Considering they have been developing games since the late 90s, it should go without saying that Ubisoft has impacted the video game industry in some pretty drastic ways over the last few decades. In fact, these creators have become so influential that they've essentially created their own 'Ubisoft Style', which applies to many games that haven't even been developed by them specifically. When someone says that a game is following the classic Ubisoft formula, it means that it contains a handful of mechanical systems and characteristics that have become synonymous with those developers.
8 Ubisoft Games That Have Aged The Best
These Ubisoft titles have managed to stand the test of time thanks to their innovative mechanics, stories, and visuals.
These ideas would become so popular that developers from all different kinds of genres would end up incorporating them into their own titles to help make the experience as fun and accessible as possible. Of course, this also means that such ideas are also pretty much guaranteed to show up in every new Ubisoft game, but with all that being said, what exactly has Ubisoft brought to the table? And why did these concepts end up becoming mainstays within the industry as a whole?
Radio Towers
Clear Out The Fog Of War To Get A Better Look At The Environment
- The Game That Popularized It: Far Cry 3
When open-world games first started to reach the mainstream in the mid to late 2000s, a big problem many developers were having was how to create a world full of mystery and intrigue, without displaying everything on the map like a giant checklist right from the get-go. Eventually, many of them would resort to using a mechanic that was popularized by Ubisoft back in Far Cry 3, and that is the radio tower. By plucking up the courage to climb to the top of a gigantic beacon, players will be able to scope out the nearby area, revealing weapons, enemy camps, and spots of interest within a specific radius.
Not only did this enable the developers to keep the entire map hidden once the adventure begins, but it also adds to the sense of exploration by encouraging players to uncover what's out there in the world for themselves, rather than being guided by the game. There have been countless open-world titles that have copied this radio tower system, including the likes of Atomfall, Horizon Zero Dawn, and even Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, highlighting just how widespread this mechanic has truly become since it was first introduced.
Parkour Movement
Everyone Wanted To Vault Over Walls And Climb Up Towers Like Altair
- The Game That Popularized It: Assassin's Creed
While it was already difficult enough for developers to make video game characters' movements seem realistic and believable, it wouldn't be long before Ubisoft took this to a whole new level. They had already started experimenting with a parkour movement system back in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a game that features a lot of wall running to get from A to B, but it was really the first Assassin's Creed game in 2007 that popularized the idea of parkour being integrated into games. Rather than just wandering through the streets of the city, Altair was able to leap, vault, and jump his way around his environment without ever getting worn out, making even the act of completing a random side mission much more enjoyable because of the movement system.
10 Best Games Of The 7th Generation
The PS3 and Xbox 360 era of gaming consoles emassed some truly unforgettable games that are still remembered as some of the best of all time.
Just a year later, Mirror's Edge, another game that revolves primarily around its parkour, would be released to the world, signifying that this stylish idea that Ubisoft conjured up had actually started to catch on. Dying Light is a more recent example of a game which uses parkour movement to make the core gameplay a lot faster and more engaging, and while not every game has been able to execute it quite as well as the Assassin's Creed titles, it's still an absolute blast for the player when they get to navigate the environment in such a cool and fun way.
Naval Combat
Ubisoft Struck Gold With Its Ship Combat In Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag
- The Game That Popularized It: Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag
Any time it's announced that a new game will feature naval combat, the question everyone immediately asks is whether it will be able to compare to Assassin's Creed: Black Flag. The fourth Assassin's Creed game has ultimately become the benchmark for how to make ship combat feel fluid and exciting, as before this game came along, many assumed that having slow, clunky ships duking it out with one another in the open sea would be pretty boring and bland. However, Ubisoft managed to popularize this style of combat by making it not only accessible and easy to get used to, but also by throwing in tons of customization options to allow players to create the ship of their dreams.
Since then, the idea of sailing across the glistening ocean and blasting apart a few enemy ships along the adventure has become a much more exciting prospect for many gamers. World of Warships, War Thunder, and even the latest Yakuza pirate game all feature naval combat that is strikingly similar to what was seen before in Black Flag, though that is certainly not a bad thing, since if it's not broken, there's really no need to fix it.
Attention To Sound In Online Shooters
Siege's Intimate Style Of Gameplay Puts The Audio Front And Center
- The Game That Popularized It: Rainbow Six Siege
Initially, outside of the actual noise of the weapons themselves, audio design didn't seem to matter all that much in most online shooter games. However, this all changed once Ubisoft released Rainbow Six Siege in 2015, a 5v5 attack and defend online FPS game, which is a lot slower-paced and more strategic than most other shooter games on the market. Because players will spend the majority of a round navigating their way through a building to catch the enemy off guard, sound plays a hugely important role in the core gameplay loop, as everyone needs to listen out for enemy footsteps and noises to gather as much Intel as possible.
10 Best Ubisoft Games On The Nintendo Switch, Ranked
Ubisoft has a great collection of games on the Nintendo Switch. Here are the best.
This greatly amplifies the intensity of the gameplay, and it's something that many online shooters have replicated since Siege first released. For example, players who make the effort to focus on what they can hear in games like Valorant and Fortnite will give them a great advantage over their opponents, allowing them to get the drop on an enemy before they even see them coming.
'Sixth Sense' Vision
Many Video Game Protagonists Will Be Able To View The World From Their Own Unique Viewpoint
- The Game That Popularized It: Assassin's Creed
In order to make hunting down a target a little easier, the first Assassin's Creed game included a feature called Eagle Vision, which would highlight NPCs in either red or blue depending on whether they were an ally or an enemy. While it may seem fairly basic on the surface, it proved to be such a big help in taking down enemies that it's managed to appear in every single Assassin's Creed game, alongside being replicated in various different forms in many other titles that were released by other developers.
There are many examples of this, but a few popular ones include The Last of Us, which offers a Listen Mode where players can see enemies through walls, and the Batman Arkham games, where the superhero possesses a Detective Mode that works in much the same way. Some games like Cyberpunk 2077 have also tinkered around with the traditional Eagle Vision formula to give players more information about their targets, including their weaknesses, and even a little bit of info about their backstory.
Enemy Tagging System
Spot Targets From Afar To Keep Track Of Enemy Movements
- The Game That Popularized It: Far Cry 3
As players explore the vast open world in Far Cry 3, they will need to liberate a few enemy camps along the way in order to gain XP and progress through the story. While it's all well and good running into one of these camps with guns blazing, players are heavily encouraged to use their camera to first tag a few enemies that they will then be able to keep track of once they infiltrate the area. Despite being a little immersion-breaking, this system actually ended up becoming extremely popular within the industry, and today, it's honestly hard to find many games that incorporate stealth gameplay that don't also feature this mechanic.
In Metal Gear Solid 5, for example, Big Boss is able to do the exact same thing, as Kaz will constantly tell him via radio that he should be spotting as many targets as possible to have the best chance of achieving his objective without being spotted. It's not just stealth games that have started using this, though, as online shooters such as Apex Legends and Overwatch also feature a tagging system to notify allies when enemies are nearby, commonly known as pinging. Simply put, the enemy tag mechanic has appeared in many different forms, and considering how often it's used, it doesn't seem like it'll be going away anytime soon.
The Best-Selling Games Developed By Ubisoft (& How Much They Sold)
Ubisoft is known for making some of the biggest titles in the industry. But which were the company's highest-selling games?