The first ever gameplay footage of Patrice Desilets' 1666: Amsterdam is posted online, revealing the mysterious project's gameplay features and protagonist.

Five years ago, it was announced that Assassin's Creed creator Patrice Desilets was working on a new project with THQ. This project was said to be the new Assassin's Creed in terms of industry impact, but THQ's financial woes resulted in the rights to the game being sold off to Desilets' former employer, Ubisoft. Development on it stalled at Ubisoft, as years of legal struggles kept the world from seeing 1666: Amsterdam, but in-game footage of the title has finally surfaced, not even a week since Desilets regained the rights to the game.

A YouTube user by the name of Brandon Sheffield has posted some footage of 1666: Amsterdam online for the world to see, revealing many details about the project. It looks as though 1666: Amsterdam is an open world title, wherein players take the role of a mysterious cloaked man with a magical cane, who, for one reason or another, kills various people around the city.

The cane's magic allows this cloaked man to set enemies on fire, and he can also use it as a standard melee weapon. However, the most impressive abilities of the cane allow the man to spawn and take control of various animals. This includes a crow that can be used to fly around the impressively-detailed Amsterdam, a cat that can pounce on enemies to cause a distraction, and a rat that is used for a rather clever assassination in the footage. Check it out below.

[HTML1]

Since this is the first gameplay footage that has appeared of 1666: Amsterdam, it seems reasonable to assume that this is just a taste of what the game will entail. It seems likely that players will have access to many more animals to control in the final product, though with Desilets putting 1666: Amsterdam's development on hold in favor of finishing the episodic Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, who knows when we'll ever actually see the final product.

Looking at the gameplay footage presented, however, it does seem like 1666: Amsterdam was far along in development before it was indefinitely delayed. Visually, the gameplay demo is impressive, and wouldn't look out of place on current-gen hardware at all. The animation does seem a little clunky with the animals at times, but that will probably be ironed out by developer Panache Digital Games before 1666 is released. Regardless, 1666: Amsterdam looks like it has potential to be a solid open-world game.

Having said that, in the time since Ubisoft bought the rights to 1666, a game with a similar animal-controlling premise has been announced. That game is Michel Ancel's Wild, which will likely release well before 1666: Amsterdam sees the light of day. Hopefully Wild and 1666 are different enough that they can co-exist, as both games seem like they have some fun, fresh ideas to offer the open world space.

1666: Amsterdam's development is on hold until Panache Digital Games finishes Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey.

Source: Brandon Sheffield