U360 Report Card 

Projects – B

You can make a case that the only game anyone will remember from Ubisoft this year is Assassin’s Creed.  In fact, I’ll make that case right now.  Anyone up for some Beowulf?  CSI?  America’s Army?  Naruto: Rise of a Ninja was a decent offering but I’d wager that the ramen noodles campaign surrounding it was more interesting.  There was a point long ago when Ubisoft could simply rest on the shoulders of its many Tom Clancy titles but that time is no more.  Is anyone still playing Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2?  Gamers are expecting and deserve more than the many Tom Clancy’s Rainbow-Ghost-Splinter moments.

I enjoy those games but they’re all too similar to offer any higher grade here in Projects.  Assassin’s Creed has been a truly mixed breed as far as media response goes and even community response.  For a title that consumed so much of Ubisoft’s marketing dollars you’d expect a worldwide consensus that it was a contender for Untouchable of the Year but that hasn’t been the case.  It still might once I play it and it just might deserve it judging from the huge # of sales it has pulled off.  Never judge a book by its cover or by its sales though.  But even the strong showing of Assassin’s Creed in sales isn’t enough to compensate for the likes of Beowulf, Naruto and the less-than-blazing Blazing Angels we had this year.

There were some interesting announcements and delays that end the year on a positive not.  End War should be an interesting take on the Tom Clancy series and the delays of Splinter Cell Conviction and Brother’s In Arms Hell’s Highway into 2008 should at least make them much improved titles.  What exactly happened to War World for the Xbox Live Arcade? 

Unfortunately, Ubisoft just didn’t produce much this year.  Having Assassin’s Creed and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 prevented a lower grade.

Community – C

Frag Dolls.  I suppose I could stop right there if I so chose to because where was Ubisoft when it came to the community beyond the Frag Dolls?  Most of their efforts were as hidden as Waldo once was.  I’m not too sure why Ubisoft doesn’t make it a point to do something beyond the Frag Dolls.  They had the occassional promotion run with Assassin’s Creed at a few industry events but is the community even aware?  Those who know my community outlook on things should know that I frown on any of these companies who simply cater to the ”big media” and leave the heart of the community to fend for itself.  That will never be enough for me to offer a good grade in Community.

I appreciate Ubisoft’s Frag Dolls but if you were to get any of them behind closed doors I’m sure they’d agree that Ubisoft has to do more.  Does anyone really know about Ubisoft and its community in the same way they do Microsoft’s, Infinity’s, or EA’s?  Is there anything to their community beyond the Doll’s?  I’m not just tossing words in the wind.  It’s true.  The community effort is lacking.  I almost graded higher based simply on the amazing Jade Raymond but then that wouldn’t be right.

Extra Credit – C

The good thing about Ubisoft’s Extra Credit is that there’s no 1200 Microsoft Point downloadable content making headlines.  The bad thing is that perhaps there should have been as it would’ve been something this year to make a note of.  As it stands, however, Ubisoft was missing from this department as well.  The Red Pack for Rainbow Six Vegas was a good thing as well as some extra goodies for GRAW 2 but after that there wasn’t much.  There were demos of already released titles and small patches but I fail to see any effort to do more.  I know what many of you are thinking in that maybe not having to do much extra credit was a good thing because that means they kicked ass elsewhere?  I respond to that by asking you if you’ve seen their other grades? 

When you sit on the fence as Ubisoft did in both the Projects and Community grades, they should have done something to make up for those areas.  They could stand to be rated lower than this but the Red Pack saved them.

Overall Grade