While I rag on Ubisoft a lot, partly because of its insistent forays into generative AI and NFTs, and partly because its open-world design has shaped triple-A games for the worse, I still have a very soft spot in my heart for the early Assassin’s Creed games. I remember spending hours of my childhood and early teens playing the first four games over and over again, and Ezio is still one of my favourite video game characters of all time.
‘Reformed playboy saves the world while being persistently and regularly crushed by personal tragedy and immense responsibility’ is a winning concept, in my opinion.
You’d assume that Ubisoft’s announcement that it will be remaking the early AC games in the near future would thrill me, then. Unfortunately, I was instead hit with a lot of mixed feelings and a weird sinking feeling in my stomach.
Which Games Will Be Remade?
We don’t know which games Ubisoft will bring back yet, but there are rumours of a Black Flag remake, so that’s likely in the cards. It’s not a stretch to assume the first few games will be targeted for remakes, too – in fact, I think anything released for the PS3 generation and before will be fair game.
You can’t play the first game on PS4/PS5 right now.
While Ubisoft has already remastered most of its older titles for modern consoles, including the Ezio trilogy, the first four games in particular are certainly old enough that Ubisoft would consider remaking them to a larger extent, incorporating modern game design principles. Since you can play near every AC game on modern consoles already, we can assume that these remakes are going to be much broader in scope.
What Does ‘Modernisation’ Mean?
In an interview with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, published on Ubisoft’s own website, Guillemot said that the remakes will “allow us to revisit some of the games we've created in the past and modernise them”, as there are “worlds in some of our older Assassin's Creed games that are still extremely rich”. It’s the word ‘modernise’ that gives me pause.
The Assassin’s Creed games have changed a lot over time. While they started as social stealth games, allowing you to feel like a real assassin by blending in with crowds and performing covert, lightning-quick assassinations, the newest games are a lot bigger, combat-heavy, and more brazen with the confusing metaphysical lore that used to be subtle and drip fed. I think fondly of the early games because I loved the stealth gameplay, and the later diversion into using modern weapons, leading battles, and bashing your way through camps just didn’t feel very assassin-like. But I liked the smaller scope and old style of gameplay, and I really liked that levels and cities could feel so different from each other within a single game.
A remake, by definition, encompasses more than a mere remaster. So, what will Ubisoft change in these remakes? Will it add the annoying microtransactions that have plagued many of its later games in an attempt to squeeze cash out of nostalgic players? Will it try to make the Ezio trilogy’s depiction of Italy an open world full of fetch quests and not much else? Will it try to incorporate its more contemporary combat style into the older games?
The optimistic side of me wants to believe that Ubisoft will give us faithful remakes, ones that sand down the more annoying aspects of the early games and render the stories I loved so much as a child in beautiful, triple-A (or quadruple-A?) quality visuals. The more realistic side of me knows enough about Ubisoft’s business practices and gaming flubs to get too hopeful. Of course I want to experience Ezio’s story again, but better – I’m just not sure Ubisoft is going to actually pull it off.
