Assassin’s Creed III Naval Battle Trailer: By George, How Big IS This Game, Anyway?

Posted on August 18, 2012 by geelw

Between the open world exploration across a few choice (and massive, excellently detailed) locations and these spectacular-looking (and rather speedy) sea battles, it looks as if Assassin’s Creed III will be keeping a few million gamers quite occupied for a while before they even touch the multiplayer content on the disc. Me, I’m a story guy first and foremost, so I’m highly impressed by what I’ve seen so far and that includes the Vita game that’s an entirely different story altogether. That October 30 release date is rushing up fast and I’d bet this game will keep a lot of you gamers who normally head out on Halloween inside scarfing down that candy you’d intended to pass out to trick or treaters…

By the way, here’s a new Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation trailer in case you need another good reason to get a Vita. This just might be the best game on the handheld to date and for quite a while, the largest in terms of scope.

Video Game Appreciation 101: Nintendo DS (New Additions)

Posted on July 20, 2012 by geelw

I need to do this on a more regular basis like some of my other fellow game bloggers (you know who you are, but I need to list you guys on my sidebar at some point today), so here you go, six new DS games added, all picked up quite cheap.

Aliens: Infestation is a pretty challenging side-scrolling shooter/adventure from WayForward Technologies (makers of some of the best “retro” style games out there) and Gearbox Software. Hop aboard an alien packed Sulaco as a squad of Marines as you search for survivors in this sort-of sequel/side-story to Aliens. With a limited number of squad members available (one they’re dead, they’re gone for good), some mean bosses that take a bit of work to put down and a decent amount of replay value, it’s not a bad game at all if you’re a fan of this sort of game.

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Splinter Cell: Blacklist ‘Pop-Up’ Video: Ubisoft Might Want To Shoot A Few Of The More Irate Fans, Too…

Posted on July 18, 2012 by geelw

Boy, try and make a new game in a hugely popular series without dragging along EVERY element from previous entries and watch the more stick in the rear fans fearful of change scream and struggle as if they’ve been tossed into a burlap sack, then the back of a moving black van. Maybe Michael Ironside was unavailable, wanted too much money or hell, wanted to move on from the character he originally voiced for a bunch of games. Maybe Ubisoft wanted someone “younger” sounding for this installment. Eh, whatever. all this reminds me of is how things often work out in Hollywood in terms of sequels. Keeping in a Tom Clancy vein, how about that Jack Ryan? Anyone?

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They’re Making A Deus Ex Movie? Shoot Me Now…

Posted on July 10, 2012 by geelw

Better yet, get Terry Crews (seen above, promoting Ubisoft’s upcoming Expendables 2 video game tie-in) to hit me in the face with a pie after busting through a wall in my house like Kool-Aid Man, but dressed as a bottle of Old Spice Body Wash or something. Ugh. I can tell that this is going to be a disaster, as what makes a Deus Ex game WORK isn’t the action and some big name actors strutting about pretending. For me, it’s all about the writing and choices available to the player over many hours of each game in the franchise, all of which will be condensed into two hours and probably nowhere near as good as any of the games. Meh, whatever – I hope Warren Spector gets a cut of the profits somewhere along the line. Only Hollywood can stop itself once it gets rolling on something like this, but like any video game movie, it’s not going to be pretty at all. I’ll go hide in a closet somewhere – wake me when the movie hits cable…

Er, wait…. they made an Expendables 2 video game? Holy crap, Ubisoft… maybe you should have showed THIS instead of Watch_Dogs (har har)…

Assassin’s Creed III July 4th Trailer: A Bit of Flag-Waving From A Few Directions…

Posted on July 4, 2012 by geelw

How amusing that US ad agencies make stupid “patriotic” commercials with stuff like the founding fathers driving Detroit muscle cars into battle (Um…. oooookaaay?), while a non-US based company like Ubisoft does stirring stuff like this that manages to draw interest to both their product and a traditional American holiday in a more inspiring manner. Anyway, enjoy the rest of the holiday and please try not to blow anything off you’ll need for work (or play) later on.

So, Why Am I Caring That Might & Magic Is Celebrating World Music Day?

Posted on June 21, 2012 by geelw

Actually, I’m not… I’m just a bit puzzled here. I’m also wondering when the heck we’ll get an actual return to the Might & Magic series many know and haven’t seen in far too long. You know, the one with that classic first-person perspective, huge dungeons and terrifying level of difficulty thanks to mobs of enemies to face off against. Hey, Ubisoft! You’re appreciated around here and all that, but come on guys and gals – let’s get some classic RPG action back where it belongs. You can save the funny videos for promoting whatever new M&M game you come up with. I say redo IX and follow that up with a proper “sequel” or just start from scratch, keeping the perspective and gameplay from those New World Computing gems. Trust me, MANY people will be happy to see this, especially if you can get it on consoles and handhelds as well as computers (of course)…

E3 2012: Watch_Dogs Gameplay: Ubisoft Also Hits A Few Nerves Outside Of The Gaming Life…

Posted on June 10, 2012 by geelw

Like nearly everyone else who saw it, I was floored when Ubisoft dropped Watch_Dogs into our collective consciousness at the end of its E3 press conference. Not only did they completely surprise people, they did so in the way things USED to be done in this industry. Win NO in house PR-generated “leaks” or overly annoying viral nonsense that keeps people who need to be more productive trolling around the Internet looking at teaser sites or playing with devices in useless mini-games that hint at what’s to come. Although amusingly enough, that’s probably one big way to market the game now that the beans have been spilled. Still, as great as the game looks and as amazing as the idea behind it is, something bugged the hell out of me when the demo was over…

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E3 2012: Feeling Down? Rayman Legends Will Make You Smile In A Few Seconds Flat.

Posted on June 9, 2012 by geelw

Seriously, if these two E3 videos from Ubisoft’s upcoming (up to FIVE player) Wii U exclusive don’t get you grinning, you’re one pretty mean person having a not so hot day. Don’t spread that frown around at all, I say. Rayman, Murphy, Globox and the rest of the crew want you to let your cares fall away as you race through some mighty pretty (and pretty insane) old-school platforming levels (with some neat and quick “3D” elements) , feeling like you’re years younger, pounds lighter and a bit hairier up top. No, on top of your head, silly (yeesh!). Ha! I saw you smile. Good – that’s just what the game is supposed to do. OK, my work here is done (again)… Thanks Ubisoft!

E3 2012: ZOMBIU: Ubisoft Gives Us Survival Horror As It Should Be.

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

Ubisoft is definitely the publisher to watch in terms of creating Wii U experiences that will draw in the core as well as casual crowd, and here’s one for the horror fans out there. The title reminds me of ZOMBI 2, Lucio Fulci’s classic gore-fest from 1979, released here as ZOMBIE (if it’s intentional, it’s a great touch), and after seeing some actual gameplay, I think this one is about as good as it gets for a launch or launch window release. I absolutely love the idea of a one-life survive as long as you can experience with a real-time inventory as it adds an almost rogue-like feel to the experience.

I also love the fact that when your character dies (and he or she WILL die), you lose all your gained skills and your all important survival kit, which needs to be retrieved by the next person you play as. This makes the game a far more frightening experience as you’ll be constantly fighting to survive every single foot you travel and make it to whatever ending awaits. I’m also betting bragging rights about who made it through the game and lost the least amount of characters will be a big thing for a while. Color me thrilled…

E3 2012: Ubisoft E3 Press Conference (NSFW). DEFINITELY A Step Forward.

Posted on June 5, 2012 by geelw

To me, this was hands down, Ubisoft’s best games lineup to date. Yeah, yeah, we all knew Assassin’s Creed III was going to be great (it’s even better than I thought), Far Cry 3 continues to be gorgeous (and even MORE outrageous with each new reveal) and the new Splinter Cell: Blacklist looks fantastic. ALL of these were superior game experiences I’d buy as well as recommend in a heartbeat. But it was the new IP that made me jump out of my seat (and more than once at that).

Rayman Legends was perfect, nostalgic fun on the Wii U, and that up to five player thing is going to make a LOT of families happy (as well as any gaming party where a little levity is needed). But then there’s Watch_Dogs. Wow. Not only does the game address some things I’ve been whining about for YEARS (our loss of security in this “always online” era), it’s actually one of the best looking games I’ve ever seen, blending cinematic techniques and gameplay seamlessly while surprising me with gameplay that shifted to a new character at the end of the demo.

Oh yeah… I don’t give a hoot about Just Dance 4, but you can’t deny the game has been HUGE on the Wii and sit JD3 last year, the PS3 and Xbox as well. So I’ll give then that and dock point for the boring Shootmania e-sports part I wish they’d relegated to the show floor instead of torturing the audience with for so long. I do want to see MORE on that Avengers game, though – even though it’s not hitting the PS3 or 360, it might be fun to play, as the trailer showed old school versions of Wolverine, Storm, Magneto, Venom and Spider-Man doing their stuff in CG form (but no actual gameplay, boo!). Update: Ubisoft also plans to “port” it’s Wii U titles to other mobile devices as a means to offset development costs, so I guess we’ll see where that goes and if it’s a success other publishers will mimick at some point….