Assassin's Creed Rogue

Post-Launch Review
Assassin's Creed: Rogue (PC)
Developer: Ubisoft Sofia
Released: November 2014 (X360/PS3) / March 2015 (PC)
Played: 100% sync in 34h

About

Shay Patrick Cormac is a young Assassin rising in the ranks in the North Atlantic around the St Lawrence River when he's sent on a mission that leaves him horrified with the direction and outlook of the Assassins. Left for dead and seething over his feelings of betrayal and abandonment, Shay is taken in by people he used to believe were enemies and sets out to stop his former friends from fulfilling their plans... at any cost.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Post-Launch Review
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PC)
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Released: October 2013
Played: 100% sync in 60h; 100% both DLC in 10h

About

Play as Edward Kenway, the grandfather of Assassin's Creed III hero. Edward travels to the Caribbean to seek glory and fortune as a pirate, building up his ship, his crew, and his legend. He stumbles into the struggle between the Assassins and Templars, in a race for the mysterious, powerful artifact called the Lighthouse - which Edward is sure he can sell for more wealth than he could ever want.

Assassin's Creed: Liberation HD

Post-Launch Review

Assassin's Creed: Liberation HD (PC)

Developer:Ubisoft Sofia / Ubisoft Milan

Released: October 2012 (PSVita) / January 2014 (HD)

Played: complete with extras in 13h:36min

About

It's 1765 in Louisiana, and assassin Aveline de Grandpré begins to uncover a plot to kidnap slaves for some nefarious purpose. The scheme has ties to the French and Spanish governors, and eventually leads to the Templar order. Aveline must balance her assassin, slave, and lady personas to gain allies in the bayou and uncover the truth behind the Templar plot.

Assassin's Creed III

Post-Launch Review

Assassin's Creed III (PC)

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Released: October - November 2012

Played: 100% complete in 54 hours

About

Desmond Miles and his team race to find the key to protecting the world from an apocalyptic solar flare by searching the memories of his ancestor Ratonhnhaké:ton. Nicknamed Connor, this half-Native American Assassin fights the Templars during the American revolution, making allies of necessity among the bluecoats while he pursues his course of revenge.

Top Ten Games, 2012 Edition

Another year of video game blogging has come and gone - actually, my first full January-to-December year doing this. Fifty-two weeks in a year and one review per week (skipping last week) means I've played 50 games to completion this year. But wait, that's not quite true - January was indie month at 3 games per week, and I played some games I didn't review, so that puts me well over 60 this year.

Anyway, if you remember my list from last year, the purpose is not to talk about the best games that came out this year. I don't play games soon enough after launch to do that kind of a list. No, this is simply my 10 favourite games I played this year.

And so, with no more ado, and in alphabetical order, here we go!

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Post-Launch Review

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Released: November 2011

About

Assassin's Creed: Revelations is the fourth installment in the open-world historical adventure game series. Revelations again follows Italian master assassin Ezio Auditore, who travels to Masyaf and Constantinople in search of the legacy and secrets of Altair, founder of the modern assassin order. Joining up with the Constantinople assassin guild, Ezio must work his way through a Byzantine conspiracy in order to retrieve the keys to the Masyaf vault, discovering Altair's final story along the way.

Note: this review focuses mostly on the changes and new features rather than evaluating the game on its own, since it's a horrible jumping-on point for new players anyway.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

Post-Launch Reviews #7

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (PC)

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Publisher: Ubisoft

Released: November 16 2010 (console) / March 22 2011 (PC)

About

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is not so much a sequel, but more of an expansion to Assassin's Creed 2. Ezio Auditore travels to Rome to topple the Borgia influence over Italy, while Desmond Miles searches for the Apple of Eden. The most notable new game mechanic is the recruitment and management of the assassin brotherhood. Brotherhood introduced a novel form of multiplayer where players compete to earn the most points by stealthily killing their targets while avoiding their pursuers.

Assassin's Creed 2

Post-Launch Reviews #6

Assassin's Creed 2

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Publisher: Ubisoft

Released: November 17 2009 (console) / March 4 2010 (PC)

About

The Assassin's Creed franchise follows the story of Desmond Miles, a kidnapped descendant of a great brotherhood of assassins. Using a device called the Animus to force Desmond to relive the memories of his assassin ancestors, his abductors seek a lost treasure with great power. The second game focuses on Desmond's escape and training using the memories of Ezio Auditore, an Italian assassin who lived during the Renaissance, thrust into the brotherhood when his family is falsely executed.

Assassin's Creed

Post-Launch Reviews #5

Assassin's Creed (PC)

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Publisher: Ubisoft

Released: November 14 2007 (console) / April 8 2008 (PC)

About

The Assassin's Creed franchise follows the story of Desmond Miles, a kidnapped descendant of a great brotherhood of assassins. Using a device called the Animus to force Desmond to relive the memories of his assassin ancestors, his abductors seek a lost treasure with great power. The first game focuses on the life of Altair, an assassin living in the Holy Land during the Crusades, who is assigned to kill members of a secret organization called the Templars to protect the Holy Land from their evil machinations.