Ubisoft releases short film to promote Assassin’s Creed II (with video)

As part of the promotion for the upcoming sequel to Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft is presenting a short film based on the characters from the game.

The film is divided in three chapters and will serve as an introduction for the story in Assassin’s Creed II.

The film is called Assassin’s Creed – Lineage and takes place a few years before the setting of the game. Each of the three episodes will follow the father of Ezio – the protagonist of the new game- who is introduced as Giovanni Auditore da Firenze in the first chapter.

The fist episode is about 14 minutes long and it blends CGI and live action to narrate the assassination of an Italian noble. The film also presents some of the key characters of the game as well as game mechanics like the combat using the famous wristblade.

After watching the first episode I am really impressed. I thought it was just going to be a one or two minute trailer for the game but actually it has high production values and nice special effects. The short film was created by Ubisoft-owned Hybride Technologies and it’s no wonder why the film looks so good as this company is responsible for the special effects in movies including 300 and Sin City.

I’m really looking forward to the next episodes and I think these movies are a great way to spread the word about the game and to draw attention towards the franchise. We’ve already seen Microsoft doing something similar with their clips for the Halo franchise and they always help in creating buzz for the game. This blending of different media is a step forward in the right direction for games and I hope more studios realize this and get on board.

Read [USA Today Also read [Destructoid]