RipTen Videogame Blog » Ubisoft

Ghost Recon Online Closed Beta Begins March

Sam Naylor — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:00:27 +0000

The closed beta for Ghost Recon Online will begin this March, and signups are already open.

You can apply for the closed beta of Ubisoft‘s new free-to-play Ghost Recon here, and it is due to start on the 5th of March this year.

Ubisoft have released a new trailer showing off the class system in the game:

I must admit I do find it kind of funny to see such an ugly-looking game being advertised in this way. It’s like being back in the PS2 days. I realise the browser-based nature of the game limits it but it still makes me laugh.

New I Am Alive Trailer Gives Survival Tips

Garrett Hartman — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:28 +0000

In the latest exciting trailer released by Ubisoft for I Am Alive, the main character discusses the importance of climbing, managing stamina and exploring for resources in the post-apocalyptic world of Haventon.

Watch the trailer below.

I Am Alive hits retail on March 7th.

A Brief History of First Impressions

Gavin Bard — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:30:48 +0000

Depending on who you ask, first impressions can either be incredibly important or just very important. There really aren’t a lot of people who will tell you a first impression doesn’t matter. For example, once a long time ago I went to send a resume and portfolio to a site I wanted to work for. I copy and pasted the website where my portfolio was located and sent it to the editor post haste. Only after I irrevocably hit send did I realize that the link I included was not to my portfolio, but instead was a link to award winning transsexual porn star Bailey Jay’s website.

Two days later I had the job- and that is the story of how I got hired by RipTen.

So, clearly, first impressions matter in the real world to real people, but do they matter to gamers? The almost ethereal and mystical creatures that we are? I’m sure this is something that 38 Studios is thinking about right now. With the first game that 38 Studios has had its hands in, Kingdoms of Amalur, less than 24 hours away, 38 Studios is probably crossing their fingers that the gaming public considers their debut a good one. Big Huge Games, the other half involved in Amalur’s development, already has made their first impression with the critically acclaimed semi-historical real-time-strategy Rise of Nations.

It is interesting to look back on companies in our little hobby and see what kind of first impression they made, especially since many of them were pretty inauspicious. At least I hope it is interesting, because I spent like two hours Googling this stuff when I should have been thinking of what I was going to write about today and was kind of hoping to make some lemonade out of my internet ADD. I hope my editor doesn’t read that last part. [Ed. - Sigh.]

Square – The Death Trap
In 1984, while Ronald Reagan was saving punk rock by doing all kinds of dreadful things in America, Japan saw the seeds sown that would eventually grow into one of most iconic game companies of all time. Before Square was their own independently operated company, they were the software division of Denyūsha Electric Company. I couldn’t find any confirmation if “Fargo North, Decoder” was involved in Death Trap’s production though.

The Death Trap was an interactive fiction game with adventure game mechanics for the PC-88. It involved the player inputting some simple commands and making some decisions in order to navigate the plot. A plot that, since it was the 80s, was of course related to the cold war.

The game sold so well that less than a year later, Square developed their a direct sequel to it named Will: The Death Trap II. Even in those early days, Square loved themselves some sequels. While Will didn’t sell as much as the original, it was still a commercial success. By the time Square developed their third game, the awesomely titled Cruise Chaser Blassty, they had become their own company. Now, you may not know this, but Square went on to develop a couple other games since then. You may have even heard of a couple of them!

Enix & Chunsoft – Door Door
Enix- the current ying to Square’s, well, other ying I guess- was established as a publisher of home computer games in 1982. They then employed the rather unusual, and eventually quite successful, tactic of holding design contests where they offered a whopping million yen for people who submitted the winning games. Enix used these contests to find talented developers and began to hire them for projects, many of which included polishing the chosen winners from those very same contests.

The very first winner, and thus the first game officially published by Enix, was a game called Door Door by Koichi Nakumura. Originally released on the PC-88 but eventually given a Famicom port, Door Door is a puzzle game with heavy reliance on platforming and strategy. You control a small creature in a baseball hat named Chun and try to keep him from being killed by a bunch of colorful aliens. In order to keep that from happening, you need to trap them by opening doors and then closing them after the aliens enter them. This is much more difficult than it sounds those, as doors can only be used once and then they are locked for good. Door Door is the literal definition of “Japan hard.” It was also wildly popular.

While Door Door was quite successful, a few short years later Nakumura would go on to found Chunsoft and, with another winner of Enix’s design contests by the name of Yuji Horii. would create a little game by the name of Dragon Quest. I’m pretty sure Japan has built statues in their honor because of that.

Capcom – Vulgus
Vulgus, aka Deadpool’s favorite Capcom game, was released for the arcades in 1984. Like a large amount of Capcom’s early titles, it is a vertical scrolling shooter. Comparatively to later games in the genre, it is very basic. There are no power ups, only a few levels, and even the difficulty isn’t as challenging as you would expect from a game like this. Eventually, Capcom would branch away from shooters and find their arcade success in other genres, namely fighting. Also I guess Mega Man is pretty cool too.

Of all the debut games here, this one might be the one the average gamer is most likely to have played. Vulgus has been included in numerous Capcom collections on everything from the Saturn to the PSP, as well as being name dropped in at least two Vs. Capcom games that I can think of. No idea if Deadpool will ever convince them to make that sequel though.

BioWare – Shattered Steel
Before BioWare found their fame in the wild world of RPGs, they started with Shattered Steel in 1996. Shattered Steel had far more in common with Mechwarrior than it did D&D, but it did still show the sparks of BioWare’s attention to detail within their games. Then again, you can’t really do a mech simulator game without having a pretty intricate attention to detail. They don’t make controllers with eight hundred buttons for those games just to be ironic, after all.

Shattered Steel wasn’t enormously popular or anything, but it sold well enough and thanks to its unique deformable terrain and zone based damage mechanics- two things that weren’t very common in 1996- it developed a cult following. BioWare would begin talking about a sequel to the game, but not before they created Baldur’s Gate, which would end up setting them down the path to becoming the developer we know and love them as today. I wonder how different the gaming landscape would have been if Shattered Steel would have been an immense hit? Probably a lot more Battletech games everywhere.

Actually, that doesn’t sound too bad.

UbiSoft – Zombi
In 1986 the gaming world wasn’t as super-saturated by zombie games as it is today. It also wasn’t as saturated by UbiSoft, as they had just popped into existence in the realm of wine and fine cheeses that we refer to as France. Those two Venn circles met and gave birth to Ubi’s first game, a piece of Romero worship by the name of Zombi for the Amstrad CPC. A brief piece of horror history for you- Zombi was the Italian name of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. The late great Lucio Fulci would direct Zombi 2 in 1979, although it really wasn’t a sequel at all. I’d have greatly preferred a Zombi 2 game, mostly for a “press A to pierce a girls eyeball with a wood splinter” scene.

This particular Zombi shares a lot in common with Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. By a lot, I mean literally everything. It is a first person adventure game that plays much like a dungeon craw and takes place in a mall. Most of its major plot points are directly related to things that happened in Dawn of the Dead. It isn’t a bad game, but it is certainly majorly forgettable- and with the hundreds of games Ubi has published or developed since, it is no wonder.

Bethesda – Gridiron!
So, what kind of game do you think Bethesda opened up with? Did you say an American football game? No? Well you should have, because that is the right answer. Bethesda created the first physics based sports game and released it on the Amiga. It wasn’t pretty, even by 1986 standards. The players were crudely represented by dots and there wasn’t much else to the game, but it wasn’t supposed to look like a game of football- it was supposed to play like one. For the first time, the players had mass and speed. Dots would bounce off each other and break tackles in as realistic a way as possible in ’86.

EA would eventually notice and sign Bethesda on to create a follow up to the game. This partnership was not a friendly one though, as Gridiron! 2 Electric Boogaloo was never meant to see the shelves at your local Babbages. Bethesda suspected EA only wanted to get their hands on the physics in order to use them for their own upcoming Madden-related football game and would sue EA for $7 million. It seems that sometimes things never change.

Although I don’t think Gridiron! needed any patches, so maybe things do change sometimes.

Ubisoft Servers Offline Next Week, Some PC Games Unplayable During Transition

Chad Lakkis — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:30:16 +0000

I’m a PC gamer who has never used Ubisoft’s UPlay reward service, but I’d imagine that there are some PC gamers out there who do. What I do know is that people who have legitimately purchased Ubisoft games want to be able to play them. Unfortunately, the company has taken some flack in the past for DRM that requires Internet-based verification. The servers that manage that process? Yeah, some of those are coming down, too.

We’re not in favor of piracy, but it’s easy to see that some less-scrupulous gamers might use this as an argument against crippling DRM and for the ol’ five finger discount.

As a notice to their customers, Ubisoft issued the statement, which you can see in it’s entirety below, notifying them of a disruption in their service during a hosting transitional period. While a handful of games will and will not be affected, PC gamers who make use of the UPlay feature will not be able to access it starting February 7th.

Just how long the service will be out of commission is not specified. So read through the list below and wrap up any loose ends in the next 48 hours or so.

UBISOFT ONLINE SERVICES
Important information to our customers

Starting February 7, Ubisoft will be transitioning the hosting of many of its online services from a third-party data center to a new facility. During the transition, some Ubisoft services and online games will not be available. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience. This move ultimately will help us improve the maintenance of our infrastructure and deliver better uptime and greatly improved services for our customers.

Please find below more details on impact on our games and services :

The following games will NOT be impacted during the transition and will remain fully playable:
Anno 2070™ PC
Assassin’s Creed® Revelations ONLIVE
Assassin’s Creed® Revelations PC
Assassin’s Creed® Revelations PS3
Assassin’s Creed® Revelations X360
Driver® San Francisco PC
Driver® San Francisco ONLIVE
Driver® San Francisco PS3
Driver® San Francisco X360
Just Dance ® 3 X360
The Settlers ® Online PC web-based
The following games will not be playable during the transition:
ASSASSIN’S CREED ® MAC
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.® 2 PC
Might & Magic : Heroes VI PC
Splinter Cell Conviction® MAC
The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom™ PC
The Settlers ® MAC
The Online features of all games that are not mentioned above will be impacted during the transition, Offline modes will not be impacted.
Impact on Uplay™:
Uplay PC will be not be available during the transition.
PC games will remain available for all players who have already connected at least once.
All Ubisoft websites will be impacted during the transition, except :

Ubisoft official forums
Ubisoft Consumer Service

You can follow migration progress through our Ubisoft twitter account.

Ubisoft Releases First Gameplay Trailer for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier “Only The Dead Fight Fair.”

Rick Givens — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:30:03 +0000

Today Ubisoft handed us this fantastic trailer for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Set to release on May 22nd, the game features high tech gadgets, advanced weaponry, and the ability to cloak like a Predator.

For those of you who have not been keeping tabs on this release, Future Soldier is fourth in the Ghost Recon series, where players will be taking the roles of various members of a four man team as they tackle an extremist Russian force, which has taken control and started invading nearby countries. The game will be a third person shooter, with the action switching to the first person point of view as you aim down the sights, and will also feature a partially destructible environment.

Check out the trailer below.

Another feature confirmed to be in the game is Kinect compatibility, allowing the player to use voice and motion to not only control the game, but also customize character weapons, as seen in this video.

New Trials Evolution Trailer is Awesome Fun! Check out the Incredible Creation System!

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:00:47 +0000

There is a new trailer hitting the interwebs today for Trials Evolution. Methinks it got leaked early, just as they unfinished game leaked recently, because it keeps getting taken down.

I’m not why they’s want to take it down because it is AWESOME. Besides showing INCREDIBLE bike action, you’ve got THRILLING multiplayer and an INSANE Creation System (Yes, I am that psyched after watching said trailer). Watch the trailer below.

Ubisoft and RedLynx look to have a winner. Trials Evolution looks to land on Xbox Live Spring 2012.

Ubisoft Warns of Server Host Switching – Which Games will be Affected and How

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:30:16 +0000

Ubisoft will switch hosting on some of their servers February 7th. This will affect online features and play on a handful of Ubisoft games. Below is a statement from their official website to further explain what will happen:

Starting February 7, Ubisoft will be transitioning the hosting of many of its online services from a third-party data center to a new facility. During the transition, some Ubisoft services and online games will not be available. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience. This move ultimately will help us improve the maintenance of our infrastructure and deliver better uptime and greatly improved services for our customers.

These are the Games that will not be affected:

Anno 2070 PC
Assassin’s Creed Revelations (Onlive,PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
Assassin’s Creed RevelationsPC
Driver San Francisco PC, Onlive, PS3, Xbox 360
Just Dance 3 (Xbox 360, PS3)
The Settlers Online (PC web-based)

The following are the games that will be affected:

Assassin’s Creed (Mac)
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2 (PC)
Might & Magic : Heroes VI (PC)
Splinter Cell Conviction (Mac)
The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom (PC)
The Settlers (Mac)

Uplay PC will be not be available during the server transition. No word from Ubisoft on how long this transition could take.

Source: Ubisoft

Rayman Origins to Release on PC in March – Minimum System Requirements

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:00:11 +0000

Ubisoft has announced the popular and highly acclaimed Rayman Origins will be coming to the PC on March 29th.

Since release on November 15th, Ubisoft’s platformer has sold close to a million copies and has an aggregate score on Metacritic at 87%.

Before Rayman Origins hits the PC, a Vita version is expected on February 22nd followed by the 3DS on March 20th. Below are the Minimum and recommended PC specs:

Minimum configuration

OS: Windows® XP SP3 / Windows Vista® SP2 / Windows® 7 SP1
Processor: Intel Pentium IV 3.00 Ghz or AMD Athlon64 3000+ @ 1.8 Ghz
Memory: 1 GB Windows XP / 1.5 GB Windows Vista – Windows 7
Graphics: 128 MB DirectX®9 / Radeon X600XT or GeForce 6800GT
DirectX®: DirectX 9.0c or higher
Sound: DirectX 9.0-compliant sound card

Recommended configuration

OS: Windows® XP SP3 / Windows Vista® SP2 / Windows® 7 SP1
Processor: Intel Core2Duo E4400 @ 2.00 Ghz or AMD Athlon64X2 3800+ @ 2.00Ghz
Memory: 2 GB Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7
Graphics: 256 MB DirectX®9 / Radeon HD 2600XT or GeForce 8600GT
DirectX®: DirectX 9.0c or higher
Sound: DirectX 9.0-compliant sound card

I Am Alive to Release March 7th as Part of XBLA House Party

Garrett Hartman — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:30:03 +0000

Ubisoft today announced that I Am Alive will be part of the XBLA House Party promotion and will be available on XBLA March 7th. Below is a description of the game from the press release:

I Am Alive follows an everyman’s journey to find his wife and daughter, who were lost during the “Event.” A year later, he finds Haventon, his hometown, in shambles. Buildings are destroyed, toxic ash fills the streets and society has been torn, causing inhabitants to take all necessary actions to survive.

In I Am Alive, players will be challenged by both the environment and the enemies. Stamina and resource management are key when being exposed to deadly atmospheres and scaling enormous buildings in search of supplies. The unique combat system requires players to utilize intimidation – cowards are easily swayed with an empty gun, while other enemies will put players to the test.

Check out the gameplay trailer here.

I Am Alive will cost 1200 MSP.

New I Am Alive Trailer Shows a Unique and Varied Combat System

Garrett Hartman — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:30:26 +0000

Ubisoft has released a new trailer for I Am Alive which shows a unique and varied combat system. The video shows that the player must always be wary when interacting with human NPCs. Weapons and bullets won’t be plentiful, so it is often in the players best interest to avoid combat by bluffing convincingly and finding creative ways in offing enemies. Sometimes resorting to stealth with the old knife from behind to the throat is the best technique.

I Am Alive will release in Q1 2012 on Xbox Live.

Just Dance Franchise at 25 Million Sales – Top Motion Controlled Game in December

Garrett Hartman — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:20:01 +0000

Ubisoft announced today that their motion controlled dance series Just Dance has exceeded 25 million sales worldwide. The most recent release Just Dance 3 sold through over 7 million units alone. Other games in the series include Just Dance, Just Dance 2, Just Dance 3, Just Dance Kids, Just Dance Kids 2 and Just Dance Summer Party.

For the month of December, Just Dance 3 was recognized as the top selling motion controlled game on the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Via Gamasutra

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Deploys This May

Justin Carter — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:02:04 +0000

Tom Clancy games are known for dropping off the radar for a few months to a year before having a release date announced. With the upcoming Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Solider, this is an even bigger deal, since a multiplayer beta was said to arrive to anyone who bought copies of Splinter Cell: Conviction two years ago. Today, Ubisoft announced that Future Soldier will launch on May 22 in the US, and the 24th in the UK. The game was originally scheduled for a March release, but Ubisoft pushed it back to “ensure that all these ingredients (single player, multiplayer, and four player co-op) are pushed to the highest level and provide a truly unique shooter experience”.

And what of the beta, you ask? That’s being pushed back as well. Instead of January as planned, the multiplayer beta will launch sometime in April. If you don’t have a PS3 or 360, you can play it on the PC “at a later date.” It’s a safe guess to say that it’ll be sometime in the summer or fall.

via Joystiq

RipTen Review: Rayman Origins (Xbox 360)

Dylan Duarte — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:47:19 +0000

Rayman: Origins is an odd little number. It’s a serious – damn serious – throwback to what games used to be. It’s an “old school” platformer if there ever was one. But what if it’s something more? Xbox Live and PSN and the internets are littered with “retro” games, nostalgic little numbers that hark back to a day when gaming was pure and simple. They’re all games of varying quality and the good ones do offer some semblance of what games were like back then. But what if Rayman Origins was different? Ubisoft’s latest doesn’t simply offer a gaming experience that mimics the gaming from my childhood, it is the gaming from my childhood. The simplicity, the mechanics, the difficulty – oh god, the difficulty. There are things in that game that I haven’t experienced for many years. Rayman Origins isn’t a tribute, it isn’t an homage. It’s actually a decades old platformer that’s been designed for the current generation of consoles.

I’m talking about time travel.

We’ve all been so obsessed with renaming French Fries to Freedom Fries, we’ve completely ignored the technological prowess of the French. Hell, the Large Hadron Collider is right there in Geneva, just outside of France. Maybe it was even used to bring Rayman Origins into the futu – look, I’m not a scientist. I don’t know squat about traveling backwards through time to retrieve older games. But what I do know is that I’m glad. I’m glad Michel Ancel has the balls to defy the time-space continuum in an effort to introduce a new generation to what platform gaming is all about.

Thank god they updated the visuals. You can’t just release a game from the past and expect it to compete in the graphics department. Ubisoft Montpeller have created a mind-blowingly gorgeous game. I’m going to go out a limb here, which is dangerous on account of my obesity, but in the four or so years that I’ve owned an HDTV, I think Rayman Origins might be one of the most beautiful things it’s ever displayed. And yes, I’m counting all of the naked ladies that have graced that screen. Even that hot blonde chick from Spartacus. You know, the shitty one that’s with that Claudius scumbag? Rayman Origins is vibrant and it just “pops.” It’s a complete pleasure to look at.

One thing that Ancel and his team of time travelers didn’t put a lot of thought into is how challenging games were back then as opposed to now. With a few exceptions (Ninja Gaiden immediately springs to mind) developers no longer put a lot of effort into a game’s difficulty. If I recall correctly, someone at Nintendo even mentioned difficulty no longer being a big concern. However, Rayman Origins does indeed have a Wii port. If someone who’s used to Kirby and Wii Sports and Mario Party gives Rayman a whirl, they’re going to drop dead in front of their television.

But for many people, that challenge will be the biggest appeal of Rayman Origins. I’ve been known to throw a hissy fit or twelve while gaming and Rayman Origins made me hate videogames, cartoons, and my stepbrother. He just sits there, watching me fail. That being said, with great difficulty comes great satisfaction once a particularly challenging segment has been conquered. Completing Rayman Origins, The Land of the Livid Dead in particular, made me feel like a goddamn king.

By far the most difficult portions of Rayman are the levels where you’re forced to keep moving at a rapid pace. I’m not talking about the time trials, though those are far from easy, but the levels in which the screen is forcing you along or you’re chasing something. These are the levels where you’ll die a couple dozen times in the span of five minutes, rip a clump of your hair out, dive back into it, and hate yourself. But again, these are also the levels that make you swell with pride once you’ve shown them who’s boss.

And then there’s the co-op, which plays a lot like the New Super Mario Bros co-op, in that all of your friends will cause you to die and then you will hate them. I played a good portion with my stepbrother, who normally won’t give a game the time a day unless it has fast cars or killstreaks. We didn’t do very well, and I spent a lot of the time hating him for it, but I still managed to have a lot of fun. It’s very, very hard to not get some sense of enjoyment out of Rayman, be it for the visuals, the humor, or what have you.

Sadly, I’ve heard from multiple people that they just can’t justify spending full retail price on a 2D platformer. Shame on you, all of you. You should drop to your knees and scream “take my money,” and then thank Ubisoft when they do so. Rayman Origins is a gem. It’s an absolute blast to play, fulfilling in the best way possible, and boasts a ton of content.

I have my complaints, of course. It bugs me that backtracking for missed Electoons is near impossible, forcing you to replay the entire level. And the difficulty curve is really, really sharp. One moment Rayman will feel like the stuff dreams are made of, the next an absolute living nightmare. There was a moment where I was hellbent on taking my frustrations out on Rayman’s score, threatening a close friend (and big time Rayman fan) that I would dock one tenth of a point for each consecutive death. Obviously, logic prevailed. Once I saw Rayman through to its end, I was a better person for it.

But I could’ve done it if I wanted to, Matt. I’m in charge here, not you.

Here’s The Rundown:

+ Amazing Visuals
+ Hilarious
+ Recaptures Fantastic Gameplay Once Thought Lost to the Tides of Time
+ Plenty of Content
+ Time Travel is Possible

- Sharp Upswing in Difficulty Will Catch Players Off Guard
– You’ll Spend a Lot of Time Replaying Levels
– My Stepbrother is Bad at Videogames

9 and 9.5 represent the pinnacle of the genre, a game that defines what that genre should be about. These scores are for games that you not only feel would be worth your purchase, but you would actually try to convince your friends to buy them as well.

Rayman Origins was developed by Ubisoft Montpeller and published by Ubisoft for the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The game was released in North America on November 15th, 2011 with an MSRP of $59.99. The copy used in this review was for Xbox 360 and was provided by the publisher. The game was played to completion, no thanks to my stepbrother.

Pick Up Ezio’s Threads in Final Fantasy XIII-2

Justin Carter — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:30:36 +0000

Assassin’s Creed protagonist Ezio has been all over the place. First came the news that he’d be playable in Soul Calibur V, then he returned in Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (which was a resounding success). Now he’s joining Lightning and Serah in Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Well, sort of. His clothes will be in a DLC pack for playable character Noel Kreiss. At the time of writing Square Enix and Ubisoft have not given out pricing or a release date, or even if Ezio’s gear will be retailer-specific. Still, you get to travel the Final Fantasy world as Ezio. Pretty cool, right?

Final Fantasy XIII-2 hits shelves January 31, 2012 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Via IGN

Ubisoft Beats Dead Horse, Wants Another Call of Juarez

Catherine Cai — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:00:46 +0000

Despite the general consensus that Techland’s latest Call of Juarez was a steaming pile picked from the lowliest poophole from the most desolate rural province of China… Ubisoft wants to give the already-Frankensteined franchise another go.

Ubisoft sent out surveys to Call of Juarez: The Shartel (I’m sorry, I really can’t help myself) owners, asking them to list what they disliked about the latest game in the series and which Call of Juarez was their favorite. In fact, they’re considering trotting out Ray McCall. Really, he’s just not likeable enough to be a stand-alone character. It’s probably why he was the antagonist for all but the last few minutes of the first game, and was rushed in along with his two other brothers in the sequel.

Ubisoft also included a section in their survey that asked their customers what gameplay should go into the next Call of Juarez, taking the step beyond “simple survey for game quality” to “desperately pandering”. This list included:

Hunting an outlaw in the rocky mountains

Defending a ranch attacked by Mexican pistolleros

Preventing a bank robbery

Rescuing an innocent man about to be hanged up

Taking part in a shooting contest

A gun duel in the empty main street of a town against your worst enemy

Guarding a fort against a group of outlaws

Helping a man to escape from the sheriff’s office

Defending a train attacked by Native Americans on horses

A gunfight in a saloon after a poker game

Preventing outlaws from pillaging a gold mine

A fusillade between lawmen and outlaws

Look, Ubisoft. I really enjoyed Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood despite the repetitive gameplay and the needles-to-eye frustrating showdowns. I’m going to look at The Cartel like it’s the abortion that should have happened, but, unfortunately, didn’t, and therefore refuse to recognize it’s existence. You’ll be going down the very, very wrong path by making yet another sequel to a series that should’ve been laid to rest by number 2. It’s just not worth it.

Rawr.

RipTen Review: Assassin’s Creed Revelations

Murray Hibble — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:00:44 +0000

When it comes to annual franchises, nobody does it like Ubisoft. Each Assassin’s Creed title has improved subtly on its predecessor by folding in new activities and gameplay elements scattered across gorgeous city traverses. Revelations offers perhaps the smallest list of enhancements in the series but when the core gameplay is so good, and the complex, unwinding narrative surpasses itself, you’ll again find yourself drawn into many hours of running, murdering and boggling at what’s on offer. The franchise hasn’t lost step as it confidently reveals stunning new insights and revelations, so while the slick gameplay isn’t markedly different, the narrative is in the driving seat and offers every motivation that you’ll need to discover the last days of Ezio and Altair.

The setting for Revelations is a divided 15th century Constantinople, where the Ottoman King’s attention is held to other fronts allowing the Byzantines and Templars full run of the city. Ezio Auditore arrives in town seeking a weapon to fight the Templars, a weapon once weilded by Altair Ibn-Lahad himself, and the fight will take him across Constantinople to the underground city of Cappadacia and to the hallowed ground of Masyaf itself. Throughout the journey you’ll befriend local Assassin’s Guild Master, Yusuf, discover a new love interest for Ezio in the form of passionate bookstore owner Sophia and play through intertwining narratives for the two other main characters in surprising and incredibly fulfilling ways.

Narrative is clearly at the forefront in Revelations so much so that even the cityscape feels like it has its own monologue. It’s not just the colour; the beautiful swathes of pastel rainbows in the local people, stallholders and the strong visual representation when seen from a vantage point and it’s not just the fantastic presentation of hostile soldiers, particularly the masked faces of the Ottoman’s ‘Janissaries’ troops, or the level of detail in the lead characters. The story is in the amalgamation of these elements and is rooted in the architecture of the city itself through the subtle use of undulating structures and zip-lines (accessed using Ezio’s new hookblade or parachute). Constantinople is a gorgeous gamespace and thanks to its clever structure you spend less time finding the right lines and more time flowing across the city.

As an ancient history GTA, Ubisoft have again refined and expanded on the side-missions and for the most part it works. One of the major new additions is bomb-crafting. You’ll be able to choose a shell, an explosive element and an extra effect and these are grouped under further banners for Offensive, Tactical and Diversionary. These can be crafted at various bomb-stations throughout the game world and you’ll pick up the components from looting bodies or the almost overdone abundance of containers, purchase them from bomb-makers or from historical figure Piris Reis. Bombs, secondary weapons and primary weapons are all now selected cleverly from a single hold of the right button allowing on-the-fly changes to your entire weapon set, but the problem is that bombs are never really needed outside of forced moments in some missions thanks to the overly-effective primary weapon counter-strikes and insta-kills. Trip-mines take too long to activate, explosives can often kill citizens and with swordplay that is as fun to play as it is easy to do, there’s little incentive to employ your arsenal.

Expanding on the Assassin’s Guild mini-game, this time you’ll not only recruit new killers to your ranks and send them on missions but each mission will reduce Templar control in a city, with the goal of controlling the entire Mediterranean area. Templars fight back however, so you’ll need to keep revisiting the tougher ‘Reclaim The City’ missions to retain your hold. Your recruits tie into the other mini-games as well, and there are various Assassin’s Guild buildings across the map and once a recruit has become a Master Assassin a simple mission alongside them will give them control of that den.

To unlock new recruit slots you’ll need to find a Templar stronghold, locate the Captain and kill him which can be tedious as it entails walking around in blue-tinted Eagle-vision to find him standing out in gold. At times you’ll also be given the option to defend your Assassin’s Dens which are assaulted by templars if you gain too high of a public profile. These offer ‘tower defense’ gameplay and involve setting up barricades and manning rooftops with Assassin’s against waves of incoming enemy soldiers. Unfortunately this is way too fiddly to work and the constant requests to recapture your dens means this element is as frustrating as dealing with girlfriends in GTA. Clearly though, with these side missions and even more there is a ridiculous amount of content for fans of the series to be had.

Cosplay Spotlight: Malfatto (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood)

Stephanie Gutowski — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:35:44 +0000

In honor of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’ release and the RipTen Review, I thought we’d celebrate with a little cosplay.

Fans of Ubisoft’s M-rated history lesson will recognize this guy pretty quickly. The Doctor, aka, Malfatto, comes to life thanks to the time and dedication of fans like Anime_freak_kai. Assassin’s Creed fans never cease to amaze me with their willingness to wear intricate, sweltering outfits in all sorts of weather. Kai happens to be something of an animal lover (or fearer of PERA), since all that “leather” is actually vinyl. It’s beautifully sewn, and I’d assumed that the materials were genuine from the start. Once again, I am pleasantly surprised.

... I really don't like needles.

Kai built the mask up out of plaster, foam, and clay, materials that sound incredible uncomfortable to wear. And, of course, it wouldn’t be complete without a weapon of choice. This syringe is hand carved out of wood and looks to be particularly menacing. Not someone you want to engage in stealth combat, that’s for sure.

Once again, we have living proof of just how awesome cosplay can be.

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is Getting Some HD Lovin’ Too

Catherine Cai — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:30:27 +0000

At E3, it looked like 2011 was shaping up to be the year of the power sequels, but really, it looks like 2011 is going to close as the year of the HD remasters.

With Ico/Shadow of the Colossus, God of War Origins, Splinter Cell, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Halo and… the list runs on.

Still, none of the announcements of these HD remakes, barring Ico/Shadow of the Colossus, have made me quite as excited to hear that Rayman is going to be joining the HD list.

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc has been updated to run at 60 frames per second and will feature stand-alone mini-games and achievements.

It’ll be made available for download on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network in the Spring of 2012.

Stay tuned for more. Hopefully this means a Rayman 2 remake is coming as well.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations ‘Ancestors Character Pack’ DLC Dated

Catherine Cai — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:00:26 +0000

Despite the fact that Assassin’s Creed: Revelations just hit shelves today, Ubisoft announced the game’s first DLC pack, The Ancestors Character Pack. The DLC is set to launch on December 13th on both the PSN and Xbox Live, for a measly $3.99 or 320 Microsoft Points.

The DLC pack comes with four multiplayer characters, the Privateer, the Corsair, the Brigand, and the Gladiator, each with different weapons, taunts, and assassination moves.

Stay tuned to RipTen for our review of Revelations.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations ‘Previously’ Trailer Recounts Desmond’s and Ezio’s Tale

Garrett Hartman — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:27:49 +0000

Ubisoft has released yet another Assassin’s Creed Revelations Trailer, this one explains the backstory of Desmond and brings the story up to date to prepare for tomorrow’s release.

Check it out, it doesn’t disappoint.