Press Trip to Ubisoft Montreal2

Woah! I have not updated for a long while. I do apologise, if you have been keeping up with my via twitter then you would know that I’ve had a crazy few weeks!

First things first, Uni is going well. I’ve finally switched from Marketing to Journalism and all is right with the world. I attended my first two lessons this week and they were really interesting so I think I am on the right course. Games studies is still going fantastically and I can’t wait to start the games diary & society.

Last week the wonderful people at Ubisoft thought it was a good idea to send myself, Tamer (Inc Gamers), Richard (Strategy Informer) and Dan (Xbox360achievements) to Montreal, Canada to play Splinter Cell: Conviction, AVATAR and of course Assassin’s Creed II (read my preview please xx).

We flew out on the Wednesday and after a smooth flight arrived in Montreal! I’ve never been to Canada before so it was split between excitement of checking out Ubisoft studios and some games that I am personally quite excited for to being in Canada for the first time! I was also quite surprised how French it was! Everyone laughs at me when I say that but I was honestly shocked how everything was in French when most of my online Canadian friends talk only in English. It didn’t matter too much anyway because everyone seemed to be bilingual.

We went out that night for a rather delicious meal and then the next day headed to Ubisoft’s Montreal studio which is absolutely massive! We were popped into a small room which was situated between 3 large studio areas. I kept trying to sneakily peak at what was going on their pc’s and all I know is that they were unannounced projects, but I didn’t really see much to be honest. We popped into this room filled with debugs and then after a little talk we met Alexander Parizeau who gave up a demo on Splinter Cell: Conviction. The game honestly looks amazing and while only one thing bothered me (the invisible walls during interrogation) the rest was a real tease as I couldn’t just stand up and steal the controller from him to play. I’ll be popping up a preview for that really soon :-)

We then went off to lunch with Max Belland, producer for Splinter Cell, and tried to get him to reveal details about the multiplayer and any possible DLC. Sadly he couldn’t say anything, which was a bit rubbish! Delicious lunch though as really nice talk about the game and how the project is going.

Upon returning to the studio, we headed back to the room and checked out AVATAR. We met Kevin Short who spoke about the scripting of the game and answered some questions and then we got some hands on time with AVATAR. I’ll be honest, it does play quite Lost Planet 2 but this is mainly because of how the combat system works, the look and feel are very different however. I really like the graphical style of the game and the mix up of on foot and vehicle game-play. We played a very short demo sadly but it was a good look into what they are doing with the game.

After that some of us walked back to the hotel and we got some food, drinks and had a great night. Next day we got up a little earlier to head to the Assassin’s Creed II fan day which had a few other people turn up, though not many. We met Sébastien Puel, the producer, who did another Q&A for us. Then we were given free run of the whole game. I managed about 4-5 hours worth from the start and all I can say is that I am extremely impressed with the changes they have made and addictions to the franchise. It really feels like it has evolved and for more details you can read my preview.

Korina (@shikaboom) and myself being posers.

Again drinks and sleep and then we had 2 days free to roam Montreal. I’ve got the say one of the best parts of this trip is (get your sick bags) spending some time with Korina (@shikaboom). She works for Ubisoft over here in the UK and we’ve been buddies for a long while. After moving away, I have not seen her much so it’s been a real joy to spend some quality time with her. Okay, you can stop laughing now!!

We went shopping and checked out some amazing games stores. Why the hell do Canada get a lot more special editions than the UK!? We are special too, y’know! We ate food and relaxed. The next day we checked out old town and saw a more French and historic part of Montreal. Very pretty! Did some silly photos and then headed back to the hotel to eat cheesy cheeto’s and browse the internets while we waited for the taxi to arrive. Flying back was quick and even though I was falling asleep on the tube back from the airport I managed to get home safe.

Honestly one of the best times in my life, thanks people who sorted it for me. Thanks Korina (ilu& ure face).

So yeah, that is the update! I hope it was slightly interesting. I worry I kind of ramble on about crap for ages.