The least hyped release of all time?

An AC game with no marketing, no hype, not a single post on here, nothing. I actually love the AC series, but I didn't even know this was coming out (or in development for that matter) until today when I saw it on the release calender here on GB.

Safe to say, I don't really have high hopes for this.

about a month or so ago Gamespot released an impressions article and they enjoyed what they played.

It's like... A spin-off of a spin-off or something. I doubt Ubisoft would spend a whole lot on advertising this thing. The only thing it really has going for it is the AC name at this point, and that could mean anything quality-wise.

I'd love to see an AC game set in China, but this "Chronicles" series seems like Ubi's way of throwing out time periods/locations that they'll never put in the main games. Unless it surprises everyone with how great it is (maybe something similar to Mark of the Ninja?), I've got a gut feeling this is going to be incredibly forgettable.

It's a 2(.5)D action platformer in the vein of Shadow Complex and Mark of the Ninja and sadly those types of games don't sell as much as they used to.

The horrible cynic in me is telling me that this is more to salvage the Assassin's Creed brand after Unity and to keep the fans busy until Victory is released after delaying it until 2016. Gotta keep up that mind share!

They've released quite a few of these smaller AC games with little to no fan fare. I guess there is no reason to spend marketing money on something that won't sell much beyond rabid fans.

@finaldasa: That seems to be the long and short of it.

I was scrolling through releases.com and saw this and thought "Holy shit that is coming out" I'm actually looking forward to it I still really like the AC series as concept I guess but we've been let down a lot let's be honest. The last game that Ubisoft snuck out was Grow Home and that really turned out to be fun so I'm hoping this is the same.

They don't want to piss marketing money down the drain on this when E3's a couple of months down the line to showcase Assassins Creed: Cor Blimey or whatever its called.

The ironic bit that most AC games have about 75 trailers for them. Then again, those are the "main" AC games, and they seem to be actively relegating this to "tier 2". They're doing some weird shit with this franchise. This is kind of like AC: Rogue last year, which seemed to be a perfectly competent game (especially in contrast to busted-ass Unity), yet was barely acknowledged by the publisher. I have no idea why the direction they're taking things is "saturate the market with AC games while not even promoting them". That seems to be the exact opposite of what they should do, which I'd contend is taking a year off to lessen the fatigue and releasing a proper game that would likely generate some real interest. In case Ubisoft's listening, I'm willing to drop these hot tips for probably 1/3 of what you're paying the people running this shitshow. Anyway, this game might actually be pretty decent if it follows last year's pattern. I guess we'll find out shortly.

@shindig: "Assassin's Creed: Core Blimey" is that game's real name. I don't care what they call it.

Also, how in the fuck is this the AC game that will take place in Asia? All the rich history with ninjas and samurai, and they haven't even really tried to capitalize on this no-brainer?

@brendan: Its Victory, sadly. Because its set in Victorian England.

@notnert427 said:

Turns out there's probably some gross market research that says your Ass Creed game starring a tall white dude has mass market appeal, but if you make the star a cool Indian dude or a Chinese lady and all of the 15-year-old racists will just pass on it.

I would be excited if this was the next Assassin's Creed proper.

Asian period setting, Ninjas, Samurai and a female protagonist. Yes please.

I've always wanted a Victorian England setting too, but knowing that they use this concept for a side title, just makes me realise that Ubi have no balls. Which basically leaves me uninterested, even if the game is fantastic.

the cynic in me says that Ubisoft needs to do damage control with their brand Assassins Creed, after what happened to unity. In the meantime, they've seen positive feedback to their smaller titles (Child of Light, Valiant Hearts, Rayman, Grow Home). Therefore, to make people hop on board for Assassins Creed Victory, they will put out a smaller game so that you associate the brand with quality again, and forget about what happened to Unity.

I'm sure this game will accidentally sell more than enough to offset it's budget. A mainline AC game not making its money bank is probably a terrifying nightmare for Ubisoft, hence the 1000 trailers that accompany each one.

The trailer for this (and the other two Chronicles games) looked kinda cool.

@shindig:

Don't forget it's spinoff, Assassin's Creed: You Wot?.

I don't know what to make of AC anymore. Ubisoft has made it incredibly easy to be cynical about anything they do with the franchise.

The plus side is that if Ubi wasn't super duper invested in it enough to want to push it through ads, maybe they also didn't fight too hard to homogenize the experience and allowed the team to get creative?

I really hope you're right. Isn't it just fantastic when greater resources and renown actually diminishes a game's scope?

I didn't even know this game existed, it suddenly just popped up in the recent releases.

I'd like to believe that isn't the case. Even if it is, they could do some "Last Samurai" bullshit and still do that setting with a "mass market" protagonist. I'd just really, really like to see an AC game set in feudal Japan with shinobi vs. samurai. That game could be phenomenal if they did it right. Oh well, I guess this is as close as we'll get.

You've basically described the perfect way to get around the "problem"....if only someone would listen!

except this game was being made long before unity came out, this game was free as part of Assassin creed unitys Season pass

To be honest, I'm actually fairly interested in this series, as someone who doesn't think much of really any game in the series. I had fun with nearly every AC game in their respective release windows, but those games age like hell. I feel like it's a franchise that I keep waiting to come to fruition.

Anyway I'm down for some cool stylized 2.5D AC. That sounds neat.

Why would it need hype? It a small game, it meant to be a small game, its has some name recognition sitting on the digital shelf....why spend money trying to promote it when free alternative woudl do it all for them? That would be wasting money.

Ten major gaming websites put out a review, ten other crappy ones always used by Metacritic or Game Ranking scored it as well. IGN, Gamespot and GB and many other major outlets did previews, guides, video news segments, or podcasts on it....this thing got covered, probably a bit more than it even needed, to be covered. WHY would it need anything else - it has been hyped just a nearly zero cost to the publisher.

Something not getting a huge advertising budget push is not abandonment always. Sometimes there is just there is no need to do more than put it out and coax the gaming media to do the heavy lifting for FREEEEEEEE.

@dokaka: I'm very much enjoying what I'm playing of it. In a lot of ways, the game expects more from your stealth abilities than the main series: tougher combat, mechanics which throw wrenches into some of your stealthing etc. This is particularly the case if you aim to get "shadow" ranking on missions (no kills, no alerts), which I do because I'm a perfectionist.

I like it more than 3, which I guess is my bar at this point. Pretty good game.

@flameboy84: I am, and honestly I am sick of hearing this way too obvious and on-the-nose idea for AC. What's interesting about Assassin's Creed is that it takes you to an interesting place. Feudal Japan is the most uninspired thing they could possibly choose.

The AC team said no to ninjas because it they thought it was too cliche. So instead they made one about pirates.

It is a pretty good stealth game, fairly unforgiving and challenging, especially if you go for Shadow Gold style (no kills, not being seen).

I think I may just stick to these 2.5D Assassin's Creed games and skip Victory unless it is really good.

@village_guy: Yeh i downloaded just becouse it popped up in the store as "free" but after playing it for 5hours i would totaly recommend it even if you have to pay for it. Surprisingly good and the game will just crush you if you go on a casual button mash approach, not what you would think of a game with Assassins creed in the title.

Honestly Ubisoft's marketing department must SUCK, the last AC I knew of at least a week before release was black flag(was it E3?).

I mean...I don't see what they could hype; its a stand alone product that has no retail release. Not to mention that its only priced at $9.99.

I actually had heard someone mention it and thought it was a mobile game or something. Oops!

I don't pay especially close attention to any gaming sites anymore and I saw plenty about this. At least, relative to the size of the game itself.

see there is more they could do than ninjas.....that would be the be the essy answer. japan has morr stories tontell in feudal times im sure.

Nah. Deadly Premonition had no "hype" when it was released. So this certainly isn't the "least hyped". It's just another drop in the bucket.