Assassin’s Creed games have always been about that rush of vertical exploration, scaling towering cathedrals or monuments to soak in the view before leaping off with style. But Assassin’s Creed Odyssey faced a quirky hurdle: Ancient Greece just didn’t have the kind of tall buildings that make climbing so satisfying.
Ban Hall, the world director for Odyssey, explained in Edge Magazine that the franchise is a “climbing-frame game,” where moving up and down through spaces is core to the experience. This works perfectly in cities like 19th-century London in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, where towering buildings give players endless vertical playgrounds.
But Ancient Greece? Not so much. The Parthenon, while iconic, is only about 14 meters tall, kinda short for daring assassins wanting to go from dizzying heights. So the team had to get creative.
The solution? Giant statues. Drawing inspiration from wonders like the Colossus of Rhodes, the developers added colossal statues based on mythology and history, giving players epic new vertical spots to climb and look at. This added a fresh twist on the usual parkour routes and gave players fun distractions during their quests.
Hall mentioned that these statues weren’t just random additions; they worked closely with historians to keep things grounded in fact, but still took a fantastical approach to create those “wow” moments for climbing.
Honestly, it’s pretty clever. Without those tall buildings, the game could’ve felt a bit flat in its vertical gameplay. Have you ever wondered how game designers tackle real-world limitations? Ubisoft’s workaround here is a neat reminder of the creative problem-solving behind the scenes.
