Ubisoft Nano

In the smallest packages

You know I ride on Ubisoft a lot these days, oftentimes for things and situations that they, as a company, cannot help. Being an uncreative shrew leeching off of successful properties seeded by talented former developers, adding nothing of your own to the pools of imagination can hardly be left at the feet of one of the biggest and most resource-ridden studios in all of Eur- wait crap, I'm doing it again. Okay, so maybe they can be blamed for  a lot of their own shortcomings, they're grown-ups afterall. But what I'm trying to establish is that through all the bad there must be some good; I mean you don't grow this grotesquely inflated on pure ineptitude- unless you happen to be called 'Electronic Arts'. In the past some of my favourite products out of Ubisoft have been from their smaller studios, sub projects that have trickled out as addendums to Ubisoft's main offerings, yet some of which could be great  yearly sellers if only Ubisoft had the confidence to back them.

For games like this I think of Valiant Hearts, a pretty scrolling puzzle game from a while back that told a story of various perspectives across the Great War. A simple premise placed in a real setting with a lot of character and heart to it, and something which came out of Ubisoft. You'd not think a project with real heart to it could slither out from between their closed fist, but there we were. What's more, it almost felt like Valiant Hearts was meant to be the start of a slew of projects in that stew, with heart, character and ethos spanning stories from different cultures; but that was the last we saw of it. Maybe those who made that first one have moved on, or they're working on another and it's taking some time, but Ubisoft just haven't exactly devoted themselves to that style of smaller and intimate experience. And in a much bigger reflection of that same issue; what about the 2D scroller Rayman? When do we get the next proper full-game one? Legends was so long ago, Ubisoft; I need my fix!

Which is why I now turn to Ubisoft Da Nang, their Vietnam studio which has been starting to make some moves since earlier this year, which a shadow of sad optimism, darkened by shades of "ill-fated" and "not long for this world". Be excited for the works of the smaller studios while you can before they are rolled into the soulless bigger yearly teams that put out the same game each year on crack. But enough moping, I will take my own advice and be happy for this new studio, I swear it. I just have to get to the point where I can appreciate the small and heartfelt before it slips beyond our grasp or becomes corrupted into something dark and twisted. To that effort I really want to see exactly what it is that this studio are bringing to the table with; wait what the heck is this 'Ubisoft Nano' and why does it make me want to hurl? (Spoilers: it's not a Ubisoft-themed Iphone, although I'm sure that's an idea somehow floating around head office for a lot longer than it deserves to.)

Ubisoft Nano is just this entity which popped up earlier this year to such little fanfare that I didn't even know it existed. (Such is the way with almost all non AAA Ubisoft branded ventures, I suppose) As far as I can understand it, and reading directly from their own site, this is meant to be a collection of 'social multiplayer experiences' (You'd have to screw up pretty hard to make a multiplayer game with absolutely no social elements whatsoever; redundant much?) that are all free to access and can be reached online. Essentially it's a website for Flash games in an age without flash, only these all are coloured with Ubisoft brands in order to- lend them some legitimacy? I'm not entirely sure what the end goal is here. Maybe they want to wiggle their way into the subconscious of young kids looking for online games to play so that they can get addicted to the Ubisoft machine early, I don't know.

But I'm sure you're curious how I came across it, aren't you? If this was a project from back in April, then how is it that I'm popping up and talking about it all the way in August? Well this isn't a case of a blog being pushed back I can tell you that much, no this is a much more organic situation wherein the fact that I'm still subscribed to the long-scuppered Assassin's Creed Youtube channel has crept up to curse my recommended. (They don't even post on it anymore, why am I still subscribed?) Somehow I ended up seeing a maligned and downvoted announcement of yet another Ubisoft game that I didn't know existed; this one called 'Ubisoft All-star Blast'. "Okay?" I thought. Getting distinct Playstation All-stars vibes from this, but what's the 'Blast' all about? What was I in for...

So as you've likely deduced this is another one of those Ubisoft Nano free online games that I talked about, and the 'All-Stars' tag is true; this is a game that seeks to marry the ever marketable images of Ubisoft characters all into one space. You know, just like Playstation and Nintendo before them. (Except, maybe, the fact that those characters were all genuinely developed and interesting all on their own, and much of Ubisoft's roster are cliche one-note cardboard cutouts. Never forget that Vaas' personality was a mistake adopted by the actor, not a conscious choice from the developers) So if you're one of the people out there who get genuinely worked up whenever they see another member of the Ubisoft licence pantheon paraded around and disgraced in places they don't belong, I guess you can consider this your official trigger warning. (I'm serious; Sam Fisher is here. Turn back if that upsets you.)

So  Ubisoft All-Star Blast is Bomberman. That's pretty much the high and low of it. It's bomberman with Chibi-style paperdolls based on various Ubisoft characters and various different stages that are only differentiated by the change out of tilesets. (They couldn't get too creative now; this is a browser-based game) The Online 'Battle Royale' (I'm learning to hate that term) part comes from the fact that this game holds up to 100 players, although the Internet seems to get a little choppy up the higher numbers from what I've experienced. Hmm? Oh yeah, I've played it. It's free bomberman; of course I'm going to play it! From a few games I can see they've chosen a 'all upgrades stack' model which takes a lot of the strategy out of the game, just pick up everything and hope for the best, and they 'sell' new skins through way of making players watch ads. (Which is ten times better than asking them to get out their credit cards, I will say.) Also, the smattering of characters to choose from is laughably small and weird. You have Bud from Grow Home, Aurora from Child of Light, Sam Fisher, two Assassin's Creed Protagonists and, rather amusingly, that monkey from the Beyond Good and Evil 2 trailer (Wonder if that monkey will ever make it to an actual game?). That's just a few, but there aren't a great many more. You'd have thought they'd be able to flood this game with characters considering they're only Chibi models. (But it's a small studio, I have to keep reminding myself.)

The other games are just as vapid, free runners and puzzlers that will keep you entertained for an hour or two, maybe a kid for a couple of weeks. It's innocuous, harmless, and the sort of thing I really wish was pushed a little more because it's kind of cool. I'll admit, when I saw that Ubisoft had ripped off Bomberman I rolled up expecting to rip into the big U again for their lack of ingenuity, but everything being free and easily accessible from anyone's browser certainly helps the situation to a degree. These small and pick-up-play games used to mean everything to a kid like I was, which is why I was so devastated when Flash went away (even if the ultimate reason was totally sound) so if Ubisoft want to try their hand at filling that void I, surprisingly to even myself, support that. Do I grit my teeth when I see the last surviving Stealth-man Sam Fisher debased yet again without his own game to sooth the ache? Of course, but overall I like the passage his insult is wrapped up in. So kudos to Studio Da Nang and this experiment of theirs, however long it lasts, for reminding me that there is some light even in the dark. (Oh god I sound like Sora. "You're wrong! I know that Kingdom Hearts is LIGHT")