14 DAY TRIAL // After the launch of the recent InFamous: Second Son, the leader of the development team at Sucker Punch explained that his company was already contemplating the future of the series and that it might try to use a structure similar to that seen in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed and in BioShock from 2K Games.
This basically means that the team will abandon the idea of using the same character and town for the experiences that will be created in the coming years and will deliver a varied series that relies on a number of Conduits, each of them with their own quest, their own powers, and their own challenges to overcome.
The idea has worked well for Assassin’s Creed until now and managed to create a blockbuster series that no longer resembles the stealthy and somewhat limited roots of the Altair-powered first title.
It has also managed to make BioShock a household name for gamers, even if the future of the franchise hangs in the balance after Ken Levine announced that he was shutting down Irrational Games and focusing on non-linear narratives and replayable experiences.
The strategy to create connected experiences that include significant shifts in locations and characters might be the way most teams go when looking to create big franchises for the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4.
And this stands in pretty stark contrast with the way the series worked on the previous generation of hardware, where games like Uncharted, Mass Effect, or Gears of War focused on the same core set of characters and a set of events that spawned the loves of the protagonists.
There are clear advantages to the new approach and it will probably generate more sales in the future while also delivering a raft of varied experiences for gamers.
At the same time, I fear that something might be lost: a feeling of connection and continuity that made some finished series more than simple combinations of mechanics and story.
I cared deeply about Commander Shepard, because through three games I made her mine in so many personal ways and that’s why plenty of other gamers have been so affected, positively and negatively, by the ending of Mass Effect 3.
I am sure I will not feel the same about the hero of the final Assassin’s Creed when that series finally ends and that’s a feeling that I am sorry that plenty of gamers will be unable to experience.