Assassin’s Creed Rogue – Turning Templar
Fear. It’s at the heart of the survival instinct. It squeezes at your adrenal gland, putting you on high alert, prepping you for the upcoming fight… or the mad-dash flight to safety. And now fear takes center stage in a wholly new way for the AC franchise in Assassin’s Creed Rogue. Because to be a Templar means knowing real fear.
Sure, the Templars have more money. And with that extra cash comes even better stuff. But don’t think Shay Cormac’s journey will be oh-so-easy once he turns his back on the Brotherhood. “In order for you to feel like a Templar and to know what it’s like to be on the other side, it’s not just what you do,” says Producer Ivan Balabanov. “It’s also what the living world around you does. We gave ourselves the objective very early on to make sure that everything you were able to do as a player in previous games can now happen to you.”
Which explains the constant feeling of paranoia while playing Rogue. Yes, you become an Assassin hunter, but you’re stalking the most dangerous prey of in the world of Assassin’s Creed – which means you’re never truly safe.
“We want you to have the feeling that if you make one wrong step, you’re dead,” Balabanov says. This plays out most obviously with the Stalkers, a new enemy type that hides in hay bales, skulks in shadows and prowls on rooftops. The most disconcerting part? Shay can sense when a Stalker is nearby when he hears whispers – an eerie audio cue that ratchets up the tension while showcasing Shay’s heightened sense thanks to his combination of Assassin and Templar training.
“The whispers are a good feedback mechanism because they make you aware that you are being hunted,” Balabanov says. “They add this little edge of paranoia.”
Pulling Strings
How does Shay face this fear? As a Templar, he’ll have even more tools at his disposal – including the most cutting-edge weaponry of that era along with an even stronger ship than the Jackdaw (Edward Kenway’s ship in Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag). But while Shay has the resources to face any threat head-on, he has another more insidious way of handling situations. In true Templar fashion, Shay can lurk in the backdrop, carefully pulling strings to set off events in the world around him.
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“The Templar way is a bit more manipulative,” Balabanov says. “It’s about manipulating events in such a way that allows you to achieve your end goals.”
While this is evident in Shay’s story (as well as in past Assassin’s Creeds), it’s also part of the tactical gameplay in Rogue. “This is why we specifically chose the air rifle as Shay’s weapon of choice,” Balabanov notes. “It could very easily have been a big, powerful firearm, but we decided to go for something silent and stealthy – something that allows you to manipulate your way through the game, rather than just barrel through it, guns-blazing.”
Indeed, Shay can hang back and use his air rifle to silently fire berserker ammo into a crowd – setting off a chain of events – but it’s not just his actions that affect the environment. The systemic gameplay from previous releases has been refined in Rogue, delivering a significant evolution of everything we’ve loved in previous games. In fact, even when you’re not playing, the various groups in the game will interact in interesting ways. For example, a gang member might provoke a reaction from a guard, and in turn that guard will attack the gang members, causing a panic in the crowd. In other words, a fight can break out with almost no input from the player.
“What I like to do is use the air rifle to get these different systems interacting with each other and trigger emergent behaviors,” Balabanov smiles. “I want to see things that aren’t scripted or designed, but rather happen by themselves. You can spend a lot of time just playing with this.”
Balabanov points to a favorite example that he experienced himself: “I berserked a dog in New York. The dog went crazy and started biting a gang member. The gang member killed the dog. One of the civilians in the crowd saw this happen and ran off and brought back some British guards. The gang members were still agitated from the dog and attacked the guards when they arrived. The guards immediately responded and called for reinforcements. Ultimately, there was a very big fight between the guards and the gang members. I used this as a distraction to move forward and accomplish my objectives in the mission, almost without a shot fired.”
Of course, like any Assassin’s Creed game, choice is paramount. Yes, the “Templar way” might be more about manipulation, but players will still be able to deal with challenges as they see fit. “It’s really up to us to make sure the players have what they want so they can play the game the way they want,” Balabanov says. “We tried to be as unrestrictive as possible. You have the means. It’s all out there. Just choose your path.”
Discover even more about Assassin’s Creed Rogue with these UbiBlog exclusive features:
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