ubisoft-montreal posts (Subscribe to this feed)
GDC: Designing Assassin's Creed 2 (or: Dodging a curveball from upper management)
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Mar 17th 2010 at 12:00PM }
From the outset, Assassin's Creed 2 took aim at the commercial success of the first game, as well as its vocal group of detractors. "I'm not gonna lie about it," Plourde said, "some people liked it, some people despised it. That's the way it is."
The way things would be took a surprise turn in the middle of 2008, months after the game had begun development in earnest. As Plourde puts it, a "curveball from upper management" requested a change in the game's scope. Ordinarily, ambitious plans may get trimmed down as a launch date draws near, but Ubisoft had decided to increase the number of features dramatically.
Ubisoft confirms demo for Splinter Cell Conviction
by JC Fletcher { Mar 12th 2010 at 2:00PM }
We first heard of a demo for Conviction from an Ubi employee known only as "Adam," and before that had only a guess that there would be one based on the common-sense fact that it's a really popular game. Splinter Cell: Conviction is currently due for release April 13.
Hands-on: Splinter Cell: Conviction
by Randy Nelson { Mar 11th 2010 at 12:00PM }
The last time we were in control of Sam Fisher -- aka the X10 demo -- he was sneaking, shooting and (neck) snapping his way through a mansion in Malta, tracking down the man he believed had information about his daughter Sarah's killer. Recently, I played through a new section of Splinter Cell: Conviction, which picked up right where the previous demo abruptly ended -- with a a team of Third Echelon forces breaking up Sam's one-man operation.
Forced to surrender, Sam's put on a plane and "brought home" for questioning about a plot to bring down Washington, DC with an EMP attack. Handling the transport is Black Arrow, a private military contractor, and it's this outfit's private airbase that serves as the setting for the game's second level. It presented me with new challenges, specifically staying out of site in some really wide-open spaces. I was reminded of Metal Gear Solid more than once, what with patrolling guards, stacked crates and roaming flood lights to negotiate.
Gallery: Splinter Cell: Conviction (03-11-10)
Ubisoft DRM authentification server is down, Assassin's Creed 2 unplayable
by Griffin McElroy { Mar 7th 2010 at 4:00PM }
A Ubisoft representative responded to a particularly rage-filled forum thread, stating "clearly the extended downtime and lengthy login issues are unacceptable, particularly as I've been told these servers are constantly monitored." The representative added "I'll do what I can to get more information on what the issue is here first thing tomorrow and push for a resolution and assurance this won't happen in the future." We've got a really great suggestion for how to make such an assurance: Find a less abominable DRM policy.
[Thanks, Marc!]
Michael Ironside: Splinter Cell: Conviction's story is 'more human'
by David Hinkle { Mar 4th 2010 at 8:00PM }
In that vein, we thought it appropriate to point out the brief video interview with Mr. Ironside above, which discusses coming back to the character for the fifth time and how this time around, the dialogue was "emotionally richer" than what he's used to. Frankly, we don't buy that. We were a mess when Lt. Rasczak bought the farm in Starship Troopers -- a performance that was about as emotionally rich as they come.
Splinter Cell: Conviction Xbox 360 bundle coming this April
by Richard Mitchell { Mar 2nd 2010 at 10:15AM }
click for more top-secret images
Check out hi-res images of the bundle in the gallery below.
Splinter Cell: Conviction videos feature co-operative espionage
by David Hinkle { Feb 26th 2010 at 6:30PM }
If you were hoping to infiltrate this post about Splinter Cell Conviction and find anything short of three trailers, then prepare to be totally satisfied. Ubisoft's established a correspondence with Joystiq, deploying three fresh new videos from April's Badass: The Game -- and like that totally accurate and brief description, these videos will bash your face against a mirror and leave you bleeding for dead on a men's room floor. OK, not really, but we're painting a picture, so work with us here. A picture with words.
Above, you'll find a brief overview of how the co-op game fits into the story and the four additional gameplay modes, but you'll need to sneak on past the break for the next two pieces of intel: one video is a closer look at Deniable Ops, while the other documents Persistent Elite Creation, the special series of challenges within the single-player and multiplayer framework. Basically, it's a fancy way of saying "unlockable junk for your stuff."
Assassin's Creed 2 is only $36 at Walmart right now
by David Hinkle { Feb 26th 2010 at 3:30PM }
As for other titles on sale, it would appear this reduction in price is isolated only to Assassin's Creed 2.
[Thanks, Luis]
Assassin's Creed 2 'Bonfire of the Vanities' DLC comes Feb. 18
by David Hinkle { Feb 16th 2010 at 2:18PM }
High-res armpits are only a click away!
The second of two promised Assassin's Creed 2 DLC add-ons is set to release on February 18 on Xbox Live and PSN, a recent Ubisoft press release reads. On top of a release date, Ubisoft has offered two new screens and some details on Bonfire of the Vanities (AKA Sequence 13), which will be comprised of ten memories following Ezio's attempt to aid Machiavelli in freeing Florence from the influence of one Savonarola. It's up to Ezio to target key citizens under Savonarola's control and attempt to win them over through diplomatic discourse, including meetings over tea and the occasional quilt party. Oh, wait -- sorry, we had that wrong. He kills them. All.
The chapters of the lost memory sequence take Ezio to several of Florence's well-known locales, such as the Palazzo Medici, Santa Maria dei Frari and -- wait, the Arsenal Shipyard? What, did you run out of awesome Italian names, Ubisoft?
X10: Splinter Cell: Conviction hands-on
by Ross Miller { Feb 12th 2010 at 9:30AM }
There you are, old Sam Fisher, minding your own business at some unknown cafe when the waiter brings you a cell phone and Bluetooth earpiece, compliments of the caller. It's Grim, it's Third Echelon, and it's the end of his vacation. Some thugs have managed to upset his vacation -- now we know why he's always carrying 12 rounds and a pistol.
Gallery: Splinter Cell: Conviction (X10)
We've exfiltrated these new Splinter Cell: Conviction screens from X10
by Xav de Matos { Feb 12th 2010 at 2:20AM }
click to interrogate higher-resolution screens
Thanks to a hush-hush covert op, we've extracted a handful of new Splinter Cell: Conviction screenshots to whet your appetite. Oh, okay. They were just given to us during the X10 event in San Fransisco -- but we can dream, can't we?
With Splinter Cell: Conviction (finally) hitting stores this April, these images only serve to anger us at the game's numerous delays. Also, these images are so crisp, we're not even sure they are real. If they are, someone needs to do something about that that horrific green couch (above). That is so last year.
Gallery: Splinter Cell: Conviction (X10)
Assassin's Creed 2 ships 8 million, next game returns to Rome
by Ludwig Kietzmann { Feb 9th 2010 at 1:10PM }
Although details regarding the new Assassin's Creed -- set to star Ezio and some online friends -- remain slim, Guillemot wasn't mum on milieu: "This time, [Ezio] will strike directly against the templar's order in Rome." Can this Rome be built in a year, just in time for Holiday 2010?
Splinter Cell: Conviction April 13 release date 'set in stone'
by Xav de Matos { Feb 4th 2010 at 3:45AM }
[Image Source: IGN]
Word around the campfire is that Splinter Cell: Conviction has a release date. No, for real this time. Those other two times were just to test your resolve. According to IGN, Ubisoft has announced Sam Fisher's latest adventure will hit the Xbox 360 and PC on April 13, 2010. Poking fun at itself, Ubisoft evidently delivered a rock with the new date etched on one side to the site. Get it? The date is set in stone! Oh, those crazy French-Canadians!If you're asking yourself, "Where's Joystiq's rock?," the answer is simple: Had Ubisoft delivered one to us, we'd use it to break the windows at the Ubisoft Montreal offices for making us wait this long for Badass: The Game. This way is just safer.
Gallery: Splinter Cell Conviction
Review: Assassin's Creed 2: Battle of Forli (DLC)
by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jan 27th 2010 at 12:25PM }
Initially scrapped from the main game due to time constraints, Battle of Forli seems like an acceptable casualty in Ubisoft's war to complete Assassin's Creed 2. Considering the grandeur of Ezio's quest, it's easy to see why this man got left behind -- or woman, rather.
In a significant upgrade from her brief role as glorified gondola tutorial, Caterina Sforza assumes the role of leader and custodian of Forli, the drab, melancholy settlement that acted as a rest stop on the way to Venice in Assassin's Creed 2. Ezio's unacknowledged meddling with 15th-century history proves to be the biggest draw of this DLC subplot, even though most of his participation involves putting sharp things through soft spots.
Assassin's Creed 2 for PC arriving in Europe on March 4
by Ben Gilbert { Jan 27th 2010 at 12:00AM }
