Xbox Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag released a month ago but we patiently waited for the arrival of our Xbox One before purchasing the title.  Digital copy downloaded and we’ve both played it.  Neither of us has yet finished the title, but hubby is well on his way. 

First things first, the game is beautiful.Colors are deep and rich and the lighting effects are superb.  It was worth waiting for a month because let’s be honest here, the 360 is quickly going to fall out of use here (even though I still have a ton of unfinished games).

I was immediately happy when I loaded up the game for the first time and realized that Ubisoft seemed to have taken all the best elements of previous games and rolled them into this title.  It gave me hope.  Gone was the caped crusader nonsense of Connor in AC:III and back were stealthy missions. 

All of that hope was quickly dashed however the longer hubby has played (he has more play time this week because he’s on vacation and I’ve gladly let him unwind with the controller).  The game isn’t an Assassin’s Creed game it is a naval simulation game with some minor Templar vs. Assassin missions thrown in as an aside. The starting mission and the beginning missions in Havana were all decent homage to games past but then, it all goes to hell when in order to progress you are forced into sailing around the Caribbean to do pirating.  Yes, I know, it’s a game about pirates but it is first and foremost, an entry into the Assassin’s Creed lore.  It is disappointing.

Ubisoft seems more content to develop lore for the franchise outside of the games then to tell actual stories any more.  The writing for the series has diminished with each new game released.  Gone are the days of Ezio and the rich world created for his story.  Now it is a random bunch of yahoos thrown together in some loose semblance of a story line. This game is not an Assassin’s Creed game, it’s a pirate game dressed up in Assassin’s Creed wrapping.

I think the ultimate downfall of the storytelling in the franchise has much more to do with the implementation of multiplayer in the game than anything else.  Single player game feels like it is tacked on to a multiplayer game that is the primary focus of Ubisoft.  If most players spend their time in multiplayer, than there is no reason for Ubisoft to concentrate on writing compelling and rich single player stories. 

I’m not quite ready to write off the franchise yet but Ubisoft and it’s creative team need to figure out if they want to tell stories in the Assassin’s Creed universe or develop multiplayer games.  Ubisoft’s story telling capabilities in this franchise are far, far below that of it’s competition.  I will struggle to complete this game only because of the constant need for sailing and pirating.  I am thrilled about how happy the naval simulation gameplay has made my husband but it has the exact opposite effect on me.

And lastly, the shimmering (flickering) in the game on larger television screens is annoying and frustrating.  The game doesn’t experience this problem on last generation console but both new generation console users are reporting the same issue.  Trees and foliage have this horrible shimmer affect that makes them shiny and sparkly in bright sunlight and bright blue ocean.  The issue is popular on the Ubisoft forums, and is of course being ignored by Ubisoft themselves (reminiscent of their failure of acknowledge problems with DLC for AC:III).  This is the only game that suffers from this issue on our Xbox One.  It may be the direct result of porting a game designed for the PS3 and the 360 to next generation consoles but whatever the cause, Ubisoft needs to step up and fix the issue.  Or at least admit there is an issue, even if the resolution is sorry but there is nothing we can do about it while trying to design games that fit on multiple platform generations.

All in all, I don’t think the game is worthy of all the high praise it has received from game sites.  Yes it is beautiful and fun, but it is in no way an Assassin’s Creed worthy game.  It is a naval simulation based around pirates.  The single player aspect of the game is poorly written, poorly conceived, and an after thought to the development team’s first love of multiplayer.  I will finish the game, although I can’t promise it won’t be with me handing the controller to my husband to successfully complete those annoying sea battles.  I give it a 2.5 out of 5.

 

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Xbox One: Our Review

Our Day One Edition arrived right on schedule a week ago and was easily installed in the entertainment center.  We were both impressed when the system was compatible with our audio receiver which is at least seven years old.  So, it honestly started off on a very good foot.

The system was also compatible with our cable provider, Cox.  The Xbox One now seamlessly controls the television, cable box, audio receiver, and the console.  The various remotes that used to clutter the sofa and family room tables have all been consigned to a drawer. 

The overall picture quality of our Plasma Samsung television has increased as well because the Xbox One is handling the 1080p upscale of television programs much smoother than the cable box ever did.  The shimmering has disappeared from television programs, although it does return for poorly optimized games on the One (forthcoming review of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will discuss this). 

The biggest complaint either of us has is that the One sometimes can’t hear us  We have tall ceilings, fifteen feet plus high, in a large room with stone flooring.  Voices can easily got lost in our family room and it appears that the Kinect doesn’t quite know how to deal with large family rooms.  The voice issue is most irritating when turning on the system, after that voice commands are rarely lost in our cavernous family room.

The Kinect is vastly improved over the Xbox 360 version.  It has no trouble picking up hand motions in games like Dead Rising 3, even when comfortably lounging on the sofa in the reclining position a good ten feet plus from the television.  True, facial recognition isn’t stellar when reclining but as soon as you sit up straight the Kinect has no issues with facial recognition.  Having owned both versions of the Kinect, the new version is miles ahead of where the technology started several years ago.

The system is whisper quiet, runs cool (even in an enclosed media cabinet with other devices running), and seamlessly integrated into our lives.  It was well worth the purchase price for the endless hours of entertainment it will provide in the years to come and personally, I don’t miss chasing remotes.

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Lord of the Rings Online: Helm’s Deep Patching has begun *UPDATED

 

LOTRO has begun patching the client for the Helm’s Deep expansion.  Patch notes have not yet been released but I will update with release notes as soon as they become available.

*UPDATE*

And here are the highlights of the Patch notes; full notes can be found here:

• Epic Story continues: Books 11 – 13: unlike past expansions, you must have purchased the Helm’s Deep expansion to play through the continuation of the epic story line
• Five new zone in Western Rohan to explore
• Broadacres
• Stonedeans
• Kingstead
• Westfold
• Eastfold
• Big Battles: new roles and five epic battles to experience as players stand and battle with Théoden King, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli
• Class changes: every class is undergone significant revamp and trait trees have been introduced.  Please so the LOTRO class forums for specific changes to your class
• Level cap has been increased to level 95 for all characters
• Travel Rations are no longer required
• Crafters will want to review the changes in detail here

Enjoy the changes when the servers come back online!

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Random Screenshots for MMO Tours this week

Pippa at the Kindergarten on the Savage Coast in The Secret World.  Atmosphere here is seriously creepy, appropriate but creepy.

Taalina the new Draenei paladin on Fizzcrank.  So, last thing I need is another character in WOW, but I need a Draenei that isn’t on an imbalanced PvP server and I need a woman Draenei to go through and kick Orc ass when the expansion releases.  I will be leveling her slowly and without heirlooms, gives me a good opportunity to close out some zones for my loremaster title.

My Horde Shaman on Silvermoon.  She’s in her mid-40’s I pop-in, grab a couple of levels on her and then log right back out.  I think Blizzcon left a bad taste in my mouth for the Horde and I’m already Alliance biased by nature.  I will level her to 90 but I won’t be powering through it.

 

Cilantro hanging out with the Elves in Rivendell.  Sometimes the scenery in LOTRO is just drop dead gorgeous that I find myself stopping just to take the random screenshot of nothing in particular.

I poked my head into Guild Wars 2, completed a quest and then logged right back out.  While the models for characters are pretty, I’m completely agnostic about my characters, the game, and the setting.  I have a feeling that Bronta here will be a long, long time (if ever) leveling to max.

I poked my head into SWTOR and Rift as well but did nothing in either.  SWTOR change regarding names is just irritating although I’m honest enough to admit that free-flight PvP in the upcoming expansion looks like fun.  Rift I can’t get any enthusiasm for at the moment.  The game is fun but it isn’t at the same time.

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The Secret World: Loving It

I admit it, when The Secret World was in beta and then released I was not happy, to put it mildly, with character creation options or the clothing choices available.  Time has greatly improved the later and the former is still problematic but in this case clothing choices can completely compensate for crappy character customization. 

I fired up TSW over the long weekend and was more than pleasantly surprised to discover DRESSES in the cash shop.  My accumulated currency was quickly exhausted as I went on an account wide shopping spree.  Pippa is modeling a couple of the looks as she explores the Savage Coast.

My preppy heart is thrilled and better yet there are female clothing options that don’t scream “WHORE”.  I am having a blast running around the Savage Coast.

Anyone who knows me, knows I would so totally wear the above outfit in real life without even thinking about it twice.  In fact I have a much loved pair of pink slippers.  And as for the blue-gloved, highly creepy but oh so incredibly interesting NPC standing next to me, I am loving his story and missions.  Hayden Montag is the current headmaster of the Innsmouth Academy and to say that there is something of a magical problem is an understatement! 

Again yet another outfit I would consider in real life, so yeah I’d prefer a longer hemline and a more structured built-in bra but this dress is fabulous.  And those green shoes, would totally wear those with anything.  Still hanging out at the Innsmouth Academy for this shot, taking my time and enjoying missions that require me to think to successfully complete them.  But as you can tell, apparently my character is more concerned about her fingernails than the horde of familiars in the room behind me waiting for their chance to try and kill me.  Hey, don’t judge those familiars leave GOO under my nails!

I admit it, I bought the sea pirate costume for Pippa.  It was cute and seasonal and let’s be honest, I’m looking forward to playing Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag when the Xbox One arrives on the 22nd and so I was completely inspired by that.  Pippa is a Templar which just blends in perfectly to her homage to AC:IV.  

TSW is a thinking MMO, don’t fire it up when you are tired or cranky because frankly you just won’t have fun.  However, when you need to get your brain cells firing on all cylinders or want a good old fashioned scare or just want to be creeped out, than fire up TSW and experience the awesomeness for yourself.

 

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Women and Gaming

Blizzcon just ended and once again another gaming convention has come and gone with an ever present male bias in gaming.  It happens every gaming convention, not just Blizzcon.   I get my hopes up that some gaming company somewhere will present reveals, cinematics, or a new major character(s) that are women.  I fear that is never going to happen however.

The executives, hell almost every panel member, is male.  The new character models on the Warlords of Draenor site are so far male only models.  The only models shown during the art panel and discussed were male models.  Sure they showed a slide of a female dwarf and gnome, but these were non-animated slides and are not available on the website.

Every major character discussed at Blizzcon was male.  Why?  Warcraft has so many amazing women that would make excellent vehicles for story telling: Sylvanas and Jaina immediately spring to mind.  There are so many story lines possible with just these two woman alone that it is inconceivable to me that they are left to languish and sit there on the sidelines.  Sure we heard from Jaina a couple of times in Mists of Pandaria but her story was left  unfinished from the brilliant treatment Jaina received from Christie Golden’s Tides of War.

Star Wars:The Old Republic does a somewhat better job.  Satele Shan is the Grand Master of the Jedi Order and she isn’t a figure head that players have no interaction with either.  She is a strong, lead female character but SWTOR isn’t a great example to draw on unfortunately.  SWTOR is extremely story driven by the player’s in-game choices thus allowing Bioware the opportunity to write strong female characters into cut-scenes. Bioware, in general, writes strong, prominent female characters but even these characters aren’t the “star” of any Bioware game.

I want development of lore from the games I play that involves women.  Women play games, write about games, and want game developers to recognize that we are more than just a small, insignificant portion of their player base.  We are more than spell slingers and healers.  We tank, we burn stuff down quickly with blade and spell alike.  We lead raids and guilds, we write about our gaming experiences and we bring others into games we play.  What do game developers fear in making a woman front and center in a game?  That their male audience won’t play because of the presence of a strong woman lead character?

It’s time that gaming developers recognize that women play games and that we want stories that are balanced between the sexes. My characters, are more than a plate bikini digital image to feed the imaginations of young men.  Women everywhere deserve equal lore representation and focus as male characters.

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Lord of the Rings Online: or GRRR again

The more things change, the more they stay the same … this old axiom is very true for Lord of the Rings Online.  There are parts I truly love about the game, it’s intense focus on lore and bringing the books to life for example.  But after taking a break from WOW and playing LOTRO for two weeks, once again the frustration outweighs the benefits of LOTRO.

Bag space is a HUGE frustration in LOTRO.  Seriously, six bags of twelve slots is just not enough.  Having to stop and empty bags every time you run across a vault location or a seller is time consuming and not fun, but failure to do so means that shortly you will be out of bag space.  Another frustration as a SUBSCRIBER is that the game is overly monetized for the cash shop.  I get that it is a niche game with a smaller player base but seriously if I’m spending real world money on mounts (or anything) then those mounts need to be account wide. 

And while I love the old world complexity of MMO’s that still exists in LOTRO, it is also the downfall of LOTRO.  I don’t have the bag space to carry multiple weapons of varying damage types.  And to be honest, as a casual player that flits in and out of games having to remember what damage is best against what critter is annoying.  The game play mechanics are also old and outdated, Helm’s Deep may fix some of those issues but can’t possibly fix all of them.  Quest is slow and the mechanics are outdated.  I understand why it is do X, return to quest giver and then go back to the SAME EXACT AREA and do Y but it is annoying, tedious, and a huge time sync.  At some point, efficiency of my time is more important that running to and from a quest giver for the sake of lore immersion.

Don’t get me wrong, the game is drop deep gorgeous but the mechanics are too flawed.  I will stop in and play every once in a while but it is too frustrating to commit long term to an overly monetized game with expansions that are over-priced for the value of what a digital only expansion offers.  I’m not leaving LOTRO with a bitter taste in my mouth, more with frustration with Turbine and the slow pace of the game.

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BlizzCon 2013: Initial Impressions

There was much goodness revealed at BlizzCon yesterday.  An expansion for Warcraft, cinematics for Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone open beta announcement. Beta sign-ups are live for all expansions or new games, so sign into your battle.net account and join the fun.

Where to begin?  Diablo II first, The Reaper of Souls expansion.  Adventure mode: play where you want, when you want.  It is a separate mode from campaign mode, designed for players to freely move between modes and enjoy the game anyway they wish.  The game play looks amazing and I’m interested in the Crusader panel today discussing the upcoming class and changes in greater detail.  I admit I haven’t played Diablo III yet more than the trial but I am itching to, specially because the transmogrification system coming in the expansion is something that has peaked my interest greatly.

 

World of Warcraft, the Warlords of Draenor expansion looks to have the potential to revitalize and aging MMO in a competitive marketplace.  UI improvements are coming (true Bind on Account Heirlooms!), popular add-ons being integrated into the UI (random mount, battleground timers), and NEW and stunning character models.  Oh yeah let’s not forget Blizzard’s take on player housing is coming too!

Initial reaction here was meh, but digging deeper I’m deeply interested because let’s face it, I’m a lore junkie.  I think they took the easy way out and reworked old, familiar favorite characters from past Warcraft games but at the same time, they are bringing the past to bear on the present.  I didn’t play the RTS games but I know that the MMO I play today is based on what happened in those previous games and thus I’m looking forward to meeting the current day iterations of those beloved characters from RTS games.  Do I think they need to clear up some of the time travel that isn’t time travel confusion, oh yeah.  I think the potential is there, especially on the lore front.  Orc history, Draenei history, Ogres, and the incredibly juxtaposition of Thrall and Garrosh going back in time to meet their parents with affecting the timeline that we all know.

Heroes of the Storm is the Blizzard entry into the rapidly expanding and incredible popular arena style of multiplayer game.

Heroes is all about your favorite Blizzard multiverse characters into the same game.  Models for characters are familiar but different and game play looks fun, like a fast paced RTS with friends. 

Hearthstone, Heroes of Warcraft is the online card game that is set in the Warcraft Universe.  It has been in closed beta since August and open beta hits next month.

I’m in closed beta for Hearthstone, although I haven’t yet fired up the game.  It looks fun but at the same time I can’t seem to find any excitement on interest for an online card game.  Maybe I’m too old?  Also announced was the game will be coming to apple and android phones in beta form sometime next spring. 

Overall, the first day left an overwhelming impression that Blizzard has spent more time listening to the player base and is more focused on creating games that their players want to play.  Hopefully, the trend continues and they follow through with that potential. 

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Lord of the Rings Online: Helm’s Deep Expansion Class Guides

Lord of the Ring’s Online latest expansion drops in two weeks, Helm’s Deep.  The NDA on the beta testers was lifted on Monday and class guides have been posted for upcoming changes for all classes.  Every class is seeing major changes this expansion, and as you might expect the forums and players are full of differing opinions.  I didn’t beta test for this expansion but personally I believe that the changes are going to be a great thing for the game.

LOTRO has a terrific story that everyone is familiar with on some level.  However, the game suffers from slow game play compared to the newer, shinier competition that exists in the flooded marketplace.  Yet, LOTRO is among the best niche games out there in my opinion.  It has positive, uplifting quest lines (helping the farmers in Oatbarton is one of my favorites), the community is generally more mature and helpful than other games out there, and there is constant communication with the development team.

Now, I know a lot of people are plenty pissed off about the class changes coming in the expansion but honestly, it’s time to get over it.  Games change and adapt and players need to comprehend that to continue to enjoy the game in the real world.  Turbine needs to be profitable and adapt to the marketplace, and cash shop income will only go so far.  I think the class changes will make the game more accessible to a new generation of players, enhance game for those of us who find game play slow at times, and will work as a reboot of classes.  Yes, players who are sitting at max level right now may have to learn to replay their class entirely but with changes come opportunities.

I’m looking forward to the changes and relearning my classes as I continue to level.  I just wish Turbine would implement a paid character transfer service but I’ve wished that for as long as I’ve played LOTRO and have come to accept that will never happen.  If you haven’t played LOTRO or have been away for a while, double experience is in effect until the expansion goes live on 18 November 2013.  So, drop by and have a beer with a hobbit and immerse yourself in Middle Earth.

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