Exclusive Assassin's Creed Q&A

GamePro's Lunchbox sits down with Jade Raymond, Producer of Assassin's Creed, for an in-depth look at the inspiration behind AC coming to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

GamePro: What was the inspiration for Assassin's Creed?

Jade Raymond - Producer: Patrice Desilets our Creative Director as well as some other key members of our Creative team read a book about the Assassins and then started to do a lot of research about the clan and the 3rd crusade. The more we discovered about these people, the more we wanted to make the game. Even the Assassin Motto "Nothing is True, Everything is permitted" fits the game medium perfectly. We developed our main character, Altair as a forward thinking missionary of sorts, on a mission to end the 3rd crusade.

GP: It's hard to imagine an American game publisher developing this title. Do you think your location in Montreal has played a key role in defining the character, story, and subsequent gameplay?

JR: Being from Montreal I'm obviously a little biased but anyone can see that there's a suspicious amount of original media coming out of the City these days. A lot of the most innovative games have been coming out of the Ubisoft Montreal Studio but similar things have been happening in film with movies like Crazy and in music with bands like The Arcade Fire, Chromeo, Wolf Parade and The Dears. Being neither the US nor Europe but rather a mix of both, I think we are constantly trying to define our own culture. That and living in an igloo through sub-zero weather forces indoor activity and creative reflection.

GP: What was Ubisoft's reaction when you pitched the game concept?

JR: You know, one of the truly amazing things to me about Ubisoft is that the executives have a lot of confidence in their teams and are willing to take creative risks. Assassin's Creed is one of the biggest next gen project at Ubisoft and yet the creative direction was not driven by video games trends, it came from Patrice and the creative team. Ubisoft Executives did challenge us on the potential and relevance of the concept several times but they always remained open to our input and ideas. In my opinion it's this balance between creative freedom and market considerations that create the best products.

GP: The idea of playing as a Muslim Assassin is extremely progressive. What role (if any) will religion play in the game?

JR: First and foremost it's important to note that historically the Assassins were only nominally Islamic. They had their own philosophy - quite different from that of the Crusaders or the Saracens and did not ally themselves with either side. Since they were a sort of mystic secret society almost nothing about their actions or cause can be confirmed. This historic ambiguity has allowed us to portray the Assassins as a forward thinking group with the single objective to stop the war. Knowing that our subject is controversial by nature we have dealt with religion as a purely historical background element. We can not completely avoid religion because it was the impetus for the war. We have however worked with cultural experts throughout production to make sure that we treat sensitive topics with respect. In Assassin's Creed, Crusaders (and the Saracens) are not the Assassin's true enemy. War is - as are those who exploit it.

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