First Episode of Assassin's Creed: Lineage Released

The first Assassin's Creed: Lineage short film has hit the internet today. Developed in-house at Ubisoft by Hybride Technologies, the short films follow Ezio's (protagonist of the upcoming game) father Giovanni who, surprise, surprise, is an assassin. It can be seen as a prequel of sorts to the game, setting up some of the back story and the characters. An especially ambitious PR move, the first short alone clocks in at over 14 minutes.

My first thought was that I am certainly interested in seeing another one. The acting is a bit dodgy and some of the cast at time seem lifeless, but on the whole I think it is a successful short film from Ubisoft. The story is certainly interesting, one trying to show that in this Italy, the hoopla that surrounds the Enlightenment and Renaissance masks some far darker going-ons. Ezio's father Giovanni is an assassin who is working for the current ruler of Italy. A unified Italy he has sought to create is under threat from many enemies, and the odds are firmly stacked in their favour as Giovanni cannot be everywhere at once. As they seek to undermine what he has created, Giovanni also muses over the difficulty of being both an assassin and a family man.

For the most part I thought the action was good; a few comments over at Kotaku expressed the opinion that it needed more blood or was too cartoony, but I thought they got it just right. Giovanni shows off many of the weapons which will featured in the upcoming game and the style of choreography matched as well. It's a patient, opportunistic style of fighting which I thought the short film captured well.

Visually the film impressed, both in terms of costumes and setting, which involved lots of collaboration with the film crew and the game's developers. Giovanni wears the same outfit Ezio does in the game which just looks so cool, especially in this semi-saturated world, the white just really stands out. The shooting was all done in front of a green screen and for the most part, the backgrounds and locations they created looked quite good. There were only a few times when it seemed obvious that the background had been added later (the scene before the Duke is killed stuck out to me), but obviously the budget/schedule was not on the same level as say, a feature film. On the whole I think Ubisoft has created a rather stylish short film which will be judged harshly because it is Ubisoft and because it is Assassins Creed, but in my opinion, will hold up against the criticism. Now for that next episode...