The Assassin’s Creed games have taken players from Cleopatra’s Egypt to the American Revolutionary War, and yet the Ubisoft franchise has long struggled to realize its concept in a 20th century setting. While the first few games’ segments with Desmond Miles were set in the near future, these segments rarely lasted long enough to have to deal with modern weaponry. Modern times are something Ubisoft has confirmed won’t be explored in-depth in full length games, and it’s easy to see why.
However, that doesn’t mean more modern instances will never appear. Recent installments like Odyssey have turned to the more distant past as part of this philosophy, yet Assassin’s Creed Syndicate may help answer the question of how the Assassin’s Creed franchise could take players to more recent events in history.
While the main events of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate take place in the 19th century, a “rift” can be found in a rift on the east of the River Thames. This takes the player forward to 1916 where they play as Evie’s great grand niece, Assassin Lydia Fryre, as she helps Winston Churchill take down Templar spies in Tower Bridge.
The 1916 segment is short but makes a few things clear when it comes to setting an Assassin’s Creed game in the 20th century. First, the 1916 segments are able to use the same rough layout as Assassin’s Creed Syndicate‘s map of London. While modern skyscrapers would be harder to reconcile with the AC formula, a future Assassin’s Creed game could take advantage of the old world architecture still present across Europe in the 20th century, especially before World War 2. Second, Lydia uses a M1877 Lightning revolver, and the inclusion of more modern weaponry in the game isn’t particularly disruptive to the series’ staple combat model.
One of the biggest concerns about setting an Assassin’s Creed game at a point in more recent history shared by fans and Ubisoft alike has always been modern weaponry. With blades fazed out of mainstream combat around the turn of the century, it has been unclear how Ubisoft could justify the Assassins and Templars using blades in a world where firearms have taken over. However, this could also increase the necessity for stealth and escapes, which were focused on far more in the earlier Assassin’s Creed games, while more recent installments have made it easier to take on large groups of enemies at once.
While the segment set in the London of 1916 was made a smaller segment of the game to avoid some of the larger problems with a more modern Assassin’s Creed setting, there are also plenty of geographical settings in the same time period where modern military equipment would be less ubiquitous. Ubisoft could also experiment with side memories that bring players even closer to the present day without having to commit to risking setting a whole game in that time period.
There has been a new Assassin’s Creed game released almost every year since 2009 and the release of Assassin’s Creed 2. Even if a 20th century Assassin’s Creed is risky and comes with a slew of problems Ubisoft will need to find creative solutions for, the challenge could engender some innovation in a game series.
Side missions could be the testing ground that might allow Ubisoft to give both fans and investors confidence in a 20th century Assassin’s Creed. Some of Assassin’s Creed’s more experimental later installments, like Assassin’s Creed Black Flag with its sailing mechanics, ended up being very well received. Many fans will be hoping Ubisoft experiments with some more adventurous settings and tackles the problems that arise head on in the future.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla releases November 10, 2020, for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S, with a PS5 version available on November 12.
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