Assassin's Creed II Episodes Project [working title]

[JRD]

From IGN

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A few new details were revealed about the new Assassin's Creed title during Ubisoft's conference call this morning.

The title's location will be set in Rome, headquarters of the Templar's Order. A new assassination multiplayer mode was also revealed.

"It marks the return of the legendary Ezio, but this time, he will strike directly at the heart of the Templar's Order in Rome," said CEO Yves Guillemot. "In addition to this full, new adventure, players will be able to challenge their friends in a very innovative assassination multiplayer."

Ubisoft has been very careful about letting details out about this new title. Platforms have not been announced, and Guillemot declined to give further details when asked on the call. A release date was also not provided, but it's expected to launch during Ubisoft's second half of its fiscal 2011 year, which begins on April 2010.

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[spaceboy]

hmmm, so not an ACIII exactly but more like a Chronicles or continuation of Ezio's quest.  I like it, they can milk the series for all its worth if they continue to give great worlds to run around in with exciting gameplay and good stories.

[JRD]

I read an article saying that Ubi plans to release titles of their franchises more often... among them, AC...  ;)

[PZ]

Sounds like a major update - looking forward to it already!  ;)

[spaceboy]

I read an article saying that Ubi plans to release titles of their franchises more often... among them, AC...  ;)

hmm, what about a Far Cry episodes - or at least how about producing FC3 sometime soon!

[PZ]

My goodness, I don't even dare to hope too much for that for fear of jinxing it's release!

[RedRaven]

I read an article saying that Ubi plans to release titles of their franchises more often... among them, AC...  ;)

hmm, what about a Far Cry episodes - or at least how about producing FC3 sometime soon!

How about they get it out on the PC already, its still a month away, providing it doesn't get delayed!!!
At this rate it will be obsolete before get my hands on it :( .

[JRD]

I read an article saying that Ubi plans to release titles of their franchises more often... among them, AC...  ;)

hmm, what about a Far Cry episodes - or at least how about producing FC3 sometime soon!

Here... found the article at IGN:

Fans should probably expect a healthy dose of Assassin's Creed every year. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated during today's financial call that the publisher is looking to release its big franchises more frequently on top of its lineup of new titles.

"Our clear goal today is to come more regularly with our top brands. For example, it took three to four years to come back with Splinter Cell, Driver, Prince of Persia, or Ghost Recon. We believe we can launch them more often without risk of brand fatigue, said Guillemot.

"This commitment to our franchises does not mean we won't continue to launch new franchises, as certain projects have been under development for some time, and two new titles will be launched in 2011 and 2012."

The publisher is expected to release a new Assassin's Creed title late this year, perhaps signaling it has now become an annual franchise.

In the same call, Ubisoft's chief financial officer Alain Martinez pointed to the annual Raving Rabbids series as evidence of the effectiveness of this plan.

"When you add up the three Raving Rabbids games over the years, what we are seeing are the total amount of units going up," said Martinez. "Assassin's Creed has kept selling and is still one of our best sellers. Bringing a game regularly is actually maintaining a better sell of your back catalog because you are more present and people will buy the new title or the cheaper, cost-effective ones.

Guillemot also highlighted that Ubisoft is focusing on adding a multiplayer component to all of its brands going forward.

"We've made big investments to make sure all of our brands could become multiplayer," said Guillemot. "We're coming out with Driver, Splinter Cell, Assassin's Creed, and Ghost Recon, which will all have multiplayer."

"Those games will take full advantage of the ability to play with friends, either over the internet or locally at home. We are putting a lot of emphasis on that subject to make sure our games can be played by more people together," he added. "It's also a key factor for the relationship we have with our customers on a long-term basis."



Nope, no word about Far Cry 3...  :(

They can hit me with AC, Splinter Cell and a decent Ghost Recon though... and make it cheap, please.  ;D ;D ;D

[spaceboy]

As long as single player campaigns, especially open world and good AI do not go by the wayside with their committment to MP.  Though that said, if done right an AC MP could be a lot of fun.  Especially if co-op.  Also, local MP in more games would be great so you can play with friends or family too.  It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.

[Art Blade]

I think it can't be a good idea to force creative minds to be creative. Imagine... imagine The Beatles were on a devs team and the game "Yellow Submarine" just turned out to be a success. Now the publishers tell them "make a sequel of Y.S. every year, and of your other s--"

I think I'd be shoving my guitar down the bloke's throat before he finished telling me. I know how impossible a task it is to be creative when told to be. Especially when you start thinking about your job and how to keep it, rather than letting the mind run free.

I have to add, I want diversity, not multitude.

[spaceboy]

great point Art.  I guess I'm also thinking they wouldn't do this though if they didn't think they have the content to provide.  There are so many potential AC stories and timelines to tell.  I'm also wondering if they don't do it under a different model.  Maybe a core game with yearly add-on DLC or something that doesn't cost the price of a full game.  Something to keep you into it until the next full game is out.  I may be reading into that though.  I prefer discs to downloads though myself.

Also, I'm not sure I like it too much if it's oversaturated.  Doesn't give you time to explore other genres or IPs if your favorites are always coming out.

[JRD]

I guess they have the recipe and will bake the same cake every year, with a different icing.
Take ACII successfull model and w@&k towards creating new and better cities for it to run over and over...
I can hardly see it going well after the 2nd or 3rd cake...  :(

[Art Blade]

Indeed... you know, of course it made me think of how all of us were dreaming about a FC3 when we were right into FC2. A sequel seemed (and seems) so appetizing because there is nothing else out there (yet). But if I were used to eating birdseed, I'd be quite happy to eat my first toast. But there is life beyond toast... in my country, we have more than 200 different types of bread...  ;)

[PZ]

I started a new play through a couple of days ago to see how the Forli DLC would integrate into the game.  It felt rather seamless to me.  Here is how the game works for those of you that don't know:

• The story line consists of "memory sequences" which are main blocks of story
• There are 14 sequences total, but sequences 12 and 13 are missing from the original console release
• Memory sequence 12 is the Forli battle, and sequence 13 is the next DLC.

If you play the DLC with a saved game (beyond sequence 12) rather than starting from a lower sequence, it works just fine, but old people like me have already forgotten how sequence 11 ended (sequence 11 leads nicely into the Forli sequence) - this means that the story is easier to follow when you play from a starting point below sequence 12.  I originally started with a save in which I had completed all 14 sequences, so the Forli intro cut scene didn't quite fit properly in my mind.

So, here is what it looks like to me (complete conjecture of course):

• There is a development group assigned to each of the 14 sequences.
• The groups assigned to sequences 12 and 13 dropped the ball and did not finish their part in time for release
• Ubi cleverly released the game before it was finished and then had the brilliant idea to charge people more for the two sequences that should have been part of the game from the beginning.
• Because everything on the PC end of things is behind schedule, they decided to give the PC users the "bonus" of having all 14 sequences without extra cost incurred by the console folks - my, my, aren't they generous to give us such a "deal".  ;D

[Art Blade]

nice theory :)

Reminds me of goods you can buy in the supermarket, those literally half-baked products which you need to put into your oven or microwave to finish them. "Oh, we had a power cut. We decided to sell the stuff anyway and tell the customers how cool it is to bake that stuff for only a couple of minutes rather than preparing a meal from scratch"  :)

I think there is a possibility that all 14 episodes were finished, but indeed, to create extra money (maybe here's the point where they ran out of ideas) they cut pieces from it to sell those as DLC later on.  ;D

[PZ]

Sure could be!  Your comment reminded me of a trick that manufacturers started using several years ago - reduce the volume of food in a container yet still charge the same (or more) for it.  For instance, what was always a pound of bacon (16 ounces) is now sold at a higher cost in a 12-ounce package - same with ice cream - no more half-gallon containers  ;D

[Art Blade]

Yes, same here. Crisps, cigarettes, all kinds of things. The biggest change here was after they undertook a currency reform in Europe. When you went to a restaurant, the prices remained the same or were even higher, yet bearing a different symbol: € rather than DM. Which roughly doubled prices. A cup of coffee that used to cost DM 2.50 now costs € 3,- (about 6DM). Crazy.

[PZ]

I guess that the individuals in charge must think that the public is too stupid to notice  ;)