pREviEW
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
seeminglyopaqueonpurpose,forcing
youtouseyourprimalinstinctstofigure
thingsout.Ilikethisintheory,butIthinkit
coulddowithalittlemoreinthewayof
hintsabouthowexactlythingswork,just
toeasenewplayersin.
Admittedly,whenIdidfigure
somethingoutthesatisfactionwas
immense.WhenIspearedmyfirstfishina
riverwithapointystickIfeltlikethe
smartestapealive.Andwhenyouachieve
somethinglikethis,itcontributestoyour
evolution,andyoucantryandadvanceto
thenextevolutionaryepochatanytime–
althoughyou’llbeheldbackforany
mistakesyoumake.
Ifelloffacliffwhiletryingtoscoop
honeyoutofabeehive,andIthinkthatset
myevolutionbackquiteabit.
“It’sallaboutyou,man,”saysDésilets.
“Youdecidehowyouwanttoevolveand
howfast.Ancestorsisagamefullof
systemsthattalktoeachother,andyou
goandyoucreateyourownexperiences
throughthosesystems.Evenifyoucan
seetheMatrixlikeIdowhenIplayevery
day,unexpectedthingscanstillhappen.
Thisbigapeisinsideyou.It’sallthere!
“Somehow,wearereadytosurvivein
thejungle.It’llbetough,butit’sinus.In
thefirstprototypethegamewasmore
explicitabouttellingyouwhattodo,but
nowyouhavetofigurestuffoutby
yourself.Andwhenyoudo,it’san
epiphanymoment.Itreallyis.
“Ourjobasgamemakersistoensure
anythingaplayerthinks,oranyideathey
comeupwith,isaccommodatedbythe
game.Butwe’rewalkingaline.Arewe
sayingtoomuchortoolittle?
“Atthisearlystageitneedsrefinement,
butit’saconsciousdecisionforpeople
playingthisgametorelyontheirinstinct.
Someplayersprobablywillbounceoffit.
ButI’mnotworriedaboutthat.Some
peopledon’tlikeTheBeatles,youknow?
Whenitcomestocreativeprojectsyou
can’tpleaseeveryone.”ConfoundexpeCtations
I ask Désilets if making a unique, slightly
bizarre game like this is easier now than it
was back when he worked on the first
Assassin’s Creed. “I don’t need to sell 25
million copies to make a buck these days,”he says. “That helps! But people tend to
forget that the first Assassin’s Creed was
pretty out there too. I mean, I made a
game about the Crusades, politics,
religion, and one that was also set in the
future and was a science fiction story.
Even with Sands of Time, Ubisoft had us in
a small booth to the side at E3. They were
like, ‘What the hell is this game?’.
“I’m not a good game designer,” he
continues. “I do my thing, and it takes a
while for it to make sense. In AC1 you sit
on benches and you walk in crowds, man.
It’s not a game about running around
killing people with hidden blades. There’s
some really intense dialogue in there.
People tell me it taught them things about
life. Last year a game designer told me
that Assassin’s Creed inspired him to get
into the industry, and he described it as a
Trojan horse, and he was totally right.
“You have the word ‘assassin’ in the
title, but people forget the ‘creed’ part.
Players come in thinking, cool, I’m gonna
be an assassin! Then they realise that it’s a
bit deeper than that. We trick them. And
it’s the same with Ancestors. We’re still
those big apes, but now we’re in a
controlled environment. Biologically we’re
wired to survive a harsh environment, but
now that doesn’t really exist. So we invent
a harsh environment.”
“There are no leopards running
around. But we have anxiety and we have
this [points to his stomach] because when
we get some sugar, our brain tells us we
need more, because you never know
when you won’t have it. That’s the
primitive brain at work. We don’t have to
hunt, we just go to the grocery store, and
that’s not good for us, man! It’s not all
about these deep themes, though. Playing
as an ape is just fun. But they’re there.”
Ancestors isn’t out till next year, and
it’s clear it still has a way to go in terms of
polish and communicating its systems to
the player. There are, at least, some early
tutorial missions to illustrate some of the
basics, including using your sense to
detect smells and sounds. This ability lets
you sniff out fellow apes, dangerous
animals and landmarks that can be
settled. I also found the tree-climbing a
little clunky and frustrating, especially
when I’d fall to the ground, break my legs,
and have to limp around or sleep until they
healed. But I can’t fault its imagination,
and I’ve never played anything like it
before. Désilets is wildly passionate about
the project and I think with some
refinement, it could be pretty special.
Andy KellyBiologically we’re wired
to survive a harsh
environmentThis is as high as I
managed to climb.