As the gaming community eagerly anticipates the next instalment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, we have more information on Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, all thanks to the insightful leaks brought forth by industry veteran Tom Henderson, John Harke from ResetEra forum, J0nathan who is a reliable source as his leaks turned out to be true on Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and _L3vi3 [A page on Twitter which covers news on Assassin’s Creed franchise].
Without any further ado, let us dive deeper into all the information we already know about Assassin’s Creed Codename Red.
Evolution of the Assassin’s Creed Franchise:
The Assassin’s Creed Franchise isn’t moving onto a new engine but will utilise a revamped version of the Ubisoft Anvil Pipeline Engine. The developers have completely overhauled various aspects of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, including parkour, animations, dynamic weather, and more. Assassin’s Creed series will benefit immensely visually with the addition of ray-traced global illumination and virtual geometry, which will result in better graphics than ever. This is a good thing because games still don’t fully push and use the full potential of “next-gen” or current-gen consoles, i.e. PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Assassin’s Creed Codename Red will be the first game to showcase the capabilities of this new engine and showcase the major and minor improvements and is rumoured to be the last game that has the Fantasy/RPG formula that Assassin’s Creed Origins introduced, which marks this as the beginning of a new era of the Assassin’s Creed franchise.
Gameplay:
The gameplay in Assassin’s Creed Codename Red is rumoured to be a significant evolution from the ones in previous instalments in the franchise. The combat system is still similar to the one in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla but it is going to be more brutal, it is going to be much more gore, including blood and decapitations, which adds another level of brutality that fans expect from the franchise.
Stealth, one of the most important aspects of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, will also play a major role in the next instalment, the system is rumoured to be very reminiscent of the one in the Splinter Cell series. As mentioned before, players will be able to extinguish the torches to hide their shadows and create dark spots. Players can hide in tall grass, hide bodies in tall grass, and sneak through bushes, and for the first time in the franchise, players can also go prone to avoid getting detected by the enemies.
The settlement system that was introduced in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is making a return in Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, which received a mixed reception and apparently, it has been completely overhauled as well, as the players will now be able to build their own hideout, a large scale base which can be customized up to the player’s liking. The hideout will allow the players to build various structures, such as armoury, dojo, alter, and more, all of which can be customized in terms of location, roof design, interior design, interior layout, weapons and armoury display. It will serve as the hub for players to manage their resources and plan what their next move is going to be.
Assassin’s Creed Codename Red’s map size is rumoured to be larger than the map of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla but it will be smaller than the map of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. It will also feature fewer map markers, which encourages the players to explore the world and discover its secrets. Kind of like the Ghost of Tsushima, where the game doesn’t hold your hands, it allows you to explore the game world on your own.
And just like in Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro games, players can utilize grappling hooks to traverse through the environment more efficiently. We will have various stances in Assassin’s Creed Codename Red which will allow the players to adapt their fighting style to various situations, again similar to different stances that are available in Ghost of Tsushima. The NPCs will also be able to defend themselves, adding another layer to the realism of the game and players can recruit enemies as spies, which is another new mechanic, allowing the players to infiltrate enemy ranks and get valuable information from these spies.
Naoe and Yasuke, the dual protagonists of Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, are rumoured to have traits and weapons that are unique to them. Yasuke will be adept at sumo wrestling, on the other hand, Naoe will be a much more agile and stealthy character compared to Yasuke. naval combat and explorations are also rumoured to be included in the game per job listings for Ubisoft Singapore which hints at work on “Naval 3C” for “Assassin’s Creed Red.”
Story:
As we already know, Assassin’s Creed Codename Red will feature a dual protagonist for the second time in the franchise's history, Yasuke and Naoe Fujibayashi. Yasuke’s character is based on the real-life African samurai, and his story has been rewritten to align it with the game’s story and direction. Yasuke was a slave travelling on a slave ship when it was attacked, and he was the only remaining survivor of that ship. He also lost his lover. He was then rescued and brought to Japan, where he learned the way of Samurai and served Oda Nobunaga.
Naoe Fujibayashi is the daughter of the legendary Fujibayashi Nagato, who is considered as one of the three greatest Iga jōnin. Naoe, who is a shinobi, her story, also starts with a personal tragedy when she loses her father when her village comes under attack. Both Naoe and Yasuke’s story begins with personal loss, and both at the start of the game are fierce enemies of each other, but later on, their desire for Japan’s unification sets the stage for their uneasy alliance.
It wouldn’t be an Assassin’s Creed game if there’s no historical figure present in the game. Real-life historical figures will be making their appearance in the game, including Fujibayashi Nagato, Hattori Hanzo (A returning character), Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Kōdai-in (Hideyoshi’s wife), Oichi, Ashikaga, Yoshiaki, and Akechi Kagemitsu, among others. It will be pretty interesting to see how Ubisoft ties these historical figures to the Assassin’s Creed lore.
Release Date:
Assassin’s Creed Codename Red is rumoured to launch in November this year. And that’s not all. It will also have years of post-launch support and content that will coexist with another future instalment of Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe.
The game is being developed by Ubisoft Québec studio, the ones who developed Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. It is rumoured to have its world premiere revealed between May and June, with a launch in Fall/November this year.
Arisa Langunzad, who is a Business Development & Brand Partnership member at Ubisoft, has labelled Assassin’s Creed Codename Red and has the “Biggest blockbuster of 2024” on LinkedIn.
I am very excited about Assassin's Creed Codename Red and cannot wait for the world premiere trailer. This game is going to represent a significant leap for the entire franchise, with a revamped Ubisoft Anvil engine, improved gameplay, new features, and a great compelling story featuring two protagonists. It has everything that it needs to be not only another banger of an instalment in the franchise but kick-start a new era for the Assassin's Creed franchise.