There are few gaming recollections I’ve that invoke real emotions of pleasure and pleasure, however the second I deployed my hidden blade with a fast set off faucet and a wrist flick throughout my Murderer’s Creed Nexus preview is one I’ll always remember.
PCGamesN was lately invited to Ubisoft’s Leamington places of work to take a more in-depth have a look at Murderer’s Creed Nexus, with round an hour of gameplay to discover. Coming off the again of our Meta Quest 3 evaluate, it was an incredible alternative to see how a AAA expertise will look on the newest VR headset.
The preview kicked off by introducing me to the fundamentals of life as an murderer. Stealth, fight, and parkour – a holy trinity that Nexus must get proper if it’s to take a seat alongside its non-VR predecessors. I’m glad to report that not solely do these core mechanics exist right here, however they soar in VR.
Parkour is as easy and intuitive as holding a button and working. In some instances, you will want to work together with ledges and seize factors to take care of your momentum, however this was by no means a difficulty for me, and the extra I performed round with it, the higher it felt.
I performed the complete tutorial with free movement and was delighted all through. There have been no cases of illness or dizziness. You’ll be able to alter consolation choices to fit your desire, however free controls felt very easy, that means I’d advocate them to anybody.
Fight might have been left so simple as the swing and block mechanics that so many VR video games go for, however that is Assasin’s Creed, so it wanted a bit of additional depth. Timing your blocks is vital to opening up assault home windows, however you even have a shoulder cost transfer that may break your opponent’s defenses, leaving them susceptible to a hidden blade finisher. I additionally had entry to smoke bombs, which have been essential for once I was outnumbered in fight.
Stealth, nonetheless, is the place Murderer’s Creed Nexus really shines. Outdoors of the tutorial, I used to be positioned right into a sequence someplace in the course of the sport, in Venice, as Murderer’s Creed 2’s Ezio Auditore da Firenze. The first mission inside this sequence concerned tailing a guard, navigating an indoor market, discovering my manner right into a restricted space, after which stealing a carnival masks.
Sounds fairly easy, proper? Fallacious. Not solely are you tailing somebody by way of the market, however you possibly can’t allow them to spot you. Once I reached the restricted space, I nonetheless wanted to seek out my manner in with out elevating an alarm. Lastly, to acquire the masks, I had the selection of pickpocketing the primary guard or lockpicking the chest containing the masks. Every possibility had its dangers, however I selected to aim the lockpicking minigame. I needed to transfer and rotate each controllers to hit all the rigidity factors within the lock, and the time stress I used to be underneath made it all of the extra exhilarating. The purpose right here is that there’s depth to each aspect of Nexus. I went into this preview cautiously, involved in regards to the scale of the sport, nevertheless it shortly grew to become obvious that that is nothing lower than a brand new Murderer’s Creed title in measurement and scope.
The open map surroundings introduced me with collectibles to seek out, actions to finish, and essential missions to progress the story. No corners have been lower to make Nexus a actuality, and that’s what’s most spectacular.
Inside only a small slice of Murderer’s Creed Nexus, I used to be in a position to expertise so many breathtaking particulars. I’ve already talked about the second I first activated the hidden blade, however the motion is so pure that it was laborious to not crack a smile. Activating Eagle Dives in VR can be one thing any fan would wish to strive, and it’s now doable in Nexus.
I had a smile on my face for the complete hour I spent with Murderer’s Creed Nexus, and I left the Ubisoft places of work desirous to play extra. If this small pattern is consultant of the ultimate launch, we could have simply probably the greatest VR video games ever on our fingers.
Murderer’s Creed followers will discover lots to take pleasure in right here, and doing so from this entire new perspective is one thing I might have solely dreamed of again in 2007. As soon as the Murderer’s Creed Nexus launch date rolls round, the sport has the prospect to show to a skeptical viewers that AAA on VR not solely works, it thrives.
