The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

It's free, in case anyone forgot.

I'm kinda ashamed to admit being a bit intrigued by that CG trailer. It's one of the more evocative that I've seen in a while. Gives me a feeling the AC series' hasn't given me since the AC1 and 2 trailers, in terms of stylishly portraying a new gameplay loop in a cinematic way. So many good shots, song blends w/ the visuals really well.

I feel like the way Arno seems in this is the way he should have ended up at the end of the game. It made no sense that he apparently became a master of the Order that seemed like it didn't give a shit about him, especially since all he did was kill another guy they didn't want him to bother with. So the fact that he seems to be an outcast in this and that he also is talking about leaving his past behind basically gives his character a bit of a second chance with me. The dialogue he has in this could go either way: more heavy-handed nonsense or a genuine clean break with a wholly new angle.

Also, is this maybe the first time that we've ever seen an overt nod to the sci-fi aspects of AC games in a CG trailer, what with the guy getting zapped by the TWCB door? It makes me wonder why they aren't a bit bolder about showing that not everything in the game fiction deals with mostly grounded stuff. I kinda wish it was a bit more like the way they portrayed it here in the game, actually. It was a relatively unassuming door with an unmistakably unnatural effect. in-game TWCB stuff tends to be super exaggerated and sparkly to make sure the player knows at all times something weird is happening. It would be nice if it could just be a quiet door buried deep in the earth, sometimes.

I guess it's still going to be a big blue-light temple or whatever going off that last shot, but even so the design of that temple looks a lot more grounded than I usually expect, especially compared to the AC3 temple or AC4's Observatory exterior. (the latter of which was pretty sedate, but cmon. it's a giant obelisk with moving parts sometimes)

Only one more day... Or half a day if it's getting the usual midnight release. I'm hoping there are one or two assassination targets in there.

Honestly? I'd rather play through co-op missions and heists with friends than more haphazard single player campaign with an underwhelming story. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not chomping at the bit to get this.

This might be the first game I'd want to play more of if they added in new multiplayer maps and missions. Usually I'm a singleplayer guy, but this game would actually benefit from added co-op content. It doesn't have to be an open-world mission, either.

I have little problem with the story of the DLC. It makes me grudgingly tolerate the fact that Arno exists. But the missions and design... woof.

It really all came together to emphasize that Assassin's Creed has NEVER controlled this poorly or worked this inelegantly. The skeleton of Unity could be used to build some great things, but only if the musculature is made actually functional. Ubisoft Quebec has a tough job ahead of them.

Me everyday.

I'm a bit conflicted about this DLC.

I like Franciade, it reminds me of Acre a lot plus it's always nice to have extra missions/riddles to do.

However, the story is a bit meh and short (again) and it doesn't answer/give more info on first civ/overall story.

I thought the story did as much as it could considering it was a DLC, as far as tying into the larger AC world. they certainly wouldn't move the modern story forward through it. they've never done that. I wouldn't have minded the lack of targets if they had focused more on the things that Unity was good at doing, rather than bolting on bad puzzles and shoddy missions.

The side missions are pretty good, and have some target hunting and interesting story threads.