Assassin's Creed II (PC)

Ubisoft seems to now been crippling all their new games with a draconian DRM solution that means you need an always on internet connection and an Ubisoft account to play the game, even for singleplayer. If I want to play the game on a long journey I can't, if I want to play the game in a hotel on a business trip I can't, if I want to play it whilst staying at my parents who don't have the internet I can't. Even worse if your internet connection blips for any reason the game freezes which is AMAZINGLY and INDESCRIBABLY annoying until it can reach the Ubisoft server again!!! It TOTALLY ruins the gaming experience. Lastly you do no get the entire game on your disk, another reason to have a constant internet connection is that the game needs to download little sections of code for you to be able to complete the game. So what happens when they eventually turn their server off?! They say they'll patch the game...I don't believe them.

Game 8/10, DRM solution -1,000,000/10 giving a final score of -999,992. A good game totally ruined by the worst copy protection system I've ever witnessed as a PC gamer!

Ubisoft what you done? I've waited months for this to come out on PC and you've gone and ruined this release by adding ridiculous DRM onto the disc.

Now I have bought several titles with Securerom over the last year or so (the last 2 being Crysis Warhead & GTA4) and I really thought that the situation couldnt get any more petty. In general you have to install the game, enter the password, check it online and only then after doing that you get to play the title.

However Ubisoft in their infinite wisdom have decided that to play this game in SINGLE PLAYER as well as doing all of the above you have to be constantly connected to the internet. Thus if your connection crashes or the servers go down the game freezes and you cant save any progress that you may have made.

I mean come on! We the PC gamers wait for this title to be released 3 or 4 months after the console version only to have to put up with this rubbish. All this does is just make people like me who actually spend their money supporting the PC gaming industry feel like second class citizens.

Sometimes I wonder why so many people illegally download PC games. However when I see stuff like this I know exactly why........

I shall attempt to make this as comprehensive as possible.

The gameplay is (by nature) very similar to AC1, but changed enough that I did not lose interest as I did with the original. They have split up the missions more and tried to vary them so they do not constantly repeat.

I enjoyed the new economic model placed into the game and the puzzles where you have to find the Assasins' tombs and the Glyphs. They are not required to complete the story line, but offer a nice break and chance to practice the movements and jumps just learnt.

I found the controls to be slightly glitchy, even when using an Xbox 360 controller for windows. The character would not always jump in the direction you were facing and would go off at a usually lethal tangent.

I also found that they seem to have added some humour and a fairly interesting story line into the game too. Quite well in most cases, although the Mario quote was unnecessary (you'll know it when you hear it)

I found the graphics to be first rate. I saw reports of graphics glitches, but was unable to see anything so bad that it ruined the game.

The game picks up more or less from where AC1 leaves off and sets the scene nicely for a third. a third which unfortunately I am unlikely to buy.

Now, the reason for the one star. You have probably already guessed - the DRM.

I received this game just over a week ago. For over half that time I have been unable to log on as the game is insiting that there is no internet connection and yet if I ALT+TAB away from the game I am able to browse the internet.

I have also received an error saying that the username and password were incorrect, and yet was able to log into the UBISOFT website with the same username and password.

I have found that there is NO notifiaction on UBISOFTS part when the servers are busy or down and a reply from their automated fault logging system took over a day and a half.

Essentially on a Friday evening, and from Saturday and Sunday afternoon onwards if you are not already connected then forget it. If you are already connected then expect intermittant drops in connectivity.

This in an incredibly enjoyable game which is ruined by some poorly though out and supported DRM. I already have two e-mails from UBISOFT apologising for the server drops and promising some form of compensation. A patch to remove the DRM would be nice.

I understand that the company needs to be seen to try to apply some security but there are far more sensible methods available.

I do not pirate games. I refuse to. I do not see why I should be punished for being a loyal customer. Whilst UBISOFT use this DRM I will not be buying anything more from them.

ADDENDUM:

Just yesterday I received an e-mail from Ubisoft giving me the activation code for new areas of the game. This was the compensation they promised. These versions have only come withthe special editions of the game before now.

Unfortunately they are somewhat useless to me as I bought the Black Edition and already had them from day 1 but at least they are trying.

ADDENDUM MK II - 1 YEAR LATER:

Ubisoft have made some changes to the DRM system that they have applied. You still need to be connected to the internet to start the game, but if the internet drops out partway through it no longer throws you out of the game. It does inform you that it will save your progress locally and synch the saves the next time you are connected, but only when you are closing down the game.

I have found notification of downtime on the UPlay website

UPlay (the DRM) also appears to be more stable since it patched itself. It has not failed to find my internet connection once since that time.

I have also found that the day and time no longer have a bearing on your ability to connect.

If the DRM were like this in the first instance then I would probably have rated the game at 3-4 stars overall.

I should mention that I only found this out about a month ago when I installed the game for the first time since reviewing it.

I am now looking forward to Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and Assassins Creed 3.