Since news first broke in 2019 that Facebook planned to introduce “Assassin’s Creed” and “Splinter Cell” to the Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S platforms, the VR version of Ubisoft’s two major IPs has made players dream about it, but But there has been no substantive news. Especially after the VR version of “Splinter Cell” announced the cancellation of development in 2022, the VR version of “Assassin’s Creed” was once cast a shadow of uneasiness.
Now the Quest-exclusive “Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR” is finally on sale (hereinafter referred to as: Nexus), and is developed by Red Storm, a veteran studio under Ubisoft. This is not only the AAA-level masterpiece that VR players have been waiting for for a long time, but it is also “the first first-person “Assassin’s Creed”.”
As of September 2022, the cumulative sales of the “Assassin’s Creed” series have exceeded 200 million. Is the quality of “Nexus” worthy of the name of this IP? And does it successfully integrate the features of the series with VR? This article provides a detailed review. (Note: The evaluation is based on Quest 3, the game difficulty is Hard.)
A travel simulator spanning three periods of history
In the world view of “Assassin’s Creed”, there is a virtual reality machine called the Animus, which can read the genetic memory of the subject and project it into a three-dimensional world – this setting is perfect for VR in the first place. In “Nexus”, you can often see NPCs making offline actions of “removing the headset”, indicating that they are in a similar state to the player. The occasional MR penetration screen also highlights this feeling.
Due to its rich sense of history, beautiful scenery and highly restored landmark buildings, the “Assassin’s Creed” series has also been given nicknames such as “travel simulator” and “history lesson teaching aid” by fans. This is why the game world makes One of the important reasons why people keep coming back.
“Nexus” inherits these characteristics. In this game, players can become three classic protagonists in the history of the “Assassin’s Creed” series – Ezio from “Assassin’s Creed 2”, Connor from “Assassin’s Creed 3”, and Kassandra from “Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” . They are in different eras – Italy during the Renaissance in the 15th century, the United States during the War of Independence in the 18th century, and ancient Greece in 400 BC, so they can also take players to experience three completely different beautiful scenery.
It is worth mentioning the timeline of the three protagonists: Ezio’s story begins around 1509 (2 years after the events of “Brotherhood”); Connor started with “Assassin’s Creed 3” in 1776-1777. The stories are intertwined; Cassandra’s plot unfolds 20 years after the events of “The Odyssey”. For fans of these characters, this is undoubtedly a good time to complete the character stories.
Considering the performance of all-in-one VR machines at this stage, it is reasonable that the scenes in “Nexus” cannot reach the “open world” level of the orthodox works of the series. This game adopts a level system, and the stage will change according to the tasks. It can be divided into “open box garden” and “linear process” levels.
In the small garden mission, after long pressing the Y key to start the Animus Scout, you can have an unobstructed view of the structure of the entire level scene from an overhead perspective. And when players immerse themselves in it from a first-person perspective, these scenes will appear even larger. Players can walk between buildings, speed on rooftops, complete side challenges, collect and advance main tasks, or take a break to interact with NPCs. As for the interior of the building, not every building can be accessed freely.
On Quest 3, the overall visual performance of this game has reached the first echelon, and the distinctive architecture and character costumes can well reflect the characteristics of the region and the era. However, because the Hakoba scene is relatively open, and in order to restore the number of vibrant characters in the town, the modeling of details such as vegetation will be slightly rough. The repetition rate of NPC faces is also high, and NPCs will appear from time to time. The display of props is delayed, these are defects within the acceptable range.
After all, the focus of VR games is to build a virtual world that players can believe in and immerse themselves in. “Nexus” strives to restore the corresponding era background in everything from scenes, buildings, and atmosphere to the design of decorations and interactive props. It is a different kind of fun to stroll through Venice, Florence, ancient Greece, Boston, Newport… and appreciate the magnificent architecture, oil paintings, sculptures and other artworks as well as cultural customs of different periods through VR.
Parkour, infiltrate, fight, and become a master assassin yourself
Since the release of the first “Assassin’s Creed” in 2007, this 16-year-old series has left many symbols in the history of games, among which parkour, stealth and combat are the most representative. How to restore these three iconic elements in VR is undoubtedly the biggest highlight of “Nexus”.
The “parkour” part is implemented in the game with three buttons: running, climbing and parkour. When running on roofs, beams and other terrains, as long as you hold down the parkour key (A key) and adjust the direction, the system will automatically complete the jump, allowing players to jump between complex terrains with coherent and smooth movements. Actions such as climbing walls, escalators, and swinging in the air require players to combine the grab button with their own hands. If you find a pile of grass under a building, you can open your arms and take the series’ iconic “Leap of Faith.”
This simple and realistic action design not only avoids excessive operating pressure, but also allows players to invest in it, which jointly restores the assassin’s agile and vigorous skills.
As a game series named “Assassin”, in recent years, the protagonist has become less and less like an assassin because of his strong frontal combat ability. This is also a point of complaint from many fans.
The proportion of “infiltration” in “Nexus” has increased. In certain processes, you even need to quietly follow the enemy and steal the opponent’s key. The iconic “hidden sword” of the protagonist of the series has been perfectly restored in this game – open your wrist outward while holding down the LT/RT button, and the hidden sword will pop out, accompanied by a slight vibration of the handle and the blade coming out. The sound effects of the sheath will definitely satisfy fans’ fantasies.
Under the premise of not being discovered, assassinating the enemy will definitely kill the enemy with one blow, and the efficiency of killing the enemy is much higher than frontal combat. In addition to using weapons for close-range assassination, assassination can also be combined with long-range weapons such as bows and arrows, throwing knives, and parkour actions. It can even be combined with the terrain to achieve some special killing methods – such as pushing the opponent off a high platform, or pulling the enemy standing on the edge of the deck into the water… There are quite a lot of forms.
Once the enemy’s alertness is accidentally triggered, they will change their behavior and approach the player’s location. Enemy soldiers in some levels will also sound the alarm and summon their companions. However, compared to the orthodox works in the series, the enemy AI in this game is overall weaker. The function for players to mark enemies by looking at them also has a perspective effect, so the difficulty of sneaking into the assassination process is not particularly high.
When it is inevitable to fall into a frontal “battle”, one-on-one confrontation emphasizes preemptive strikes. Players can first identify the timing and direction of the enemy’s attack, block and deflect the attack, or use parry to defend. This way the opponent will expose a larger vulnerability and become a good opportunity for us to counterattack. When facing a powerful BOSS-level enemy and unable to defend against some moves, you need to flexibly dodge left and right or crouch down, and then wait for an opportunity to strike back. Combining the parkour button with combat actions can also launch a sprint attack, but there will be a certain cooldown time.
The weapons available to the three protagonists are slightly different. In addition to hidden swords, long swords, and battle axes, there are also consumables such as bows, crossbows, throwing knives, and smoke bombs. Various equipment is fixed at different locations on the body. When facing an unfavorable situation with one enemy and many enemies, only by formulating a reasonable strategy based on the current equipment can the danger be averted. For example, use long-range weapons such as throwing knives to take the lead in dealing with archers in the distance, or run to a relatively favorable terrain and then start a battle with the opponent. It not only tests operations, but also focuses on combat strategies.
This combat system may be confusing for novice players when they first get started, but once they master it, they can outmaneuver the enemy. The difficulty of combat can also be adjusted in the system settings, but it cannot change the rhythm of the fight between you and me. Compared with some sword fighting ACTs in the VR field, it lacks some freedom of play and weapon differentiation, and it will become a bit monotonous over time. .
The advantages and significance of 3A major companies making VR games
Ubisoft has always been a developer actively exploring the field of VR. It has previously launched VR games such as “Falcon Soar”, “Werewolf Heart”, “Star Trek: Bridge Crew”, and other VR games based on “Assassin’s Creed Odyssey”. Offline VR experience “Beyond Medusa’s Gate”, etc. As a leading 3A manufacturer in the industry, technical strength, quality control and detail polishing are the advantages it should have. Ubisoft has also put a lot of effort into VRizing its flagship IP “Assassin’s Creed”. “Nexus” can be said to have lived up to expectations and carried the banner of AAA VR games.
The main goals of this game are clearly guided by icons and text at all times, and the process takes more than 15 hours. This does not include the time to complete side challenges such as parkour and archery, and all collection elements such as “historical fragments”. The protagonist’s abilities will be gradually unlocked and improved as the mission progresses, such as increasing physical strength and the upper limit of carrying props. By the standards of VR games, the amount of content is absolutely sufficient.
In addition to the gameplay and collection elements, the rich details are the reason why players are happy to immerse themselves in this game world. There are a large number of interactive props in the small garden scene, such as picking up a lute and strumming the strings in your spare time, having a dice showdown with NPCs, or tasting delicious bread, apples and other delicacies. When the player pinches his index finger and middle finger into a ring and puts it to his mouth, the protagonist will also whistle, which can also attract the attention of the enemy… It is these subtleties that make the virtual world appear more real and believable (of course, if the interactive effect It would be better if it could be more).
Motion sickness is an unavoidable problem in VR games, especially in works like “Assassin’s Creed” that emphasize action. In recent years, with the improvement of hardware performance and continuous optimization of software, the picture quality and frame rate of VR games have also improved. There are also some common methods to reduce motion sickness, such as teleportation movement, which increases the number of motion sickness when turning and moving quickly. Black-edged “Tunnel Vision” and more. Ubisoft’s approach is worthy of reference by other manufacturers – adding enough adjustment settings to meet the needs of different players.
Of course, due to the game mechanism of “Assassin’s Creed” itself, teleportation movement seems to be innately acclimated, and it will also appear to be stretched in melee combat. The author still recommends free movement to experience “Nexus”. Other options such as infiltration and combat difficulty can be adjusted at any time according to your own level.
Since the wave of enthusiasm in the “first year of VR” dissipated, there are increasingly fewer AAA game companies that are still involved in exploring the VR field. It is a positive signal for the XR industry that a manufacturer like Ubisoft has entered the game and carefully produced content. Because not only do global IPs like “Assassin’s Creed” attract audiences for VR, but with their full technical capabilities and experience, they can also find directions for some VR game categories that are still in the exploratory stage.
Conclusion
“Nexus” has successfully brought almost all the classic elements of “Assassin’s Creed” into VR. The sufficient volume and quality of content can also bear the title of “AAA VR masterpiece”.
It is true that it is not perfect. For example, in order to be compatible with Quest 2, the precision and reuse rate of modeling are affected. In addition, there are still some common problems in VR games. For example, the protagonist’s leg and arm joints will appear very awkward at certain times. It’s weird, and there are some volume collision bugs occasionally. I hope that the official can launch an image quality optimization patch based on Quest 3 in the future and continue to polish it through updates.
In 2023, when many high-profile VR masterpieces have “overturned” one after another, “Nexus” has delivered an answer that satisfies fans and VR players with a high degree of completion. It’s a pity that although this game has an official Chinese translation called “Assassin’s Creed Unity Core”, the game does not contain Chinese subtitles. It is really a pity for a 3A masterpiece with such a large amount of text.
