Ubisoft faced a major challenge while developing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: the architecture of ancient Greece was totally different from that of London or Paris, and this brought unexpected problems for the developers. While Hellenistic temples and ancient buildings are undeniably impressive, they didn’t offer the same climbing playground as Syndicate’s or Unity’s urban environments.

The Assassin’s Creed series has whisked players away to countless legendary cities and historical settings. But it turned out that one of these locations was much tougher to adapt than expected, as the team realized that Greece’s structures simply couldn’t compete with the parkour opportunities in London or Paris. This difference created fresh challenges for Odyssey’s gameplay.

Ban Hall, world director for Odyssey, explained in Edge magazine (via GamesRadar+) just how essential verticality is in these games: “Verticality is very important, especially in Assassin’s Creed games. These are really climbing games, all about moving players through spaces, up and down.” This mechanic has been front and center since the very first installment, making vertical movement a pillar of the experience. But ancient Greece forced the team to get even more creative.

With Syndicate, developers had a much easier time thanks to London’s iconic, towering buildings that made for perfect climbing routes. In Odyssey, though, things were different: “A lot of the buildings and points of interest we built were much smaller,” Hall noted. Hellenistic temples and public areas were visually stunning, but didn’t naturally inspire players to climb like the buildings in Syndicate or Paris in Unity.

Hall continued: “That’s where the idea came from to put giant statues around Greece. They were always based on mythology or history, with lots of research and historians involved. But we took a more fantastical approach to the scale, giving players something epic to climb. It became a kind of distraction—you might be on your main quest, head to another city, spot a statue and think, ‘Hey, I want to check that out!’ Suddenly, you’ve got that climbing, that verticality again.”

Rumors about an Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remake are becoming more and more frequent

Meanwhile, rumors about an Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag remake are picking up steam. While Ubisoft hasn’t confirmed anything, there are hints from a collectible figure company, the lead actor has weighed in on the speculation, and Ubisoft has been tweaking the Steam version. The community expects news from the team behind The Division soon.

Source: 3djuegos