In the recent weeks, I have been trying three games at home. Coincidentally, they are all published by Ubisoft. They are a bit old, but I guess it’s worth comparing them as a way of understanding how such a game brand works.
Heroes of Might and Magic V (2006)
The fifth installment in the Heroes series is developed by Nival, but it is so faithful to the original empire management and tactical combat games that it should be considered Ubisoft work. This PC series is an extreme case of self-reverence, as each game replicates the Heroes tradition to an extreme. For instance, the monsters may have been redrawn, but not redesigned: for they are presented in the same colors, the same features, trace and even posture. Playability, of course, is intended to please conservative Heroes fans.
I bought the game as a newsstand item, as many old games are released in Brazil. I was missing old Heroes III, so I was pleased by the game, but novelty would be appreciated. If you want new features for this brand, you might want to try MMHK, an on-line version with new strategic features (mainly, simplified combat), but the typical “cash-for-success” issues.
My version of Heroes V came with French as the “default” installation language, and I tried it. It came as a surprise then that many of the in-game texts came in English, apparently due to an unfinished translation process. What is their default language, after all?
Red Steel II (2010)
I have never heard of Red Steel, for Nintendo Wii, but it probably was a hit, for Ubisoft produced a sequel. I bought the latter in order to try my Wii Motion Plus controller.
This game can satisfy the need for a sword-swinging game for the motion controller: you really have many ways of wielding your weapon.
Aesthetically, the game can draw much attention at first glance: is that a Western, or is it a ninja game? Well, it is more than both, as you alternate from sword to firearm in the role of the last of a ninja clan, shooting thugs in a post-apocalyptic Western setting.
So this game makes a good point for my argument that people don’t usually look for good storytelling in action video games, at least not in the “plot, characters and poetics” sense.
But there is another storytelling aspect in which video games excel: immersion. And this one offers more than the usual “swing sword” and “shoot weapon” mechanics. Some action scenes in this game will ask the player to “improvise”, showing new commands on screen as you try to move from the hood to the cabin of a speeding truck, for example. And that’s the kind of story many people expect from action video games.
Just Dance 3 (2011)
This franchise is a hit in the “family branch” that big video game companies have recently discovered. My fiancée chose issue 3, and not 4, because of the song list. As it was not the newest game, it was cheaper, but even so I felt it was an expensive way of buying mere 40 songs.
Some people will say Wii can’t manage a dance game, as its motion controllers sense hand positioning only. Well, if you play a game like this in good faith, that doesn’t matter that much; competition is not my main concern with a game like this, so I’ll disregard the fact that the game doesn’t know how I work my legs.
The choreographies in this game match nicely the songs they represent (mostly pop music), and the same can be said about the video clip production for each song.
It is also nice that the game comes with a “Sweat Mode”, intended to be useful in burning calories. I’m afraid that mode is not very different from the core game, which can disappoint more workout-minded players.
In its simplicity, Just Dance 3 fits perfectly in the Wii generation: easy for the family, below expectations for gamers.
A quick conclusion
So I bought three Ubisoft games in a row. I learned that this company values their brands, which can be good (for those who revere old-school Heroes, for example). But that is also a sign of the times, like in the movies: why bother betting on new things if we can turn a best-selling book in three movies or so? Perhaps that reflects a general feeling that there is not much left to be told, after all.
He Nan's blog 