Assassin’s Creed creative director Patrice Désilet has been working for a long time on his new project since leaving Ubisoft, setting up Panache Digital Games and revealing it to the world during Summer Game Fest. In addition to the trailer to reveal 1666: Amsterdam and Désilet’s continuing penchant for hooded protagonists and multiple time periods, the studio also shared a playable prologue with the world, which I was immediately intrigued to try out.
1666: Amsterdam is both new and familiar. The prologue starts with Noa, the main protagonist, walking through the woods to attend her commencement ceremony that will bind her to her familiar and also confirm her as The Collector. Her role as The Collector is to find The Originals, entities that have lived for centuries using their power to corrupt and twist mankind to their own benefit. The Zaindaris, an ancient group, has raised and trained Noa to claim that power back from The Originals that hide in plain sight within Amsterdam.
Key to her ability to fight back against these forces is the Nux, a latent form of magic that Noa can wield. Through the opening walk through the woods, you’re introduced to using the Nux by picking out points of interest and using it to carry out actions – in this demo, this was limited to lighting torches and picking out a feline familiar.
Record scratch, freeze frame, and I bet that cat is wondering how they got into this mess.
The prologue then switches scene and era by jumping ahead to the modern day where Clio meets Professor Lucas in his library. She has been sent to this meeting by her father, Aaron, along with a coded manuscript which she hopes to have deciphered. What follows is a short gameplay segment where Clio walks around the library to find clues in how to unlock the manuscript to find what her father wanted her discover. It’s straightforward as you find the relevant books on certain topics from their corresponding shelves, eventually following their clues to draw out Clio’s own ability to use the Nux and read the message left to her by her father.
Aaron, it turns out, has led a thoroughly unusual life, telling Clio of a city break to Amsterdam he enjoyed with her mother, Agnes in 1999, right on the cusp of the new millennium. It’s pretty clear that Aaron and Agnes are pretty hot for one another, walking through an especially convoluted hotel ground floor to reach their room, where Agnes has prepared a special time with candles, mirrors and a whole ritual. Aaron talks in the narration about his fascination with the ancient artefacts that Agnes has gathered, but that’s clearly not his only interest.
So, anyway, Aaron’s conjugals with a witch get him turned into a cat, and I think you can tell where this is heading. Now able to wander through the hotel with time frozen, it’s fun to be able to leap around, jumping up onto surfaces and over obstacles before heading down an otherworldly corridor and being transported all the way back to 1666, eventually leaping into Noa’s arms.
Of course, Aaron has a lot of questions, but the answers to that will come in due course as the pair of them explore the streets and buildings of Amsterdam to find The Originals from two very different perspectives.
After playing the 1666: Amsterdam, there is a familiarity to it with the Assassin’s Creed DNA showing through. The story is of a bloodline linked through time with players experiencing both the past and present through characters that are genetically linked, and there is a historic struggle between groups that seek to use ancient powers in different ways. 1666: Amsterdam does have potential and the premise is an intriguing one. I had hoped the demo would have shown a bit more of the powers that Noa wields, but at least you get to try out playing as a cat.
Do you want to try out 1666: Amsterdam’s prologue for yourself? Find it on Steam today.
