Aug 16, 2012

What Makes Video Game Combat Feel So Good

Assassin's Creed™: Director's Cut Edition

The first time you dove into a gang of thugs in Batman: Arkham Asylum or lobbed a few grenades then switched to a Needler against the Covenant in Halo: Combat Evolved, you knew. You knew that something about the fighting mechanics of the game felt so good that you were hooked. But what exactly was the secret formula that made the combat feel so satisfying, you wondered?

What Makes Video Game Combat Feel So Good Designer Sébastien Lambottin—who works at Ubisoft's Montreal studio—asked himself the same thing and the answers he came up with went into a great article about the design of combat systems that's up on Gamasutra:

The main objective we have in mind when we design the gameplay mechanics of a combat system is to push the player to make clever choices and use the right ability at the right time. We want the player to be able to anticipate the next action he'll perform and also to develop a tactical plan during the combat.

There are many ways to reach this result, but here are two very important characteristics which help to design the player's abilities for a combat system:

• Each ability has a unique function: hit a specific area, stun an enemy…
• Each ability is balanced with the reward vs. the risk of using it.

Lambottin hits on something when discussing the trial-and-error method which many players use to feel out just what they can do:

What Makes Video Game Combat Feel So Good

As mentioned earlier, when we design a combat system, we are really aiming to challenge the cleverness of the player, and the tactics he'll be able to apply during the battle. So basically we want a system with multiple choices, but in which the player has to evaluate and choose the best option for each situation.

He also offers some illuminating slides about how balance work, too. The next time I really enjoy the combat systems in a video game, Lambottin's article will be knocking around in the back of my mind.

The Fundamental Pillars of a Combat System [Gamasutra]

Aug 15, 2012

Dressing Up Like A Slave (Or A Posh Lady) And Whipping Your Enemies In Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

Assassin's Creed™: Director's Cut Edition

Last week at Ubisoft, in addition to playing through a big honking naval battle in the full console version of Assassin's Creed III, I also had a chance to get my hands on its portable Vita counterpart, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation.

In the portable game, players take on the role of Aveline de Grandpré, a female assassin in 1700's New Orleans, and the first female protagonist of an Assassin's Creed game. I played the game for the first time, during which time I navigated a bayou and killed some dudes, and I also watched a hands-off (no touching!) portion in which Aveline donned a number of costumes and infiltrated a Spanish base.

This one had enough going on that it'll probably be easiest to just bullet-point it. So, let's start with the hands-off infiltration section.

No Touching! Hands Off!

Aveline has access to a number of dressing rooms scattered about the city—in them, she can change between costumes that hinder her abilities but make it easier for her to blend in.
The outfits I saw were the "Lady" outfit and the "Slave" outfit, which my demonstrator referred to as the "Servant" outfit, but which the game called "Slave." Not a huge deal, but I'm still getting a sense of how direct the game will be with the realities of slavery in the south.
The third outfit I saw was Aveline's regular assassin's garb—whens he's wearing that, she's somewhat suspicious-looking by default, and templars will be alerted to her if she acts too conspicuously.
First, my demonstrator donned the "Lady" outfit, a posh green getup that has Aveline looking like a proper southern lady, complete with bustle and parasol.
When dressed as a lady, Aveline arouses much less suspicion, but she she should be spotted in a restricted area, she's in trouble—it's very difficult to fight and impossible to climb walls while wearing the restrictive dress, and her health is far lower than when she's in her tough regular gear.
Aveline does arouse some other things—she's able to charm single enemies and have them follow her around, granting access to restricted areas. In order to break into the fort we were tasked with infiltrating, my demonstrator did just this, getting a lovestruck guard to help Aveline make her way inside (before knocking him out cold.)

Dressing Up Like A Slave (Or A Posh Lady) And Whipping Your Enemies In Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

Aveline won't be defenseless when she's dressed as a lady—she'll still have her trusty hidden blade, and her parasol is, awesomely, a blowgun that shoots darts with a variety of deadly and non-deadly poison.
While infiltrating the fort, she used one of those darts to make an enemy go berserk and attack the guy next to him, buying herself time to enter the fort. It's much the same as the poison darts from the past couple Creed games, but still fun to see in action.
A quick stab and a looting later, and Aveline had secured whatever macguffin it was we were supposed to be getting. My demonstrator was sure to point out that dressed as a lady, exfiltrations are much more difficult, as Aveline can't just climb a wall and leap to safety.
One cool thing I saw during the infiltration was that Aveline has the ability to intelligently lean into the wall and peek around corners—it's not exactly a cover mechanic, but it's something I've missed in past Creed games and it made it much easier to play the game like a true old-school stealth game.
After being spotted, Lady Aveline escaped her attackers in the easiest way possible—she dropped a smoke bomb and bailed.
Our time was running out, so it was time to try out the slave/servent garb. This dress is much looser and more casual than the lady outfit, and so Aveline can climb and is able to use her bullwhip, but her health is still lower than when she's in her normal garb, and so combat is best avoided.
This time, Aveline infiltrated the fort by picking up a delivery and pretending to work there—it was a different route, but just as effective as charming the guard and heading in.
Had he wanted to, my demonstrator could have incited a riot with the other servants, using that as a distraction to make an entrance.
In general, I got the sense that the outfits will add a lot of variety to the gameplay in Liberation, but that they'll only be necessary for a few specific story quests, sort of like the lute-player outfit in Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

Hands-On Segment

After the hands-off demonstration, I had a chance to try actually playing the game for the first time.
Aveline was meeting a contact in the bayou, which will be one of the three main areas in the game—the other two are New Orleans and Mexico. The areas won't be seamlessly connected—players will spend time in one, the other, or the other.
The very first thing I got to do in Assassin's Creed on the Vita was… row a canoe. Okay! Not that exciting, but I'll take it I guess?
I rowed the canoe using the rear-touch pad on the vita. It, like many rear-touch things, was uncomfortable.
(Go ahead. Make your jokes. Have your laughs.)
After piloting my canoe through a bit of the bayou, I met up with a contact who, I was informed, doesn't much care for Aveline. I couldn't hear everything that was being said, as there were a lot of blabbing games journalists in the background.
After disembarking, Aveline was attacked by an alligator; clearly there will be wildlife to contend with in Liberation just like there will be in ACIII proper.
With a quick quicktime-event, I hopped onto the gator's head and broke his neck. Woah, go ahead Aveline.
After that, my contact set me after a ~~Spanish~~ Templar encampment nearby.
Once on foot, I got a sense of how Liberation controls. It feels good, more or less like a regular Assassin's Creed game—I wasn't quite used to the single shoulder-button method of control, but I adjusted quickly.
Making my way into the enemy encampment, I quickly back-stabbed one guard and was set upon by all the others.

Combat in Liberation is quite different than combat in previous Creed games, most crucially in that you can't just hold down "block" and block all incoming attacks. You'd be surprised at how much more difficult that makes things—a big improvement for a series that, as I've mentioned before, could do with a difficulty increase.
On the flip side of the new difficulty is the quicktime event instakills—if you have a certain amount of energy stored up (I think that's how it works, anyway), you can trigger a slow-mo sequence where you tap the numbers over enemies' heads and kill them instantly. It's not something you can spam all the time (I don't think), but it's useful and makes the game easier for those who want that. It is, of course, optional.
After clearing out the guards (by the skin of my teeth, it must be said), I was left with one more enemy perched high atop a lookout post. I climbed up the mast of a ship that had been grounded in the camp, leapt from branch to branch and up to his lookout post, where I chopped him in the back of the knees with my sword before… woah, before ramming my sword into the back of his skull. Yow. And so ended the hands-on section, not with a bang, but with a skull-sword.

The best thing I can say about Liberation is that it really does feel like Assassin's Creed on a mobile gaming device. (That may sound like faint praise, but it's not—given how disappointing the first footage of Call of Duty on Vita was, it's mighty impressive that Ubisoft's Vita foray is as good-looking as it is.) Liberation is very much its own game, and one with a few tricks up its sleeve to differentiate it from its console big brother.

And hey, not many games let you dress up as a high-class lady and wipe dudes out with a weaponized parasol.

Alligator fight
Snapping teeth and waiting guards;
Bring your parasol!

Aug 14, 2012

With Its Sweeping Nautical Battles, Assassin's Creed III Finally Goes Full Pirate

Assassin's Creed™: Director's Cut Edition

I've been waiting for the Assassin's Creed series to go full-pirate for a little while now. Earlier games in the series have allowed the player to climb about the riggings of ships, swash their buckles across the decks of schooners, and generally freely engage in all the kinds of things that pirates do.

But the ships were always docked in a harbor, and the pirates were always on land, and so Assassin's Creed fans could only partly live the pirate dream. Until now.

I've finally gotten to play the much ballyhooed naval battle in the upcoming Assassin's Creed III. Last week at a pre-Gamescom Ubisoft event in San Francisco, I picked up a PS3 controller and piloted my ship through stormy waters, fighting off a couple of British Man Of Wars and emerging victorious. It was about as fun (and seasick-making!) as you'd imagine.

The mission in question takes place in the Carrebean during what looks like a slightly different time thatn a lot of the other footage we've seen. Connor was out of his Assassin's hood and dressed up in the outfit of a Colonial ship captain; his crew are hunting a ship called The Randolph (at least, I'm 95% sure that's what they called it.) Not exactly a terrifying name for a warship, but knowing Ubisoft, it's probably based on a real ship.

(Oh hey look at that, it looks like it is a real ship.)

After a brief cutscene establishing the setting, I was given control of the vessel. The general controls are intuitive—Connor steers the ship with the thumbstick, while the X button raises the sail and the O button lowers it. The mast is crucial for acceleration—half-mast puts you at a good clip, while full-mast gets you going awfully fast, though of course you can't corner as effectively.

Shortly after I began to make my way into the shoals near shore, the Randolph came barreling across my prow, firing a fusillade of cannon fire as it passed. With that, the chase was underway.

I steered my ship out into open water, pursuing the Randolph, when what do you know! Two large British man of war battleships were waiting for me. I set a course for them and readied for a fight. I drew closer and closer to them, and as I did so, the sky darkened, and a violent storm rolled in.

Naval combat in Assassin's Creed III is more forgiving and arcade-y than it'd be in a more realistic simulation; it took some getting used to, but after a while I was able to figure out how to time the delay from me giving the "fire" command and my crew launching another round of cannon fire.

As I engaged with the enemy ships, I found that I never quite got the hang of the combat. By pressing the Square button, you can make your crew brace for impact, thereby reducing the damage taken from an enemy attack. (I don't know how taking cover would protect your ship from cannon fire, but hey, it's video games. Go with it.) The timing on this is tricky though—I could never quite figure out when my enemy was going to fire, and therefore I always took cover a bit after I'd already been hit.

Aiming was also dicy—while a fair amount of auto-targeting seemed to be going on, it was simply too much to navigate the heaving seas, keep on line to get the enemy ships in my sights, and aim. But that could well get easier in the final game—and if you are able to aim, you'll be able to do specific localized damage to each ship. If you hit its bow, you'll reveal it's "weakpoint," and hitting that will cause the ship to explode. If you hit the middle, you'll damage its guns and make it much less accurate, and if you hit the rudder, the ship will lose control.

I was mostly interested in sinking the man of wars (men of war?), so I concentrated fire wherever I could. As I steered my ship into a rock, and then into an enemy ship, and took cannonball after cannonball, I couldn't help but begin to suspect that this demo was fixed, and I couldn't die. Eventually, possibly assisted by invulnerability, I defeated the two man of wars and re-focused on taking the Randolph.

Before I could board the Randolph, I had to take out its sail and incapacitate it—so, I switched to a new kind of cannonball called a "chain-shot," which you can see being used in the image above. The chain-shot can take out an enemy's mast, leaving them open to be boarded. The other cannonball types I saw were the grapeshot and heatshot, but I didn't have a chance to give those a go.

After a few volleys of chainshots, the Randolph was dead in the water and ready to be boarded. Cue a cutscene in which Connor and his crew arm up and jump, shouting, over the side of their ship and onto the deck of the Randolph. And… end demo.

The thing that struck me most about this demo is how utterly unlike Assassin's Creed it was. The only parts of past games that have felt remotely similar were the parts in Brotherhood where you'd fly Leonardo's advanced war weapons—but even those didn't have the grandeur and ambition of these ocean battles.

I get the sense that the Assassin's Creed team is really stretching their legs with this game, and that they're pushing the power of current gaming consoles as far as possible-the ambition on display is really something to behold, and the fact that the naval battle was also functional and interesting says a lot about the level of talent at Ubisoft Montreal (and at Ubisoft Singapore, who designed the naval sections of the game). These guys are no doubt awaiting the next generation of gaming consoles with bated breath. In the meantime, they've put together a mighty fine-looking game and made Assassin's Creed just a bit more pirate-y.

Ubisoft sent along a few more screenshots that are that very particular Ubisoft shade of "Come on, these screenshots are a little too beautiful to be believed, but okay." Here they are:

Man, look at that last one. So pretty.

Yo ho ho, hearties.
Drink up your bottle of rum.
Look out! Cannonball!

Jul 23, 2012

Assassin’s Creed’s New Black Heroine Represents a New Kind of Liberation

Assassin's Creed™: Director's Cut Edition

Aveline—heroine of Assassin's Creed Liberation for the PlayStation Vita—isn't that different from the other characters of Ubisoft's historical action series . Like Altair and Ezio, she's an Assassin, a near-mystical stealth warrior with abilities that let her be unseen whenever she wants. But one thing about her stands out compared to those two.

The idea of Aveline intrigues me because she's a black woman, one who happens in the leading role of a major video game. During previews of two upcoming Assassin's Creed games last week, I saw glimpses of black people in Ubisoft Montreal's fictional vision of the American past. When you take the grand sweep of American history into account, it's only relative recently that people of African descent could walk where they pleased. Slavery and the Jim Crow laws that followed made it so that entire zones of society were off-limits to black people. What you have, then, in Aveline is a character that would stand out in the extreme in 1786.

But I like that. I'm glad Ubisoft are putting black people in their made-up past. Race, gender and historical circumstances aside, Aveline isn't any more preposterous than Altair or Ezio. Signor Auditore came from money, became a member of a secret society, rubbed elbows with Da Vinci and invaded the Vatican. Things like that weren't exactly everyday occurrences in Renaissance Italy.

The Assassin's Creed games have always been interested in the intersections of peoples from centuries past. You got the sense that rich and poor, foreign and native were all walking down the streets of Jerusalem in Assassin's Creed 1 and in the various Italian cities in the three games featuring Ezio Auditore. Travelers from far-off lands can be quest-givers, sending you to exotic locales in search of forbidden knowledge. These are games that have felt cosmopolitan and the setting of colonial America gives them new populations to explore. The North American continent was a new world compared to the centuries-old histories of France, Germany and other European countries. Part of that newness came in the form of African slaves and the customs they brought with them. If the subtext to Assassin's Creed franchise is that amazing things happen when cultures combine, then Aveline's very existence is in line with that theme.

According to the Ubisoft Montreal developer showing Liberation, the game's bi-racial heroine has a father who was a French merchant and a mother who was a freed slave. When I asked whether Aveline's father had owned her mother, the developer demurred at answering the question. He made it seems like he might be giving away a plot point if he told me what I wanted to know. I had two reactions to that. The first was to respect the sanctity of whatever mandates he might be working under, with regards to revealing details about the game.

The second was more complicated. In a game set in an era where chattel slavery was still happening, such a thing would be commonplace. You need look no further than Thomas Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemmings for a model of such a dynamic. Could you really get across the complexities of interracial relationships in a portable video game, though?

I also wondered if Aveline's wanton killing of her mostly male enemies could be explained away by her role-playing as a man. Her breeches and tricorner outfit could certainly imply that. Nope was the answer to that question. In fact, she's also going to be walking New Orleans in ladies' fashion of the time, seen in the screen captures above.

After I'd asked these questions, I sat with my thoughts for a while and remembered that what it meant to be a black person in 1786 was radically different than what it means to be one now. It's easy to project my previously documented desires onto Aveline and the other black characters that might show up in Liberation. That's because characters like Aveline are diamond-rare in video games. No matter how the finished Assassin's Creed Liberation turns out, she's already valuable.

Jul 19, 2012

The Uncertain Musical Fate Of Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed™: Director's Cut Edition

Assassin's Creed III is going to introduce a lot of changes to the series. It will feature a new setting, a new time period and a new protagonist. And one of the biggest changes has yet to be fully explored—the game's soundtrack will be crafted by an entirely new composer.

Jesper Kyd, the composer responsible for the music in the first four Assassin's Creed games, will be handing the musical baton to Lorne Balfe, who along with Kyd contributed to the soundtrack to last year's Assassin's Creed: Revelations. As any longtime Assassin's Creed player likely agrees, this is a substantial change.

Assassin's Creed's stark, dry visual design and techno-retro aesthetic have always been two of its most defining characteristics, but Kyd's music has always been the soul of the series for me. Let's take a trip through the musical progression of the first four Assassin's Creed games.

"Jerusalem" - AC I

Kyd's soundtrack for the first Assassin's Creed is probably the least well-remembered—it was somewhat cold, a mix of middle eastern instruments, chanting, open drones and strings. I was one of those weirdos who loved Assassin's Creed despite and sometimes because of its flaws, but I don't have much memory of the soundtrack. I do, however, remember that it fit in very well with the open, wind-swept sound design. There was a distinct sense that this composer got what Assassin's Creed was about, from a gameplay standpoint. It was a game about sitting perched atop a high spire, surveying the horizon before making a leap of faith. Kyd captured that.

"Venice Rooftops" - AC II

Assassin's Creed II was better than its predecessor on every level (except, perhaps, for how much easier it was)—Ezio was a personable and relatable protagonist, the cities were gorgeous, and the game had much more variety. But the thing that really won my heart was the soundtrack. Two games later, Assassin's Creed II remains my favorite soundtrack of the series.

This theme, which plays while running across the rooftops of Venice, flows through many of Kyd's compositions for Assassin's Creed II. That ascending four note melody, those driving drums and guitars… it's great stuff.

"Home In Florence" - AC II

This kind of track is exactly what set the second game's soundtrack apart from the first one. A shifting, serpentine groove reminiscent of Steve Reich, eventually giving way to wide open pads with sharp, dancing harp notes… all the way to a deep, romantic string part. When this started paying for the first time in Assassin's Creed II, I thought, "Wow, shit. They are really going for it here." It almost sounds like Mass Effect, and perfectly blends the game's old-world and sci-fi sensibilities.

"Rome" - Brotherhood

Brotherhood was an interesting soundtrack. I didn't warm to it as immediately as I did Assassin's Creed II, but over time, I came to enjoy its dark overtones. It features more grandiose choral work than Assassin's Creed II, and is on the whole much darker—strange voices chant in the background, and Ezio's journey through Rome feels much less certain than anything in the last game.

"Borgia Tower" - Brotherhood

This music plays when Ezio is infiltrating a Borgia tower, looking to stir up some trouble (and light things on fire). This is some sinister stuff, dark and pulsing, very different than anything from the other games. I still remember when "Countdown" was playing and the whispering, scary music started up and I thought "Man, what the hell is going on?"

"Assassin's Creed Theme" - Revelations

Here we have the main theme for Revelations. The soundtrack was a joint effort between Kyd and Balfe, though Kyd wasn't involved with this particular theme. I have to say, I don't find it as interesting or memorable as the music from the first three games. It's not bad really, and it still feels like "Assassin's Creed Music," but it lacks that vision that Kyd brought to the first three soundtracks. The Revelations soundtrack is the main reason I'm somewhat apprehensive about Balfe taking the reins for Assassin's Creed III.

Assassin's Creed isn't the only franchise Kyd has left behind—he's also left the Hitman series, for which he was the primary composer for years. It's always nice to see artists embracing change—Kyd's music will be heard on plenty of upcoming games, including Borderlands 2 and Darksiders II, a soundtrack I've enjoyed so far.

For his part, Balfe has been a team member for go-to-soundtracker Hans Zimmer on films like Inception and Sherlock Holmes, as well as Zimmer-scored games like Modern Warfare 2 and Crysis 2. This is an opportunity for him to step away from Zimmer and create his own themes, so I'll be interested to see what he does with Assassin's Creed.

It is, of course, too early to say what that will be; all that seem certain is that it'll likely be markedly different than Kyd's work on the first games. That's fine; good even—with a different setting, vibe and protagonist, different music seems appropriate. Furthermore, Balfe is a skilled composer with a lot of experience, and he's worked on some soundtracks I really respect.

But there's no denying that with Jesper Kyd gone, Assassin's Creed will now be a substantially different experience. Here's hoping that Balfe can step into Kyd's rather large shoes and usher in a new era of sneaking, stabbing and soaring.

(Top Image via Wildcat_ZA on Photobucket)