The Future of Assassin’s Creed at UbiForward 2023 Part 2 - Assassin's Creed Codename Jade
Breakdown
Banner by Thea Marie Rivedal (Moonchildgecko) from TOWCB Art Team.
Welcome to the second part in a new series breaking down all of the Assassin's Creed content presented at Ubisoft Forward 2023.
In part two, we take a look at Assassin's Creed Jade reveal!
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This title from Ubisoft & Level Infinite will be the first open-world RPG on mobile, taking players to Ancient China in the year 215 of the 3rd Century BCE; the Qin Dynasty. This places the game between AC Odyssey and AC Origins.
The trailer opens in a dark room containing the historical Terracotta Army as the narrator defines “Legacy” as learning from the triumphs and mistakes of those that came before us.
An Assassin who represents the player walks through the army to the door, closing the cinematic with the image at the top of this section, and how players will make their own Legacy.
We can see from this shot that the character wields a Chinese officer’s sword, a dagger, and a Qiang (spear) while looking out at the Great Wall of China, the set piece for this game (though it wasn’t opened until 220 BC, 400+ years later)
A series of landscapes are shown from mountain ranges, nomadic camps, farmlands, and cities. This provides a vast array of areas that players will be able to explore and the various peoples that reside in each. Based on the size of the city shown, it appears to be a capital city, most likely the imperial city of Xianyang (from AC Jade’s website) due to the size of the fortress in the top right of the 4th image. These cities will most likely be where the Assassin’s Bureaus are housed and where players can purchase needed weapons and gear.
This is followed by a shot of the character performing a Leap of Faith. You can notice the blue colored sash around the player waist which indicates that this is an Initiate or Apprentice (like Basim in AC Mirage). Could this be upgraded to the red color “Assassin” sash as players level up and progress in the story?
The character is shown firing multiple arrows at once. This could be an ability that is unlocked, or a reference to different bow types such as the multi-shot Light Bows that we have seen in past RPG titles.
The Assassin climbs the Great Wall of China, showing vertical leaps to traverse the larger gaps between hand holds.
Combat is displayed in a one on one with a Heavy Guard wielding two maces while the character performs a series of attacks with their daggers.
Another shot shows an air assassination in action as the player descends on an unaware enemy. The woolen hat and lack of armor makes me think this is either a local guard for a village, or a Xiongnu raider.
The action continues with a series of combat abilities from an enhanced Qiang sweep that may or not be an Isu Artifact (most likely just a powered ability like AC Odyssey)...
To a pole vault kick…
And an air attack (similar to the Dive of the Valkyries from AC Valhalla) using a giant axe, which also informs us that there are more weapon types that can be unlocked or used than just the ones from the cinematic trailer.
The gameplay trailer ends on the Codename Jade Logo and the website to register for the closed beta (here).
On the website, the navigation banner has three sections that change to a Chinese character when the cursor hovers over each button.
Home:
Featured The character has a similar appearance to the Chinese character “Qi” which translates to “strange” which may be a way to show that this “stands out” or in short “is featured”.
News most likely a combination of the characters for “Xìnxī” which translates to the characters “remove + interest” or “information”.
The “Home” page is where the trailer and link to register for the closed beta are located and when you scroll down, you are moved to the “Featured” page with notes on the game.
Journey through 2000 years of history in ancient China (possibly an indication of how long the content may cover)
Explore the path of “Xia” in the first unified empire of China. (Xia stories are one of the major heroic traditions in Chinese literature*)
*from @xuetingni (Twitter) personal website (here)
Protect your home from Xiongnu* raiders behind the Great Wall.
*The website spells this as "Xionanu" which maybe a misspelling.
Experience the blooming trade and cultural exchanges between East and West in the imperial city of Xianyang.
Codename Jade is marketed as an “Iconic Assassin’s Creed Experience” with gameplay and features on mobile, for free.
Lastly, the “News” section links to an article that provides more information on the game.
Built on Unreal Engine
Free-to-play on iOS and Android
Players will follow the path of “Xia” as an adopted child of Master Assassin, Wei Yu (who is enshrined beneath Monteriggioni in AC II and Brotherhood.
Codename Jade will allow players to fully customize an avatar for the first time.
Weapons include Qiangs, double swords, and bows.
Further information is to come from the newly established social media sites such as the @AC_CodenameJade on Twitter. I am personally excited to try the Closed Beta and hope I am able to get in.
About the Author
Mike Smith is a collector of all things Assassin's Creed and a major supporter of transmedia who joined TOWCB as a writer from 2021 - 2024
With nearly a full library of Assassin's Creed media, his work explored the universe in order of Genetic Memory.
Notably, his Assassin's Creed Timeline became an essential tool for fans of the franchise looking to complete their collection and consume AC media in a particular order.
Michael Smith