Dear Reader,
Ubisoft has made no secret of the fact that they plan to release a new “Assassin’s Creed” game every year, and true to their word, “Revelations” will be out this week. As if that wasn’t enough, we’re also hearing that they’ve already got the 2012 iteration cooking in the oven.
This is a mistake. “Assassin’s Creed” should not be coming out every year. Hit the jump and I’ll give you five reasons backing that assertion up.
1. “Assassin’s Creed” Isn’t “Call of Duty.” And there’s no point pretending it is. It’s true that “Call of Duty” (and most sports games) rarely let a year go by without a new title, but that’s them. CoD is a multiplayer powerhouse that shipped in 48 hours nearly as many units as “Brotherhood” hauled in a year. There’s no comparing CoD to anything else. Even “Halo” chills for at least a year before coming back.
2. Sandbox Games Take Time. Do you see Rockstar shoving out a new GTA or “Red Dead” every Christmas? Nope. Know why? Because sandbox games are hard as hell to make right. Now I admit, getting “Brotherhood” into shape so fast after ACII was impressive, but the game had real flaws—spotty combat, repetitive missions—that might have been avoided if Ubisoft had taken more time.
3. “Assassin’s Creed” Isn’t Good Enough Yet. Here comes the Hard-Truth-Mobile: “Assassin’s Creed” has never produced a masterpiece (this is coming from the guy who named “Brotherhood” his favorite game of E3 2010). Each AC has been better than the last, but they’ve never quite hit a home run. Whatever your feelings about CoD, “Modern Warfare” invented a formula so solid it could take a beating from four more sequels and still work. AC does not have that kind of foundation yet.
4. We’re In a Recession. Video games are not cheap, times are tough, and I have other titles to buy. Ubisoft would have me give them $240 over four years, and I’m here to tell you that unless your name is Valve or Blizzard, whom I obey without thinking, that’s not happening.
5. “Revelations” Offers Nothing Exciting. You could not pick a more ironically appropriate subtitle. A new gadget or two and some capture the flag, that’s it? I call that a DLC pack, sir. This whole thing smells of an Ubisoft board meeting where an executive watches a wild Activision party through closed blinds, scowls, and asks, “Damn it, how come they’ve got hookers and blow over there and we don’t? What do they do, release a new one every year? Well that’s what we’re doing now.”
Good luck with that.
_AA
oneohtrix point never
6 Comments
$240? Lol. I cant even remember the last time i payed full price for a game. I got brotherhood at launch from best buy for only $35. Be a smart shopper dammit.
You must teach me your ways, sensei.
Reach-around Fu
I avoided AC:B at launch, but I got AC:R on release night, but haven’t had time to play it.
That said, I don’t really care if it’s good or not, but I need closure to the story. AC2 made me go WTF at the ending, so I want to know how it wraps up.
I mean that makes sense. If I hadn’t played ACB maybe ACR would compel me more.
Just a hint, you fucking douchebag you: If you have to spam links to your shitty articles in places that clearly state “no spam” and that keep flagging your comments and removing them, then maybe it’s a sign you need to write better articles, not spam more links to them. Asshole.