RUMOR: ACIV to come out in 2015
http://www.examiner.com/article/why-assassin-s-creed-4-will-start-develo...
Gist: Ubisoft is spending an insane amount of money to create a new next-gen game engine to be used on a game (codenamed "mango") that's going to have a three year dev cycle similar to AC3, which will probably leave room for more titles based on the Anvil-Next AC3 engine in-between.
There is nothing I would love more than more AC. No matter how much story we get, I am always starving for more, and I personally was impressed by how good the stop-gap titles were, even Revelations, which only disappointed me on the modern-story side.
I know that this is for money, but ever since Assassin's Creed 2, each time I've finished an AC game, I wanted more.
Now that they know from the beginning the kind of structure the series will have, I hope that they can break up the story in a way which will leave less people confused if they skip these potential stop-gap titles.
And I really do want this series to keep evolving. I feel like we've only seen a sliver of the universe contained within the story, and I think of all series, one that has the ability to hop between such disparate protagonists, time periods, and locations is the best kind to become a yearly thing.
Many will disagree, and I will restrain myself from arguing my point further with said people. : )
EDIT:
It's important to keep in mind that it has not been confirmed wether or not there will be any stopgap games at all.
There could be one next year and none til 4, or one in 2014 with a 2 year dev cycle.
I honestly hope they don't come out with AC4 or a side sequel next year. It's just that a lot of us are going to get burnt out with yearly releases. I can just imagine a conversation with Ubisoft concerning this:
Ubi: "So how would you like another AC game to come out this year?"
"Why?"
Ubi: "People want a game every year. Plus there's money to be made. 
"
"You chose to milk the series yearly simply because it was more profitable?!"
Ubi "What else is there? I'm not some kind of blind fool who would give that up on principle. What is principle anyway? Can you bring it to the bank?"
Ubi: "Don't look at me like that. We're different you and I. You're just some blind fool who's always chasing butterflies. Whereas I'm the type of guy who likes to have a wad of cash in one hand, and another one in the other. Thing is, boy, I can have what I seek, had it even. You, your hands will always be empty."
(and yes, I misquoted the memory corridor scene with Thomas Hickey. 
)
Nice paraphrase, lol.
And as the above article indicates, and history dictates, ACIV is not going out this year or next, point blank.
It is possible that there will be two or one stop-gap games, but what makes me excited about that is that unlike with AC3, they're not set in-between acts of an existing story, but at the end of one. So they have more leeway to stand alone and go places in the modern story that we haven't seen before, places not tied down by Desmond's narrative.
One game featuring Connor with a two year dev cycle would definitely be ideal, but as someone who simply wants to see more of this universe, and was happy with what we got in the last two stop-gap games, I would be happy to play iterations of AC3 the next two years.
I think it will be a lot more attractive for people simply to avoid buying it if they don't like it now that it is post-Desmond, and likely to be more about showing the fallout of the ending and teasing the new numbered game plotline while continuing Connor's story.
It's become quite apparent that without the series creator (Patrice Desole) that the AC franchise has been in a downward slope ever since the introduction of Brotherhood. Since Desmond's story was practically lobotomized at the end of ACIII, I welcome a story that doesn't involve dipping in and out of the animus all the time. Just keep the Animus interface - that's it.
As for the article itself, Ubisoft has certainly the resources to make a next-gen game engine. Hopefully one that doesn't require a patch on the 1st day of release.
But in the end...it's too late. They sealed the deal. They lost in touch with their roots. The AC franchise is a former shadow of its glory. I won't be buying any AC game at launch price. I'll definitely be buying it later when its reduced, or rent it, or...maybe even pirate it.
You lose my respect, and you lose my money.
I heard Patrice was actually coming back to Ubisoft. So if he's working on an AC game (AC1 remake?), I'd be willing to consider it.
The place he went to work at was going under and ubi bought it out, so I wouldn't say that it's definite or even likely that he's coming back to AC.
I've seen something good and progressive in every single one of these games, and I hope the tech can take the series to new and interesting places.
I also hope they don't abandon the idea of Modern gameplay segments, because I enjoyed them, as I did all of Desmond's story (except Revelations where little happened with him and Ezio did all the cool stuff)
I suppose I'll recede into the shadows til new AC news arrives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlKhXbTFKE8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
^ ACIV predictions. Really good ones. It all makes sence now....
That was indeed quite interesting, EA17. Thanks for posting the link.
I guess I'm just too cynical at this point, because I have strong doubts that any of it will become reality. It seems to me that there are many AC fans (like us) who take the series more seriously than Ubisoft does....
That was an awesome video EA, thanks for linking it. I liked it a lot, and it definitely does make a lot of sense. There were a few parts that just sounded a little ridiculous, but for the most part it was well thought out.
As for Assassin's Creed IV and its possible features, there are really only four things I want from it;
- To FEEL like an Assassin's Creed game (III had a little trouble with that, in my eyes)
- Difficulty select or New Game+ of a kind (I'm playing HUDless right now so that's always nice to do but something more)
- Level Creation, even if it's just white boxes and blocky angles. It would add immense variety and replayability.
- They mentioned putting in Story Co Op, so hopefully they do that
Here's what I think the series needs...
1. Bring back VR Missions
2. Make sure we're an Assassin the entire time and not a prepubescent boy playing hide and seek.
3. Free-form assassination set-ups for maximum creativity in eliminating targets.
4. A co-op feature that keeps the same single player feeling instead of the original multiplayer where it just wasn't
designed the same (it was "stickier" whereas the singleplayer was more precise...why differentiate them?)
5. Infinite side missions, so you're not roaming around with nothing to do at the end of the game.
6. Have the modern day story (if there is one) matter. Give us choices to make that affects the future in little ways.
7. Give us an Assassin group that's as calculating as Altair's was. They're not errand boys, they're killers for the sake of their idea of "good". Make each sequence a set up for the main targets.
Yes, yes, and yes!
Oh, and bring back those Tombs. Good ones, not those crappy one's in ACIII (though some of them were pretty cool).
Here're some ideas:
- a tomb where there's a bunch of guards all ganged up against you, and you have to slaughter all of them!
- a linear, Uncharted-esque platform
- a puzzle based platform
- a spooky, creepy, linear, tomb (similar one near that pyramid found in ACB)
- a tomb where the tower is crumbling, and you have to climb to the top to get X object, the conclude with a leap of faith
- chase tomb
- stealth tomb. If you're caught, you don't desynch.
One thing I want the most is for the next game to come out in no less than two years.
Infinite side missions, so you're not roaming around with nothing to do at the end of the game.
Randomly generated missions ftw! Of course, they need to be better designed. AC3's assassination contracts were bland. You just had to find some guards walking alone on the streets and kill them. How is that any different from killing any other random guard? So how about having a few things randomized:
1. Character skin. I liked it in AC2 when the contract targets looked like civilians, especially the harlequins in No Laughing Matter.
2. How the target or targets react. Either have them fight or flee. Also different levels of detection, either detect on sight or become suspicious.
3. Restrictions. Have a time limit or don't be detected.
4. Add other guards to make the mission harder. Have guards posted or following the target.
This shouldn't be too hard. I mean Skyrim had randomly generated jobs in the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild, so how hard can it be?
Oh, and make them challenging enough! They don't run fast enough. I want them to run SLIGHTLY faster than your main character, seeing as they're usually not bogged down with armor and weapons. Your character will have to make sharp turns and be smart about chasing him. Oh, and he can also call guards for back-up.
It's official: Assassin's Creed IV will be released in Ubisoft's fiscal year 2014 (which I believe ends on March 31, 2014). That could mean November 2013 if they follow their release pattern.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/07/next-assassins-creed-has-new-hero...
EDIT: I see that Joey beat me to this. His comment was on an AC3 spoiler topic, so I will leave this here.
I see that Joey beat me to this. His comment was on an AC3 spoiler topic, so I will leave this here.
I'm sneaky sneaky