With just days until Ubisoft’s E3 2017 press conference, someone out there managed to get their hands on an early copy of games magazine GameInformer, which features the unannounced Assassin’s Creed: Origins on its cover.
More details are revealed inside the magazine, including its release date, setting and special edition information.
We’ve got all the info after the drop:
As you can see, the game is set in Egypt. This confirms previous leaked screenshots showing an Egyptian backdrop, and the general consensus of the gaming community, however now it is 100% confirmed, with the subtitle “As an empire falls, a brotherhood rises“, leading us to believe that it will be set around 30BC and feature famous people in history such as Cleopatra, Mark Antony, and Julius Ceasar. In fact, gameinformer has confirmed Cleopatra to be a character in the game.
Earlier leaks have also suggested that the map will be the largest ever seen in Assassin’s Creed franchise, and include Egypt, Greece, and the vast Mediterranean Sea with scattered islands in between.
More leaks from gameinformer show the game will launch on October 27th, 2017, there will be a standard, deluxe and gold edition (and probably more directly from the Ubisoft store), and pre-orders will include a bonus mission called ‘The Secrets of the First Pyramids’.
We also learn there will be no sprint button, and instead speed of your character will depend on how much you push on the analog stick. Crouching makes a return, and Eagle Vision will have a slight variation in that it will locate objects instead of enemies. You will however be able to control an eagle, which makes sense after Ubisoft Montreal spent quite a bit of time and money investing in the Eagle Flight VR game.
Every building in the game will be climbable, free-running should feel more natural with specific buttons for movement being removed, and players will now be able to explore underwater. How far we’ve come since the days of Altair dying when he fell in knee-deep water.
The AI system has also received a major overhaul with enemy combatants no longer taking turns to attack you. This will make for a much more realistic fight, and can even cause you to get overrun if you’re surrounded. The NPC AI’s will live their lives on the in-game day/night cycle which will include eating, sleeping, and of course relieving themselves.
The main protagonist revealed in the gameinformer magazine is named Bayek, however he will not be the only playable character. More information on other protagonists has not yet been revealed. Your character will be able to reach level 40, but the game won’t stop there. Crafting, and looting legendary items will ensure replayability for fans of endgame content.
It was also revealed that Assassin’s Creed: Origins has been in development since before Assassin’s Creed: Unity, meaning the team working on it are most likely those that pulled together the stunning Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag; great news for those of us that can’t wait to traverse the Mediterranean.
Lastly, the article mentions Microsoft’s Project Scorpio, and suggests that it will have a consistent frame-rate running at 4K. The PC edition runs smoothly at 30FPS but apparently it is currently performing better on the Scorpio. Both editions are still being worked on though and considering the game is still months away, there is still room for improvement. Could that confirm a Project Scorpio release date of around October 2017?
The Assassin’s Creed franchise took a rest last year with the launch of Michael Fassbender’s Assassin’s Creed The Movie, which has allowed Ubisoft Montreal to refocus and commit enough time to give Assassin’s Creed: Origins the overhaul it deserves. With all of this information revealed, we’re wondering what’s left for Ubisoft at E3 2017. Obviously we’re now craving some gameplay even more than we were, and we’ll hopefully have a chance to go hands-on with Assassin’s Creed: Origins in the Ubisoft booth at E3 2017.
