Watch Dogs and The Crew Delayed

Hey guys and gals some sad news in the gaming community, Ubisoft has announced that Watch Dogs and The Crew have been delayed. Watch Dogs will now be released  between April 1 and June 30, 2014 and The Crew between July 1 and September 30, 2014. I am deeply saddened by this news for Watch Dogs was one of the next gen games I was really looking forward to but a statement by Ubisoft via Ubiblog should clear things up for you guys

"Our ambition from the start with Watch Dogs has been to deliver something that embodies what we wanted to see in the next-generation of gaming. It is with this in mind that we’ve made the tough decision to delay the release until spring 2014.

We know a lot of you are probably wondering: Why now? We struggled with whether we would delay the game. But from the beginning, we have adopted the attitude that we will not compromise on quality. As we got closer to release, as all the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place in our last push before completion, it became clear to us that we needed to take the extra time to polish and fine tune each detail so we can deliver a truly memorable and exceptional experience.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you. We thoroughly enjoy and appreciate the way you respond on the web, at events, press conferences and other opportunities we have to interact. Your passion keeps us motivated.

We can’t wait to see you in Chicago next spring. We are confident you’ll love this game as much as we love working on it."

CEO Yves Guillemot also made a statement saying

"Our long term goal is to win the next generation. The tough decisions we are taking today to fully realize the major potential of our new creations have an impact on our short-term performance. We are convinced that, longer term, they will prove to be the right decisions both in terms of satisfaction for our fans and in terms of value creation for our shareholders. We are building franchises that will become perennial pillars of Ubisoft’s financial performance. In a context of growing successes for mega-blockbusters, the additional time given to the development of our titles will allow them to fulfill their huge ambitions and thus offer players even more exceptional experiences.

Fueled by strong momentum for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, calendar 2014 will see the return of growth to the console market. Combined with the quality of our line-up and our strong financial situation, this growth will allow us to achieve record operating income in fiscal 2014-15 and 2015-16." 

Assassin's Creed III Review

Hey guys and gals welcome to Smash Time Gamer Time's first review *applause* I joke but I'll tell you what’s not a joke the fact that running around 18th century America is freaking awesome! Enough with my bad sense of humour let's get to the point.

Assassin's Creed III is the 5th in the franchise and as always they keep getting better unless you count Revelations which was somewhat mediocre. Assassin's Creed III starts where Revelations left off with Desmond and his gang travelling to the Grand Temple of "Those Who Came Before", an ancient race of powerful beings who created mankind. As with all previous Assassin's Creed games Desmond is placed into the animus in order to relive his past which in this instalment takes us back to the American war of independence to find an object that will unlock a barrier that will lead to the end of the game. The moment Desmond is in the animus you get a feeling of nostalgia as you practise free running and assassinations which quickly leads to your first encounter with Haytham Kenway and his assassination mission which is basically a tutorial for players new to the Assassin's Creed franchise.


With all games you expect an introduction to teach you the basics of the game and the mechanics that will be used in during game play and Assassin's Creed III is no exception except that this introduction is about 4 hours long which to some people can be a real chore for within this introduction most of it is either spent on a ship travelling to America with Haytham or with Connor as he grows up in the safety of his tribe. However it is here that we learn the new features that are implemented to the Assassin's Creed franchise such as the aspect of hunting, sneaking and tree navigation.


Hunting in Assassin's Creed III is a way to earn money for every animal that you kill you gain a pelt which can be traded at a later date however the way in which you kill your prey will affect its value for instance if you kill a rabbit with a bow or your hidden blade that pelt will be of more value than if you shoot it with a musket or your pistol which means if you want to make some money via hunting you will need to stalk and then kill your prey silently. The new feature of sneaking will be a valuable asset for hunting for if there is a patch of ground that is highlighted by the hud there is a good chance that you are able to sneak there, sneaking allows you to almost become invisible for as long as you stay in the area highlighted however as soon as you go into high profile mode you instantly return back to your normal stance these sneaking or hiding spots are also in Boston and New York.

Hunting is extremely fun and addictive but its also challenging.

The Assassin's Creed series is known for its amazing free running mechanics and Assassin's Creed III pushes this to a new level with a new simplified method of doing it and the ability to climb almost anything including the tress which is a fabulous sight to see. One of my favourite moments with this is running though the frontier to get to an outpost jumping from a cliff onto branches which lead me to a forest in which the atmosphere was just incredible. This new and improved navigation feature can also be used for combat for if you see an approaching patrol of redcoats you can select your rope dart hang one from a tree then proceed to kill the rest its very gruesome and macabre but you feel like a total bad ass.

The thing that caught my attention was the naval aspect of the game where you can command the Aquila (your ship) on a series of missions that span the Caribbean these can take form in either protecting a simple trading vessel or taking on a mighty Man-o-War which is one of the highlights of the naval combat for not only do you have to watch out for enemy cannon fire you also have to be wary of mother nature herself in the form of strong winds that can cause you to be pushed into the reefs and rocks or by massive tidal waves which can change the tide of battle. If you find these battles difficult then it’s time to upgrade your ship there are a dozen upgrades from ramming damage increase to upgrading your hull strength and adding more cannons to fire from  that can aid you in your adventures. During these epic one v one fights you can sometimes bored and enemy ship where you have to kill the captain and if you want complete the sub-objectives that are unique to each ship however these moments are short and scripted so don't expect to be able to board any ship you see, thankfully this is a thing of the past with Black Flag on the horizon where you can board any ship any time.

Returning to Assassin's Creed III is multiplier which has followed the ethic of it ain't broke don't fix it this I am glad to see because the way in which the multiplier functions has developed a massive following thanks to its uniqueness from other multiplier games. The levelling structure has also remains the same as previous Assassin's Creed games which is one of the best I've seen for you get points based on not only how you take out your target but how stealthy you do it for example if you are running on rooftops to get to your target and manage to kill him you will get the bare minimum points however if you follow your target closely for a while and remain incognito you will get some of the top points which come in handy if you want to level up and learn some of the secrets in multiplier which are quite freaky to be honest.


After playing Assassin's Creed III for a good long while I am close to say that it is one of my favourite in the series for not only has the navigation mechanic been improved but also the implementation of the naval battles have added hours of fun trying to get enough money to upgrade the Aquila until she is unstoppable unless I do something stupid like sail into a wall which I've done on a few occasions. The gem of this game though is the multiplier although it may not be everyone's cup of tea it adds strategy to multiplier game which is rarely seen nowadays, there are a few bug in the game but that's to be expected because no game is without its bugs and Assassin's Creed III is one of them but I have toughly enjoyed the entertainment that Ubisoft has proved even though the introduction is one of its draw backs. In conclusion I approve this game to be played and played again until you can’t handle 18th century America.