When I heard that Ubisoft was developing a VR Assassin’s Creed game, I wasn’t sure, but interested to see how it would pan out. Since Assassin’s Creed games tend to let players loose in a sandbox and require them to complete missions in their own way, using horizontal and vertical movement and a wide range of weapons, I admit to being a little concerned that the VR version would have to scale back many of its key elements. But after having a chance to play Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR for an hour on Meta Quest 3, I’m impressed with the direction the game is taking.
Because Nexus VR feels like a true Assassin’s Creed, perhaps more so than many of the latest iterations of the series. Unlike what Mirage often attempts, this game truly goes back to the roots of the franchise as it takes you to ancient Greece as Kassandra, Italy as Ezio, and America as Connor, through filled with bonus side missions ’s sandbox location works and sees you climbing and parkouring through levels with plenty of verticality, using tools and weapons to dodge and destroy enemies.
In the gameplay clips I tested, I was transported back to Renaissance Italy and into the shoes of the famous Ezio as he, along with his friend Mauricio, embarked on a journey through embarrassment and exasperation. They come to attract the target’s path. The demo spanned about an hour in length and had me chilling out in a sandbox level in Nexus VR, and it didn’t end with a real major assassination, but I did get a feel for how stealth is provided, how movement and climbing work, and what combat looks like. The design, of course, also had to make a surprisingly non-scary leap of faith or two.
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Anyone who has played VR games before will immediately notice the similarities to how Nexus VR works. By choosing between different comfort options, you can move Ezio using the analog sticks or by teleporting, and can wander around the level as you see fit, interacting with objects, opening boxes, picking up bottles and throwing them Go out and distract the guards, etc. The game is built so that you can even crouch to become more invisible by using the controller buttons, or you can actually crouch manually to get the same effect.
This is delivered in two different ways when it comes to rock climbing and parkour. You can climb just like in almost any other VR game, by reaching out, grabbing ledges, manually pulling yourself up, and so on. You can interact with most environments in Nexus VR, but there must be a clear grab spot to climb, similar to how Assassin’s Creed games have always worked. If you want to start parkouring through a level, just hold down a few buttons and use your vision as a directional indicator, and the game will jump and rig onto ledges and rooftops. The problem is that some jumps require you to reach out with your hands to grab a ledge if you’re too far away, so while parkour has a degree of automation, you can’t take your eyes off the ball.
Looking at stealth, this feels like a more advanced version of what Mirage wants to be. Since this is a first-person game, you can’t rely on third-person perspective to peek around corners, you have to do it by stretching and body-peeping while avoiding the gazes of the guards, who seem better than anything I’ve ever seen from this There have been better, more realistic-looking Assassin’s Creed games in a long time. In keeping with the theme of the series, you can use the Hidden Blade to dispatch unsuspecting victims, whistle to draw them closer, pickpocket key items from NPCs, and even use lockboxes. However, since Nexus VR is a VR game, it lacks some of the more advanced features found in PC and console games, such as the ability to pick up and hide corpses, which means killing people in this game is usually a last resort. Thankfully, the stealth product does allow you to blend into groups of NPCs or hide in haystacks and bushes to avoid prying eyes.
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If stealth fails and you are discovered, combat is also very similar to other VR melee games. You can reach to your right hip, draw a sword (or Connor’s battle axe), and use it to parry enemy blows, then counterattack when they tire or are knocked unconscious. You can grab your chest and use a throwing knife, which is an excellent silent killing tool, or you can reach over one shoulder to equip a crossbow with arrows stored behind the other shoulder. If things get too hectic, you have a smoke bomb on your left hip, perfect for a quick escape. Then there’s the essence, the Hidden Blade, which can be activated with a flick of the wrist and can be used for executions in combat and silent strikes from behind.
However, all of this is good, but what surprised me the most was the combination of movement kit and level design. Nexus VR doesn’t have an open world like other Assassin’s Creed games, but it does feature open sandbox levels that allow you to explore as you see fit, climb viewpoints to assess the surrounding area, find collectibles that add historical depth, and side objectives and missions. , like timed parkour challenges, which means the core story is only part of the time you can fill up. There is indeed a lot to do.
The solid performance on the Meta Quest 3 (the framerate remains stable) and the graphics are fine for a VR game, to the comfort options provided by Ubisoft to allow VR sufferers like me to customize the gaming experience so dizzy. Without the motion sickness spoiling the fun, to the core design elements that really feel like Nexus VR has taken the series back to its parkour and stealth roots, this game really has a lot of potential. I will say that this may be because it is a VR game and the levels I experienced were not as lively and busy as the PC and console AC games. Likewise, the story did not seem to be the strongest point of the game. But if you’ve been waiting for a chance to really feel what it’s like to be an Assassin and not just step into the shoes of these iconic characters, but actually become them, Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR hopes to be when it launches on November 16th What a great place.
