What Sort Of Sequel Is Assassin’s Creed II?
Patrice Desilets is the charming creative director on Assassin’s Creed II. Despite having worked at Ubisoft Montreal for over ten years now, it is the first sequel he’s ever been involved with. Let’s find out how he decided to follow-up one of this console generation’s best-selling games. My chat with Patrice begins with me relating how at E3 this year I’d asked fellow Ubisoft Montreal creative director Maxime Béland to describe his game, Splinter Cell: Conviction, in just one word. “Panther,” Maxime had said back then, without pausing to think. I tell Patrice I thought that one word encapsulated everything that was different about Conviction, compared to the previous games. So I ask Patrice if he had one word for Assassin’s Creed II. At first, he looks a little surprised. “Two,” he says, after a few moments. Two? I repeat. “No, really. Two. Because for me it’s my first sequel.” I was surprised to learn that, after serving as creative director on Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Patric
