Feudal Japan; This one has been going about for a couple of years now, and I don't see why it couldn't work. I think a lot of people would like to see an Assassin running about with a katana, and the architecture in Japan does lend itself to free-running. However, it would be quite a challenge to try and work the Templars into this setting, so unless Ubisoft create a new enemy, it seems unlikely we'll be assassinating samurai any time soon.
World War 1/2; Probably the setting that has been asked about the most, I don't think that we'll be seeing either world wars as the background for AC3. For one, the wars have been done so many times in gaming that many gamers are simply bored of them. Another reason is that the addition of automatic weaponry to the series would make gameplay far harder. It's one thing to dodge a bullet fired from a matchlock rifle but to dodge a spray of lead from a machine gun is somewhat stretching belief. Finally, the designers have gone on record saying that it is not a setting they are particularly interested in covering, so I think that it is safe to say we won't be travelling to war-torn Europe in AC3.
The French Revolution; This one has the most force behind it right now, mainly because of the teaser at the end of AC3 mention two symbols appearing only in the time of French Revolution. On the face of it, I can understand why this could be a likely option. Like the games before it, it features a period heavy in conflict, guns aren't so advanced as to make free-running deadly and the Templars could very easily be behind the revolution (or maybe even the Assassins). The only thing that makes me doubt the use of 19th century France is that technology would not have moved on that much from the 16th century. Writing this down, I know it sounds ridiculous, but in an AC game setting, I am at a loss to think of what changes could be made mechanically if it were set in the 19th century.
The Modern (Future) Day; Ever since the not particularly exciting Desmond sections in AC1 and the marginally more exciting bits in AC2 and ACB, the fans have all been asking (and to an extent almost expecting) a Desmond game. Given the way the game are moving, with the constant training of Desmond, it would make logical sense to have the last game in the trilogy (of four) to have him being the ultimate assassin he is destined to be. But again the flaw lies in the gun element; once Abstergo starts rolling out the automatic rifles and shotguns, no amount of eagle vision is going to help. It would be nice to see some more action sequences with Desmond, but I don't think it's realistic, gameplay-wise, to have an entire game of him.
Mayan/Aztec; A while ago now, a news story came out about how AC2 was going to be set in Aztec or Mayan times. Obviously, this never came to pass, but it does seem to make sense as a location. Given the series focus on the 2012 apocalypse, one of the Mesoamerican cultures that originated this idea would make sense. The city of Tenochtitlan would make an ideal location for free running, and would provide a unique setting for any game. The crystal skulls could be interpreted as Pieces of Eden. The time period would also not block the Templars involvement either, as they could arrive in the form of the Conquistadors (although I am aware this has briefly been touched upon in Project Legacy)
So there we are. Of course, it could easily be another time period entirely, and I'm not even mentioning the end of Brotherhood, and my theory that the whole game series is going to turn out to have been experience through Desmond's descendants. But until Ubisoft reveals AC3, I guess we will be left in the proverbial dark.
See y'all next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment