First Look at Michael Fassbender in Assassin’s Creed

Fox announced the Assassins Creed film nearly two years ago with Michael Fassbender at the helm. It’s needless to say the first official image released was a long time coming.

Assassin’s Creed 4: Two Trailers and Gameplay Footage

I don’t know why I continue to play Assassin’s Creed games. I really don’t. They are basically the same game with just different people and settings each time and yet for some reason when a new one is announced I get all a’tingle with excitement. This newest incarnation, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, is no different. During their E3 press conference, Ubisoft gave us a good look at the new game, which has moved on to the islands.

There are few things I love more than tall ships and the open sea. Add in pirates and the trademark “prettiness” that makes a player want to go find all those viewpoints in game, there’s no doubt I won’t be heading to my local game retailer in October to pick this one up.

Also released was a “Horizon Trailer” and it does a whole lot more to show the pretty.

But what if the scenery and cinematics aren’t what drive you to buy a game? Well don’t fear, Ubisoft will happily convince you to impart with your money as well as they released a gameplay trailer at the same time.

Are you one of those people that just needs more, more, more? Then you’ve come to the right place because there is more and more when it comes to videos for this game.

I told you there was a lot. Frankly maybe we don’t need to buy the game anymore, just sit and watch all these trailers and such and pretend we are playing. Oh who am I kidding? That $60 is already burning a hole in my pocket. I would go out and preorder it right now if only I could find a place to preorder it from. Oh wait!

Unfortunately, right now the only thing that shows up when you click any of the retailers is Gamestop’s “Black Island Pack” which includes the Deadly Black Ship, legendary silver flintlock pistols used by Captain Morgan, and then Captain Morgan’s costume, picture, and title. As intriguing as that is, I’d like to see the other bonuses before I make a decision. I’m particularly interested in Target’s “Trove of Mystery Pack”. Hopefully Ubisoft will fix that glitch here soon because…

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag will be released on October 29th, 2013. Happy pillaging!

Tom Hardy to Play Sam Fisher in the Upcoming ‘Splinter Cell’ Movie

Tom Clancy games were some of the most popular shooters in the early days of this console generation, back before Call of Duty stormed in and beat everything else from the genre into non-existence. Among the Clancy-approved series were Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon and, of course, Splinter Cell. As Sam Fisher, an elite agent of the fictional Third Echelon branch of the NSA, players infiltrated terrorist cells using only stealth tactics and a small kit of advanced gadgetry. In its heyday Splinter Cell was beloved and one of the best-selling franchises out there. The games are still around, but the popularity and quality of Sam Fisher’s more recent missions have waned considerably.

But hat’s not to say that interest has completely dropped off. There’s still enough gas in the tank that Ubisoft Studios is in the process of starting up a Splinter Cell movie, and according to Geek Exchange Ubi has now successfully wrangled The Dark Knight Rises co-star Tom Hardy to play the part of Agent Fisher. This is a huge get for Ubisoft, who also recently announced that Michael Fassbender will star in their Assassin’s Creed adaptation. With both films featuring high-caliber stars they’ll likely draw an audience, but hopefully the show of talent on camera is reflective of the talent behind it; despite the fact that studios have been converting video game properties to the silver screen for over thirty years, there has yet to be one worth watching. Ubisoft’s own Prince of Persia has arguably been the best of them so far, but it wasn’t exactly a critical success either.

Tom Hardy has been one of my favorite actors to watch since I stumbled upon Bronson a year or two ago. Following his somewhat minor role as Eames in Inception his career has taken off (Rubbing shoulders with Christopher Nolan should have that effect), and the English actor has found himself among Hollywood’s elite ever since. The guy just can’t act badly, and he rarely picks a wrong movie. He also grows a fantastic beard.

I wonder about his casting in this though. The last Splinter Cell game I played was 2005’s Chaos Theory, and at least to that point, Sam Fisher was not a particularly nuanced character. He’s a rough and tumble proficient killer which fits Tom Hardy’s repertoire for sure, but Fisher is a middle-aged man with greying hair and a two-years-past-retirement attitude. It will be interesting to see how much of that is retained in the movie, as well as the rest of the series canon. I always prefer a more distant approach – retain the characters and the setting but create a brand new plot. Video games are lacking in those as a rule, and the only thing less exciting than a fetch quest in a video game is a fetch quest on a movie screen. But this is all speculation. As production nears and more details come to light we’ll stay on top of it.

Michael Fassbender Will Star In “Assassin’s Creed”

Assassin’s Creed is one of those magnificent games that manages to pack together a high concept, dense, and intricately woven story, with heavy mythology and symbolism, and still manages to be a commercial success. I suppose the difference between games and other mediums, is that with a game, you can skip the story if you like, and focus solely on the killing and whatnot. You’d be doing yourself a huge disservice, as the AC storyline is one of the better science fiction stories being told in gaming, or any media today.

The first game is initially about you being the descendant of an ancient league of assassins, reliving your genetic memories via a virtual reality machine that can access historical details otherwise obscured or lost to time. The repercussions of your discoveries, and the true intent of the scientists putting you through these experiments is what soon becomes captivating, along with the seemingly anachronistic parallels between the past and the present. Eventually the back story becomes the main story, and in the games sequels it’s expanded greatly, and really makes you wonder just what the hell is going on.

So with much optimism, I’m glad to say that Michael Fassbender, who some of you might recognize as David from Prometheus, or Magneto from X-Men: First Class, has been cast in the lead role for the film. It’s not confirmed if he’ll actually be playing Desmond Miles, the lead from the game, but one could presume so. Speaking briefly on the casting of Fassbender is Ubisoft Motion Pictures CEO Jean-Julien Baronnet, via Coming Soon:

“Michael Fassbender was our first choice. Michael (Fassbender) is an extremely smart, talented, versatile and committed actor.” 

For me, even though the game is a lot of fun, I’d rather just watch the brilliant story play out, which is why a movie is such a great idea. Historical fiction is fairly popular right now, and even though The Da Vinci Code, National Treasure and films of that ilk are gaining years in age, all it would take is something like Assassin’s Creedto blow up and get everybody excited about how awesome history is again. I can’t wait to see this thing, and I should really get around to finishing the last 2 games in the series, before 3 comes out, and so should you!

Button Mashing: Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed 3 & Max Payne 3

This is Button Mashing, Grizzly Bomb’s video game news headquarters. Previews, interviews, rumors and all the latest stories relating to the biggest games, all in one place. Here are the most important things you need to know for the week of March 12, 2012:

343 Industries Shows Off Halo 4

I don’t think anybody truly believed the Xbox’s flagship franchise was going to take a bow and walk away after Halo 3, so when Halo 4 was announced it didn’t feel much like a huge break from its predecessors. However 343 Industries is doing everything they can to make us believe that there is more to this sequel than a simple extension of the trilogy, a nice example of which is this ‘First Look’ video from Halo Waypoint:

Halo 4 will be the first game in the series to be developed outside of Bungie Studios, now that the franchise’s creators have officially separated from Microsoft, but some of their people have transferred to 343. It should make the change of hands much smoother than this type of change often is, and the video above does a lot to instil some faith in the new team.

My interest in Halo has been waning since before Reach came out, so a revamp of the franchise sounds like a great idea to me. I’m sure most fans would disagree, but I think a lot of good can come from looking at the story with fresh eyes.

Halo 4 is slated for a late 2012 release date.

Assassin’s Creed: Lineage

In case you missed it, a couple weeks ago I reported on the Assassin’s Creed movie deal that had been announced. I admit that I was a little concerned about the amount of control that Ubisoft demanded as part of their deal, that was until I saw Assassin’s Creed Lineage today.

“The story is a prequel to the video game Assassin’s Creed II. It centres around the father of the game’s main character Ezio Auditore de Firenze. Giovanni is an assassin living during the Renaissance in 15th century Italy. At this dawn of a new era, a conspiracy is being plotted by one corrupt family to overthrow the powerful Medici family and destroy a unified Italy. As an assassin, Giovanni must face this threat and bring justice. The story introduces the situation before Assassin’s Creed II, and the enemies of both characters.”

Thanks Wikipedia!

I had stumbled upon this little gem while browsing the video store on my way to rent Assassin’s Creed Revelations.

It was a really well made film and the environments in it were surprisingly good considering it was almost entirely done in green screen. It really says something for Ubisoft that I was able to recognize all the characters from the game and remember what roles they played in the story. I for one now have complete faith in their ability to make a kick ass movie.

Now because I am such a nice guy I will save you all the rental fee. Assassin’s Creed Lineage was posted on Ubisoft’s YouTube channel long ago, I just didn’t know about it… Enjoy!

Did Ubisoft Kill Assassin’s Creed Movie?

Hollywood insiders are saying that the Assassin’s Creed film franchise is guaranteed to fail.

New York Magazine reported that Sony has recently signed a movie deal with Ubisoft to adapt Assassin’s Creed. However, in order to get this deal to happen, Sony just about had to give Ubisoft complete creative control over the project. It’s reported that Ubisoft has final say on budget, cast, script, and even the release date.

An insider is reported as saying, “As a director, even Steven Spielberg cannot get this kind of deal.”, and as a producer he was apparently one of the first to pass on the project because of the demands made by Ubisoft.

I’m a little unsure about Ubisoft’s goals. I can’t tell if they want to make sure that a movie never gets made or if they want to make sure it gets made right. Personally, I have hope that they will prove the naysayers wrong and make a kick ass movie. The cinematics that they produce for their games are almost good enough to be movies on their own.

E3 2011 Preview: What I’m Looking Forward To

It’s June in Los Angeles, and while that means horrible humidity in the gridlock infested ‘City of Angels’, it also means that it’s time for my summer Christmas treat: The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or as it’s affectionately called everywhere, E3!

I have had the pleasure to go to E3 a few times, and I remember it being probably one of the coolest experiences of my life. It’s pretty much an assault on the senses, where strobe lights and booth babes puts stars in your eyes. The subwoofers buried under the exhibit floors, and concerts rattles your ear drums, and your fingers develop blisters from the severe button mashing and controller switching done at the conference. My favorite thing was to try out the Wii the year before it came out, being treated to one of the best experiences in gaming, and getting to brag about it on the intraweb. Although getting kicked out of the bathroom by Vin Diesel’s bodyguards so he could take a piss was a close second…

Regardless, I’m not there this year and this seems to be one of the best years to attend. There’s a lot of excitement in the air from the ‘Big 3’ and storylines are abound: What is Nintendo’s successor and will it appeal to the hardcore? How will Sony recover from the PSN debacle? Can Microsoft carry the Xbox for a few more years as it now enters it’s swan song?

 Like I said, I’m super pumped about this year, and while it may not encompass what everyone else is interested in, there is a comment section so feel free to say what you want to see. And with that, let’s start off with the honorable mentions:

Honorable Mentions:

Final Fantasy XIII-2

Other than the fact that FFX-2 was an absolute debacle, (yes, decent game…until you realize it completely ruins FFX’s story in my opinion) I’m still curious to see this game.

I have yet to beat the original, but I dug the combat system (although XII still has a special place in my heart). The trailer is below, but apparently it ruins the last game, so  SPOILER ALERT in case you don’t want it ruined for you. Also, apparently feathers are to Final Fantasy like doves are to John Woo…

Bioshock Infinite

I like the Bioshock games, I don’t love them. I get that I’m in the minority in that but my reasoning is that System Shock 2 is one of the most fantastic games of all time, so anything that is supposed to be a psuedo-sequel/spin-off has a hard time to capture my heart.

Still, they are considered great games and it’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it. That and I LOVE the trailer.

The New Harmonix Game

I love Harmonix. The creators of Frequency, Karaoke Revolution, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Dance Central, should I keep going…? They are extremely innovative when it comes to music genre, and more importantly, we are at a crossroads in music gaming. Guitar Hero is basically dead, there’s no Rock Band this year. What does Harmonix have up their sleeves? Guess we’re going to find out this week…

UPDATED> New Harmonix Game will be: Dance Central 2!

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

I’ve been playing through the 2nd one and I dig it. It’s a lot less repetitive than the first, so I assume the third is even less repetitive and this 4th part of the series should be good times. And also my mentioning it gives an excuse for Dr. Kronner to a picture of Kristen Bell…

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Now, I like the Elder Scroll games because you can do whatever the hell you want in them. I also hate the Elder Scroll games because they’re so absolutely non-linear that I never remember what the main quest is after I’ve decided to become an assassin, who specializes in real estate and being a traveling merchant.

Daggerfall remains one of my favorite games of all time, if not also the most frustrating because for the life of me, I have no clue what the hell I was supposed to do in that game.

 

Star Wars Kinect

Yes, I need an excuse to purchase the Kinect. Having my avatar wield a light saber with my movements would be that excuse.

X-Men Destiny

This is kinda a cool concept where you customize your character, decide if you want to go X-Men or Brotherhood and it’s written by X-Men Legacy writer Mike Carey. Obviously, not like Marvel Alliance where you pick up any character but it gives the idea of growing your mutant into a team and making your own storyline. Intriguing of course so I think it’ll be something this site will follow for the months to come.

Now, to the Things I Really Want to See…

In this order: 

Battlefield 3

I love Battlefield all the way back to the 1942 days. There’s something about mass chaos and being able to fly, drive, shoot, or snipe your way to glory. The battle also made me pee my pants a bit. I normally do not play a lot of FPS (I think Halo is overrated to be honest) but sometimes you just need to jump into a game and just go nuts. Plus it honestly looks like the most amazing thing I’ve seen in awhile. Or at least until the end of this conference. It’s a long trailer but considering it’s all gameplay, you better take a look at this.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

It’s freakin’ Zelda. Why the hell should I explain why you should be excited for this game? One more reason? Okay, with the new Wii motion plus, you can actually control where the sword strikes, hits, swings very accurately. Hold the sword to the right, Link will hold it ready to the right. Hold it back to charge, guess what? You just charged your sword. Again, this is stupid why I have to explain, because it’s FRIGGIN’ ZELDA.

Batman: Arkham City

A terrific game gets a sequel, and I know it’s be covered ad nauseam by us, with reveals of Catwoman and trailers and such, and it will only continue to grow as we inch closer to October. The first game was terrific and actually gets me to tell the story of Dr. Kronner’s first attempt with the game. He was on the rafters and was ready to swoop down to take out the bad guy. So he does his Batman glide down and you can see Kronner’s eyes light up as he has taken control of his boyhood hero, and is about to make his first victim feel the wrath of the Dark Knight. About 3/4 of his dive down on top of the victim, I noticed that his line was a bit off and that he was going to miss horribly so my eyes started to widen with glee. Kronner lands in front of the bad guy. Shot in the face. Dead. One of my favorite video game moments ever. Regardless of first try follies, I know he loves this game, I love this game, you love this game, and that most likely means you’re going to love the follow-up.

Contra

Contra is possibly one of my favorite games of all time. It’s also one of the most frustrating games ever this side of the first Battletoads (more specifically the speed bike stage, I mean C’MON).

So imagine my excitement that they are bringing it back. I mean, yeah, they brought it back once before for the Playstation and that blew ass, but it’s Contra.

If they go back to what made the originals awesome, we will have zero issues here.

So here’s the Gamespot link, because there’s no big news on it as of yet. I’m sure however, we’ll have good stuff to deliver by the end of this week…

Mass Effect 3

I love the Mass Effect series and it’s been one of the most engrossing games I’ve ever played. Plus, to actually carry your character over from the first game all the way to the last game without having to start new characters and stat distributions is genius. They have had the best storytelling and character development I have seen in games and it’s not surprising considering that Bioware, responsible for the Knights of the Old Republic series, is behind this effort. This is the last game of this trilogy and I cannot wait. Now if the combat system can finally be fixed…

Rage

The next first person shooter from ‘id software’, responsible for Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake? Yeah okay, I’m in. They always push the envelope on what to expect from shooters, but let’s be honest, when Half-Lifecame out, we began to look at Valve as the best FPS developer out there. But enough time has passed for id to reclaim the throne. I believe they have a great shot with this game. Check the trailer and judge for yourself.

Gears of War 3

Dear God yes. I love these games and it has the best co-op I ever played in my life (sorry River City Ransom). This game series really put me on edge while playing it, just like seeing the first bezserker in the first game to having bunches of fun on top of the giant riding things (my research is impeccable). Having one of the best single player campaigns ever really works in your favor but like I said, it’s all about the co-op. I think my old roommate and myself played through the first Gears 5 times on different difficulty levels and the second one 4 times just because it was that damn fun. So yeah, I’m pumped for this one and can’t wait to finish this trilogy off.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

We’ve mentioned Bioware before, and how awesome they are right? They did Mass Effect, Dragon Age, even the oldie but goodie Balder’s Gate. Well, they also did Knights of the Old Republic. They basically were in the golden age of Star Wars games with their RPG, and the FPS Jedi Knight series (which was AWESOME for multiplayer) and guess what? They are going back to Star Wars with this online game.

Now, let me get this straight, Galaxies was cool then sucked pretty fast. The outset was great, but the more you played the game, it made you miss being jedi because you had to be “chosen” in order to accomplish that feat. Instead I was a sniper killing farm animals while Kronner’s Wookie charged in with a giant hammer. Try doing that for 2 months straight. Regardless, if anyone was going to revive the series, Bioware was the right pick.

Check it out : HERE

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Yeah, another game I’ve pretty much talked about a lot.

So I’ll just post a new gameplay trailer, reiterate that Infinity Ward is behind it and they are better than Treyarch as a developer, and it’s full of pure awesomeness. That is all.

Wii 2/Project Cafe

Oh yeah. This is coming out. Touchpad controller? More powerful than 360 and PS3? HD? A callback to hardcore gamers instead of soccer moms? Well, I want this system. I’m watching the Nintendo conference as we speak so expect a report and that’s why I made this one last. Because I’m pretty sure that this will change gaming. Again. Like the last time. Sort of. Please don’t let me down Nintendo.

UPDATE>>>

So that’s what I got. And I’ll be doing updates throughout the week. Especially after the Nintendo presser…happy gaming people.