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Celebrating its 20 year anniversary this year, French publisher Ubisoft continues to hold its place in the world MMO market.
Ubisoft’s most beloved character, Rayman, will be making a return on current and next-gen consoles in a new game currently titled Rayman (also often referred to as Rayman Raving Rabbids. In this newest iteration of the series, Rayman will have to do battle against a horde of demon bunnies. While the full range of specific platforms is still sketchy, one thing has been made clear. Rayman will make an appearance on the Wii.
Another kid-friendly game on the horizon is a new game based on the upcoming animated feature Open Season. Players will take on the roles of Boog the bear and Elliot the one-horned mule deer. Finding themselves in human-infested woods during the opening days of hunting season, both Boog and Elliot must find ways to avoid becoming dinner, or a head on a wall.
What would Ubisoft be without a few new Tom Clancy games. Coming out for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas will feature beefed up graphics and next-generation A.I. all wrapped up in a package that offers increased real-time gameplay. What does increased real-time gameplay mean? Almost everything in the game happens in real-time. As you receive your mission briefings, Sin City doesn’t sleep and neither do terrorist activities.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent puts a surprising twist on this stealth favorite. You will now play the dual roles of covert spy as well as terrorist. Players will need to perform some unspeakable acts to keep their cover intact, but its all for the greater good. Isn’t it? “Your choices will decide the outcome of your game”. Double Agent will be released on all three current major platforms as well as the 360 and PC.
Ubisoft has announced a Wii exclusive launch title in the form of the new Wii style FPS, Red Steel. The game will take full advantage of the wide array of control options offered by the unique Wii-mote control. Players will use both guns and swords to execute their opponents as they attempt to rescue their fiancée from the Japanese mafia.
Enchanted Arms, an Xbox 360 exclusive that has become a best-selling RPG in Japan, is finally making its way to the U.S. Players take on the role of Atsuma, an enchanter in training. With attractive visuals and strategic turn-based based battles, Enchanted Arms also offers the option for players to fight head to head over Xbox Live, using any of the 75 special creatures they have found in the game.
The legendary Might and Magic series continues on the PC with Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Utilizing a souped up version of Half-Life 2’s Source engine, Dark Messiah will offer “12 huge levels” and the ability to “master over 30 weapons”. It will also mark the first fantasy action game featuring a completely first-person combat system.
Sony fans won’t be left out in the cold. Assassin’s Creed is a PlayStation 3 exclusive (or so we heard...). Set in the twelfth century, players will attempt to stop the ever-escalating violence of the crusades by dealing major blows to both sides of the war. As the name suggests, you play as an assassin, with gameplay as a sort of action-stealth hybrid. You don’t want to be seen, at least until you’ve found your mark.
Oh what would this world be without yet another WWII shooter game? Apparently the realm of videoland contains an inexhaustible supply of Nazi’s. To think, there was a time when all we had to worry about was the stray Goomba. Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway is a fully next-gen title, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows Vista. The game centers around the events of Operation Market Garden, the largest paratrooper operation of the war.
The most secretive of the new titles at Ubisoft this year was a game called Haze. Likely some type of shooter, Haze features a story centered on a corporation with its own private army that “exports democracy”, so to speak. All is not right with these soldiers however, as they may be brainwashed by the corporation. One of the few trailers for the game features a grunt ripping something off his chest, apparently “waking up” from a sort of, dare I say, haze. |
