GR Pick: 'Assassin's Creed' Ancient China Fan Art; 'Mass Effect' Rendered Using Unreal Engine

Game Rant

By Anthony Taormina

Published Jan 8, 2013

Two clever artists imagine what two popular franchises -- 'Mass Effect' and 'Assassin's Creed' -- would look like in interesting 'what if' scenarios.

As we inch closer and closer to the unveiling of the next generation of consoles, many gamers are already considering what the future might hold for some of their favorite franchises. Obviously, it is up to the developers to decide where to take their properties, but that shouldn't stop creative artists from envisioning their own "what if" scenarios. And that's what we have for you today; two unique takes on potential futures for some high profile series.

The first set of images provide a rather detailed look at what a future Mass Effect title might look like if it were developed using Unreal Engine 3. It's a set of 3D renders of a single character, donning several N7-style get-ups, but there is no motion or facial animation to be found.

Nevertheless the amount of detail present in the character's face is quite remarkable, and puts the design of even OG Shepard or FemShep to shame.

However, as we know, Mass Effect 4 (or the next title in the Mass Effect franchise) will be using DICE's Frostbite 2 engine for development not UE3. After the unveiling of Battlefield 3 blew many gamers away, the use of Frostbite has become almost a standard as far as Electronic Arts published titles go.

It's interesting to see where the series might have gone had it adopted Unreal Engine 3, but that shouldn't diminish how amazing the game could look in Frostbite. Both UE and Frostbite are going to be important tools as far as the next generation of consoles are concerned, and we can't wait to see how developers like BioWare use them.

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In another what if scenario, an Assassin's Creed fan has created a gorgeous set of images that imagine if the series had gone to Ancient China. The designs are pretty rough in some spots, and don't necessarily highlight the signature Assassin's Creed style, but are nonetheless impressive.

Developer Ubisoft has already revealed they would not be averse to travelling back in time, and fans have been clamoring for either a Chinese or Japanese setting since the end of Assassin's Creed 2. It was even one of the 5 time periods we hoped the franchise would head to for Assassin's Creed 3.

That isn't to say that the American Revolution wasn't a rich time period, and Colonial America didn't provide for new forms of traversal and combat, but most were hoping Ubisoft would hit the major temporal benchmarks on the way to the American Revolution.

So if Ubisoft does choose to go backwards with Assassin's Creed 4, which hopefully will be the first Assassin's Creed of the next gen, we urge them to take a look at these images and consider Ancient China. Or if that doesn't work how about feudal Japan?

What do you think of either of the two sets of "what if" images? Where do you want to see Assassin's Creed 4 go in terms of a new setting and time period?

Source: Polycount, DeviantArt - ChaoyuanXu