AC Nexus VR Olivier Palmieri Interview: "It's A Proper Assassin's Creed"

After four years of virtual adventures, we’re excited to announce the return of the third in-person Inclusion Nexus at this year’s BlizzCon®!

It's been three years since Ubisoft announced it was working on a VR instalment of Assassin's Creed, and with the game — now officially titled Assassin's Creed Nexus VR — nearing its release, the company has shared an extensive eight-minute gameplay breakdown to get players in the mood ahead of its November launch on Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro.

With Assassin’s Creed Mirage out and successful for Ubisoft, it’s focusing on Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, a spin-off coming to Meta Quest 2, 3 and Pro on November 16th. In a new gameplay overview video, the development team discusses several gameplay features and how VR affects the classic formula.

After years of focusing on expansive open-world experiences, Ubisoft is doing something different with and. refocuses on the franchise's stealth roots and delivering one compelling city as the primary playground, while places players more directly in the shoes of Assassins for a first-person VR experience. Screen Rant attended an preview event at Ubisoft Montreal that featured some hands-on gameplay and conversations with creative forces behind the games.

I’ll admit I entered my hands-on demo with Assassin’s Creed Nexus with a bit of pessimism – could Assassin’s Creed work as a first-person VR game? And then I found myself repeatedly answering that key question with “Yes!” for an entire hour. Not only does Assassin’s Creed Nexus seem to be a full-featured Assassin’s Creed game that incorporates stealth, combat, and parkour, but from what I played so far, each of those pieces works surprisingly well and comes together to capture the entire assassin fantasy with shocking efficacy. I brought a lot of skepticism onto that demo floor, but by the time I left it I was grinning ear-to-ear.

In , the final Head of the Order must be found and eliminated to free Baghdad, which turns out to be the former concubine of the Caliphate, Qabiha. Qabiha is a clever woman, and the Palace is well protected when Basim seeks to infiltrate it. Doing so without getting caught will be easier said than done, and once inside the Palace, it is quite challenging to leave it without being followed by every Guard in the vicinity.

Basim's main weapon in is a sword, so it's important for him to wield one that looks good as he slices and dices through the guards of Baghdad. Unlike other recent titles, alternative weapons like axes or bow aren't present in the game, meaning that one sword or another will remain equipped throughout the entire game. None of the available blades in are entirely lacking in style, but some are more basic than others, making abandoning less glamorous options once others become available to Basim a good call.

A hallmark of any game in the series, Basim must eliminate targets throughout , one of those being Al-Mardikhwar. This target is one of the Order members at the end of the multiple Investigations that began at the Sharqiyah Bureau for the Hidden Ones in Baghdad. Finding and eliminating him will take some creativity from Basim, as well as help from the Rebels.

As you make your way through , playing as Basim, you will be tasked with eliminating several targets with the first major enemy being Al-Ghul.After infiltrating the Damascus Gate Prison early in your attention will turn to eliminating the first of five targets. With the game set in the desert, many of the locations that you will visit are settlements, and Caravanserai set just outside of Baghdad, is the one where you will find Al-Ghul.

Daggers play a big role in , so picking the design with the best looks can have a surprisingly major impact on the game experience. Although each dagger has its own unique stats, it's possible to prioritize aesthetics thanks to a transmog system included in the game. Blacksmiths will change a weapon to have the look of another for the reasonable price of 50 dirham, so it's easy to pick a blade that has the perfect perk and make it look like one that offers a little more flair.

New gameplay is available for Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, Ubisoft’s new virtual reality title in the series coming to Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest Pro next month. Check it out below.

takes plenty of inspiration from the earlier games of the franchise, but that doesn’t mean the series is entirely resting on its laurels. Some areas of the game try to evolve the experience in new ways from its original roots, taking a different direction than the trajectory of previous transformations. One aspect that sees some freshening up is the way that treats quests, and the changes in this particular regard are better than any that have come before, fixing some crucial problems that have long troubled the series.