gods, the monsters, the legends, the
myths are all great, but building an
Assassin’s Creed game limits what you
can tap into. We started thinking, what
if we made something that’s 100 per
cent mythology?”
Described as a ‘storybook
adventure’, Gods & Monsters is framed
as a tale the poet Homer is telling tohis grandchildren. That’s reflected
in its light-hearted world, the Isle
Of The Blessed, a colourful, vibrant
land that couldn’t be more inviting,
despite an abundance of gorgons and
harpies. You play the hero Fenyx, a
fully customisable character equipped
with the magic items of the gods and
invested with mythical power.
“We designed Odyssey with special
abilities, so we took that and put it on
steroids for Gods & Monsters,” says
Dumont. “When you’re fighting and you
trigger your abilities, you’re going to
wreck the enemies you’re facing. You
can expect fast-paced combat that
takes place on the ground and the air.”God’s gift
Those same items and abilities will
play into exploration, too, allowing you
to access new areas. The Boots Of
Hermes, for example, grant a double
jump – not only can that be used to
leap up for a strike at a cyclops’ eye,
or at a dive-bombing harpy, but also to
reach high areas and thereby open up
more of the island to explore.
It’s hardly revolutionary stuff, but
it’s looking to come wrapped in an
exceptionally charming package. And
despite its grounding in well-worn
mythology and foundations formed
out of Odyssey, the team’s keen to
stress this is a truly different direction
for the team.
“Starting with a blank page is very
exciting for us,” says the game’s
senior producer Marc-Alexis Côté.
“Bringing our open-world skills that
we’ve been honing for the last ten
years working on Assassin’s Creed,
and having the chance to work on this
blank page to create something new
and fresh, is very exciting for me.” QAfter the sprawling epic that was
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, you might
think Ubisoft would be done with
the world of ancient Greece. Not so,
apparently – though not connected
to the AC series, this new action RPG
dips right back into the classical
world, and comes from the same
development team, Ubisoft Quebec.
This time, though, mythology and
magic are front and centre as you
battle monsters in service of the gods.
“What was cool about diving into
a setting like we did with Assassin’s
Creed Odyssey was that you start
to know quite a bit about it,” says
creative director Jonathan Dumont in
an interview released by Ubisoft. “We
really connected with the mythological
aspects of ancient Greece. TheThe game even has the same consultant historian as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – Dr Stéphanie-Anne Ruatta, an expert in mythologyBELOW The
villainous giant
Typhon has
unleashed
monsters on the
divine isle.
Gods &
Monsters
Ubisoft’s second trip to ancient
Greece follows a new creed
Robin Valentine
PUBLISHER UBISOFT DEVELOPER UBISOFT QUEBEC
ETA 25 FEBRUARY 2020“We really
connected with
the mythological
aspects of
ancient Greece”
PREVIEW
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