogs 2 instead.

[Extra-Ordinary]

As stated, just a rumor, don't go nuts.
Or go nuts, I don't care.
And the aritcle only briefly mentions Watch Dogs but I figured I'll throw it in anyway.
Anyway.
A 4Chan rumor and "sources speaking to Kotaku" are pushing around the concept that there might not be an Assassin's Creed entry this year, and that Watch Dogs 2 might take it's place.

http://kotaku.com/sources-next-big-assassins-creed-set-in-egypt-skippin-1750937895

Rumors say the 2017 Assassin's Creed is going to be subtitled "Empire" and that it'll be set in ancient Egypt.

The next Assassin's Creed, which we believe is set in ancient Egypt and code-named Empire, won't launch until 2017, according to both a new online rumor and sources speaking to Kotaku. One person familiar with Ubisoft's upcoming gaming plans told me this afternoon that the decision to delay Empire from fall 2016 was made after 2014's disappointing Unity, and that this bump will allow the development team more room to improve and polish the game. The source said this biennial approach could be a new trend for Assassin?s Creed, which has suffered from franchise fatigue in recent years.

I'm gonna pretend these rumors are true for a second just to say how I feel about it.

GOOD.

I've played every main-line Assassin's Creed entry since the first one and you know what, I still love the franchise (except Unity) but even the hardcore fans, myself included, have been sayin' "Ubi, goodness gracious, slow your roll".

As for the setting, I personally think Egypt sounds awesome, I'm pretty sure it's been requested by fans right next to Feudal Japan for a while now.

And the Watch Dogs sequel, well, I liked Watch Dogs, didn't love it but I liked it. I doubt it'll come out this year because it's a bit of a jump for me to believe that they'll go from radio silence to "It's out next week, guys!" but hey, maybe super secret hush-hush goings on were happenin', Illuminati confirmed.

Anyway.

This could all end up being super untrue but I hope it is. A break from Assassin's Creed with Watch Dogs to bridge the gap, sounds like a good formula to me.

 

[Dalisclock]

I hope this is true. An AC game set in the ancient world? An AC game that isn't rushed out? An AC game that I actually give a shit if it comes out?

Hell yeah.

 

[Elfgore]

Why do AC fans want feudal Japan the most anyway? Why is this specific time period the most often requested?

Three words. Ninjas, Samurai, and katanas. At least for me anyway. I'd love to see an Assassin's Creed fight with a katana in use, it'd be amazing.

Anyway, happy day! Not that Watch_Dogs 2 might be a thing, but because the next Assassin's Creed might be finally taking me away from the West. Maybe they learned from Far Cry: Primal that they can actually be original with your games and think about them.

 

[Mudman1234]

Why do AC fans want feudal Japan the most anyway? Why is this specific time period the most often requested? Also I'll take this rumor with a grain of salt, since the source is 4chan of all people, not really the most reliable site on the internet.

If its true though, then good on Ubisoft for straying off the annual release bullshit that has been hurting AC games for a while now.

Because Weaboo's and omgtheeastissomuchmoreinteresting.

OT: Where the fuck is Prince Of Persia? Either a sequel to 08 or just a continuation of Sands Of Time or something. Anything.

Why do AC fans want feudal Japan the most anyway? Why is this specific time period the most often requested?

Three words. Ninjas, Samurai, and katanas. At least for me anyway. I'd love to see an Assassin's Creed fight with a katana in use, it'd be amazing.

Anyway, happy day! Not that Watch_Dogs 2 might be a thing, but because the next Assassin's Creed might be finally taking me away from the West. Maybe they learned from Far Cry: Primal that they can actually be original with your games and think about them.

They had Katana's in Unity. I used it for it's speed and damage alone.

 

[Zhukov]

I'd love to see an Assassin's Creed fight with a katana in use, it'd be amazing.

It'd be utterly identical to any fight in the last three AC games, just with a katana model instead of Another Fucking Sword #19.

Someone's probably already made a mod for it.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

I do not buy it. People have been yelling at Ubisoft to slow down for years and they don't listen. Not listening is kind of their thing. Egypt could be fun and it's a good sign if they move backwards in history for once. Maybe more time could mean something diffrent... but ubisoft doesn't get benefit of the doubt.

I am really worried about watch dogs 2. Watch dogs was just horrible. That game needs a redo from bottom up. You have to rip-out most of it. Not fix, but rip it out. I doubt they are brave enough to do what they need to do to fix it. If the game shows up with the same main character, you can just write the whole thing off as wreck.

 

[Loonyyy]

And the Watch Dogs sequel, well, I liked Watch Dogs, didn't love it but I liked it. I doubt it'll come out this year because it's a bit of a jump for me to believe that they'll go from radio silence to "It's out next week, guys!" but hey, maybe super secret hush-hush goings on were happenin', Illuminati confirmed.

Anyway.

This could all end up being super untrue but I hope it is. A break from Assassin's Creed with Watch Dogs to bridge the gap, sounds like a good formula to me.

I reckon you're right there. I think we would have heard something at a conference or trade show last year if it were actually going to happen.

Maybe the followup to Watch Dogs could actually improve on it? That game had so much wasted potential. The story, the gameplay, the look and feel of the city.

 

[IceForce]

A 4Chan rumor

Kinda stopped reading there.

In any case, whynotboth.jpg
Because this is Ubisoft, remember. Their games are not mutually-exclusive. Hell, they're also putting out another Far Cry game this year too.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

I'd love to see an Assassin's Creed fight with a katana in use, it'd be amazing.

It'd be utterly identical to any fight in the last three AC games, just with a katana model instead of Another Fucking Sword #19.

Someone's probably already made a mod for it.

Just saying that in Syndicate the closest we got was a cane sword and the characters seemed to like using it more like a club than any kind of sword

OT: Thats good to hear, although slightly disheartening since I actually really like the series and recently fell back in love with it. Syndicate was imo one of the best games in the series, right up there with AC2 and Black Flag so Im excited to see where this goes. Not sure if Im as sold on Ancient Egypt as a location, but then again I wasnt terribly sold on Victorian England or the West Indies either and I ended up enjoying the shit out of both

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

I am really worried about watch dogs 2. Watch dogs was just horrible. That game needs a redo from bottom up. You have to rip-out most of it. Not fix, but rip it out. I doubt they are brave enough to do what they need to do to fix it. If the game shows up with the same main character, you can just write the whole thing off as wreck.

Watch_Dogs had the same problem that Assassin's Creed had, lots of potential hidden under a bunch of mediocre gameplay systems and an apparent uncertainty about what to do with all the potential the concept had. If Watch_Dogs 2 ever comes out, I reckon it will be the same sort of refinement of the concept that Assassin's Creed 2 turned out to be, with a far better focus on the core ideas and better gameplay.

I mean, I didn't think Watch_Dogs was bad, but it was not good by any metric. Most of that can be attributed to gameplay that simply didn't work because it wasn't polished enough and a story that had potential but was too conservative to take the chances needed to let the story really shine.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I've always preferred "Ancient World" AC to the Renaissance-and-up setting. Egypt would be a terrific setting.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

I am really worried about watch dogs 2. Watch dogs was just horrible. That game needs a redo from bottom up. You have to rip-out most of it. Not fix, but rip it out. I doubt they are brave enough to do what they need to do to fix it. If the game shows up with the same main character, you can just write the whole thing off as wreck.

Watch_Dogs had the same problem that Assassin's Creed had, lots of potential hidden under a bunch of mediocre gameplay systems and an apparent uncertainty about what to do with all the potential the concept had. If Watch_Dogs 2 ever comes out, I reckon it will be the same sort of refinement of the concept that Assassin's Creed 2 turned out to be, with a far better focus on the core ideas and better gameplay.

I mean, I didn't think Watch_Dogs was bad, but it was not good by any metric. Most of that can be attributed to gameplay that simply didn't work because it wasn't polished enough and a story that had potential but was too conservative to take the chances needed to let the story really shine.

Not really. The first AC had a problem of not enough. The core sneaky stabby bit was actually really good. You had a new and unique stealth system (It really burns my toast how the newer games have tossed that for a more generic system.) to play with and if you could just do the main missions without any of the side stuff then it a works.

Watchdogs had kind of the inverse problem. That game has a lot of side content and some is rather neat. Like puzzle chess, or the trips. The issue is that their core game is a mess. Is it a stealth game? Shooty game? Car game? Hacking game? It tries to be everything and it plays out poorly. It also doesn't feel different then other games.*

The MC was just a horrible character. Not even in an entertaining way.. just bad.

*If I was in charge and lets face it, as a random interweb person I am fully qualified for everything, I would take out everything but the hacking. No guns, no cars, heck no physical presence in the game world. There are some really neat segments in the game were your jumping from camera to camera spying on people, or where your guiding someone else through danger. Take that that gameplay and puff it up a little.

 

[FPLOON]

Well, of course the rumor's true... I mean, didn't the last game have two playable protagonist of equal length gameplay-wise? That already counts as two games in one, basically!

Other than that, I'm finding it weird that if this rumor is true, then the Watch_Dogs 2 hype must have been temporary hacked out of existence or something...

 

[Hades]

Interesting. Given its lukewarm reception and outright controversy I'd have thought Ubi wanted to stay away from Whatchdogs.

As for Feudal Japan. I actually think that setting is unsuited, perhaps even Uniquely unsuited for an assassin's creed game. As the games are now the setting is an open world variant of a historical city where the elite would gather for the assassin's to slay. Japan just did not have such a city. Sure, it had a capitol in either Kyoto or Edo but the feudal nature meant that most national bigshots were in their provincial castles. Most of them tended to die there as well. I can only see this setting working to the fullest if its not open world but instead offers multiple levels set in the different castles or mansions these warlords would operate from.

If the game is set in Japan than I think Meji Japan would work the best. Meji Japan actually had a centralized capitol and most prime ministers actually DID end up assassinated. The clash between old value's and new, more effective innovations would also be an interesting plot point. A lot of this goes for the last years of imperial China as well.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

When it comes to Assassin's Creed taking a break this year, I can't think of why that would be a bad thing. I haven't played any recently but it gets tiring to hear the same complaints about the same problems from the same franchise.

When it comes to Watch_Dogs 2 though...Well I would assume the Ubisoft effect will take place with Watch_Dogs so it could potentially be the best Watch_Dogs game in the series. The original was pretty good but there was definite room for improvement there so I'm optimistic about a new entry in that series.

Can't wait to see how this rumor plays out.

 

[RJ 17]

I'd love to see an Assassin's Creed fight with a katana in use, it'd be amazing.

It'd be utterly identical to any fight in the last three AC games, just with a katana model instead of Another Fucking Sword #19.

Someone's probably already made a mod for it.

Yeah, but then you'd be missing out on being a ninja! What with all the Tenchu-styled roof-jumping and grappling hooks and smoke bombs and dart gu---...you know what? This all probably already exists in the form of a mod.

Nevermind.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

*If I was in charge and lets face it, as a random interweb person I am fully qualified for everything, I would take out everything but the hacking. No guns, no cars, heck no physical presence in the game world. There are some really neat segments in the game were your jumping from camera to camera spying on people, or where your guiding someone else through danger. Take that that gameplay and puff it up a little.

Then if it may please you, overqualified internet dude, if you haven't checked it out, Republique is almost exactly the game you're looking for.

 

[Ambient_Malice]

Watch_Dogs remains one of the best open world games. It basically feels like the original Splinter Cell concept that became Assassin's Creed. So I'd like a sequel very much. Not really keen on the idea of it being set in San Francisco, though.

Also, Watch_Dogs was in development for five years. That's a GTA V/MGS V-grade development cycle. But I suppose Watch_Dogs suffered from poor management leading to a lot of reworking and such.