Assassin's Creed: Utopia Is a City Building Sim

[Fanghawk]

Assassin's Creed: Utopia Is a City Building Sim

The Assassin's Creed mobile game is less about leaping from rooftops and more about building them.

The technology behind mobile gaming may have improved by leaps and bounds over the past decade, but that doesn't mean we're ready to see exact replicas of console platformers on smartphones just yet. Touchscreen technology is great for strategy, puzzle, or reaction-based games, but the majority of mobile third-person action titles generally fail to take off the same way. Still, that fact isn't going to stop publishers from releasing mobile tie-ins to popular franchises, but it does mean that some creative changes to the coreplay may occur. Enter Assassin's Creed: Utopia for Android and iOS, a game that largely drops the platforming elements of previous AC games in favor of simulating colonial-era city building.

In Utopia, the player is a pioneer building an entire community during the early colonial period of American history. Over the course of 150 years, the player will make decisions regarding how the town grows and thrives until the outbreak of war that signals the American Revolution. Of course, the game's assassination roots haven't been completely forgotten: The player will also be responsible for the local chapter of the Assassin's Guild, which can be pitted against in-game enemies or human players through asynchronous 3D battles.

Although Utopia's timeframe is set immediately before Assassin's Creed 3, the two games will have no direct connection to each other. The stories will be completely independent of each other, save the obvious colonial references, and the mobile version will not unlock any special features for the core game, as was the case with <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115662-Mass-Effect-3-Goes-Mobile>the Mass Effect mobile games. The game is simply a straight-up, honest-to-God, Assassin's Creed City Sim, and I can't entirely decide if I find that to be bizarre or pleasantly refreshing.

Assassin's Creed: Utopia is scheduled for a winter release, which will likely correspond with the launch of Assassin's Creed 3 on October 30th.

Source: <a href=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-06-assassins-creed-utopia-is-a-city-building-battler>Eurogamer

Permalink

 

[Azuaron]

...if you do a really terrible job, do the Assassins come and kill you?

 

[FEichinger]

I always knew the Screed franchise was a real estate simulator.

Does anyone now finally get why I loved Screed 1 over all the others?

 

[INeedAName]

Could it be that it's April 1:st and nobody's told me?

 

[unoleian]

Interesting use of an IP, if the price is right, might check this out. Bit of a sucker for city builders.

 

[5-0]

Errr...Ubisoft? Are you feeling OK?

 

[TheBelgianGuy]

Not that I'm saying it will be bad, but just... why?
Did anybody ask for a sim city clone with the Assassins Creed label stuck ontop?

 

[The.Bard]

They missed an opportunity to connect these games. Let the city we build in the iOS game be ported into AC3, or let the things you do in AC3 reflect over to the building sim.

I've been spoiled by ME3 connecting with the mobile apps. 8(

 

[McMullen]

I think this is a step in an interesting direction. So much of history is determined by deep political intrigue, conspiracies (not those kind, actual realistic "let's kill that guy" or "bankrupt that government" ones), and backstabbery, none of which is satisfactorily captured in games like Civilization. I look at this in the other direction; rather than making assassins creed into a civ simulation, we're giving civ simulations some of the intrigue of the AC series. I hope.

 

[thethird0611]

Im guessing alot of people are gonna be hating on Ubisoft...

BUT

I still remember the facebook game that came out with 2 or revelations? It was actually a good little extra thing that paired with the game. So ill give this a chance, and give my criticism or praise after.

 

[Zeraki]

I'm assuming they wanted to make a Sim City ripoff but were afraid it wouldn't sell well, so they slapped the Assassin's Creed name on it.

Captcha: get out

 

[Blunderboy]

Depending on the price I might pick this up when it comes out. Should be good for passing time on the loo.

I do love how people complain that there is little innovation in games, and yet when someone tries something new with an IP we just break out yet more complaints and cynicism.

 

[Talvrae]

Interesting use of an IP, if the price is right, might check this out. Bit of a sucker for city builders.

I secound that, i'm quite curious to see that... any idea on release date?

 

[MarsProbe]

Well, I do like myself a bit of city building and while I don't expect this to be Sim City exactly, but hopefully it'll be worth a whirl. I also hope it won't be free to buy, as strange as that may sound.

Depending on the price I might pick this up when it comes out. Should be good for passing time on the loo.

I do love how people complain that there is little innovation in games, and yet when someone tries something new with an IP we just break out yet more complaints and cynicism.

People like to think they know what they want, but are often afraid they might actually get it and then not have anything to complain about.

 

[synobal]

I'm all cool with town sims and stuff but why the tie in with assassins creed? That just seems like you don't feel the game is good enough on it's own merits so you slap a big fancy label on it and hope people don't notice that it really isn't that great.

 

[Ftaghn To You Too]

Just another game using an existing ip for free sales when it should be a new ip.

 

[irmasterlol]

Well, I guess this is the logical conclusion to the route the franchise has taken.

 

[TheRussian]

Well it's not really an Assassin's Creed game if you're not stabbing religious extremists in the neck.

 

[kortin]

Guys, it's a bloody iOS app, not a full blown PC/Console game. Lots of people jumping on the "AC has jumped the shark" bandwagon. People do this with tons of games.