Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy

Overview

Project Legacy is a Facebook RPG where you take on the role of an Abstergo Industries recruit. Much like the other Assassin's Creed games, you're tasked with reliving the genetic memories of individuals, many of whom appear to be assassins. The game concentrates heavily on the history and storytelling that the other games in the series are known for, providing players a chance to explore the "truth" behind historical events and characters in the series. Project Legacy is divided up into "chapters", each of which allows you to relive the genetic memories of another person.
 

Gameplay

Like many other Facebook RPGs, Project Legacy is primarily text-based. Players are presented with missions (events) which consume Action Points (AP)
 to complete. To reach full synchronization on a memory, players must repeat the same event several times. To keep continuity, the dialog about the event changes with each successful completion, making it seem more like a series of events rather than a continuously repeated one. Completing events rewards the player with florins (money), XP and items. The amount of AP available to the player is dependent on the level of their character, and AP is regenerated consistently over time (1 AP every two minutes.)
 
Some events may require these items to complete. While some items need only be bought or found once, others are consumable and will be taken out of the players inventory when used. These consumables may be bought or found in other events, and can occasionally be crafted using Project Legacy's item crafting system, provided the player has the items required to craft.
 
The player is also able to find rare "Mnemonic Sets" when executing certain events. These sets, when all pieces are found, can be combined for certain effects (such as 20% increase in florins gained for 20hrs.) The "Auditore Trail" set, released with the "Rome Pack" expansion, allows the player to unlock the Venetian and Florentine capes for Ezio in Brotherhood.
 
The player is also able to purchase various territories, which earn them a set amount of florins per hour. When purchasing the territories in the "Rome Pack" expansion, the player can gain a one-time monetary increase when first purchasing the same buildings in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
 

"Italian Wars" Chapters

When the game launched on Oct.11th, it contained four chapters set in Italy, one of which allowed you to relive the memories of Mario Auditore. 

• Chapter 1: Bartolomeo d'Alviano
• Chapter 2: Francesco Vecillio
• Chapter 3: Mario Auditore
• Chapter 4: Peretto Calderon

 

"Rome Pack" Expansion

On Nov. 15th, Ubisoft released the "Rome Pack" chapters to coincide with the release of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. As they take place in Rome, these chapters contain a lot of references to Brotherhood, such as memories involving all of the Templar agents used in Brotherhood's multiplayer mode, as well as other characters Ezio Auditore meets or hears of over the course of the game. 

• Chapter 1: Fiora Cavazza
• Chapter 2: Giovanni Borgia
• Chapter 3: Francesco Vecillio
• Chapter 4: Giovanni Borgia

 

"Holiday" Expansion

The week before December 25th, 2010, Ubisoft released the "Holiday" expansion. The expansion introduces a set of memories that reference historic events that took place on or near Christmas, while simultaneously tying them in to the Assassin's Creed fiction. These events include the Christmas Truce of 1914 during which there was a ceasefire on the Western Front of the first World War and the landing of the Beagle 2 on Mars in 2003. The expansion also introduced a new set of territories for the players to buy and several new achievements. 

• Chapter 1: Ghosts of Christmas Past

 

Leveling Up

When the player has gained enough XP, they level up and earn points to distribute into four stats:

• Conflict: Gain 1 max AP for every 10 points of conflict you have.
• Intrigue: Gain a 1% florin increase on missions for every point of intrigue you have.
• Shadow: Gain .2% chance of finding an item for completing an event for every point of shadow you have.
• Knowledge: Gain 1 crafting slot for every 10 points in knowledge you have (up to a max of 10 crafting slots.

 
In addition, the total number of available AP increases as the player levels up.
  

Player vs Player

Project Legacy features a basic skirmish system which allows you to battle against other players. After choosing a target from a list of players at a similar level, the game determines the winner of the skirmish and awards them XP and florins. Before choosing a target, a player can see their odds of winning a skirmish. The more favored the other player is, the more XP and florins you stand to gain from winning. Skirmishing deducts 6 AP per skirmish. 

 
 

Alternate-Reality Game

Several components of Project Legacy resemble an Alternate-Reality Game, or ARG. When the player first starts Project Legacy, they're treated to a questionnaire performed by Abstergo Industries, which asks you several questions about your perception of history and the truth. Your answers, as well as the answers that you give to other questionnaires at the end of every chapter, will impact the emails that you receive in-game from Abstergo agents. You can also respond directly to these emails, though it's not apparent that anyone actually reads them.
 
There are some mysterious events that occur in Project Legacy that you will receive emails about in-game, such as whether or not you have received any emails from a mysterious correspondent named "Erudito." Frequently, Ubisoft employees will post on the discussion boards leaving cryptic messages or clues in-character, thus lending to the appearance of partially being an ARG.
 

Uplay Cross-Game Integration

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Project Legacy is it's integration into Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. By performing certain tasks in Legacy, players can unlock content and perform tasks for Brotherhood from within the game. For instance, unlocking the "Auditore Trail" Mnemonic Set in Legacy unlocks the Venetian and Florentine capes for Ezio to wear in Brotherhood.
 
When the player unlocks the ability to build an Assassin's Guild in Brotherhood, Project Legacy's most important cross-game integration features become apparent. The assassins you recruit can be leveled up and trained from Legacy as opposed to having to use them in the game. You can also have them participate in contracts in Legacy, which will provide you with more direct control over their fate and whether or not they complete their mission.
 
As of December 8th, Project Legacy features Uplay achievements and unlocks that will contribute to your Uplay points, assisting in unlocking Uplay content across other Ubisoft titles.