Tag Archives: Ubisoft

Why A 15 Minute Story In Far Cry 4 Might Not Suck

Just before its release earlier this week, a rumor that Far Cry 4‘s main campaign could be completed in just 15 minutes generated a murmur of contempt from a small group of fans who were irked with the notion that Ubisoft might be short-changing their customers. Considering a typical game in this genre features on average a 10 hour story, surely this is hurting the game and it’s worse for the customer…Right? Well, maybe not.

A 15 minute story does not mean the game itself runs out of content in 15 minutes – the Far Cry games are open-world titles that not only allow players to explore the environment outside the mandatory story missions, they actually incentivize it. There are dozens of smaller missions, hunting expeditions and collectibles to find all over their maps, and quite frankly, they’re far more entertaining than the majority of their narratives. The idea that gamers would be up in arms over the length of the main story arc is interesting because, in my experience, the stories in these types of games often end up feeling like expositional set-dressing, or unavoidable obstacles that get in the way of my entertainment, and to be honest, a 15 minute story in a 20 hour game sounds like a fantastic idea to me. Games are interactive, after all, and few of them have manipulative physics and emergent gameplay moments that are as gratifying to experiment with as the Far Cry series.

Take Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, for example. The game’s story is bare and utterly conventional, but players create their own tiny stories by interacting with enemies using the game’s Nemesis system, which allows enemy orcs to remember past run-ins with the player. The effects can be startling. You can kill an enemy only to see him later, sporting a nasty scar or burn from your last encounter. If you’re lucky, he’ll be scared of you this time, and run the second he sees you coming. Or you can fail to kill a captain, and he’ll mock your corpse and earn a nifty promotion for putting you down. When you meet up later for a rematch he’ll remember that you’re supposed to be dead, and he might relish the opportunity to murder you again. Getting revenge on an Uruk that killed you days before is far more rewarding than actually avenging your family at the end of Mordor‘s story, and is actually relevant to your own experience, but the game’s dialogue and cinematics will constantly urge to you to remember how much more you should care about the wife and son that Sauron took from you, despite having only met and lost them in the span of seconds in the game’s opening scene. The emotional gap between what you experience and what the game tells you you’ve experienced is in major conflict, but worse, the game undermines the stories you do create by forcing their own into the forefront.

This is your wife in Shadow of Mordor, who you love very much despite not remembering her name.
This is my wife in Shadow of Mordor, who I’m told I love very much, despite not remembering her name.

The largest offender of this is Skyrim, a game that offers an obscene amount of freedom to the player with regard to the stories they craft for themselves, but never allows you to create your own identities with that freedom. Interspersed throughout the game’s staggeringly large map, you will find opportunities to join and rise the ranks of a number of guilds and factions that each feature their own storyline, culture and relevance to the larger world of Tamriel. You can lead an organization of werewolves, join a legendary band of assassins and run a prestigious college, to name just a few. The problem is that all of these stories are forced to play second fiddle to the game’s “main” story, which focuses on your player being the legendary savior of the province of Skyrim, and any one of them felt more rewarding to me than the campaign because I discovered those factions and chose to be a part of them. Being forced to play the role of the Dovahkiin was the developer constantly reminding me that all those interesting, discoverable moments I decided were important to my character were sideline distractions to the main event. It broke the illusion from both ends: Not only was I pulled away from building the story I wanted for the character I created, the final Skyrim ‘canon’ of my game featured a Viking hero of prophesy, who took up smithing for a week, and put saving the world on hold to see if he could own every style of clothing in the province, just for fun.

Other RPGs succeed where Skyrim fails. Fallout 3 allows you to almost completely forget why you’re out in the wasteland to begin with at times, and it’s more of an asset than a flaw. The premise of Fallout 3 is that you leave your home – a claustrophobic fallout shelter – to find your father, who suddenly disappears from the Vault one day. It’s a simple conceit that provides the player with a clearly defined ‘endgame’ goal. You can find out where your father has gone almost immediately, and the game will put a big fat map marker right on your Pip Boy for you too. The thing is that there’s a whole lot of unexplored Washington D.C. between you and that location, and you’ll spend most of your time just surviving and learning about the world before you can reach the next story thread. What happens is you quickly learn through trial and error that the best way to gain access to your father is by scavenging for supplies (and xp) to make you tough enough to travel all the way to his location. Survival begets narrative in Fallout, and while you’re looking for better weapons and armor to keep yourself alive, you’ll catch yourself interacting with the locals and investigating little mysteries at each point of interest, uncovering the new culture of the post-nuclear United States. It makes sense within the context of the game too, because your character has spent his entire life up until this point living within the oppressive, narrow walls of Vault 101; you and your avatar share the same sense of awe and curiosity about the world around you, but in addition to that, your father’s disappearance is entirely connected to the state of the world you find yourself in. All of your experiences in the wasteland up to that point feel complimentary to the arc of the guiding storyline, rather than interfering or opposing it. It adds context and depth to both the smaller events you uncover while roaming the open world and they in turn reinforce the importance of the main story’s consequences. The story beautifully lends itself to player exploration, and if you were to isolate the specific ‘main narrative’ missions you might be surprised at how short Fallout 3′s skeletal narrative actually is.

It also helps when your dad is Liam Neeson

The point is, a main quest is only as important as the world around it deems it has to be. In Far Cry 3, the predecessor to the game that spawned this whole article, there isn’t really any secondary story option that moves away from the central plot line, but there are dozens of hours of small diversions and emergent gameplay opportunities. Players can avoid the next narrative beat for days collecting hidden items and taking over outposts without undermining the integrity of the main plot, or straying from the game’s underlying theme: No matter how far you stray from the critical path, all your actions in Far Cry 3 will always fit the context of Jason Brody finding himself on foreign land, struggling with the conflict between his own bloodlust and the need to escape the Rook Islands. That is what makes the game such a unified experience, and it’s why it doesn’t face some of the same conflicts that arise when a game forces its story upon a player in an open world.

Considering one of the most common – and justified – critiques about Far Cry 4 is how similar it feels to Far Cry 3, even if the game’s campaign was able to be completed in fifteen minutes, here’s enough reason to hold back your internet rage. By the way, that fifteen minute-long campaign rumor is only half true, and unless you follow a particular method, you’ll have a more traditional RPG storyline at your disposal. It’s almost too bad though, because the 15 minute story is absolutely brilliant (beware, major spoilers).


Images: Ubisoft, Warner Bros., Bethesda

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!

Assassin's Creed Black Flag

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.

Need for Speed Movie Set For 2014

Video-game-to-movie adaptations started in the early 90’s, with Super Mario Bros. Until recently, those movies had an uncanny tendency to flop, hard. However, with Tomb Raider and Resident Evil movies garnering much success, film studios decided it’s a good idea to invest in adaptations again. Hell, Ubisoft set up an entire studio just to produce movies based on their own games.

And of course, they’re never popular with the critics, but as long as they make money, and are remotely entertaining, who really cares?

Unless they’re directed by this guy. I hope he isn’t up to anything lately. Wait, he is.

EA also thought this was a good idea, and decided to sell the movie rights to Need for Speed. DreamWorks execs, perhaps high on coke and feeling overconfident, bought the property. Now, they have announced a release date.

On February 7, 2014, we will get a chance to watch a movie about cars with zero storyline (which in itself is a major understatement). Trust me, I know my Need for Speed games. When you talk about NFS, you don’t talk about their storylines. There was no plot in the first place. If there was any, it mainly revolves around you being a racer, and your need to win money and earn recognition so you can race against an asshole (Underground, Underground 2, Most Wanted, Carbon, Pro Street), who probably screwed you over earlier in the game (Underground 2, Most Wanted, Carbon).  There are also hot female sidekicks solely for the sake of making teenage boys horny. It’s guilty pleasure when the horrible storyline is in a racing game, not so much when it’s in a movie.

In case you didn’t know how bad the acting and writing were.

There were a couple of times where EA decided to go with different plots. In Undercover, you play as an undercover officer who is trying to infiltrate a gang, or something. It doesn’t really matter. You race, and then your boss (played by Maggie Q) orders you to take some people out. After a while, you find out that your boss is actually a mole, and you take her down. Wow, that took stupidity to a whole different level.

I never quite understood EA’s logic. Why bother shooting live-action scenes when nobody really cares about the storyline? All that waste of money should have went to my bank account. You know, someone who actually needs the money.

And The Run. How can I possibly forget about this atrocity? This game actually has a negative value of plots. I didn’t know that was even possible until this game was released. Basically, you play this guy Jack, who is in a lot of debt. Jack’s ex-girlfriend (portrayed by Christina Hendricks) tells him that there’s this cross-country race which can net him a whole lot of money. Jack races to pay off debt. Jack pays off debt by winning the race. Seriously, that is it. It’s not a joke. How EA managed to get Christina freaking Hendricks involved is just mind-baffling. I swear to god someone must be holding her husband, or her dog, hostage. No amount of money can convince anyone to be involved in the project. It’s that bad. Don’t believe me? I dare you to watch an entire playthrough of the game and tell me that there is a plot.

Yes, this Christina Hendricks. THE Christina Hendricks who is on Mad Men.

We don’t need any more street racing movies. We have The Fast & The Furious for that purpose. Please for the love of god, don’t do this. Don’t make me suffer through an hour and half of torture.

*gun cocks*
Not Dr Kronner: Jason, you will watch the movie, and you will write a review for us.
Jason: How the hell did you even…
Not Dr Kronner: Shhhhhhhh. If you don’t follow my orders word for word, you will be swimming with the fishes.
Jason: You maybe able to kill this body of flesh, but you can never kill my soul.
Not Dr Kronner: …
Jason: Ha!!! Now you have no leverage over me!!!
Not Dr Kronner: I shall kill this kitty instead.


Jason: What? You don’t kill no kitties. YOU’RE A MONSTER!!!!
Not Dr Kronner: You’re gonna do it now?
Jason: *in tears* Do what?
Not Dr Kronner: Watch the movie and write a review for us.
Jason: Yes. *sniffs* Just don’t kill the kitty.

When the movie is released, you may return to Grizzly Bomb for a full-length review, even though I have no idea how to write a movie review. I’m not the one with the gun. Dr Kronner did not, in any way, force me to do this. I am doing it voluntarily, for you guys and gals, so you won’t have to suffer through the movie.

Sorry, I just had to.

Button Mashing: Diablo III Updates, Far Cry Trips Out, and Dead Space for Two?

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 May 28, 2012:

‘Diablo III’ Updates Coming This Week – (Battle.net)

It would be an understatement to say that Diablo III had some technical issues upon its release, but Blizzard has certainly been working hard to iron out the kinks and get their game fully operational and optimized. These fixes, patches and tweaks continue with the game’s latest design update, which has been outlined on Blizzard’s own community site, Battle.net. The update plans to balance out all kinds of idiosyncrasies that haven’t quite met Blizzard’s standards, which I imagine means adjusting all kinds of knobs and dials, and turning a large wooden crank in a dusty old room somewhere underground.


Suffice it to say that you may notice some slight changes to the effectiveness of your characters’ attacks, as well as the damage output of NPC’s, particularly on higher difficulties. Blizzard is very clear that they want all classes to feel equally capable, and hope no single attack, rune or character will inevitably trump all others.

‘Far Cry 3’ Gets Trippy

Far Cry 2 certainly didn’t play well with the vast majority of gamers, but there were a few here and there that responded positively to the game’s ambitiously open world. Among them was one of my favorite industry people, Hey Ash Watcha Playin’ co-creator and current Gearbox Software employee, Anthony Burch. And while I didn’t take to the game as easily as he did, I definitely felt it had a lot of potential, and didn’t deserve to be dismissed to the extent it did.

Far Cry 3 looks like it’s trying to find a middle ground between becoming more accessible to the majority of players, and maintaining its unique take on the FPS genre. There clearly appears to be more of a linear story this time around, with a voiced character who seems to interact a lot more, a defined character/narrative arc and seemingly some scripted gameplay moments, but these all look to be interesting enough that it isn’t necessarily turning me away. It certainly helps that the graphics look fantastic. This particular trailer for the game showcases some of Far Cry 3‘s more guided moments, an interaction with the island’s resident doctor:

I’m really looking forward to seeing more at E3.

Metro: Last Light Points the FPS in the Right Direction – (IGN)

I never played Metro 2033. I hear it was very intriguing, but fundamentally, too flawed to garner huge praise. With this article by IGN, I can certainly believe that first part; Metro: Last Light looks like it might, along with Far Cry 3 above, convince me not to abandon the FPS genre for good.

Moscow […] is bleak and surrounded by collapsed buildings, but it’s not the type of setting you might find in Fallout 3 or Rage. Metro’s world is one of horror, where psychic visions drive the few people still alive completely insane. And air isn’t the only thing that’s scarce. In addition to looking for new air filters, you’ll always be searching for light, bullets, battery chargers and even other people as you explore what’s left of Moscow.

Exploration is Metro’s greatest strength. Moving through the tunnels of Moscow’s underground subway system, you’ll use a lighter to see where you’re going (or a flashlight if you’re fortunate enough to find a charge). There’s a real sense of terror moving through the dark, never knowing what you’ll find around each corner. If you’re lucky, you’ll come across some supplies, maybe a shotgun. If you’re not, you’ll find mutant spiders bursting out of a corpse.

I can do without the ‘psychic visions’ and mutated enemies. Those are tropes that I’m not particularly fond of (as I mentioned in my ‘Last of Us’ article the other day), but the environment described and showcased in the above clip looks promising. This might be the first time I’ve ever cared about an FPS setting.

‘Heavy Rain’ Developer Might Unveil Next Project at E3 – (Side Mission)

A “trusted” source claims that Quantic Dream have two new projects under way, and one or both might be revealed at E3 2012. Quantic Dream’s debut title Heavy Rain was one of Sony’s biggest stories when it was released in 2010, and though I found it to be a fundamentally flawed experience, it was an ambitious and interesting direction to take interactive storytelling.

The team released a tech demo earlier this year that showcased the gorgeous visuals and emotional range they’re able to create in studio:

There’s no telling what direction Quantic Dream will take with their impressive development tools, but if they can create an experience more conducive to the interactive medium of a video game, it may well be the next step in the industry’s evolution.

‘Dead Space 3’ Unofficially Announced – (IGN)

Sources indicate that Dead Space is on the horizon, though it’s not exactly a shock considering this is an industry that hands trilogies out like beads at Mardi Gras. There are however some interesting tidbits to note regarding the supposed new chapter:

Isaac Clarke, Unlucky Space Engineer Extraordinaire, reportedly crash lands onto Tau Volantis, a frozen planet which serves as the game’s new setting:

Isaac believes he’s the only survivor and begins heading to an abandoned waystation. He soon finds that others are still alive, including Ellie from Dead Space 2 and a new character named Jennifer. The report adds that the enemies will be known as The Hive Mind.

Additionally IGN has heard rumors that Dead Space 3 will feature drop in/drop out co-op, a feature that I imagine must work against the horror game’s atmosphere of isolation and helplessness, but nonetheless:

Isaac Clarke will, if players choose, fight alongside a man with a gnarly scar on his face, an engineering RIG of his own, and glowing red eyes peering from his helmet. During single-player, this character acts as Isaac’s guide.

The cooperative mode mirrors the single-player campaign, but Isaac’s story changes to accommodate it. At one point in Dead Space 3, Isaac and his counterpart stumble, wounded, bloody, and missing chunks of armor, out of burnt wreckage together. In single-player, the same scene happens without the other character. While Isaac may have a psychological breakdown and experience hallucinations on his own, certain traumatic events don’t occur with someone by his side.

Players will also work together (using telekinesis, for instance) to interact with pieces of the environment. In addition, you’ll be able to share ammo with and heal your co-op partner, although there is no revive system — once someone’s down and dead, both players reload the last checkpoint.”

I can’t imagine how this will change the game but co-operative campaigns are always more satisfying and entertaining than competitive multiplayer. From what I understand, Dead Space‘s foray into PvP didn’t exactly pan out, so hopefully players take more to the new feature.

That’s it for this week’s Button Mashing! E3 is fast approaching so stay tuned – we’ll be keeping on top of all the major stories.

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.

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

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.