Tag Archives: Abstergo

Yes, there is a new PlayStation and it stands to reason that Ubi-soft would be there trying to cash in on a relic item. Yes, it is time to use the Assassins Creed brand to pass of some buccaneer’s game.
First, let’s look at the good part. The graphics! There is no doubt that the graphics are of an entirely different level. This game, in that regard stands out, or perhaps better, the PS4 does. They took Abstergo to another field and I must admit that this part works out. So as we get into the game we see the first Island which is the intro; it shows one small flaw which AC always had when you try to manoeuvre a running person. I reckon that this is just what it is and that is fair enough. So, we see the intro where we climb, where we look and synchronise. Yes, it looks like an Assassin’s Creed game. Now we go into that ruddy Prince of Persia approach and we have to run after another person and of course we miss and we synchronize. The first irritation comes. Now we go towards the sneaking which is fair enough and we slaughter. That is the intro! We now know how to proceed.  I have no issue with this part. It is not the worst part in teaching a player the controls of the game.

We swim to the boat and the next stop is Havana!

So here we need to deal with the graphic people of this game. The intro showed that they were good, but here we have evidence that they cheated! I accuse those graphic designers that they traveled back in time, the used their Handycam to film Havana and then they just rendered it. It looks THAT authentic. It must be said, graphically the AC series never disappointed. This is just way beyond that! Walking through the streets is a joy. We now get the repetition of viewpoints, which in truth is the one repetition I do enjoy. We see groups of dancers that we can hire (that is what they seem to call courtesans in Havana in 1715 apparently) and there are others around. We need to save pirates, to get them to become part of the crew and we need to chase shanties like the pages of an almanac. The one idiotic part I truly hate! At least in this game they are much clearer to see. We see the return of the pigeon nests for assassination jobs. We have seen it all before and there is no new part so far. Beyond the graphics this game is to be regarded as redundant! The stupid part (as I see it) is that if Yves Guillemot had thought this trough (always blame the guy at the top), he could have made it into a legendary pirate game! Veering away from the AC logo, whether it was Abstergo founded or not could have made this a truly great start, now it is a faded repetition at best. The unworthy end of what was once a great brand. I get the issues they have since Watchdogs has been delayed, but this could and should have gone a lot better. So, as I moved through several chapters, I see the missions for what they are, utterly repetitive! Apart from the graphics there is nothing to different this from Assassins Creed 3, which was already a letdown of what was once a great brand.

If I go over all of this, then what was unique has evolved into nothingness. My reasoning in this is? Well, when you try to get all kind of groups into one game, you end up pleasing no one at all. This is what I personally think had happened. Instead of pleasing a group, they wanted to please the AC group, the Prince of Persia group and the slice and dice group.

The reason why this angers me is because this could have been a truly great game (and it currently does NOT deserve the 89 rating Gamespot gave it). Consider this could have been a Pirate RPG. The elements are mostly there. This could have been the true Pirate game that Sid Meier wished for (but was stopped from making due to the technology in the 80’s). There is another side to all this. That side is actually Gamespot. I do not always agree with their ratings, but for the most they are within a certain scope. This rating is way overboard. Perhaps the relentless advertising of this game on Gamespot (whenever you refreshed the browser window) had something to do with it. I am not kidding! For weeks Black Flag was the ONLY trailer we got to see. Perhaps their deck was stacked?

It related to all this because the hype for a fake game had to be maintained (for the shareholders).

What could have been the start of a third line of RPG, one that would show Bethesda that they are not alone in the RPG field, turned out to be slightly less than mediocre. Ubi-soft had turned the coward card (IMHO)! This is likely due to an age where the billion dollar company needs to appease the shareholders (who mostly are clueless on games). That wild step, if they had taken it, might have been proof why Ubi-soft had become so big. And it could have been a legendary launch for the PS4. Yet, no! It had to be bland and repetitive. I reckon that Watchdogs might soon be the last big hit if the game actually delivers on the hype that we were shown. Because from what I saw, Ubi needs a big win in a massive way. However, no matter what, the one team that did truly deliver in this game was the graphic team. They are the only reason that this game stands out at all.

There will be another consequence for them. If the game ‘Thief’ does indeed deliver next march, then those who turned to the AC game because they loved Thief, will walk away from the AC ‘brand’. If that happens, what will be the consequence for Assassins Creed as Ubi-soft did not step up to the plate when they were supposed to do? Time will tell!