Assassin’s Creed Nexus review – an exciting leap of faith into VR

My time with Murderer’s Creed Nexus was filled with gaming reminiscences I received’t overlook any time quickly. As a fan of the Murderer’s Creed franchise, I had conflicting emotions of optimism for the sport Nexus could possibly be and doubt over whether or not it was a mistake to leap into the VR model of a world I already adored. Fortunately, my issues have been rapidly rebuffed as a result of Murderer’s Creed Nexus is such an unbelievable expertise that I’d go so far as recommending shopping for a Meta Quest 3 to strive it out for your self.

Murderer’s Creed Nexus brings a completely unique story to the Murderer’s Creed franchise, one that’s canon to all different video games within the collection and focuses on life each out and in of the animus. I used to be blown away by the size of the sport throughout my Assassins Creed Nexus preview, and happy to understand that the spectacular scope is utilized to the complete model of the sport.

Whereas not an open-world sport, Murderer’s Creed Nexus presents a set of enormous, interactive maps which are a pleasure to discover, even when the objective-driven content material doesn’t cowl each inch. Stepping again into the boots of Ezio, Kassandra, and Connor felt pure. The story-driven reasoning behind why it’s these three assassins that characteristic, and the way we’re capable of expertise their historical past regardless of not being a part of their bloodline, is convincingly defined..

I received’t be going into particular story particulars, however I’m conscious of the sturdy function the narrative performs in gamers’ curiosity in Nexus. Fortunately, the story is nicely put collectively in all elements, with every thing from the Abstergo grasp plan to every murderer’s situational storytelling being a pleasure to comply with. My solely gripe is with Connor’s story, which is the weakest of the three. Nevertheless, this might boil all the way down to my very own lamentations over Murderer’s Creed 3.

You tackle the function of a hacker, tasked with taking down Abstergo from inside. You’ll have the assistance of returning characters Rebecca and Shaun, who might be your contacts inside the Brotherhood and provide help to keep undetected as you discover the reminiscences of Ezio, Kassandra, and Connor. Nexus additionally brings us a brand new character, Dominika Wilk, voiced and portrayed by Morena Baccarin. The solid as an entire sees numerous acquainted voices returning and it’s simply one other string to Nexus’ bow that helps it slide seamlessly into the Murderer’s Creed mythology.

Many story missions are break up into a number of goals that may be accomplished in any order at your individual discretion. This stage of freedom encourages exploration and discovery but additionally does wonders for serving to the story develop. You’ll be able to listen in on characters who could reveal essential info that can assist you together with your goals or study extra a few character whom you have got but to come back up in opposition to. This technique of storytelling actively took a lot stress off my playthrough, that even on the 15-hour mark, nearing the tip of the marketing campaign, I by no means felt the necessity to rush to completion.

Gameplay is the lifeblood of Murderer’s Creed Nexus, however it all begins with the consolation settings. I performed with the complete immersion settings, that means there have been no assists or restrictions in place. The settings are splendidly detailed, permitting for both full newcomers or VR veterans to tailor the gameplay to their wants, however I consider the perfect expertise lies within the full immersion mode. It is because you might be in full management of each side of your murderer’s motion and actions, and it helps the sport circulate so a lot better. Strolling the streets of Venice, waving at civilians who will gladly wave again, is much extra immersive than teleporting from spot to identify and clunkily rotating your view in 45-degree snaps.

The gameplay in Nexus depends on three pillars: fight, stealth, and navigation. Stealth is the place you’re going to really feel the exhilaration of Murderer’s Creed Nexus. Sneaking round, slowly tilting the percentages in your favor as you reduce the energy of enemy forces is as satisfying as I hoped it could be. Whether or not you utilize your throwing knives, bow (or crossbow for Ezio), or the hidden blade, you’re going to have enjoyable dwelling out your Murderer’s Creed fantasies as a member of the Brotherhood.

The pure pleasure the hidden blade introduced me was infinite, and from begin to end I used to be by no means bored of flicking my wrist out to disclose it earlier than pouncing on an enemy. You additionally produce other strategies at your disposal, together with whistling to distract enemies and utilizing terrain to both air assassinate or pull enemies from rooftops. Stealth in Nexus is splendidly carried out and mechanically sounder than among the finest PC video games I’ve performed in recent times.

Navigation performs an enormous function in how Murderer’s Creed Nexus comes collectively, however that is the one space the place I discovered some elements buggy or troublesome to take care of. Parkour usually is improbable, and the mechanics carried out are surprisingly just like what you get within the mainline Murderer’s Creed video games. You run, maintain A, and look to the place you need to bounce to subsequent. There are quirks, in fact, as you stick an arm out to swing on a pole or lengthen to seize a ledge, however it all works tremendously nicely.

Climbing, nonetheless, is the place the weaknesses present. I usually discovered that my Murderer’s grip would loosen even when the enter on my controller hadn’t modified. I additionally struggled to get the launch mechanic to work, which helps you attain greater ledges and climbing factors. It could seem to be a minor inconvenience at first, however being caught within the climbing tutorial for 20 minutes making an attempt to get it to work dampened my expertise.

Thankfully, these have been the one points I confronted with the three core gameplay mechanics, so there have been way more moments of magic than frustration. Mirroring the likes of Murderer’s Creed 2, Nexus has you counting on blocks, parries, and counters greater than brute pressure. The earlier you notice this, the more practical your encounters might be. After progressing via a portion of the story, you even have entry to smoke bombs to vary the course of battle or make a fast escape if needed.

AI enemies aren’t a problem in one-on-one conditions, however issues can get tough if you end up outnumbered. One occasion of a bug I discovered in fight was throughout an early mission the place I used to be being hunted. An enemy appeared and a survival countdown began, however the enemy didn’t make any try to maneuver in the direction of me and assault. I accomplished the mission by standing nonetheless for 30 seconds. Once more, that is one bitter second that’s massively outweighed by good ones, and hopefully might be patched for the complete launch.

The world of Murderer’s Creed Nexus lives and breathes, and exploring Historic Greece, Civil Struggle America, and Renaissance Italy is really breathtaking at instances. The Meta Quest 3 manages to course of these maps with relative ease, with a substantial draw distance actually promoting the size of the world round you. Granted, you might need to discover a battery answer for lengthy classes, as I usually drained a full battery in just below three hours of gameplay with a couple of breaks between missions.

What actually helps Nexus shine is the facet content material you possibly can interact with alongside the story. Parkour challenges, hidden coin collectibles, and taking pictures actions can be found to assist lengthen your time in Nexus. For the die-hard followers of the franchise determined for the final word Murderer’s Creed VR expertise, you possibly can climb towers and carry out a leap of religion. The love, care, and a spotlight to element in Nexus is worthy of commendation all by itself, not to mention the very fact all of it comes collectively in a clean and pleasant expertise.

Nexus isn’t good, and that’s okay. Between the problems famous above, and a few moments of graphical glitches or monitoring often letting me down and requiring a restart, it by no means had a powerful destructive affect on my time with the sport, and I even have to contemplate that these are points that could possibly be fastened when the complete sport is stay.

Murderer’s Creed Nexus is a very new sport within the franchise, performed in a completely new format, that manages to determine itself as the most effective entries within the collection. It’s very uncommon {that a} sport collection exists on PC for over 15 years, and makes the shift to digital actuality look seamless, serving to Murderer’s Creed Nexus seem to be it belonged there all alongside.

Nexus is a particular sport for me due to the nostalgic characters, immersive and recognizable world, and efficient software of VR to acquainted core mechanics, however newcomers won’t discover as a lot to cling to, resulting in a extra formulaic – if nonetheless spectacular – expertise. The story depends on returning to relationships you’ve constructed throughout the course of Murderer’s Creed 2, 3, and Odyssey, which was superb by me.

Murderer’s Creed Nexus is among the finest VR video games you possibly can play at this time. In case you’re a fan of the collection and have to know whether or not you need to be seeking to buy a Meta Quest 3 headset simply to play it, the reply is sure. After all, there are many different video games to dive into, however if you happen to’re toying with the thought, Nexus is purpose sufficient to take that leap of religion.