assassins-creed-brotherhood
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Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood bonus mission free to European Uplay users [update]
Launched last year with Assassin's Creed 2, Ubisoft's Uplay has served as an in-game rewards system on top of Xbox Live's Achievements and PlayStation Network's Trophies, letting those who sign up for it unlock bonus items using accrued points across supported games. Recently, these same folks got an email offering them a free bonus mission in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood called "The Trajan Market." The mission was originally available as part of the game's "Codex Edition" and sends Ezio into a marketplace in the middle of Rome, where he fights Borgia guards and discovers a treasure hidden in a ruined tower. As you can see in the screen grab above, the code was even sent out to Uplay members who don't own the game. If you're not yet a Uplay member, you can sign up on the official site. Also, you didn't tell us there'd be free stuff, Ubisoft! Oh wait, maybe you did. Update: Ubisoft has clarified that this offer is for European Uplay members. [Thanks, RobLink and Jason]
Assassin's Creed: The Fall comic #2 out now
Good news for fans of stabbing and comic books (a bigger audience than you might think): Assassin's Creed: The Fall issue two is now available in comic shops. Lest you haven't been keeping up, The Fall tells the story of mustachioed assassin Nikolai Orelov, who operates during the Russian revolution. Look out -- he'll stab you right in your warm, furry hat.
Walmart offers 12 months of Xbox Live and a (good) game for $81
Walmart has a pretty spectacular deal going on for Xbox owners. The chain is currently offering one year of Xbox Live Gold and a select game for $79. SlickDeals notes that shipping is only $1.97. Don't fret about that "select game" business in the previous sentence either, as the eligible games are actually pretty good, including Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and many, many others. Considering a 12 month Xbox Live sub usually runs for $60 on its own, you might as well toss in a $20 game (that also usually runs for $60), right?
Amazon deals: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, GTA IV: Complete, more
Generosity is a wonderful, uniquely human impulse, but no matter what television and every Christmas song would have you believe, it's also a finite resource. Haven't you already done enough for others this season? Haven't you earned a little something for Big Poppa? Isn't it time you stopped referring to yourself as "Big Poppa" unironically? Why not treat yourself to some Amazon Lightning Deals today? You can already find Gold Box deal Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood for $38 or Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete for $26, and more (find Thrifty Nerd's best guesses after the jump) are being teased for later in the day. Go on ... you've earned it.
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood adds more free DLC in January with 'Animus Project Update 2.0'
Ubisoft, you're doing this wrong! If you want to squeeze more money out of Assassin's Creed, you'd best charge for these frequent updates to Brotherhood's multiplayer mode. Animus Project Update 1.0 launches today, augmenting the game with a new "Advanced Alliance" mode and the Mont Saint-Michel map, for free. The predictably-named Animus Project Update 2.0 will be available in January and, like its predecessor, will add yet another map and mode into the mix: the Pienza Map and a new "Chest Capture" team mode. Once again, Ubisoft is releasing this pack for free -- earning useless things like "fan appreciation" and "loyalty" instead of what really matters: cash money. Check out a not-so-stealthy preview of the Advanced Alliance mode in a new trailer, after the break.
Assassin's Creed 'Beautiful Lies' music video loves its lineage
The case for Desmond, Altair, and Ezio sharing the same gene pool has never been stronger than in this fan-made music video starring all three. Be aware of some story spoilers, particularly if you haven't completed Assassin's Creed or its first sequel.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood players complain of game-breaking Animus glitch
During Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, it's possible to leave the Animus and explore Monteriggioni as Desmond Miles in the game's present-day, 2012. However, users on the game's forum are complaining about a nasty glitch where they're unable to sit back down in the Animus after running around the Auditore compound, effectively trapping them in 2012 and halting all progress in the game. You can see the glitch for yourself in this video, though the resolution is fairly low. We've contacted Ubisoft to see if there's a workaround or patch in the works. We'll update the post as soon as we hear back. [Thanks, Matt]
Michael Jackson: The Experience moonwalks up UK sales chart, Black Ops king of the hill
Gran Turismo 5 ran out of gas after its debut week, dropping 61 percent in sales and into fourth place on Chart-Track's UK All Formats chart. The top three titles were Call of Duty: Black Ops, FIFA 11 and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The big premieres for the week were Donkey Kong Country Returns and Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary at 13 and 22, respectively. So, last week we almost neglected to mention Disney Epic Mickey, because it didn't make the Top 40. We thought its performance might have been an anomaly ... until it missed out again on the Top 40 and maintained its place at #11 on the Wii Chart. Not a good sign. Comparatively, Ubisoft's Michael Jackson: The Experience, which debuted down at #38 last week, had a thriller of a second week, shooting up to sixth place. It's now holding hands with Ubisoft's stalwart Just Dance franchise, which had its numerical sequel in the fifth spot. Find the full UK top ten after the break.
Survey gauges interest in potential future Assassin's Creed features
Online poll distributor GMI Survey recently uploaded a questionnaire allowing Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood players to rate various aspects of their experience with the game -- provided said players fit into the male, UK-based demographic sought out by the survey. After evaluating the strength of Brotherhood's composite features, participants are asked to gauge their interest in potential additions which could be made in a "sequel to the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood game." Check out the full list of these questions after the jump. We can't tell whether this survey was officially commissioned by Ubisoft, or if these inclusions are being seriously considered for future Creeds, but ... well, co-op? More multiplayer modes? A new assassin in a new time period? We're down. In fact, the only way we could be more down is if the survey mentioned "two additional hidden blades that you wear on your feet, allowing you to stab four dudes at once." Get on it, Ubisoft.
'Splosion Man 'splodes to top of XBLA sales chart
'Spolsion Man, one or our absolute favorites of 2009, enjoyed a surprise sales surge last week, rocketing to the top of the Xbox Live Arcade bestseller list. That's the power of Black Friday and a one-day, 75-percent discount. In fact, thirteen of the top twenty bestsellers for the week of November 22 were on sale for at least part of the period, and the only discounted XBLA title not to chart was poor Voodoo Dice. Amidst the apparently too-good-to-refuse deals, Crazy Taxi made a strong debut in the number six position in its first week of release, and Pac-Man CE DX ate up a top-ten spot in its second week of availability. As for Xbox Live activity, Black Ops recruits and Modern Warfare 2 veterans (who aren't about to surrender that easily) continue to hog the most bandwidth, followed by the Reach faithful and -- watch out for that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood sneaking up the activity chart! Speaking of no surrender, how about World at War and Call of Duty 4 (remember that one?) hanging around the top twenty most-played Xbox Live games? No wonder Activision wants to better tap its gold mine next year. Both Top Twenty charts are posted in full after the break.
Gran Turismo 5 starts at pole position in UK sales chart
Gran Turismo 5 raced into first place on the UK sales chart last week, becoming the sixth largest PS3 launch ever in the region. In a good sign for the oft-delayed franchise installment, sales were up 6 percent from Gran Turismo 4's launch week numbers in March 2005 on the PS2 (according to Chart-Track). Call of Duty: Black Ops and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood both took one step back this week, grabbing silver and bronze, respectively. CoD:Blops dropped another 42 percent in sales two weeks after its record-setting premiere, while AC:B slipped off a Borgia tower, but caught itself 32 percent of the way down. FIFA 11 took the fourth spot with a sales surge, and fifth belongs to... yup, loyal chart watchers, you got it: Just Dance 2 is unstoppable as it waves its arms in the air, selling copies like it just don't care. As for debuts on the chart that didn't go vroom-vroom, Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare shambled in at 14, while Ubisoft's Michael Jackson: The Experience had the late king of pop make one duke-y of a debut down at 38. Find the full UK top ten after the break. Update: We just noticed that Disney Epic Mickey began its retail quest in the UK last week. It didn't even make the Top 40 in the All Formats chart. It debuted at the 11 spot on the Wii Chart. For comparison's sake, Michael Jackson: The Experience premiered at number five on the Wii chart, which ended up being 38 on the All Formats.
Another 'big' Assassin's Creed next year, Brotherhood sells over 1M in Europe
I don't think there's going to be an Assassin's Creed in 2011. I think we're going to let it breathe a bit and really focus on bringing something new and exciting for the next time around." -- Ubisoft associate producer Jean-Francois Boivin, July 2010, before being overridden. We didn't buy it and, deep down, we don't think Mr. Boivin did either, who also warned that "business can come back and override everything I say because at the end of the day it's about selling games." It's about selling over 1 million copies, as Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood has done within its first week in Europe. Geoffroy Sardin, Ubisoft's marketing and sales chief for Europe, Middle East and Asia, shared the news with MCV and clarified that another -- and, more importantly -- "big" Assassin's Creed game would launch in 2011. "Yes, Yves [Guillemot, Ubisoft CEO] mentioned it last week in our financials – and more details will be forthcoming," Sardin said. "But what I can say is that next year we will have another big Assassin's Creed game." Launching just a year after Assassin's Creed 2, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood has won critics over with its representation of Rome and its innovative, unusually paced multiplayer mode. According to Sardin, 60 percent of Brotherhood owners have wielded a hidden blade in the online crowd, and Ubisoft intends to support that player base with regular doses of DLC. The first new map and additional mode will be available in December for free. As Boivin has stated before, the successful multiplayer component will likely remain an integral part of Assassin's Creed for the foreseeable future, but how it will fit into the next big game is a matter of speculation. We'll likely learn more within the next six months, unless Ubisoft makes the effort to defy predictions. With another game so soon, the onus is on the developer's massive workforce to preserve the element of surprise.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer servers back up
If you shunned your family today in the hopes of committing virtual murder in a 16th-century milieu, you were probably disappointed when Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood server -- oh, sorry, the Abstergo Industries Animus network -- went offline. According to Ubisoft Montreal's community developer, Gabriel Graziani, online multiplayer is now "100% operational" again. (We just tested it ourselves and things seem to be back to normal.) Extricating yourself from the dinner table at this point might be a challenge, but if you've spent some time with Brotherhood's multiplayer mode you'll know the trick is just to play it cool. You're just an NPC taking a stroll to the couch.
Amazon offers discounts on Metroid, Majin and AC: Brotherhood
"No, Joystiq, I don't need any more games," you whisper to yourself. "I've got this huge 2010 backlog already -- heck, I haven't even played Bayonetta yet, and that came out in January." Your plight is shared by many gamers, but there's little point in protesting. You're going to pick up one of these deals and remain excited until you receive it, play past the intro and then place it on your to-play pile. Amazon lightning deals now offer to extend your intimidating backlog with Metroid: Other M for $30 (that's one dollar off for every cutscene eye roll) and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for $15. Upcoming lightning deals also hint at a reduced price for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (going live at 6:15PM PST), Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Outside of lightning deals, you'll also find Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom for $23. "Well, that is pretty tempting," you mutter. "Maybe I'll check those -- wait, how do you guys know what I'm saying before I've even read this post? Is this a trick? Maybe if I say something unexpected ... garlic cannonball! Flamingo scabbard! Gravity donut! Okay, stop it! This is... this is scaring me." [Thanks, Vallanthaz]
Free Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood DLC coming Dec. 14, titled 'Animus Project Update 1.0'
Bored of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood already? Wait -- really? You need to get out more ... But if that's not going to happen, at least you'll see new virtual places with the first installment of Brotherhood DLC, memorably titled "Animus Project Update 1.0." With a December 14 release date on both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, we can't help but think of the $0 asking price as a Festivus gift from Ubisoft to humanity. Included in APU1 is a "brand-new" game mode called Advanced Alliance; it's basically Alliance Mode, but harder. If that wasn't enough to sharpen your blade to, how does a new map sound? Mont Saint-Michel isn't just a fancy French name, it's also the name of the new map, "located on a rocky tidal island of Normandy in France." Ubi promises an environment full of "narrow streets, high-perched bell tower and multi-leveled architecture." Ubisoft Montreal executive producer Sebastien Puel says the DLC is the developer's way of saying "thank you to our fans for making Brotherhood such a huge success its opening week." There's one way of avoiding the precarious announcement of DLC close to a title's release date: Give it away for free! %Gallery-108219%
Xbox 360 Fancast 190 -- What's Frappening?
You're in for quite the piping-hot treat of justice today, as the Xbox 360 Fancast crew find themselves in rare form for the 190th episode of this podcasting institution. There's plenty of punny taglines for our coffee-themed super hero we've concocted in our noggins, but there's also talk of this Xbox 360 video games console thing, as well -- specifically, about how well Kinect has been doing and how much fun it is to stab your friends. Download and listen, lest you allow the Borgia to win! [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3) [Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in Zune Marketplace (MP3) [RSS MP3] Add the Xbox 360 Fanboy Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Hosts: Richard Mitchell (SenseiRAM, @senseiram), Alexander Sliwinski (Sli Xander, @xandersliwinski) and Dave Hinkle (KnifefightYaDad, @davehinkle) Music: Intro/Outro: "Electromooq" by Uma Floresta; Break: "Musow" by Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba For fans: Xbox 360 Fancast Facebook group
Black Ops maintains top UK sales spot, AC: Brotherhood has strongest debut in franchise
Call of Duty: Black Ops sales may have dropped 85 percent in the UK last week, but even with that massive dip its record-breaking debut ensured that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood would stop at second place. 63,000 copies separated the two. According to Chart-Track, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood had the well-deserved, largest debut of the franchise to date. The only other top ten premiere this week came from Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, which raced into third place. The remainder of spots in the top five are occupied with games that involve feet. FIFA 11 defends its spot at fourth, as Just Dance continues reaping the benefits of its Faustian deal and its sequel does the Charleston in fifth. Check out the full UK top ten after the break.
Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy explained in video
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's companion Facebook game, Project Legacy, has been available since early October. If you're still curious about how it relates to Brotherhood, check out this video, that somehow manages to deliver details in a manner drier than an Abstergo Industries financial report.
PSA: Assassin's Creed Ascendance available now
We know there are a lot of Assassin's Creed fans out there who have been waiting for the next big release in the series, and we're happy to report that it's finally out this week. We're talking, of course, about the animated short film Assassin's Creed Ascendance, which is now available on PSN, Xbox Live and iTunes for around $2. The film depicts Ezio's battle against the evil, powerful Cesare Borgia. If you want to see what happens next following this movie, Ubisoft also released an Assassin's Creed video game this week, as a cute promotional tie-in for Ascendance.
Metareview: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
We may still be unsure if Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a sequel or expansion, but the game is so good we're not gonna get too wrapped up in trying to classify it. Our assessment of the Assassin sequel seems to be in line with the sharp reviews from other outlets: Eurogamer (100/100): "It's one of many finishing touches to a game that started life as what sounded suspiciously like a fund-raising stopgap conceived on the back of an overdrawn chequebook and blurted out during a conference call. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is anything but that, however – it's one of the best games of 2010. " Game Informer (93/100): "Filled with new gameplay, storylines, mechanical improvements, and multiplayer, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is far more than an expansion. Though Brotherhood lacks some of the sense of discovery and newness that characterized Assassin's Creed II, if you look past the surface similarities you'll uncover a host of new thrills." 1Up (A-): "There are still so many other small details I could talk about, but they all hammer home the same point: this is a great game." Gamespot (85/100): "You may never have thought that Assassin's Creed begged for a multiplayer component, but Brotherhood introduces one nevertheless. ... The measured tempo won't be appealing to those who thrive on ceaseless thrills, but Brotherhood's tense tug-of-war pacing makes it an appealing alternative that rewards you for careful and clever assassinations. " IGN (80/100): "It also introduces an innovative multiplayer suite, for which the team(s) should be applauded. At the end of the day, it depends what you're looking for. If you're new to Assassin's Creed, this is a solid entry, but picking up the threads of the convoluted story may be a challenge. If you're an experienced assassin, on the other hand, expect to tread pretty similar ground to the last title. " %Gallery-105321%
