Ubisoft recently announced another major installment for its flagship franchise, Assassin’s Creed. The new Assassin’s Creed Rogue game is due out at the same time as the first next-gen installment of the franchise, Assassin’s Creed Unity. It is a bold, interesting move by Ubisoft. The game is meant for fans of the franchise who might not have a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One yet. OK, that sort of makes sense. Honestly, I have no problem with Ubisoft trying to get the most it can out of the franchise. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a great game, and I am equally excited about Assassin’s Creed Unity. However, for Rogue and Unity come out at the same time seems like an overly risky venture.
One issue is that both games hit North America and Europe on the same dates. I am not saying this is definite, but there could be an issue of cannibalization here, with the release of two major Assassin’s Creed titles one on top of the other. Granted, Rogue is exclusive to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. However, this could anger fans who want to play it on the new-gen consoles; perhaps fans who just switched over to the new consoles in order to play Unity. Honestly, an upgrade port of Rogue would not surprise me at some point. That solution would be an easy fix to the problem.
The other major issue concerns over-saturation for the franchise. I really like the world, characters and conflict of Assassin’s Creed. It has a deep historical meets science fiction style that is very cool. However, is it really necessary to have another major title right on the heels of Unity? I am not saying Rogue should never have been made. That said, as a fan it comes off like another big expense when I am already supposed to invest in a new console and Unity.
Those issues aside, I liked the new gameplay trailer for Rogue that Ubisoft just released. The Assassin’s Creed Universe has many moving parts and a lot of corners. Putting the game in the perspective of a Templar agent who was betrayed by the Assassin Brotherhood is a great premise for a game in the franchise. There could have been machinations that fooled the new protagonist, Shay Patrick Cormac, into believing he was betrayed; but the idea of some of the villainous Assassins is a great prospect. The war between the Assassins and the Templar has lasted for centuries. Who is to say that some of the Assassins were not righteous individuals who only sought justice.
Rogue seems to be taking the story into an interesting, bold new direction. For that, I am thankful Ubisoft is making the title. I will still play at some point. However, I will probably wait until a PS4 port gets made.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue hits the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 11, the same date as Assassin’s Creed Unity hits PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC.
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