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Good AI too.
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This is one of the things I "don't get," here you have Ubisoft, a company that knows so much about good games and has a massive team, but somehow AI this blatantly terrible, makes it to a final cut of the game. I just don't get how no one on that gigantic team said "wait this is stupid." Blah.
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[rant]
It seems many executive/production types, and even the 'creative' talent behind games are envisioning games as little more than an expansion of 'story telling' and role playing (in the sense of just simply playing a role - not an RPG).
Even Disney is interested in hopping on the gaming boat. This is leading to games where 'story', 'role' and 'appearance' become primary - and having a game that is actually fun to play is an increasingly distant secondary concern. Assassin's Creed seems to be a perfect example of this. They have the role, appearance and story down. The production team was particularly proud of the historical accuracy of the cities and the fact that all the targets are real people that all died/disappeared in the same year. It looks great and it sounds awesome. Is it fun to play? Who cares!
And Jade Raymond. You have somebody who has no significant experience taking on a the role of head producer on what was supposed to be a huge/innovative game. Gee, I wonder what got her there. Her sound qualifications and skills, or might it be her more superifical traits? Can't imagine. Such a shocker the game turns out to be superficial but pretty. I am not at all misogynistic, but the issue is a lack of qualified or misguided production/executive teams who are ultimately responsible for how a game turns out. She, and this game, seem to be a perfect example of what can happen.
On the other hand, maybe they had it right all along. After all, there's almost no doubt this game sells 2mil+ copies.
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