Ghost Recon Online beta key giveaway
The dictionary lists reconnaissance as a “a search made for useful military information in the field, especially by examining the ground,” a common pastime of ghosts, possibly, but not an advisable tactic in Ubisoft’s fierce free to play shooter, Ghost Recon Online. Staring at the floor will only get you dead.
GRO is a free to play, tactical, class-based team shooter with lots of levelling and some mad gadgets. You have to take points to earn XP and push back the enemy team, employing futuristic dome shields and microwave beams to draw enemies out of cover so you can snipe them in the head. Get a feel for the three classes in the recent Ghost Recon Online trailer and have a read of our Ghost Recon Online preview for a sense of what it’s like to play.
If you’d like to try it before it’s out, CVG have thousands of beta keys to give away. Head thataway for details on how to sign up for your chance to grab a slot. Good luck!
Assassin’s Creed 3 trailer slowly rotates new hero, special editions announced
“Where is the hidden blade?” some fans cried as they looked over the debut trailer and first screenshots. It’s HIDDEN, isn’t it? He’s not going to flash it about willy nilly when his hands are already full of axes and pistols. The new Assassin’s Creed 3 teaser trailer joins the growing number of teaser videos that like slowly rotate characters, highlighting things that may be interesting about them. Today we learn that guns are loud, bows are quiet, and Tomahawks are Tomahawks.
So the teaser trailer may skimp on the new info, but Ubisoft have wasted no time in revealing details about the special Freedom Edition and the Join or Die edition that we’ll be able to pre-order to get hold of bonus bits like extra missions, George Washington’s secret diary and a model of Connor that you’ll be able to rotate for your friends, pointing out interesting bits. Look, he’s got arms!
Far Cry 3 preview
If insanity really is “doing the same thing and expecting shit to change,” as Vaas, psychotic killer and mohawk-sporting poster madman of Far
Cry 3 suggested during last year’s E3 trailer, then Ubisoft are certifiably sane.
Far Cry 3 looks like the original Far Cry. It’s got the island setting, it’s blessed with the same shimmering blue water and silvery-white sand. Again, you are a lone soul, marooned somewhere that wants to kill you, and again you’ve got a suite of skills to stop the place doing just that. But dig under the idyllic facade and you’ll find something new, something infectious. Ubisoft want to do something different with their third free-roaming shooter, and as our unhinged friend Vaas would say, shit has definitely changed.
Far Cry 3 will incorporate elements of the indie scene and social games
As reported on VG247, Ubisoft Massive are developing Far Cry 3′s multiplayer component. Their previous work includes the Ground Control and World in Conflict series. They also helped out on Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.
A few snippets of info have leaked out of GDC via Twitter. Vox game editor Brian Crecente says that Massive are incorporating an “online universe” and adding “elements from the social scene and indie games.” Intriguing.
Assassin’s Creed 3 co-op mode spotted in product listing
Assassin’s Creed 3 vaulted out of the trees yesterday. The debut trailer gave us a hint of what to expect from the sequel’s new setting in colonial America. CVG have spotted a listing on Xbox.com that suggests we’ll get to share those wild North American forests with up to three friends. The Xbox.com entry lists 2-4 player online co-op as a feature. 8 player multiplayer is also mentioned.
Assassin’s Creed 3 gets debut trailer, new engine, release date
The debut Assassin’s Creed 3 trailer suggests that Ubisoft are planning to take Assassin’s Creed to the wide open plains and forests of early America. Up until now they’ve relied on heavily built-up cities to support its assassins’ free-running style, from the behaviour of our new hero in this trailer, it looks as though we’ll be vaulting through trees instead.
It won’t all be countryside, though. Ubisoft promise a range of locations from the “untamed frontier” to “bustling chaotic towns” and even scenes set on battlefields like the one shown at the end of the trailer. We’ll be playing as “Ratohnaké:ton,” aka “Connor,” an assassin of “Native American and English heritage.”
Assassin’s Creed 3 is official, will be set in the American Revolution
Ubisoft PR chap Jay Acevedo has tweeted an image that looks like boxart for Assassin’s Creed 3, officially confirming earlier rumours that the next game would be set in the American Revolution. It shows the assassin star of this morning’s concept art axe murdering a soldier as the revolution rages behind him. Click “read and comment” to see the whole thing.
Assassin’s Creed 3 poster teases American Revolution setting
A poster sent to Kotaku suggests that the next Assassin’s Creed will be set during the American Revolution. The image shows an assassin in the classic peaked hood of the brotherhood of assassins posing with a pistol and an axe in front of the early continental flag, pegging the setting for 18 century US. Game Informer also briefly published a banner image showing the same assassin posing with George Washington. It’s since been pulled, but not before a NeoGaf user grabbed a screenshot.
Ubisoft are warming up for a big reveal as well. A post on the Assassin’s Creed Facebook page says that “a major announcement from Assassin’s Creed is only days away.” They recommend keeping an eye on the official Assassin’s Creed site for details. GDC is set to start within the week, that seems as good a time as any for Ubisoft to blow the lid on the sequel. You’ll find the poster sent to Kotaku below, note the interesting Native American vibe.
Getting to grips with ShootMania Storm
Getting your head around what Nadeo are trying to do with ShootMania is no easy thing. It’s a shooter, built by its players, that runs alongside a racing game and will someday share server space with an online RPG. Somewhere in a tiny studio in Paris is a plan where all of this makes sense – but for the rest of us, it can be difficult to pick apart exactly what Nadeo are up to. Here, then, is what you need to know about one of the year’s strangest and most interesting projects.
Anno 2070 update adds new buildings, increases “probability of tornado disaster”
You know what’s way too easy? Building a city and managing resources when there are absolutely no tornadoes happening. Perhaps realising this, the Anno 2070 devs have updated the game with a patch that increases the “probability of a tornado disaster” and “the interval at which they can occur.” Regular, predictable tornadoes. That is the key to exciting city building.
The latest patch also adds new “ornamental buildings” and makes loads of fixes and balance tweaks. If you wondering whether Anno 2070 is worth a punt, check out our Anno 2070 review. Meanwhile, here’s the full patch list from Steam.
Ghost Recon Online closed beta sign-ups available, new trailer talks classes
Ubisoft’s free-to-play multiplayer shooter, Ghost Recon Online will be heading into closed beta on March 5. Blues news mention that you can sign up for a slot now on the Ghost Recon Online site. The new trailer above shows off the three classes. Cowardly long-range shooty man (recon), mid-range shooty man (assault) and mad-gadget man (specialist). You can see more of the interesting super-weapons each class can wield in the recent Ghost Recon Online gadgets trailer.
Ubisoft DRM server downtime locks players out of Anno 2070, Driver: San Francisco and more
Recently we mentioned that many Ubisoft games would be unplayable this week because some server shuffling at Ubi HQ. The downtime has started, locking players out of Might and Magic: Heroes VI, The Settlers 7 and Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2. Players who have just bought Assassin’s Creed Revelations, Anno 2070 and Driver: San Francisco won’t be able to activate their games while the servers are down.
According to Ubisoft’s Uplay page, Anno 2070 was one of the few games that was supposed to remain unaffected during the switch-over, but many players can’t launch the game. Our copy of Anno autopatched without a hitch, but when we tried to start it up, we got the error message above. “We apologize for the inconvenience, it seems some of you can’t connect to games announced as playable during migration,” said Ubisoft on Twitter, adding that they’re currently working on a fix.
Players on the Ubisoft forums say that they can’t log into Driver: San Francisco either.
Ubisoft server switch to render always-online DRM games unplayable next week
Ubisoft are having a bit of a hardware reshuffle next week, according to Eurogamer, which means major disruption to their DRM servers.
Games that use Ubisoft’s always-online DRM system ping these constantly to reassure the publishers that you’re not a pirate. That means that next week’s switchover will render Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2, Might & Magic: Heroes 6 and The Settlers 7 unplayable for an unknown period of time. The servers are set to go down on February 7. Ubisoft don’t say when they’ll be back up again.
Rayman Origins coming to PC on March 30
I hold no affection for Rayman either, but Ubisoft’s latest platformer is rumoured to be extremely pretty, and pretty damn awesome. And we’re getting it on PC!
It’ll support four players locally and will be available to download from Ubisoft’s Ubishop on March 30. While you’re waiting why not read Edge’s review? They say “Origins feels like stepping into an alternate reality in which the 16 bit era evolved by increasing in fidelity, not dimensions.” Sounds a bit like a holodeck episode of Star Trek The Next Generation to us.
