So on Wednesday night, I cabbed over to The Fermenting Room at the Distillery District to check out Ubisoft‘s launch of their premiere title, Assassin’s Creed. There was a lot of hoo-ha with the entrance barred for a while by a pair of torch-bearing cowled figures. We were entertained by the white silhouette of a pacing Altair projected on the brickwork out front. After checking in, the room was surrounded by an awesome wraparound scenic projection of an Assasin’s Creed environment (see flickr for more). We got a demo of the game from creative director Patrice Desilets to an impressed crowd who eventually shouted for a what would normally be a fatal jump off a cathedral steeple, (see clip above).
What intrigues me most about Assassin’s Creed is the ability to explore the environment. Preliminary tidbits indicate that this isn’t a game you’re trying to blow through in the shortest time possible – this is something to really sit down and play in, sandbox style.
With $1.2 Million in advertising and over 300,000 preorders in the US and Canada, Ubisoft has surpassed their fiscal 2001 in this one week alone. Not too shabby!
Look for our review on the 29th.
