Rock, Paper, Shotgun

The UK Writers’ Guild Awards took place at the end of 2011 but the American guild like to time their ceremonies a little closer to the Oscars so that they can fall into Awards Season, which isn’t actually a season at all. You may remember that a man named Gillen was nominated for the UK award, along with Ed Stern whose script for Brink received a nod. The winners were the writers of Enslaved though and that doesn’t exist on PC so we neglected to mention its victory. A belated round of applause to Alex Garland and Tameem Antoniades. So, who has received a nomination from the American guild? Read on.

Read the rest of this entry »

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations‘ multiplayer is soon to get a bit bigger. The Mediterranean Traveller Map Pack comes out as DLC on the 24th, and rather pleasingly the PC has it at the same time as the consoles (thus far). This is that almost forgotten breed of DLC, the stuff you pay for. To get the extra six multiplayer maps, featuring Jerusalem, imperial district of Constantinople, and a mercantile district of Dyers, you’ll need to fork out £8. You can see some screenshots from the new content below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ubisoft have just dolloped out a dose of paid-for DLC for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, and by my grandmothers long dead knees, they’ve released the PC version at the same time as the 360! The Ancestors Character Pack is out even before the PS3, which gets it tomorrow. This explains those cracks that have been appearing in the streets, and the low, dreadful rumbling of rising beasts. It is indeed, as foretold in the ancient prophecies, the end of days. Enjoy it while it lasts. Or, perhaps, don’t.

Read the rest of this entry »

Aha! I’ve just received word that PC review code for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is leaping towards my post box as we speak (WITtery due on Nov 29th, if all goes to plan), which means we can stop worrying that we’ll be waiting months for Ezio and Desmond to finally creep this way. So, it seems apt to run this AssCreed: The Story So Far videorama, given the time-hopping backstory of this series is fairly convoluted and not a little silly. Oh, I wish they’d lose the sci-fi stuff entirely, but ultro-lore does seem to be the default way franchises build frighteningly passionate fanbases.
Read the rest of this entry »

While we may be suffering a delay on Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, there’s some good news. Ubisoft have just confirmed for me that the game will not be coming with their hideous “always-on” DRM – a sign that perhaps, since it’s absent from such a big title, that they’re finally recognising it shouldn’t be anywhere near any of their products. Instead you’ll need to be online the very first time you play the game for an activation, and then it’s yours to play offline at your leisure. Goodness gracious, that’s bordering on reasonable! Hooray!

The Assassin’s Creed: Revelations launch trailer has gone live today, to mark the game’s launch on Tuesday next week. Except of course it’s only launching on Xbox and PS3 next week, because as usual Ubisoft, after pretending it was going to come out at the same time, announced a delay. This time they were kind enough to make that announcement at the end of September, instead of at the very eleventh hour, but it remained just as depressingly predictable. But hey, we’re getting it on 2nd December, “only” two and a half weeks late. Compared to the five months for the first game, four months for the second, and four months for Brotherhood, it’s quite the fancy treatment! So, instead of a launch trailer, what with its not launching, below is a time-lapse film of thunderstorms.

Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a bit, 1m40s in, into this new Assassin’s Creed Revelations trailer that I feel is a microcosm for how Ubisoft views the PC. A guard stands over a collapsed and bloodied man, who represents the PC gamers excited by the game but who have to wait for them to kick the console beta version out first. The guard then punches the downed man. The fist is Ubisoft’s DRM.
Read the rest of this entry »

It is now par for the course for most big-name videogames to release a special edition designed to enrapture the more passionate/nerdly fans, ensure more pre-orders and make a few bonus groats on each copy sold. It is also now par for the course for many big-name videogames to include bonus DLC, skins and that sort of thing when pre-ordered at certain retailers – designed to ensure the promotional support of those hollow-eyed high-street rotters who so regularly place their hands around the neck of the games industry. For Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, both of these steps have been taken. And then some.

There are no less than seven different editions of Ubisoft’s latest man-stabber due, each with its own bonus content and tchotchkes, plus assorted pre-order DLC shenanigans on top of that. And that’s before you throw in whatever they end up doing with the download version(s) of the game. What fresh madness is this?
Read the rest of this entry »

Assassins love their dens almost as much as foxes love theirs. It’s where they hang out, sharpening their knives and polishing their coins, so it’s hardly surprising that when gangs of angry Templars start storming those dens, trying to dull the knives and mar the coins, the assassins are having none of it. Admittedly, it’s a little surprising that there appears to be a tower defence minigame simulating those myriad historical moments in Assassin’s Creed Revelations. We can now add magically barricading streets and commanding troops to the list of things parkour-killers are capable of. What next? I say fishing and basketball.

Read the rest of this entry »

Eurogamer are reporting that the PC version of the game will now appear 2nd December 2011, a couple of weeks behind the console versions. This comes as no surprise to anyone who has been following Ubisoft’s multiplatform releases over the past couple of years, many of which have been delayed on PC. But let’s not lose perspective over this: that’s actually an improvement over the many months it usually takes for the AC games to arrive on our humming machines.

There will probably some other new games to play that fortnight, I suppose…