Ubisoft Unveils Assassin's Creed II Short Film Prequel

[John Funk]

Ubisoft Unveils Assassin's Creed II Short Film Prequel

Ubisoft has unveiled the first part of Assassin's Creed Lineage, a short film that sets the stage for Assassin's Creed II starring Giovanni Auditore, father to the game's protagonist Ezio.


With less than a month to go before Assassin's Creed II hits shelves, Ubisoft is kicking the hype machine into full face-stabbing gear. Oh sure, the company has released a couple of trailers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94438-Assassins-Creed-2-Gameplay-Trailer-is-Stab-tacular] that got the blood pumping for some roof-skulking action, but the release of the first part of the live-action Assassin's Creed Lineage is something else altogether.

Though just the first part (of however many there are), it's still a 15-minute miniature episode that tells the tale of the Auditore family of Firenze, whose patriarch Giovanni lurks in the shadows as an assassin like his ancestors before him. Giovanni works for the powerful Medici clan, and helps uncover a plot by some mysterious dudes to shake up the established balance of power.

Some of the effects are cheesy and the actors won't be winning any Oscars anytime soon, but it's still a very cool way to introduce players to the character of Ezio (who makes a brief appearance in the clip as a young boy) and the world he lives in. Altair, the protagonist of the first AssCreed, didn't really have much of a character or backstory to speak of, so it's interesting to see Ubisoft pulling out all the stops in order to correct this the second time around.

Even if the game's previous trailers have clued us in to how Giovanni's mission ends (hint: not well) it'll still be interesting to see how the story plays out. Consider my interest piqued.

(Thanks, ThePeiceOfEden!)

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[orangebandguy]

They are certainly putting a lot of effort into their advertising campaign. It's worked on me, the film itself is incredible and when I first saw it I was sat there wondering " Are those real actors?"(Before this was announced here.)

 

[Walrus]

AssCreed?

 

[SomeBritishDude]

*sniffs* phew, does anyone else smell cheese?

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

Acting is moderate, as are the effects, but it's better than I expected it to be (ie - totally crap).

 

[Arbitrary Cidin]

Really felt like a full in game cutscene. When the video finished, I actually looked around for my controller.

 

[KissofKetchup]

I thought it was pretty well done.

 

[GamerLuck]

Could be better, but hey, they arent going for Hollywood here. If anything its a fun liitle thing to move the hype along. I hope they put this on the DVD in the special edition, for that would be win.

Also if i remember corrrectly from snibbit i heard in an interveiw around the time of E3, this is going to be a six part deal... i could be wrong, and i wish i could find said interview, but 6 is the number thats sticking out in my memory, and i've been fallowing this game every step of the way so am pretty confident that i am right.

 

[Asehujiko]

It almost makes me give a shit about the game after they announced that i'll be getting another half assed port 3 months after every loose mouthed idiot on the internet spoiled the entire story. Almost... Nah, fuck those assholes.

 

[MajorKris]

Well, all I can say is that I'm pretty impressed. It's a nice unexpected piece of work for the fans.

 

[scotth266]

VERY good promotional material. I can't wait to see the other trailers, and how they will play into the backstory of the game itself.

 

[MDSnowman]

My problem with the first Assassin's Creed was that it was so full of itself that it didn't realize it was propped up entirely by lame mini games and a a crappy combat system. Releasing short movies about the setting background does not fill me with confidence that they have fixed the above problems.

 

[Aqualung]

Very nice! Looked fantastic, I thought, especially that sliced neck... Heh. Very exciting, especially from a history student's perspective.

 

[Rathy]

This certainly piqued my interest quite a bit more. They are quickly moving AC2 onto my buy list for the year.

 

[Ancientgamer]

Aside from the fact they have no clue how to fight with renaissance swords, that was absolutely excellent.

 

[Chishandfips]

While I think that the video's very impressive, and it's certainly a striking marketing scheme, I can't help but feel that this is a bit much. Perhaps Ubisoft thinks differently to me, but surely the money would have been better spent on making the game as good as it can (and hopefully will) be, rather than hiring the 300 and Sin City people to make what is essentially publicity a franchise like Assassin's Creed shouldn't need.

Also if i remember corrrectly from snibbit i heard in an interveiw around the time of E3, this is going to be a six part deal... i could be wrong, and i wish i could find said interview, but 6 is the number thats sticking out in my memory, and i've been fallowing this game every step of the way so am pretty confident that i am right.

Apparently it's only a three-part series.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, does anyone know what the budget for this, or AC2 in general, is?

 

[GamerLuck]

While I think that the video's very impressive, and it's certainly a striking marketing scheme, I can't help but feel that this is a bit much. Perhaps Ubisoft thinks differently to me, but surely the money would have been better spent on making the game as good as it can (and hopefully will) be, rather than hiring the 300 and Sin City people to make what is essentially publicity a franchise like Assassin's Creed shouldn't need.

Also if i remember corrrectly from snibbit i heard in an interveiw around the time of E3, this is going to be a six part deal... i could be wrong, and i wish i could find said interview, but 6 is the number thats sticking out in my memory, and i've been fallowing this game every step of the way so am pretty confident that i am right.

Apparently it's only a three-part series.

Well, i did say i could be wrong... and i got close..

 

[-Drifter-]

It almost makes me give a shit about the game after they announced that i'll be getting another half assed port 3 months after every loose mouthed idiot on the internet spoiled the entire story. Almost... Nah, fuck those assholes.

Why do people keep bitching about the PC port? Quit your complaining, it was fine, and at least they added something.

 

[cathou]

While I think that the video's very impressive, and it's certainly a striking marketing scheme, I can't help but feel that this is a bit much. Perhaps Ubisoft thinks differently to me, but surely the money would have been better spent on making the game as good as it can (and hopefully will) be, rather than hiring the 300 and Sin City people to make what is essentially publicity a franchise like Assassin's Creed shouldn't need.

they didnt hire the guys that made 300 and sin city, they bought them. Ubisoft aquired Hybride studios some times ago. Expect to see a couple of those for other games too, i know they hired some well knowned tv series creators in Montreal last week to create short movies about video games.