Assassin’s Creed in VR makes so much sense that it’s strange we’re only getting such a game now. The games literally take place in a machine that effectively puts you in VR, so we’re very thankful that Assassin’s Creed Nexus is not only here but also very good.
Things kick off here with you taking on the role of a modern-day hacker, who’s being sent into Abstergo to try and throw off their search for ancient artifacts that Ezio, Connor, and Kassandra, three previous protagonists, came into contact with incidentally while completing their own personal quests. It’s cool to see these protagonists again, which is just one small part of the joy this game offers.
Set It Up
Before we go into gameplay, let’s quickly talk about settings. Normally, that’s not very exciting, but virtual reality settings are important because, for starters, not everyone can stomach VR for long, and secondly, it’s also a little more physically demanding than other forms of gaming.
As Assassin’s Creed Nexus has you doing a fair bit of parkour, it’d be easy to struggle with the game if you’re not good with heights. There’s a setting for that, though, which always shows you where your floor is to help you keep your brain grounded, even when you’re climbing up high or jumping from pillar to pillar.
There’s also a setting that helps steady your in-game hands. As anyone else with a tremor of any kind will tell you, VR shows off just how bad hand unsteadiness can be, and it can make some games near-unplayable. This setting helps eliminate that as an issue, and it’s an excellent setting for anyone who might struggle to keep their hands still for any reason.
There are loads of locomotion options, too, which means that you can find the one that fits you best. It’s just a good range of settings that offer extra accessibility that we’d love to see in every VR game. So good work Ubisoft.
PARKOUR!
Now, let’s get into the gameplay. You actually get to parkour after you’ve done some sneaking and some stabbing, but it’s awesome, so we’ll go through it first. In much the same way you can hold a button in the normal games, and then your character will find their way forward, the same is true here when you’re running along. It means you just have to hold a button and move forward to feel like an acrobatic badass, and we love it.
Climbing is a little more demanding, though. You’ll need to actually reach up and grab onto handholds to ascend or descend safely. It’s a familiar feeling for those used to VR games, but one that feels very good here. It’s all very smooth and should help people adjust to the virtual world well.
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Being Sneaky
Stealth is obviously a part of the game, too. Again, here we find a little bit of accessibility. When playing stood up, you can crouch by either crouching down in real life, which we always love to do for the extra immersion and also a little bit of exercise, or just by pushing a button. It’s easy to see where enemies are if you’ve marked them by looking at them, and you can tell which way they’re facing by paying attention.
Of course, you’ll come across enemies that just won’t move, and that’s where you can play with sound. You can knock on walls, floors or anything else or throw something nearby to cause a ruckus, making the guards walk away. You can either sneak past them or choose to take them out by sneaking up to them and then holding the trigger button and flicking your wrist to bring out your hidden blades before finishing off the guard in true Assassin’s Creed fashion.
You’ll get caught at some point, though, and you’re going to need to learn to parry to survive. Parrying feels good and is very intuitive, and parrying enough allows you to strike back for some proper damage. It’s all about timing, and it feels just as good as everything else in Assassin’s Creed Nexus.
Tale as Old as Time
The story also delivers here. Even the modern-day stuff feels meaningful and is actually enjoyable because it feels far more true to life because you’re standing staring into the eyes of whoever is talking to you, or you can pace back and forth as you receive phone calls.
It pays off at the end as well, with each character having their own tale to be told and the culmination of everything feeling deeply satisfying. We’re not going to go into much more here for fear of spoilers, but you’ll be pleased with it.
Overall, Assassin’s Creed Nexus is way better than we were expecting. First forays into VR can be clunky and often bloated, but Nexus is trim enough in the main story and experience to be enjoyable but still has some fun side activities to get involved in. It looks great as well, and the voice acting is stellar.
