Everyone knows Jack Quaid as a Hollywood actor, better known for playing Hughie in Amazon Prime’s The Boys, Richie in Scream V, as well as a multitude of voice work throughout the years.
We last saw him on our screens in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, but even more recently than that, he’s been walking around the offices of Ubisoft’s San Francisco branch, and after a long hands–on with Assassin Creed Mirage, was kind enough to talk to us about all things gaming, but primarily his experience with the latest stealth–based offering.
The most important question of the whole interview… how was your time with Assassin’s Creed Mirage? Was it everything you wanted it to be?
Yeah. No, of course. I mean, it’s kind of a childhood dream to get to come to Ubisoft and play one of their games. I essentially grew up with the Assassin’s Creed franchise. I remember when I was in middle school, I’d have sleepovers with my friends and we’d all be playing Assassin’s Creed.
I’m a big stealth gameplay guy and I love that. This one is kind of a throwback back to the roots of the original games. I loved all the games, but the original games hold a special place in my heart. It was great to kind of you know, do that old style of stealth gameplay, and the parkour it really brought me back in a really really nice way.
You’ve actually begun to answer my next question already, but one of the marketing taglines is that it is closer to the originals than perhaps Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla were. So in your opinion, is this closer to the tales of Ezio and Altair?
I tend to do that. I answer all questions at once, but I’d say so, yeah, and those were the characters that I really, you know responded to [when I was younger], and and with this one, Basim, it feels very similar to those characters in the sense that you know… They’re a person who is kind of an average guy in that universe and kind of gets recruited to this incredible order. It’s a it’s a really fun time. Yeah, it really did get me back into the you know, the feeling of those games.
I loved Ezio and Altair and those sandboxes were you know, obviously not the hugest things in the world but they were so dense and that’s what I really liked about this sandbox was that it just felt dense, lived in, and very fun to play around in.
So what was the favorite moment of your time with it?
I gotta say it was the stealth gameplay. I’m really a sucker for sneaking up behind people and either, you know hitting them with the hidden blade or choking them out. These are the most violent things I’ve ever said in an interview… but no, I’m a really big fan.
I think it’s cuz I’m six foot three and I’m huge and would never be able to pull off stealth in real life. I think that stealth gameplay, to me, is always my favorite option. I’m a big bow–and–arrow guy whenever that’s an option. I’m a big blow dart guy whenever that’s an option as well.
Out of all of the Assassin’s Creed games, what would you say is your personal favorite and why?
Probably two for me personally just because I thought the character of Ezio was so fun. I loved being in that world. I love being in Italy. I thought just thought his kind of brash, cocky persona was such a fun, breath of fresh air in the world. And yeah, you get to hang out with like da Vinci, right? So that was incredible.
I also had a really good time with Assassin’s Creed 3 in America during the Revolutionary War that one was very very fun as well. And you know, actually, sorry, I’m saying all of them now, but I really liked Assassin’s Creed Black Flag because you know… pirates. What’s not to love?
A couple of years ago. You actually tweeted your top 10 games of all time. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you but you said: The Last of Us; The Last Of Us Part II; Sly 2: Band Of Thieves; Red Dead Redemption 2; Journey; Super Smash Bros: Melee; Halo 3; Bioshock; Legend of Zelda: Breathe of the Wild; and Batman: Arkham City. Has that list changed at all in the last couple of years, especially with what we’ve had this year?
It’s constantly evolving. It’s like it’s a constantly evolving list. What have I played recently… oh, I just got into Hollow Knight, which absolutely blew my mind, I think that might be getting up there. I have a Cuphead keychain as well. So that’s probably up in there as well. It’s a constantly moving target though. Like half of those games that you said I’m like, “Oh yeah, I forgot that was in my top ten”, but yeah, gaming has been pretty damn good for the past year.
As we’ve said this year has been one of the best years for a long while for gaming, but in your downtime, what have you been playing?
Let’s see Hollow Knight and Cuphead as I’ve said. I’m a big Apex Legends guy. That’s kind of my multiplayer game of choice. It’s funny, I’ll fall out of it and I’ll get right back into it like three months later in a huge way, but I get my ass kicked most of the time. I’m not gonna lie, but it’s but it’s a very, very good time.
Yeah, and I’m honestly I’m just excited for this [Assassin’s Creed Mirage] to come out as well. I really do love sneaking around man.
Would you want to be in more video games, after your extensive voice work over the years?
Okay, I got you. I would be I would love to be in more video games I was in The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of Mordor, forever ago. That was like my first and only game. So I play your son in that, the main character’s son. I think I die in like the first 15 minutes, but yeah.
And would you be involved in Assassin’s Creed given the opportunity?
Well, here’s my pitch for me as an assassin in Assassin’s Creed. The protagonist would be alive during the Irish potato famine and I’d be the most Irish assassin you’ve ever seen. I will not be good at sneaking around because I’m huge, but that’ll be a gameplay mechanic and I think the audiences will really respond to that.
So your pitch for a stealth–based video game would be to be huge and unable to perform stealth well?
Yeah, but all the mechanics would technically work, but as soon as you pop out from like some shrubs, everyone’s like “Whoa, you’re gigantic” and you don’t really hide well in shrubs either like sometimes if someone’s like not really paying attention, then maybe you can get away with it, but you’re gonna see my head and all my you know, all my curly hair poking out from from the shrubs.
Assassin’s Creed Tall Irish, that’s the working title.
Can you do an Irish accent though?
No, that’s the other thing of the game is that I will do a very terrible, borderline offensive Irish accent that everyone will hate. And you will give it a bad score, this pitch is not going well… everyone’s shaking their heads in the room here.
I don’t know, we here all have a soft spot for intentionally bad, B–movie–esque, borderline offensive content. Easy ten from us. Lastly, with regards to Assassin’s Creed, obviously, there have been a lot of time periods over the years, but what would your perfect time period be and why?
I mean, I think they talk about all the time, but I’d love something set in Japan. That’d be amazing. I’m not sure exactly what time period, but the past in Japan, I would love that. Man, a good time period I would love as well… I know they’ve done Revolutionary War, but I would love something in the Old West. I’d be a fan of that. Yeah, no, I would say Old West would probably be my top one yeah, that and Feudal Japan.
And there we have it, that was our time with Jack Quaid talking about Assassin’s Creed Mirage, gaming in general, his favorites and him being a “little sneaky boy”. Assassin’s Creed Mirage is due out on October 5th on all major platforms. Keep an eye out on October 4th for our review, and be sure to let us know what you think of Jack’s comments, especially his top ten!
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