Xbox: Assassin’s Creed: Unity & Ubisoft’s Woman Problem

Assassin’s Creed is one of my favorite gaming franchises, which isn’t a surprise to anyone really.  However regular readers of this blog will know that I have been critical of the last couple of installments of the franchise.  Black Flag was a thinly disguised sailing sim with pirates and III suffered from frustrated cape crusader complex.  With each iteration of the franchise the story telling and character development has gotten weaker, thereby weakening the franchise as a whole.  Ubisoft has gotten much better at marketing and selling fans stuff but the gameplay and story has suffered.

Unity is their chance to redeem the franchise but can they pull it off?  That us the question I keep asking myself and the E3 coverage and social media responses left me with more questions than answers.

Set in the French Revolution, Unity has all of the potential to tell an amazing story and return to its roots of Altair and Ezio.  Political intrigue, historical characters, and the fight for freedom set amid the violence and romance of Paris. 

But what is once again missing from a AAA Ubisoft release?  The ability to play as a woman.  I’m sorry but let’s be honest, there is absolutely no excuse that Ubisoft cannot seem to tell a story that has a main character that can be either sex.  There might have to be some dialogue changes based on one gender or the other but those are minor and not hard to do.  The franchise makes more than enough money to justify the expenditure for two voice actors and animating both sexes.  Hell, the franchise would make MORE money if the option to play as a woman existed.

The game is based on alternate history so the argument that “well a woman in that time period wouldn’t have done that” is utter crap.  The co-op play doesn’t even feature the ability to play as a woman.  Maybe Ubisoft doesn’t read the latest studies but forty-five percent (45%) of gamers are women and women purchase forty-six percent (46%) of games sold.  So, women aren’t some small minority of the market and I hate to break it but women in general vote with their wallets.  Women buy and play games were they aren’t included and were they are represented. 

I will give Unity a chance but should Ubisoft fail to deliver a story and gameplay worth of Altair and Ezio then it will be the last installment in the franchise for me.

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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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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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Assassin’s Creed III: Gorgeous but Extremely Disappointing

Assassin’s Creed quickly became one of my favorite franchises this summer with the quality of the story telling in the Ezio trilogy and thus I was looking forward to Assassin’s Creed III.

The game is stunningly beautiful.  The landscapes are drop dead gorgeous and the weather effects are among the best I’ve ever seen.  However, a game can’t survive on looks alone and this installment doesn’t live up to its potential nor honor its past.

Bugs and holes are predominate throughout the game.  It isn’t like the game released last week, it is almost a year post release and the amount of bugs that exist in the game are mind boggling.  How is it possible that Ubisoft’s quality control department, and I use that term loosely here, let a game release with a bug that doesn’t update the protagonist's (Connor) outfit, in a cut scene, based on what the player has the character wearing at the time of any particular cut scene?  It isn’t like there are only one or two cut scenes in the game, the game is filled with cut scenes which makes this bug so infuriating and disconcerting.  After all, they managed to NOT have the bug in previous installments of the franchise.

Connor can fly through trees like a howler monkey with very little thought on the part of a player, but by god a group of three pine trees encountered on the forest floor completely baffles him and he stands there hands in the air helpless.  Connor also has the habit of getting stuck on every little obstacle he encounters on the ground, a situation made worse when he is on horseback. Seriously, these bug me almost as much as the bug above.  Controls are more fluid yes, but fluidity comes at too high a price when a pebble is enough to hang up a horse.  Hubby spent the weekend growling, at various volume levels, about “stupid gummy bear, care bear controls” as Connor would stick to anything and everything he ran into or across during a fight, chase, or tail. 

Whoever designed the crafting interface and game should be sent back to design school immediately.  Poorly implemented is a compliment, highly frustrating is an understatement.  And how did something so vital and new to the franchise make it into the game without a tutorial?  I liked the homestead missions and the interaction with the people Connor collects.  However, the implementation of crafting is so troublesome and frustrating it isn’t worth doing in my opinion.  Yes it is nice your crafters can craft upgrade but good luck understanding the stats on anything they craft because that information isn’t present.  Convoy got attacked?  Good, defend it yourself or send your assassin recruits.  Wait you did that but now your convoy is permanently attacked and nothing you try resolves the situation?  Again, another bug that should have never made it through quality assurance controls.

Now for the story, it is full of so many holes it looks like the practice target at the shooting range.  Random important people appear at the appropriate moment, Connor has a conversation and you are led to believe they have know each other for years.  Marquis de Lafayette case in point.  He appears in the story and greets Connor like an old friend and the player has never seen Lafayette in game before.  Where did they meet?  How?  And then we get to the players first view of Connor and his father, Haytham Kenway, meeting for the first time.  Somehow Haytham knows Connor is his son and knows him by sight.  Huh?  What?  How?  Gapping holes in the story you present in a video game are unforgiveable.  I don’t care that you have third party media out there they may or may not explain the holes, your holes in the media I purchased are glaring and wide enough for a herd of angry cattle to stampede through comfortably.  And this is coming from an individual that doesn’t mind reading books derived from video games!

Then we come to the game breaking bug husband ran into last night, one that Ubisoft has no solution for on it’s forums and no patch for months later.  Hubby began playing the Tyranny of King Washington Episode One: Infamy when he encountered the bug.  On the mission to Stalk the Guard Dogs at Benedict Arnold’s camp in Valley Forge, he couldn’t toss bait, run, or avoid detection.  He was unable to progress the story because of the bug.  This isn’t a minor or annoying bug, this is game breaking and it should have a response and fix from Ubisoft.  It happens across platforms and apparently only happened post release of Episode Two: Betrayal.

Connor is a very likeable and loveable character but is he truly as Assassin worthy of the Brotherhood?  I don’t think so to be honest.  He is brash, most of the time thinking with his heart and not his head and he has no ability to take long term views of his actions.  Case in point, his decision to inform Washington about the Templar plot to kill him.  Connor exhibits no understanding that his role is to work behind the scenes to counter plots and schemes of his Templar counterparts.  He is much less an assassin and much more of a caped crusader without a cape.

Overall, disappointment reigns in our house despite the games beauty and the love of the franchise.  We’ve been having the discussion about whether or not to invest time, energy and money into Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.  I’m willing to give Ubisoft the benefit of the doubt and play the game on the XboxOne when it arrives later this Fall.  However, if they screw it up and don’t honestly return to what made the franchise great in previous games then I’m done.  I want to play Assassin’s Creed games that are based on assassinations and honoring what Altair and Ezio established for the fan base.  I want an Assassin’s Creed game where there has been quality control done by competent individuals and no gaping holes in the story.  DO NOT DISAPPOINT AGAIN UBISOFT.

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