Assassin's Creed Lineage Impressions
Films about video games is nothing new, as they've been around for years. However, they generally have a very bad reputation associated with them and it's a stigma that Ubisoft are trying to change with their latest project, Assassin's Creed: Lineage.
Assassin's Creed: Lineage is a series of short films developed by Ubisoft Digital Arts and Hybride Studios, which are trying to make the transition from film to games more seamless. They believe that in the future, the film industry and the video games industry will converge, and this is the start. They're clearly taking it seriously too, as Hybride Studios have worked on big budget films such as 300 and Sin City.
Whereas Assassin's Creed II focuses on the story of Ezio, Assassin's Creed: Lineage focuses on the story of Ezio's father, Giovanni. It essentially serves as a prequel to the game, and it's a mixture of live action and computer graphics. We only had the chance to see the first part, which was around 10 minutes, and will premiere on YouTube on the 27th of October. However, there are a few more parts which continue the story that should become available to the general public prior to the game's launch on the 20th of November.
With regards to the actual film, it was hard to have any preconceptions going into the screening. Ubisoft are trying something different, and one of the bigger questions surrounds what they are trying to achieve with this particular endeavour, aside from extreme fan service. After seeing it though, it did leave a feeling of wanting to see more, but there was an overall feeling of indifference. It was quite hard to get invested, as there wasn't really much dialogue - most if it seemed to be assumed. Hopefully the future episodes will shed more light on the story as it develops, and help make for a more rich and involving experience.
As well as Assassin's Creed: Lineage, Ubisoft are also developing Assassin's Creed Bloodlines and Assassin's Creed II: Discovery, which will further help to disclose information about the world of Assassin's Creed. They are both scheduled to come out on the same day as Assassin's Creed II, however, they are exclusive to handheld consoles.
