Rory Houston assesses some of the titles at the Ubisoft 2010 Summer Fair which took place in London earlier this month.
The fifth instalment in the Driver series is due out at the beginning of 2011 but already it looks promising. It is fair to say that Driver lost its way a bit in recent times but things look a lot more positive for this upcoming release.
Driver: San Francisco, based on a huge terrain of the city, is a throwback to the early games in the franchise.
Along with the feel of the early Driver games, the Film Director mode set to make a welcome return. There haven’t been any concrete details about it yet so it will be interesting to see what alternations and new features it has.
One of the newer elements is an option to shift between any cars in the surrounding area, something that is all important for the many missions that the plot will be based upon, especially when losing track of your target car.
Crucially, the vehicles handle very well. There is always a fine line between good handling and a driving game being just too easy, so the early signs are good.
Perhaps the most exciting game on display was Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Based in Rome, the one-player modes will once again feature Ezio Auditore as he quests through Rome.
Of course there will be some tweaks from Assassin's Creed 2, the big change in the game is the addition of a multi-player option.
There will be several different modes as players are given a target to assassinate while at the same time remaining inconspicuous to other players that are disguised in the crowd.
Each character has their own skills, whether it is the ability to change appearance, use varying weapons or even use smoke pellets to disappear when spotted.
Kill a civilian and it will reduce your points total, it makes for an exciting challenge. It is frustrating at times but there is plenty of skill and it will be almost impossible to perfect so it will having lasting appeal.
Brotherhood will be a massive release just before Christmas. The multi-player is crucial to its success as it is an incentive to purchase what it now a third instalment in the series.
As Assassin's Creed incorporates multi-player, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon's is also taking a fresh approach.
Usually very much based on a total stealth experience, Future Soldier is a new title that will take a few tips from Call of Duty and the like to offer a small bit of everything from first and third person shooters.
Gamers have their own opinion on stealth titles. Some find it a challenge while others are happy to go around shooting everything in sight that moves. It is difficult for the developer to find the right balance with the audience.
At the time of play, Future Solider was very much in the early stages of development.
It is different to the usual Tom Clancy games so I look forward to seeing more in the coming months. The scheduled release is the first quarter of 2011.
Summer is often a quiet time for gaming so it is nice to see what lies in store in the latter part of the year and the beginning of 2011.
Rory Houston
