Assassin's Creed 1 & 2

Assassin's Creed 1 was one of those games that seemed to change the face of gaming. Well, maybe not really, but definitely for me. It was one of the first games that I obsessed over in the months prior to its release - I think I watched that trailer a million times. It was one of those games with such amazing visuals that I could almost believe that it was actual video footage. Unfortunately the gameplay made this game pretty terrible. The second game, which I only just started and then had to pack away at the start of semester (study + xbox = fail) has equally amazing visuals and seems to have better gameplay too.

Anyways, here is some of my favourite concept art pieces:

These images are sketchy and quite rough but absolutely beautiful. I love how even something as small (although vital to the story) has so much attention and time devoted to getting it perfect.

This piece shows the main character more or less like he actually looks in the game - he is so realistic, so human.

I like the symbology in this image too - designing the character and his attire with something like shadow in mind.

The character models were so realistic and detailed - it's definitely worth taking a proper look at.

This is the completed character model.

It is also very cool to see how much effort they put into the townspeople - the people who are just intended to provide some sense of civilization and realism

Again, a lot of attention has been paid to detail when it comes to costume design. This gives you some indication about the immense amount of work that would go into making something like a game where most of these "townspeople" characters would mostly be ignored anyway.

I love this style of digital painting - everything is so rough and sketchy, but gives you a clear idea about who the character is.

One of the best parts of both games is the research that went into the environments - the first game is based in the whole Jerusalem area and its' surrounds, and the towns have been modeled as close to what they actually would have been like according to extensive research. I think that this is so ambitious and gives the game a sense of realism and support - especially considering that the game is 'loosely' based on actual historic events.

The second game has been set all over Renaissance Italy with a similar attention to historical accuracy. These artists and designers have really been able to create a convincing world for the characters.