Seite 2: Im Interview mit den Entwicklern von Assassins Creed

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PlanetDS.de: First of all, could you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Gameloft and the people behind the project? What have they done so far?

Philippe Laurens: I’m Philippe Laurens, 3D and Next Gen Division Manager at Gameloft. I manage all the teams worldwide and make sure our games bring the best quality to the players. I was the producer of Brother In Arms DS and Asphalt Urban GT DS.

PlanetDS.de: What is Assassin’s Creed (DS) all about (gameplay/story) and where are the major differences from versions on other platforms?

Philippe Laurens: Assasin’s Creed on DS is a prequel to the Xbox 360 / PS3 game: Altair is a young Assassin. The game will help understand how he became what he is in the consoles game.
The Templars are holding an item, called The Chalice, which could end the Crusades. They are waiting for one of the sides, the Crusaders or the Saracens, to offer the right price. Altair is tasked with retrieving that particular item and so embarks on a quest that will take him all over the Middle East.
The game will reveal more about Altaïr himself, how he became the great Assassin of the X360/PS3 game, and how it became possible he has a descendant in the future… but we cannot tell more, we let players discover this by themselves.
The DS version of the game is more of a platform/action game: assassinations are the key points of the action of course, but the game is more about finding the best path to hit your target, and dodge the obstacles on your path to accomplish this mission (soldiers, traps, riddles etc…).
Even if the gameplay is close to a 2D game, we wanted to keep the “free running” feeling you had on the x360 version. So of course you’ll be able to climb walls, jump from roofs to roofs, dive onto your prey etc… We even wanted to improve this feeling by giving Altair some new items like the grappling hook that will give him the power to overcome huge gaps.

PlanetDS.de: How long did the game development take and how many people are working on it at the moment?

Philippe Laurens: It took us a bit more than a year to make the game. A team of 30 people was working on the project, the greatest number of people we allocated to a project so far.

PlanetDS.de: How long will it take (for an average gamer) to completely succeed in Assassins Creed?

Philippe Laurens: Our playtesters team took on average about 6 hours to complete the game in easy mode. As our team is made of hardcore gamers, you can expect a greater lifespan if you are a “regular” player.

PlanetDS.de: The Nintendo DS touch screen is a perfect tool for action games. What do you think is the reason that hardly any games of this genre have been developed yet?

Philippe Laurens: Well the touch screen is at the same time perfectly obvious feature for an End-user point of view: he/she touches the character to make it move. But on the developers side, it is quite complex to implement. There are lots of small adjustments to make so that the moves are fluid from point A to point B? Should you point to the character and draw a line until where he should go, or should you simply touch the point he should reach? These are very complex questions and that is the answer to your question: not easy to provide an easy and linear action game.
Will you take advantage of the Nintendo DS specific features, like dual screen, touch screen and microphone? How important are these aspects for you as a developer? Do you feel like you are being forced to use these features or do they provide more freedom within the development?
We wanted to draw advantage of the console’s unique controls, and thus decided to use the touch screen mainly through the various mini-games, for instance in the pressure point mini-game on a rhythm-based exercise. Yet, the main controls are done with the classical combo “cross+keys”. It was the best way to keep the controls user-friendly.
You’ll also have to use the microphone on some specific places.

PlanetDS.de: Will there be a multiplayer mode or even online compatibility?

Philippe Laurens: No multiplayer on this game because Altair is a lone assassin.

PlanetDS.de: Can you tell us a release date for the USA or Europe?

Philippe Laurens: Europe: 10. April

PlanetDS.de: What is your favorite handheld shooter apart from your own games, and why?

Philippe Laurens: Well I’m a big fan of Metroid Prime: Hunters, the controls have really been well thought, it’s extremely easy to aim your targets. The multiplayer part was also a great feature: I spent some nights on the game trying to be the best hunter online.

PlanetDS.de: Is there anything you would like to tell our readers?

Philippe Laurens: If you liked Assassin’s Creed and want to know more about Altaïr, this game is for you. If you don’t know Assassin’s Creed, but that you like quality games, this adventure is for you too. We worked really hard to bring the most entertaining adventure on NDS and we really think you won’t be disappointed by the result.

The interview was held by Elisabeth Grunert [Liese] and Nicolas Reinhart [HickLick] for PlanetDS.de.

Thanks to Phillippe Laurens for his kind support.