Books

hits and myths Travel back to Ancient Greece and explore its reconstructed ruins with Ubisoft’s art book

By working with historians the directors were able to recreate the era’s lost glory

Author Kate Lewis Publisher Titan Books Price £30 Web www.titanbooks.com Available Now

The unique angle of the Assassin’s Creed games involves transporting players to the past and Ancient Greece is the destination in the series’ latest instalment, Odyssey. For the game’s creators, this setting posed unique challenges and creative opportunities: with so much of that world reduced to inchhigh ruins, how do you make an environment that’s both playable and credible?

In their foreword to this art book, Ubisoft art director Thierry Dansereau and Assassin’s Creed world director Benjamin Hall reveal that by working with experts and historians they were able to recreate the era’s lost glory. And in the process of their research, they discovered artistic blessings that would take the release to spectacular new heights.

Following a prologue that sets the scene by outlining the Greek victory at the Battle of Thermopylae and the climates players will encounter, the book’s 13 chapters cover key cities and locations. Snippet-length history lessons are interspersed with a closer look at characters from the game, following their development from digital concept paintings all the way through to refined heroes.

Thanks to insights from the game’s artists, we learn that mythology and research both had a hand in determining the look and feel of certain elements in Odyssey. Weaponry, ships and architecture have a consistency about them that clearly communicate the academic legwork that’s gone on behind the scenes.

A game set in Ancient Greece wouldn’t be complete without mythological horrors, and thankfully The Art of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey doesn’t disappoint. Here we see Ubisoft take on old favourites including Medusa, the minotaur and the cyclops, with each one finding innovative ways to nod back to their origins, along with the odd embellishment thrown in.

Storyboards from a scene set on Mount Taygetus provide the rawest insight into the creative process, with the majority of the art in the pages appearing to have come from the end of the pipeline. But when the finished art looks as sumptuous as it does, it’s hard to complain that we don’t see more of the process.

The art team designed six land-based biomes to help them create the look of the Ancient Greek environments. One version of player character Alexios, painted by Gabriel Blain.

Artist Hugo Puzzuoli reveals he painted dead horses, red light and the burning city to create this scene’s dramatic mood.

Concept art of player character and mercenary Kassandra, as painted by Yan Li.