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Ubisoft accidentally released Beyond Good & Evil anniversary edition

Beyond Good and Evil Anniversary Edition is real, and we know this for sure, as Ubisoft accidentally released the action game months early

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Beyond Good and Evil Anniversary Edition is real, and we know this for sure, as Ubisoft released the action game several months early. Oops. The accident – which included a store listing and full copies of the game sent to Ubisoft+ subscribers – happened before Ubisoft even announced the game’s existence, even though the ESRB leaked it earlier in 2023.

Ubisoft acknowledged the mistaken leak on the Beyond Good & Evil 2 Twitter page and said they plan to release Beyond Good & Evil Anniversary Edition early in 2024.

The studio removed footage and images from the internet after some of those Ubisoft+ subscribers posted it, and while some reactions to the scrubbed-up visuals were less than favorable, Ubisoft said the build was an in-progress version of the game. The now-delisted store page said the full release will support 4K resolution and 60fps, and it comes with a few other upgrades as well (thanks, Eurogamer).

Well, looks like the cat’s out of the bag, dagnammit. Happy 20th anniversary to Beyond Good & Evil! While we cannot wait to show you more about this special edition, more news to come in early 2024! pic.twitter.com/cNxHGTnmdU

— Beyond Good and Evil 2 (@bgegame) November 29, 2023

One of those is a new treasure hunt mode that gives Jade special new gear and gives you more knowledge about her backstory. It will also feature achievements, a speedrun mode, and some developer insights and commentary in a separate gallery.

If you don’t want to wait that long and you have an Xbox, you can play Beyond Good & Evil‘s 360 version via backwards compatibility.

There’s still no word about Beyond Good & Evil 2, or whether it remains in active development. Series creator Michel Ancel – who later departed Ubisoft and faced sexual misconduct allegations – teased a sequel in 2007, and Ubisoft announced it with a trailer in 2017 with a small update in 2019 and nothing since.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft is giving away one of the best Assassin’s Creed games for free for a short while, and unlike Beyond Good & Evil Anniversary Edition, they won’t take it back.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

One of the best Assassin’s Creed games is free on PC – but not for long

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, one of the best Assassin’s Creed games, is going for the low price of absolutely free on PC for a short time

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, one of the best Assassin’s Creed games, is going for the low price of absolutely free on PC for a short time. All you need is a Ubisoft Connect account, which is free, though it does mean you’ll have to play through Ubisoft Connect and not Steam or another launcher.

You can claim Assassin’s Creed Syndicate for free until Dec. 6, 2023, on Ubisoft Connect. Normally, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate costs $29.99, unless you’re a Ubisoft+ member, and then you get it as part of your $14.99-per-month subscription.

Syndicate takes place in 19th-century London and stars two protagonists, Jacob and Evie. The main story is the usual AC guff with modern-day tie-ins, but the setting and blend of genres are the real stars here.

“But you called it the worst AC in your Assassin’s Creed list.” Okay, well yeah I did. It’s got some issues, sure, but I still like it a lot. It’s the last great stealth game in the series before Ubisoft ventured into RPG territory. Wonky parkour is its biggest sin, but what other game lets you work alongside Charles Darwin and hunt ghosts with Charles Dickens? None.

The formula felt stale by the time Syndicate released, but going back to it now, after three massive open-world games, it’s easier to see how strong the world design is. The progression is a solid half-step between traditional AC and the RPGs that came later, and frankly, it’s just fun rattling around in Victorian London in this unusual take on historical fiction.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

The best Assassin’s Creed games ranked from filler to killer

In our Assassin’s Creed games ranked list, we lay out what makes the stealth game series work so well – and which entries are best left alone

Putting together an Assassin’s Creed games ranked list depends quite a bit on what you like. The long-running stealth game series from Ubisoft followed an erratic path over the years, shedding stealth entirely, embracing change and refusing change simultaneously, and opting for a “bigger is better” approach that often made playing a chore. Every peak came with a valley – Assassin’s Creed 3’s generally odd design, Syndicate’s lack of innovation, even Odyssey and its heft.

There’s a reason it stuck around through even the toughest moments, though. When it worked as it does in Black Flag and Brotherhood, it worked so well, blending action, historical fiction, stealth, and creative world design. Nearly every game has at least one strong point from those, but the best blend them together in a way no other series can.

This classic Assassin’s Creed glitch returns in AC Mirage

A classic Assassin’s Creed glitch is making a comeback in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and it really is a feature, not a bug in the stealth game

A classic Assassin’s Creed glitch is making a comeback in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and it really is a feature, not a bug in the stealth game. Fans spotted it in a recent gameplay video from YouTuber Access The Animus, and the reaction was a mixture of relief and excitement for longtime series’ fans (thanks, GamesRadar).

The glitch is literally called an Animus Glitch, a broad term that refers to a range of visual anomalies that pop up in certain circumstances throughout the series. They first showed up in the original Assassin’s Creed as a way to change the perspective you’re viewing events through, and the most recent version was as “anomalies” in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, spots in the world that took you to some puzzle or other.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s glitches pop up during protagonist Basim’s teleport move, an ability that caused a bit of controversy in the AC community after Ubisoft first unveiled it. Some fans thought it was too easy and ruined the immersion, but adding an Animus Glitch effect seems to have reversed their opinions.

They added an Animus glitch effect to the Assassin Focus ability
byu/claytalian inassassinscreed

“They really listened. Respect to Devs [sic],” reads the comment with the most upvotes on Reddit.

“It really does look better with the glitch effect and does look like a glitch in the animus like it’s supposed to,” another said.

It wasn’t quite enough for a few, who said they just hoped Some said they hoped the ability was locked behind the middle or end of the game, so it didn’t ruin the stealth by letting Basim simply appear where he wanted – which would kind of ruin the moment’s suspense.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage launches on Oct. 5, 2023, for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Star Wars Outlaws lets you team up with Jabba the Hutt

Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft’s upcoming open-world Star Wars game, lets you live out a “scoundrel fantasy” and even work with Jabba the Hutt

Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft’s upcoming Star Wars game, lets you live out a “scoundrel fantasy” and even work with the infamous crime lord Jabba the Hutt – or double-cross him. Whether this means Kay has some influence over events tied to Han Solo is uncertain, but Outlaws director Julian Gerighty told IGN that when protagonist Kay Vess visits Tatooine, getting tangled up with the Hutt syndicate is just part of what Ubisoft Massive has in store.

Gerighty said the goal is letting players experience hives of scum and villainy from the ground up, as if they were really there, seeing everything these cities, dives, and cesspools have to offer. It’s not just on Tatooine, either. Ubisoft Massive created at least one brand-new location that Kay will visit: the moon Toshara, a vast location inspired by the African savannah and Tanzania in particular.

“We start off with a biome, in this case, southeast African biomes as an inspiration, and then you put a twist on it to make it feel a little bit alien,” Gerighty told IGN. “If you think of the first shots, maybe not the first shots, but the first the shots of Tatooine. Beautiful, recognizable architecture, but two suns. For us, it’s having this huge mountain and carved into it into the amberine of the mountain, the crystalline substance is a city, and these outcroppings of orange, very reflective material. That’s what brings the really alien nature to it. Familiar but fresh.”

Whether it’s Tatooine’s vices or Toshara’s new city, Gerighty said the team took a virtual tourism approach in the open-world game to help players really live out the scoundrel fantasy at Outlaws’ core. They designed Toshara and even Tatooine in close detail, so players can visit iconic locations, such as the Mos Eisley cantina, discover something new or interesting in every cranny, or see just how long it takes to reach the city from the outlying moisture farms.

Star Wars Outlaws is set to launch sometime in 2024.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Massive debuts Star Wars Outlaws gameplay trailer at Ubisoft Forward

Massive and Lucasfilm showcased the first Star Wars Outlaws trailer during Ubisoft Forward with 10 minutes of the open world game

Massive and Lucasfilm showcased the first Star Wars Outlaws trailer during Ubisoft Forward’s summer 2023 event, full of blaster fights, cute little ugly creatures, criminal droids, and more. Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft’s open-world take on Star Wars games, isn’t out until 2024, but the 10-minute gameplay trailer offers a pretty good idea of what to expect.

You play as Kay, an outlaw during a time of great civil unrest under the oppressive Galactic Empire – and a time of great opportunity for those daring enough to seize it. The narrative core remains a bit of a mystery for now, but the gist of it is that Kay ends up becoming the most wanted criminal in the galaxy – a pretty big feat, considering Jedi exist – and has to pull off the most daring heist in the Outer Rim as a result.

The trailer starts in a hangar, where Kay uses a mix of stealth, Nix the ugly baby pet, and violence to escape. She has a single blaster of the style you’d expect a Star Wars criminal to have, but can apparently pick up weapons from foes on the fly as well. We see Kay grab a rifle from a fallen Storm Trooper and use it to cause quite the noisy distraction.

Then it’s off to the open plains of Joshana, a new savannah-inspired planet, where Kay gets away with the help of a stylish speeder bike. She can apparently slow down time to mark foes and pull off a fair few stunts as well.

Ubisoft and Massive said Star Wars Outlaws features deep relationship systems where negotiations, contracts, and reputation help determine Kay’s standing in the underworld, and we got a small look at that in action during the trailer.

Back at base, Kay meets with a client and hands over the goods she stole from the hangar, before being threatened by an imperial officer. You have the choice to bribe or not. Kay chooses not, and leaves with yet another “wanted” sign over her head.

She and Nix take off in their ship, which you control and fly from the ground into space; deal with a few imperial fighters just outside the atmosphere; and then jump to hyperspace for a short breather.

That’s just one mission on one planet. Massive promises much more in Star Wars Outlaws when it launches sometime in 2024.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Assassin’s Creed VR features new stories for favorite assassins

Ubisoft announced new details for Assassin’s Creed Nexus, the upcoming Assassin’s Creed VR game, including who its heroes are

Ubisoft announced new details for Assassin’s Creed Nexus, the upcoming Assassin’s Creed VR game, and told GLHF at a press event a bit about who the stealth game‘s heroes are. Assassin’s Creed Nexus will center on three fan-favorite assassins: Ezio from Assassin’s Creed 2; Connor Kenway from Assassin’s Creed 3; and Cassandra from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

The narrative leans heavily on Assassin’s Creed’s modern stories and the race to recover a series of genetic memories that could tip the balance of power in the Templar’s age-old struggle. These memories are the stories of Nexus’ three heroes.

Connor Kenway’s tale is a spy story set during the age of exploration and piracy, while Ezio’s story takes us back to 15th-century Italy and the height of the Italian Renaissance – and some of its dark, untold stories.

Cassandra’s story unfolds during the period of the 30 Tyrants in Athens, when a Spartan coup saw a council of 30 Spartans installed as Athens’ rulers.

All of Nexus’ stories take place on what Ubisoft called “open maps,” non-linear sandbox-style settings that lend themselves to multiple playstyles and plenty of parkour.

If you want a combat-heavy focus similar to the more recent Assassin’s Creed games, you can take that route, but Nexus also gives you room to create a hybrid or stealth approach if you want. You’ll have an entire suite of assassin’s skills and weapons at your disposal as well, including smoke bombs and the classic wrist blade.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus launches on Meta Quest sometime in the 2023 holiday season.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Ubisoft announces Avatar Frontiers of Pandora release date

Ubisoft announced the Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora release date at Ubisoft Forward 2023, alongside a new trailer for the open-world game

Ubisoft announced the Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora release date at the Ubisoft Forward 2023 event, alongside a new trailer for the open-world game. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will launch on Dec. 7, 2023, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

James Cameron made an appearance and commented on how it was always his plan to tell new Avatar stories outside the movie theater.

“Our vision has always been to embrace technology and find new ways outside the cinema to help people embrace this world,” Cameron said.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora tells a new story in the Avatar world, with new characters, flora, and fauna. You play as a Na’vi child abducted by the RDA and trained in human ways. The RDA wants to turn Na’vi children against their people, but events unfold, and you end up in a state of cryosleep for 15 years. You re-emerge in a world polluted by the RDA and need to re-connect with your Na’vi heritage, which means convincing your fellow Na’vi that you aren’t a threat.

Frontiers of Pandora unfolds across a vast open world, with different Na’vi tribes calling each region home. You’ll visit nomads living in peaceful coexistence with giant beasts on the open plain and mysterious healers in a dark forest who prefer to hide in its misty depths instead of roaming the world, and they all have something to teach you in your fight against the RDA.

The RDA set up outposts across the western frontier, polluting the land and corrupting its resources. You can use a combination of Na’vi weapons and RDA combat styles to take these outposts down, and when you do, the pollution gradually vanishes. The world comes back to life, and you can harvest new, powerful resources to craft useful items and more.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora lets you play the entire campaign alone or with one friend thanks to online multiplayer.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Ubisoft announces new Prince of Persia from the Rayman Legends team

While Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time might be on hold, Ubisoft announced another new Prince of Persia at Summer Game Fest 2023

While Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time might be on hold, Ubisoft announced another new Prince of Persia at Summer Game Fest 2023. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown will launch on Jan. 18, 2023, and returns to the series’ retro-style 2D roots.

Ubisoft Montpellier is developing The Lost Crown, the same studio that developed Rayman Legends, though it looks more like a Metroidvania than a straight-up platformer. You play as a warrior of the kingdom on a mission to save his homeland from monsters and evildoers. He wields magic, swords, bows, and an impressive range of other abilities in the process, fighting giant snakes, taking down wizards, and even facing a dark version of himself.

The environments look like something out of Metroid Dread, a mix of traditional 2D environments with impressive details and pop effects in the foreground. Ubisoft will show more during the Ubisoft Forward event on June 12, 2023.

Meanwhile, development on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake has restarted once again, as the team works to re-imagine what the classic game should look like in a modern landscape. It’s still in the concept stage, so we probably won’t be seeing anything about that one at Ubisoft Forward.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Ubisoft restarted development on the Prince of Persia remake again

The Prince of Persia remake is still in the early stages of development and won’t be at June’s Ubisoft Forward event

The Prince of Persia remake is still in the early stages of development, and the action game won’t be at June’s Ubisoft Forward event, producer Jean-Francois Naud said. The news is something of a surprise, coming as it does three years after the action game’s first reveal and one year after Ubisoft moved the project to Ubisoft Montreal to help smooth out development issues.

Apparently that smoothing out involved going back to the concept stage.

“Since [Ubisoft Montreal] took over the project, we’ve been looking at feedback from the community and finding our own way of delivering the game,” Naud said. “Now, we’re building up the team, defining the priorities, putting prototypes together, testing elements, and looking at how we can include community feedback in the development as well. It’s still in an early stage, and players should not expect to hear more about the game this year, but rest assured that we’re all putting our strengths and heart into this project.”

Game director Michael McIntyre said one of the team’s biggest challenges is figuring out how to preserve the Prince’s unique movement abilities from the original, while still meeting player expectations for how modern games should play and feel – hence the need for a full remake and not just a polished remaster.

Naud said the team was fortunate to have access to extensive documentation and other research materials that helped understand the original development team’s intentions, including what vital aspects of Prince of Persia’s identity have to be preserved.

McIntyre said these include puzzles, combat, and the Prince’s acrobatic hijinks, but the most important part is Sands of Time’s “story within a story” feel, with a narrator relaying important events to you in storybook fashion.

The Ubisoft Forward event airs on June 12, 2023, and we’ll probably see a good deal of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, among other things.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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