Trailer Analysis: ‘Assassin’s Creed Rogue’
Joey Sack ‘17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
Assassin’s Creed fans still stuck in the previous generation of video games need not worry: they’ll still be able to get their fix this November with Assassin’s Creed Rogue, to be released exclusively on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
The trailer shows a man dressed like an Assassin, but with some distinctively Templar-inspired accessories: notice that he wears a Templar cross on his chest, and the handle of his sword has the Templar cross at the end. Throughout the trailer, the man walks with his sword and hidden blade at the ready, while he monologues about rethinking his moral standing and betraying his former “brothers.” As the man moves forward, he follows a trail of blood ending with an injured Assassin; he man throws away his sword, retracts his hidden blade, and removes his hood. The two men are revealed to be facing each other in an icy landscape, with a ship in the background. The Assassin holds out his hand, likely as a plea for mercy, but the man simply pulls out his rifle, aims, and fires.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue introduces fans to Shay Cormac, an Assassin-turned-Templar who is now an Assassin hunter during the Seven Years’ War. According to the game’s premise, Shay abandoned the Assassins after a mission gone wrong, and now he fights for the Templars by hunting down as many Assassins as he can. His actions will apparently have lasting effects on the Brotherhood, and will tie into the stories of 2012’s Assassin’s Creed III, 2013’s, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and 2014’s Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Rogue sees the return of the Black Flag mechanic of naval exploration. Rogue will take place in areas of the North Atlantic, which is why one part of the trailer showed an icy landscape. The inclusion of both grassy terrains and icy areas in the trailer indicates that Cormac will be traveling around a bit in this game, in order to keep things interesting for players as they hunt down their prey.
This game marks the first time that the main protagonist of an Assassin’s Creed game has been a Templar since AC III’s Haytham Kenway. It’ll be nice to see the story of this game more from the perspective of the Templars, since the two secret orders are alike in some ways; both groups work for the betterment of humanity, though the Templars accomplish this through control whereas the Assassins keep mankind’s evolution going through free will and thought. It’s interesting that Ubisoft has decided to go back in time in this game, as they did with Black Flag; it will be interesting to see whose genetic memories players will be diving into with they experience the life of Shay Cormac. Perhaps this game is a way of introducing a new Animus test subject other than the dearly departed Desmond Miles. It’s also nice to see that Ubisoft isn’t going to just drop the excellent sailing mechanics from Black Flag and move back to the original feel of the Assassin’s Creed games. While it’s great to see a return to form for these games in Assassin’s Creed: Unity, you can’t ignore the excellent gameplay mechanics that Black Flag bought into the Assassin’s Creed universe.
Making Assassin’s Creed Rogue is a good way for Ubisoft to keep people with older consoles still playing Assassin’s Creed games; since Ubisoft is focusing all efforts related to Assassin’s Creed: Unity on the next generation, people who don’t have a PS4 or Xbox One may feel a bit left out; now, they can play Rogue until they can get a next-gen console.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue is scheduled for release on November 11th, 2014, exclusively on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.