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Say what you will about video game release cycles but there is something comforting about knowing that you won’t have to wait years for another game in your favorite franchise. Games like Call of Duty are quickly adopting a sports game business model and shelling out new titles every year. By devoting multiple studios to different projects within the same IP, publishers are managing to exploit these properties without necessarily sacrificing quality (arguably). With Infinity Ward and Treyarch each having two years to develop their next Call of Duty, consumers are getting a constant stream of quality games. IP’s like Gears of War and even Fallout seem to be moving in the same direction so I would argue that this is an inevitability and will quickly become the standard in the industry in the next few years.
In a rather surprising turn of events, Ubisoft is the next major publisher to take advantage of this tactic. With the success of Assassin’s Creed 2, there was no question as to whether or not their would be a sequel. What I didn’t see coming was a spin-off series starring Ezio (AC2) as he recruits and trains new Assassin’s in Rome! This past week saw the reveal of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood for the Xbox 360 and PS3 for release this fall. While I am a little weary of this move for the series, I can’t help but be optimistic.
The improvements made with Assassin’s Creed 2 were astronomical when viewed in comparison to the original. Almost every problem I had with the first game was addressed and I felt that the series had finally found it’s footing. The thought of getting another look at the universe is incredibly exciting for me but I think Ubisoft should do several things to ensure the success and continued loyalty to this IP: (pay attention Ubisoft):
- Remember the original plan for Halo ODST? This game should subscribe to that business model. The game should launch at $39.99 and be advertised as a spin-off. There should be no question that this game exists for the sole purpose of expanding the fiction and satiating the masses while they wait patiently for Assassin’s Creed 3.
The details are slim but the fact that this game stars the same character in a similar setting is reason enough to justify releasing this game at a lower price point. Not to mention, I think the game would sell a hell of a lot more copies if this were the case.
As for details, what we do know is that the game will feature a solid single player adventure starring Ezio Auditore and feature a prominent multiplayer mode. The game seems solid enough and the fact that the team responsible for the Splinter Cell Chaos Theory multiplayer are in charge of the multiplayer in this game is promising. While I can’t say that I am completely in support of the decision to make the multiplayer competitive rather than cooperative, they have my attention and I definitely won’t write it off just yet.
It seems that Ubisoft has found a creative way to release a new AC game every year. If this continues, we can either expect another spin-off next holiday or perhaps even an official Assassin’s Creed 3. My money is on another spin-off starring Altair or Desmond though. Either way, the structure of the series has definitely taken an interesting turn and I am eager to see how it turns out.
Any thoughts from our community?
-Nick
Comments
14 years, 6 months ago
Templar vs Assassin's multi-player mode? Could be interesting. I really liked the Chaos theory spy vs mercenaries, and if they can pull it off, this could be pretty fun.
I haven't really heard any real info about Bloodlines, I just hope it isn't a PSP game like the last AC spin-off.
14 years, 6 months ago
I just hope its not so sticky...
14 years, 6 months ago
Assassin's Creed was planned to be a trilogy from the beginning, so I'm looking to hear about AC3 at E3.
Also, they've kind of been doing this, Nick. They did it with Splinter Cell. The first one came out, developed by Ubisoft Montreal, then they gave Pandora Tomorrow to Ubisoft Shanghai while Montreal worked on Chaos Theory. Then the Xbox/PS2/Gamecube/Wii version of Double Agent was given to Montreal while the 360/PS3/PC was given to Shanghai, and then Conviction was given to Montreal.
So while the basic skeletal structure was seen with Splinter Cell, they seem to have truly utilized it with Assassin's Creed.
14 years, 6 months ago
I don't necessarily believe that there needs to be some kind of multiplayer aspect to this franchise.
I'd go into more detail first but I want to explain what happened 2 weeks ago and a past experience before I go into more detail about the new projects that may come out.
When I got the first Assassin's Creed game one Christmas, I was so happy. I'd play it continuously, until I stopped for reasons that I can't recall. I don't know if I got tired of the game or if I just got distracted with other games and played something else. I can agree that the first game had many problems but I didn't see them much as "problems" as they felt more like annoyances, such as the repetitive missions for instance.
Last year I bought Assassin's Creed 2 on Boxing Day. I had seen the good reviews surrounding the game and the fact that it was on sale at the time for $40 was the reason I couldn't pass up on buying it. I tried it for at least an hour the days following buying it, but I just could never get into it. It most certainly went into a different direction in terms of what you could do in terms of gameplay but I never sat down and fully played the game.
Two weeks ago, I looked at my PS3 games and noticed my copy of AC2 on the shelf. I had played other games I owned to death but haven't even touched Assassin's Creed 2 for almost 5 months after buying it and the only time I spent with it was a mere hour or so.
I decided to finally give the game a chance and played it. To my surprise, the first thing that caught my attention was the soundtrack. If there is anything about games that I could say is my favorite aspect, it's the music. Seeing Ezio standing with his brother on top of a rooftop at night while the first song played was just amazing and had sucked me in already. Perhaps giving my full attention to the game this time around made me aware of how awesome the game really was.
This game improved in a lot of ways on how you played the game and I always felt like there was something to do, something to collect and earn. The story was interesting in a sense that I love when games take real life events and such and mix them with a fictional flare of some kind like the Metal Gear Solid series for example. By the time I finished the game entirely, I felt satisfied with a game that I hadn't probably felt since I finished MGS4 for the first time. It was the feeling of a story and universe with characters that sucked me in. It made me feel and relate to the characters. I played an adventure that made me not want to put my controller down. I was sad to see the game end. But it was clear, I should have played this game much sooner.
I most certainly have to go back to the first game now and finish that too. I mean I understand that I probably won't get the same satisfaction playing the first one like I got playing the second game but I realized that I shouldn't overlook games anymore because of certain things that may turn me off because I might miss out on games t
14 years, 6 months ago
Well I doubt I can follow-up that last post, but thanks for the update Nick. Rome sounds like an interesting location and I'm anxious to see what they have in store for us there.
14 years, 6 months ago
...Is that a mini-crossbow I spy on Ezio's back?
14 years, 6 months ago
oh gawd .. I don't want mulitplayer.. I just want an epic story with new characters and new time periods,. To me it seems like they couldn't agree on where/when they wanted to make the third game (remember all the fuss about someone saying that it was going to be in WW2) I wanted to play as an assassin in Japan or something like that.. hmm.. I'm going to buy the game anyway, course I think the story is really interesting ^^
14 years, 6 months ago
"With Infinity Ward and Treyarch each having two years to develop their next Call of Duty, consumers are getting a constant stream of quality games."
Ya, MW2. Nothing says quality more than a poorly written mess of a 6 hour campaign and a multiplayer mode riddled with bugs and exploits for months after release. But hey, it prints money.
Sorry if Im being a cynical dickhead, Nick. But its just that your overwhelmingly positive outlook at a sports game business model being applied to other franchises kind of blows my mind. Being a gamer that actually plays sports games AND other games(shockingly) I have witnessed and been annoyed by the marginal differences between the annual releases of sportsgames. Its just awful for the most part, but because of roster updates its kind of worth it for the truly enthusiastic sportsgame fan.
Sure, a long development cycle doesn't equal to better quality games (sup ff13, sup Two Human and your 10+ years of being developed into a piece of shit) but annual releases or even bi-annual releases is not something I am extremely cynical towards. And this is based on how I have experienced previously from this sort of business-model.
With that said, this AC game looks promising. But I wont blow my load all over it quite yet.
14 years, 6 months ago
"but annual releases or even bi-annual releases is not something I am extremely cynical towards."
this was meant to say "is something I AM extremely cynical towards". -not.
obviously
14 years, 6 months ago
Bi annual releases for single player games aren't much of a problem as long as they scale the prices properly and carefully pace the story in each installment. While AC is a great IP with a strong fan base, I really don't think it's in -this- franchises best interest to shovel a new installment out every other year. Otherwise they run the risk of the story becoming stale and having portions of their core audience lose interest.
Another negative to churning out a new installment annually, or even bi-annually for that matter, is that if one of the core gameplay aspects is online multiplayer then you're very likely to fracture the community of players who are devote to said series.