Originally published February 3, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
Calum Petrie reviews Assassin’s Creed: Uprising #1…
Join us for this game-changing new chapter in the ongoing Assassin’s Creed saga! With the Phoenix Project nearing its completion, tensions are running high for both the Brotherhood and the Templar Order. A new world order is on the horizon and only Charlotte and her new allies have the knowledge and skill to save humanity from subjugation.
SEE ALSO: Check out a preview of Assassin’s Creed: Uprising #1 here
Uprising is a new story but borrows heavily from the lore created within the Black Cross series, though in its own right it is a standalone story. The story focuses equally on the exploits of the Assassin cells and the Templar, and new Black Cross Otso Berg, in the classic Assassins versus Templar story.
The opening sequence of the issue is a heist gone wrong in Hong Kong (sorry for the rhyming scheme), a chase happens and after a lot of carnage and lost fingers; we are introduced to some key characters. There is also a very distinct art style in the issue which is refreshing after reading the very immature styled art work found in the Locus series.
The second group of Assassins are introduced in a strange and confusing manner during roof top exploits in London; it took me a couple of time reading the same page to understand not just the dialogue but also what the hell was actually going on. After my confusion was lifted I realised that there is an entire page of nonsense that does not actually have to be in the story at all.
The last section of the issue focuses on the Templar investigation of what happened in Hong Kong, and some familiar faces from the Black Cross series are in the spotlight for the 3rd act of this issue. Otso Berg steps onto the pages as the new Black Cross and honestly, I was not impressed with his outfit. It looked somewhat cumbersome and bulky for a mythical being of the Templar lore.
Overall I am not disappointed with the issue, but I found a lot of the character introduction fast paced and throwing too much information at the reader in such a short space of time. I feel like possibly these opening issues could possibly being 1.5 times the size of a standard issue to make sure they take the time to get all the character building to a reasonable pacing.
Hopefully the next issue builds a good solid foundation for the rest of the series to move forward on.
Rating – 6/10
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