Raymond: Animus lets Assassin's expand

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 10 March, 2011

Explains move beyond Third Crusade.

Assassin's Creed's Animus, the virtual reality machine that reads a subject's genetic memory and allows them to relive it as an ancestor, helped the phenomenally successful stab-em-up series to expand beyond the limits of the first game's setting.

That's according to Jade Raymond, the producer of the first Assassin's Creed and now managing director of Ubisoft Toronto, the developer currently making the next Splinter Cell.

"I think that whole layer in the present is really the hub for the franchise, and that's what allows us to continue to expand," she told Gamasutra.

"So that explains why we're in a different period, and it explains why some things aren't consistent, like why are they speaking American English... maybe gamers don't mind so much and they're used to those things, or when you die and you get to retry."

The Assassin's Creed series consists of six games set across various time periods, including the Third Crusade and Renaissance Italy, and stars different protagonists.

But underpinning them all is bartender Desmond Miles, who is captured by megacorporation Abstergo Industries and forced to use the Animus to relive his ancestors' memories.

For Raymond, the inclusion of the Animus played a key role in the success of the franchise.

"But I think the most important part of having the animus and the part in the present is really just because it gave that kind of breadth, and it expanded the universe of the franchise so that it wasn't just a franchise about the Third Crusade when we came out," she said. "You know, there was already the idea that it could expand from the Third Crusade to wherever the present is taking place."

The last Assassin's Creed game, Brotherhood, continued Ezio Auditore's story and returned to the Renaissance Italy setting seen in Assassin's Creed 2. Various time periods and locations are rumoured for the next Assassin's Creed game, including a modern day setting.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 1 year ago

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  • menage #1 1 year ago

    I'm happier that the expanded on the gameplay instead of just the periods. 1 was a pretty boring tech demo.
    2 and and especially Brotherhood were such superior games.

    I really don't care much for factual thruths and such when a game entertains so much.
    Edited by menage at 10/03/11 @ 10:39

  • asphaltcowboy #2 1 year ago

    Obvious thing is obvious.

  • cianchristopher #3 1 year ago

    Thanks Captain Obvious.

    I'm pretty sure that most of us figured that out 20 minutes into the first game.

  • rojjer #4 1 year ago

    updated picture of Jade or it didn't happen..

  • Murton #5 1 year ago

    French Revolution or Victorian Britain for next instalment please.

    And please please please don't do a modern day setting, save all the modern day stuff for Desmond's part in the story.

  • nooneyouknow #6 1 year ago

    She has a point is thinking about it far too much - would have happily accepted/ignored the fact that I had gone from crusades to italy. Trying to think of another series of games that jumped locations and time periods without explanation but am far too tired today :(

  • nooneyouknow #7 1 year ago

    She has a point is thinking about it far too much - would have happily accepted/ignored the fact that I had gone from crusades to italy. Trying to think of another series of games that jumped locations and time periods without explanation but am far too tired today :(

  • superflyninja #8 1 year ago

    captain obvious indeed....the devs could say what they like about Christians because they will be forgiven!
    I wont even mention the other religion for safety reasons. (which would appear to be the thinking in Ubi as well)

  • RoOhDaMite #9 1 year ago

    I don't like the whole animus idea. It destroys the whole atmosphere.

  • tancredo #10 1 year ago

    I don't like people. It's my real reason for gaming.

    But I like Jade's comments.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #11 1 year ago

    You don't need a bridging device to change between different historical periods in a game franchise whilst keeping the gameplay the same.

    GTA Vice City didn't need a time travel device to be set in the 80s, did it?

    Still, the animus doesn't do much harm, and at least from Assassin's creed 2 they used it to introduce proper gameplay stuff, with the runes and that.

  • RobertFoster #12 1 year ago

    Mentalist(air) "GTA Vice City didn't need a time travel device to be set in the 80s, did it? "

    GTA doesn't have an overarching story though. Nothing in the GTA stories (excluding cameos) really ties one to another. One link is that the main characters all bad guys trying to be good guys but never quite making it.

  • cowell #13 1 year ago

    I just thought the Animus was a device they added to the story of the first game so they could easily tie the disperate elements and missions of the story together and also justify laying a futuristic HUD over a game set in a historical era.

    Then they realised what they had and ran with it.

  • Golgo #14 1 year ago

    The animus is a very clever plot/gameplay device, I think. Shame the modern day bits and characters are so awful and trite, and the hints at pre-human alien visitation look set to make future games in the series totally forgettable imho.

  • Zamn10210 #15 1 year ago

    RobertFoster GTA doesn't have an overarching story though. Nothing in the GTA stories (excluding cameos) really ties one to another. One link is that the main characters all bad guys trying to be good guys but never quite making it.

    Isn't that exactly the point? What would be so bad about AC being like that? I can't stand the animus stuff myself, there's no reason they couldn't have each game as distinct episodes in its templar-assassin war mythology without the framing device. And the 'justifications' of inconsistencies and game conventions only serve to draw attention to them.

  • menage #16 1 year ago

    I didn't mind the "now" sections in Brotherhood, I actually kinda liked those. The original ones were terrible though

    And I want to know if a Vinci's DLC is any good, hurry up EG
    Edited by menage at 10/03/11 @ 13:00

  • Murton #17 1 year ago

    @ Zamn10210: normally I'd agree, but what started as a framing device has now become a story in itself and I'd like them to run with that. I don't know about anyone else but I really want to know what happens to Desmond after Brotherhood, that ending was completely unexpected and asks all sorts of questions about Desmond, The Apple and other Artifacts, the Assassins and Abstergo and their respective agendas, questions that I hope to see answered in more modern day sequences in the next game.

    The multi-layering of the ancestral-Assassin stories alongside Desmond and the modern day Assassins is quite interesting and the overarching story allows for the use of cliffhangers and other literary devices that a constantly shifting series like GTA can not. Without the layer provided by the animus the series would lose a lot of the depth that make them special, I think Ubi were right to stick with it and increase its importance from the first game.
    Edited by Murton at 10/03/11 @ 13:01

  • Yodith #18 1 year ago

    I essentially just ignore the animus stuff when playing and endure through the mercifully short Desmond sequences. I don't think it really adds anything to the game and stating that it allows them to be adventurous and change setting for the series really is over-thinking it. For most games, simple suspension of disbelief is enough.

  • weebl #19 1 year ago

    [insert random comment about her being a woman]

  • spekkeh #20 1 year ago

    Jade Raymond featured in the kamasutra


    hmmmmmmmmm


    wait what was this about?

  • Iain815 #21 1 year ago

    Am I the only one who actually likes the whole alien plot line and even the Animus shit? Better than half the wank you see on TV these days.