I’ve done a lot of memorable things in VR this year. I have climbed mountains, commanded hundreds of little people and even rowed across the ocean in a kayak. with assassin’s creed nexus vr, I’ve got to add another virtual accomplishment to that list: I’ve jumped down on top of an unsuspecting guard and plunged a hidden blade into his throat with pinpoint accuracy. And I’m a little worried about how happy I am with it.
Ubisoft has been a long-time supporter of early VR eagle flightBut assassin’s creed nexus vr The publisher was found to be taking a complete leap of faith in technology. This isn’t another virtual “experience” based on one of its popular IPs, but a full-scale Assassin’s Creed game that has everything you’d expect in its console counterpart. Small-scale recreations of historical locations include hidden stealth, parkour, lock picking, pickpocketing, death-defying jumps and even a treasure trove of collectibles. What’s missing is an abundance of open world – and that’s arguably its best quality.
assassin’s creed nexus vr This isn’t just a powerful use of virtual reality; This is one of the best games from Ubisoft in years. By cleverly working within the limitations of the technology, the tired Assassin’s Creed formula got the rejuvenation it desperately needed. Ubisoft may be committed to delivering massive open-world games with machine-like efficiency, but its heart may just be in VR.
in animus
assassin’s creed nexus vr Abstergo puts players in the middle of an operation to retrieve lost artifacts from the past. It’s a loose MacGuffin story that’s actually meant to justify the “greatest hits” setup, as players assume the form of three classic assassins: Ezio, Cassandra, and Connor. Each has its own set of missions in its own era and share the same basic mechanics, building on each other in interconnected stories. Each chapter takes place in a small explorable city filled with collectibles and optional challenges such as a timed parkour gauntlet. The primary objectives are the same as they would be in any Assassin’s Creed game: infiltrating protected locations, swiping on key items, and assassinating targets.
What’s impressive here is how much of the Assassin’s Creed formula has been retained in one smooth structure – and how great much of it sounds. Parkour is as simple as holding down the A button to magnetically zip between landing spots, allowing me to run across the rooftops of Italy with ease. I can easily climb any building by grabbing the ledges with the side triggers of my Meta Quest controllers. In a breathtaking climb I had to climb the masts of a huge ship, walking carefully across ropes to reach a scouting point.
Almost every piece of the formula memorized over the years improves physicality. Take stealth, for example. When I enter rooms full of guards here, in real life I find myself kneeling on the ground and hiding behind barrels to avoid enemy sightings. Everything seems so intuitive that I hardly need a tutorial. I know how to pick up and throw an object to distract. When I go to mark a guard, I just have to look straight at them for a second. I’m more of a person actively moving around, rather than someone pressing buttons to simulate it.
That emotion drives most of the series’ signature kills. When I quietly sneak up behind a suspicious guard, I flick my wrist to extend my hidden blade and stab them in the back for an instant kill. I feel like a sociopath when I say this, but that action alone is one of the most satisfying things I’ve experienced in a VR game to date. When I complete a Connor mission that ends with a public hanging and killing the executioner in front of the crowd, I feel like a killer in a way the series has never accomplished before.
Not every piece is that clean. The entire fight can be tricky, as I need to swing my sword or ax at the right moment to avoid attacks. I still can’t seem to find the right timing between detecting inconsistent motion, causing me to attack wildly to take out my enemy. Advanced platforming techniques can also be confusing. The swinging motions that required me to throw my arms in a certain direction to jump between distant footholds often left me at the bottom of the pit. I have many times fallen to my death due to an arm being unexpectedly severed from a ledge.
Those bad moments seem small in the grand scheme of things assassin’s creed nexus vr, because Ubisoft has introduced enough small details to make up for those shortcomings. I love the idea of holding a bow behind one shoulder and an arrow over the other, making a perfect shot that takes out a Bostonian patrolling the rooftop in the distance. There is a simple joy in climbing over the side of a boat, grabbing a guard’s leg and pushing him into the sea to kill him quietly. Even little things, like using my hidden blade to cut the rope from the alarm bell, make it feel like the most intense VR adventure ever. Half Life: Alex,
assassin’s creed nexus vr This feels like the future for Ubisoft, a publisher that has struggled to keep its signature “map game” design fresh in recent years. Forced to tone down the tiring open-world busyness, Nexus spends more time providing satisfying, in-the-moment action. Every old idea I’ve had hundreds of times, like swans diving into hay bales, feels completely new in a physical context that makes me feel like I’m inside the animus. If you’ve long missed that magical spark that made the early entries so special, nexus vr Will take you back to the past and the future in the same euphoric breath.
assassin’s creed nexus vr Now available on Meta Quest headsets.