OXCGN – Xbox Gaming News Reviews Views

by Xboxoz360:

©2009 Grant Smythe OXCGN

Photos by Belinda Roland

What a night!  Held at the excellent Oxford Street Darlinghurst venue (Sydney), the brilliantly presented Oxford Art Factory, which just oozes atmosphere, guests were part of the “Official Australian Launch of Assassin’s Creed 2″, which will hit Australian shelves on November 19th with Nth America/Europe following on the 20th.

Not only was Assassin’s Creed 2 on display for us, guests were given some actual hands-on time with two major upcoming Ubisoft games, plus more exclusive details and unseen items related to three of their major upcoming titles: Assassin’s Creed 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction and James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game.

Plus something else . . . and probably best of all, we had a fleeting snippet of ONE of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed 2 – Movies. Yes I said Movies! We were treated to the initial trailer of the first movie which just look stunning.

There will be three movies in total, and other than saying that not only does the first one look absolutely fantastic, but that you will be suitably impressed when they do open up on your widescreens all around the world in the not too distant future. Actually, that is all we can say at this stage. – other than shheezzes………

• Assassin’s Creed 2 Walkthrough

However, we will have an actual movie trailer within the next 10 days (ideally sooner) when it is officially announced, so you’ll have to wait until then to actually see the trailer I’m talking about.

Assassin’s Creed development guru and Creative Director, Patrice Desilets was there to walk us through some of the aspects of Assassin’s Creed 2, much of which he displayed at the recent TGS and PAX, but we were allowed to grab some hands on with the game, and see a new trailer for the game that has not been seen anywhere else – yet.

Patrice showed us some of the various kill-tactics that you can use in the game, as well as allowing us to see just how great this game really is in the flesh, so to speak.

Especially on a huge screen and a solid ear penetrating sound system more at home in a major theatre than any cavern-like venue. It was wonderfully received and brought suitable laughs and ohhs-n-arhhhs from the large crown of gamers, media and film buffs invited along for the night.

Sam Fisher was on show yet again being all stealth like, however this time the game build was even better than before. Spending some time talking with Emile Liang Associate Producer on Splinter Cell: Conviction and for the Splinter Cell series was certainly an eye opening and rewarding time.

Both of us have seen Sam move from his early years in the 3rd Echelon through to his present predicament. But Emile Liang has had the distinct advantage of being right there during Sam’s birth, development and growth over the last 12 years.

The game can and will be tricky for some, and it’s certainly not like previous games. If you’re a blunderer and simply like running in guns-a-blazing, you’ll be rewarded for your efforts by dying a lot, and not achieving much in the game.

It’s fast-paced, very quick, thought provoking and you really do need to ‘think’ several moves ahead, which is how any good Sam Fisher game should be.

Cut scenes are no longer evident and the move from small scripted segments into gameplay are undetectable to the person watching, which can be unnerving at times. Sam has many more ruthless moves than before, and he’s not a happy little Vegemite anymore either. Not happy Sam!

OXCGN plans on doing an Introduction To Sam Fisher – Sam’s History. That way younger or newer gamers to the Xbox platform can get a taste of how Sam has ended up in his current position, and to actually see just how far Ubisoft have come with their excellent franchise over the last 12 years.

But another big secret that was hidden behind closed blinds (literally) was – James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game. The Oxford Art Factory has a hidden room behind the bar veiled in huge glass walls behind slated blinds. To the attendees, all that was on view was Assassin’s Creed 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction in the red-hued room with mist floating about the stage and floor.

Once the presentation was over, the blinds went up, the room shone a dark shade of blue and we were allowed into the rather large area to gape and stare in disbelief as James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game was presented to all to both see, and experience first hand.

Not your average Avatar: The Game either! Ohh No!

While we had a chance to see and get all up-close-n-personal with the normal game, which looked and played exceptionally well by the way, we also had the privilege of being the very first to see and play the 3D version of the game on a huge 50″ 3D equipped True HD TV . . . and that my friends was and is an amazing experience indeed.

It will make you want to run out and spend the big bucks required on buying the newest tech 3D TV you can find, just to play this game. It looks and ‘feel’s awesome, and that is an understatement. After seeing and playing the 3D version of Avatar: The Game, then moving across to the standard 2D game (like all games are) was like going back 20 years in gaming. I kid you not.

Even slipping across the venue to the Assassin’s Creed 2 and Splinter Cell pods had nothing on Avatar: The Game in that regard. Not saying either of those games are slouches in the visual department, they are far from that, but once you don those ‘proper’ 3D glasses, play some of the game, you will never look at a game in the same way again. That I promise.

The “Ohhs…” – “ahhh’s…’ – “woooww’s…” and the “oh my god… this is f^&%ing awesome…” coming from both male and female attendees alike was quite remarkable. Soon as they placed the 3D glasses on their jaws simply became unlocked and the words of disbelief just tumbled out. I swear I heard someone let out an honest to goodness ‘gasp’ . . . honest!

If this is any indication of just where games are going in the future (well, it’s actually here now), then we are in for a real treat, FPS and racing games will never look the same – ever again. Luc Duchaine, Senior International Brand Manager for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game was on hand  to answer any questions from the crowd , all of whom seemed more intent on getting their hot little paws on the game and popping on the very cool looking Roy Orbison styles 3D glasses than asking Luc any questions. You do really need to get these glasses, not at all geekish, and fit over normal glasses without a worry.

The Andy Warhole inspired venue was just brilliant for the evening, and there were copious amounts of drinks laid on for the over 18′s, especially the very tasty and potent Assassin’s, which came in Red, Yellow and Blue, plied with suitable amounts of vodka and other alcoholic fluid thrown in for good measure along with few twists of lemon over Ice in LONG glasses . . . . .

I managed 2, but that was all this little body could take. I’ve now seen the smallest hamburgers (if that’s what you’d call them) and downed several delightfully tasty mini-tacos with lime scallops and guacamole.

The crowd was given a formal welcome and introduced to lead developers from Ubisoft, shown the Film Clip, and an Assassin’s Creed 2 walkthrough was given by Patrice , and then we were set loose on the various pods around the dark cavern that is The Oxford Art Factory. The film that was shown is the work of a new segment of the huge Ubisoft company, Hybride Technologies, which is a special-effects studio responsible for the beautiful and yet compelling VFX’s in the feature films Sin City and 300.

The only game we couldn’t actually play was Splinter Cell: Conviction, which is now approaching its polishing stage, and not really ready for users to grab hold of just yet. There was a 15 minute section of the 12 hour game, which can be played through in many different ways now, due to the sandbox approach Ubisoft have taken with this iteration.

It showed off several aspects of Sam’s abilities, and for me, it’ll be a game that sits inside one of my 360′s permanently for some time to come when it is released.

As mentioned, I spent some time with Emile Liang who is the creative producer for the Splinter Cell Franchise, and his enthusiasm is simply infectious. We discussed the various aspects of both old and new Splinter Cell games, and it was easy to see just how far forward this iteration has come. The hold-off has proven very beneficial, and I personally don’t mind developers staying off a release if it is to produce a better experience and thus supply a much more viable product in the end.

My next major Ubi game will be their Rainbow Six franchise which will no doubt be mentioned very soon, as it and the crew from GHOST have been under development for some time now, and once Assassin’s Creed 2 has had its time in the sun, we will begin to hear rumblings of the Rainbow Team and the GHOST’s wandering through our lounge rooms in the not too distant future.

Avatar The Game comes out in December, but best news of all is the fact that Australia gets their hands on Ezio and be swishing dual blades into unsuspecting villains a full 24 hours before the rest of the world.

The global release is mentioned as the 20th, but good old Australia gets their greasy little mits on it on the 19th, which if you look at the International Date/Time Line, will be almost 38 hours ahead of North America – cooool. (Hey, in the past we used to have to wait months for our versions of games or sometimes never get a game released here at all, so we have a right to brag okay?)

But the winner of the night, outside the exclusive viewing of the Assassin’s Creed 2 Movie of course, was the 3D – Avatar The Game. It’s nothing short of fan-bloody-tastmigorically-awesomeness all rolled up in one beautifully crafted and detailed gaming experience. Now of course you can quote me on that if you like.

To top the night off of course, Ubisoft gave away copies of each of the games to five very lucky winners which were chosen as door prizes. Sadly I was not one of the winners – this time . . will put pins in my entry the next time – bugger.

More Assassin’s Creed 2 details here.

©2009 Grant Smythe OXCGN

Please share us around