What parents need to know
Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR is a virtual reality stealth action-adventure game. The player takes on the role of a hacker tasked with infiltrating the ranks of Abstergo Industries, a conglomerate of multinational corporations and the public front of the Knights Templar. The player-character, actually hired by assassins Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane in order to sabotage a project called “Nexus Eye”, is a dual agent who is tasked with visiting the memories of Ezio Auditore, Kassandra, and Connor in order to find fragments. They will then have to place bombs in the memories in order to prevent Abstergo Industries from accessing the fragments in order to reconstitute a powerful computer that would give great power to the Knights Templar.
Ezio Auditore’s memories take us back to Venice in the midst of the Italian Renaissance, while Kassandra’s take us back to the island of Delos, Greece, in 405 BC. Connor, on the other hand, takes us back to Boston at the beginning of the American Revolution. Assassin’s Creed Nexus, thanks to these characters familiar to fans and connoisseurs of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, brings an interesting new aspect: the opportunity to play as these assassins in first person in an immersive context. The game also allows players to experience a connection with the Animus in an immersive way, where players will rediscover the sounds, visual artifacts, and special atmosphere they will recognize from previous games.
As the levels progress, the player is called upon to infiltrate places without being detected, climb ramparts, perform parkour to avoid obstacles, fight and, of course, assassinate targets with the famous assassins’ secret blade.
Details
Level of experience required
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The player takes on the role of an assassin, so there is violence. However, there is no very graphic cruelty, torture or gore.
The only texts present are for navigating the menus. All notes found during the game are read aloud by the character.
The player takes on the role of a character who has a noble purpose and seeks to accomplish good, but the means to achieve this are morally questionable.
The game is very comfortable and offers different levels of difficulty as well as several settings for accessibility. Virtual reality beginners can play and have fun without much difficulty.
Local game modes
The game is a single-player story, the only mode available is the story mode. However, it is possible to replay levels at the player’s will. An internet connection is therefore not required to play, but is suggested in order to save progress to the Ubisoft Connect account. Three levels of difficulty are offered.
Online Game Modes
None.
Expansions/Add-ons (DLC)
No.
Our opinion
Our main concern with the game was the visual comfort, since in all games in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, players are led to jump, climb and run while avoiding obstacles, which can be extremely unsettling in virtual reality for beginner and intermediate players. The game was tested with settings reserved for the most experienced players, and even so, after an hour of play, the whole thing remained comfortable and did not cause discomfort or dizziness, which is a notable accomplishment. The features are well-calibrated and it’s easy to grab onto building ledges and pull yourself up ramparts, crouch to hide, and parry blows during fights, which adds significantly to any VR experience.
Fans of the Assassin’s Creed games will find the user interface icons they are used to, which makes it possible to quickly acclimate to different situations. We quickly understand when a guard has seen us, or when he is looking for us. The climbing holds are also easy to see, which is also a challenge in virtual reality games of this genre, easily overcome here. In addition to all these familiar elements, new VR-specific features have been added, including hacking features in video calls, which challenge the player’s dexterity in small, immersive puzzles that require the use of space and depth to solve. The game also offers many accessibility settings, especially to accommodate players who are easily dizzy and those who play in a seated position.
Another interesting and often unheard of aspect in virtual reality is that the game lasts between 12 and 20 hours, with a total of 16 levels. It’s a complete game that offers content that is well suited to virtual reality, while offering a lot of quality content, since the graphics are also very nice for a game that is played directly on the headset and does not require a computer or console. The game also allows players to choose whether they are playing a character with a male or female voice, which is also too rarely done in games, especially in virtual reality, and adds to the immersion.
All in all, the game offers an effective and exciting immersive story and the immersive experience is very well done. Not many franchises can boast a successful virtual reality adaptation, but Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR has definitely risen to the challenge. However, if you have absolutely no experience with the Assassin’s Creed franchise, we suggest starting with one of the other console games. This game is not a good introduction to the concept. There is little explanation as to who-what-how, the player is presumed to know a minimum of the basic elements and context of the Assassin’s Creed games (Brotherhood vs. Templars, Abstergo Industries, the Animus, the Secret Blade, etc.). However, the game will certainly delight fans of Assassin’s Creed and virtual reality: the experience is enjoyable, well thought out, well executed and definitely worth a look.
Since it’s a virtual reality game, it’s not recommended for kids under the age of 13, but given the first-person violence in an immersive setting, the game is probably more suitable for players 16 and older.
*This game was offered to us for free for review purposes, but this does not affect our opinion.
