Ubisoft on Yearly Assassin's Creed: We'd Be Stupid Not to Satisfy This Need

[alj]

Good grief, I still haven't completed Ass Creed 2...

You and me both, i liked the first one and the second but i just cannot justify buying the same thing again and again. Every few years possibly yes but no way should it be year on year. Name one game ONE that does not suffer quality wise form having a new one out every year, just one. Sports games are the worst for it whist they do improve every few years they are nothing but a roster update most years , something that could be done via DLC saving them loads of production cost that they could spend making a better game every 3 years or so. I don't see why this or something like COD should be any different.

 

[nuclearday]

Well, I don't feel I've been burned by the franchise yet. I've enjoyed some installments more than others, but I've had fun with all of them so far. If Ubisoft wants to keep putting them out, I'll keep buying them whenever I feel like playing another AC game until I decide I don't want to play another one any more.

I've sat through the credits for these games - there are teams all over the world working on these games. They certainly have the manpower to put out a lot of content, but my worry is more about maintaining creative control and vision with such a diffuse development process. There's a lot of cooks in that kitchen no matter how fast they're putting the food out.

But I really liked Black Flag, felt it was a quality game with a lot of polish (I even enjoyed the out-of-animus segments and felt they're coming closer to striking the proper balance there.) Felt it was an interesting story with characters I could relate to and an interesting narrative that took a different angle on the story. So I'll give them another chance.

I mean, this isn't a complicated subject. I'll buy the next game when I feel like it, so long as I enjoyed the last game.

 

[Nazulu]

Do you think the people who say things like this ever consider that people might be more satisfied with a product that has more thought put into it? That it might last longer if it's not milked constantly? Actually, can they even think?

 

[MarsProbe]

I will most likely still be getting this game - though it won't be straight away, I haven't bought an AC on release since Brotherhood. I would now say the yearly release schedule has all but annihilated my interest in AC as a franchise. It will of course never happen, but I'd very much like it if even just once, they held off for say two years before bringing out another AC game. Then I (and I assume many others) would actually get excited about a new AC game, like was the case with AC2. As it stands though, it's more a case of "Oh look, it's another AC game. That's nice, I guess."

I wonder if we'll actually every get a payoff on the whole "Juno escaping into the real world". It's clear the focus of the game is on the historical aspects, it's from the present day (or is it near future now?) that an actual conclusion will arise to the entire series. I just wonder what random artifact we'll be hunting for in the past this time and what effect it will actually have on the contemporary narrative.

 

[Lightknight]

By "need", are they referring to their desire for cash in the short-term at the cost of sustainable sales/releases of the game?

I moved during my playthrough of the second Assassin's Creed and put it down. By the time I got around to picking it back up there were already two other games in the franchise, not counting the Vita. So I haven't picked it up. I feel like I have to work before I can catch up with them and now they plan to make it worse. The thing about this game is it gets tiresome during the game. You have to take little mini-breaks or the game stops being fun. There's too much competition with great games for me to want to dedicate any serious time to catch up.

I would be interested in knowing whether or not Lionel managed to successfully repress the urge to do air quotes when saying the word "need". Or maybe the "they" that want it is Ubi's board of execs?

Still, if they were truly capable of releasing a game of the same quality as say, Black Flag, every year, then it wouldn't necessarily be bad. I just have absolutely zero faith in their ability to do so.

Much like eminem I made a comeback

Whoa, Vault 101 is back. Don't know how you got back but I'm glad to know I'll be reading your contributions going foward.

 

[Elfgore]

I don't mind a yearly Assassin's Creed game, as long as they keep the quality up and try something new. Which is why I'm worried about these games. We've already had a two Assassin's Creed game set during that time period, one of which is very similar and a total piece of crap. Unless they can make the french revolution interesting, my info on the period is rather limited, I will be cautious.

And I'll repeat myself again. Ancient Rome and Feudal Japan/China. Awesome games right there.

 

[sirjeffofshort]

They can release them as often as they want. At this point I treat each game in the franchise as a new entity anyways. I don't care about pirates or high seas adventure so I skipped the last one. French revolution interests me, so I'll be jumping on the new one.

 

[SilverStuddedSquirre]

I don't mind a yearly Assassin's Creed game, as long as they keep the quality up and try something new. Which is why I'm worried about these games. We've already had a two Assassin's Creed game set during that time period, one of which is very similar and a total piece of crap. Unless they can make the french revolution interesting, my info on the period is rather limited, I will be cautious.

And I'll repeat myself again. Ancient Rome and Feudal Japan/China. Awesome games right there.

There are already Assassins Creed games set in Feudal Japan: They are called Tenchu. But beware! They feature such archaic design features as Co-operative Story play, being stealthy AT NIGHT, and sticking to the Plot at hand, rather than making you play as Dilbert for no reason other than to show that a couple of secret societies are still around. "What a Twist!"

Rome I could get behind. Having to assassinate the Dominus of a Gladiatorial school could make for a nervous challenge.If you have to worry about Gannicus rather than some dandy of a guard, life is interesting. I can't help but bring up a point made in the Podcast: find a new mini-game and ditch the ships. Why? Stagnation. Give us something Else to do in Paris, then bring an updated, sharper Naval system to the next game. This is one time where I think Voice Command could shine. Giving verbal commands to your First mate about the ship whilst sweeping your deck clear of boarding parties - sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed the Naval combat in 4, but I refuse to purchase another title with the exact same controls for the ship.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

No I don't think it's "stupid" to not release a new AC game every year. I love the AC franchise but I just know that eventually Ubi will beat the franchise to death and instead of getting a great game every couple years we'll get progressively shittier games very year until they abandon the series as unprofitable. They could just spread out releases and make each game feel special and unique, but that's not what Ubisoft will do. They'll kill it and blame the consumers for losing interest.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Honestly, have they actually made a bad AAA Assassin's Creed game? I know people found AC3 disappointing (I didn't even bother getting it) but was it actually a badly made game? Heck, Black Flag was my favourite game of last year. At least we will be getting new locations and stories every year as opposed to the exact same (or very nearly) multiplayer experience CoD offers year after year.

Besides, it's not like you have to buy them each year, just pick the one you're interested in. Example: I'm not too thrilled about playing the French Revolution (I'll wait for some actual gameplay trailers to reserve full judgement) so I'll probably going to skip this year's game.

 

[Racecarlock]

Even COD has stopped with the yearly releases. I think it's time that ubisoft learns what consumer burnout is.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

I felt...saturated...with AssCreed games back in the Etsy'o Auditor days.

Much like with the CoD series, this particular teat is becoming less dry and milkless and more moldy and toxic.

At the very least, make it a bi-yearly title so your dev teams have some time in between reusing the same engine to, maybe, perhaps, address the horrible combat system and stiff/sticky movement that's been a problem since 2007. Fix the issues, set it in the future Desmond world, feudal Japan, Africa, or something else vaguely novel and some traction could be gained on the road toward non-shit business practices.

 

[Scrythe]

I'm sorry, but isn't the yearly model the exact reason why the games have been gradually dropping in quality? I would have gladly traded several years of polishing AC3 in exchange for not having Revelations see the light of day.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

I'd be perfectly satisfied not buying one every year? Maybe take a year off, and polish up your fucking engine, eh, Ubisoft? Yeah, I've played them all, and bought each new one (though, I still need to grab Liberation), either on day one or a few months later. I've liked most of them, and only hated one (*coughrevelationscough*), even if it was a place I'd love to explore.

You know what I don't like about the series, despite the consistent, surprisingly high quality they put into them? The movement. It's still sticky as fuck. They really need to change how high profile prioritization of running works. stopping a high speed pursuit because he wants to dry hump a wall is absolutely aggravating. But the stories, settings, and graphics have all been pretty damn impressive, especially considering that they crank these things out in what has to be 11 month cycles. If they took even a few extra months and tweaked the mechanics for the protagonist, instead of adding a lot of other stuff that varies from fun to useless to tedious micromanaging, I think I'd be a lot happier.

That said...we're already seeing diminishing returns. Revolutionary France and something like the Meiji period in Japan are the only two settings I *REALLY* want to dive into. Anything too modern features too many guns for my taste, and the best thing about AC3 and AC4 has been the lack of 15th century super snipers and a focus on the blades again, rather than the shittastic and uninteresting guns. Unless they had the balls to let us go back and play as first civ. That would be worth it.

 

[uhohimdead]

i thought this was interesting and it kind of relates to the article and to assassin's creed as well as all the comments that says we need innovation

http://youtu.be/Cxhs-GLE29Q

 

[Flammablezeus]

As somebody who loved Assassin's Creed right from the beginning, turning it into an annual franchise killed it for me. That, plus the over-simplification of the controls in AC3 which took away the small amount of fine control that we had.