Ubisoft is consistently clowned on these days, and to be fair, they deserve it. However, that doesn’t mean that they haven’t put out a ton of great games throughout their lengthy and illustrious history.
It didn’t used to be only open world slop from this company. There were tightly crafted games that might’ve had open-world elements, but it wasn’t this endless checklist that just oppresses the player and makes it impossible to focus on anything.
Ubisoft used to be much more flexible with its titles, tackling various genres and really excelling at them in the process. We’re going to go back through Ubisoft’s lifespan and pick out some titles that don’t give you that horrific, open-world fatigue that so many of their games seem to cause these days.
10 For Honor
Draw Your Blade
For Honor is a game that is really unlike anything else. With its directional-based melee combat, extensive suite of modes, and impressive-looking presentation, this game certainly has the multiplayer medieval melee genre in its vice grip.
The concept is simple enough: Choose a warrior from a variety of different ancient backgrounds and take to the battlefield. Some modes involve large-scale battles, where you fight Dynasty Warriors style through smaller soldiers before getting to the other players, and that’s where things get good.
The directional-based combat creates a complex type of rock-paper-scissors, and each character has a bunch of combos and special abilities. This is a title that Ubisoft still supports over 7 years after its release, and if that niche speaks to you, this is easily the game in that genre.
The action is bloody and strategic, and doesn’t really get old as you consistently get new warriors to try out,. There are not many games that let an ancient Viking face off against a Roman gladiator, but here, there is that and more.
9 South Park: The Stick of Truth
Getting it Right
South Park: The Stick of Truth is an awesome way to experience the world of South Park. What if you became part of the show? That’s the pitch, and that’s exactly what this game does.
You create a character from the start who is the new kid in town, and then off you go on a completely absurd and ridiculous South Park adventure. Trey Parker and Matt Stone were fully involved in this one, and you can tell, as both the voice acting and the series’ signature comedy are completely authentic.
In many ways, this game brought turn-based combat back into the forefront of the gaming world, and as ridiculous as that sounds, it’s justified. The combat here is amazing, with heavily interactive elements and an overall hilarious presentation. There are also secret bosses, optional side quests, and everything else that make it an RPG classic.
8 Heroes of Might and Magic III
Building a Kingdom
The year is 1999. PC gaming is looked at as a whole other species from console gaming. And there you are, toiling away in the small hours of the night, building your army and going to war. That is the Heroes of Might and Magic III experience, and if you weren’t there to experience it, you might not fully understand it.
This was a game so addicting that it caused the fans of old to campaign enough until a new title finally spawned out of thin air. The battles are intense, strategic, and rely solely on you and your army’s setup. To compare it to anything would be a disservice, because this really was its own genre at the time, but I suppose you can make some comparisons to Unicorn Overlord.
There is a certain majesty to it all, from the charming old school graphics to the unit management, and the overwhelming joy when you overcome some intense odds. The fact that it’s all multiplayer makes the offering even better, and there are still a handful of faithful communities dedicated to this game to this day, if you don’t mind firing up a relic from the days of video game yore.
7 Assassin’s Creed: Unity
The One That Got Away
Look, in this house, Assassin’s Creed: Unity is a damn hero. I know it was meme’d to death when it came out, but I actually didn’t experience any of the bugs most people did. The result? I got a fantastic looking, even to this day, Assassin’s Creed game with a solid story, great DLC, amazing combat, and most importantly, the best parkour and stealth in the series.
No game in the series feels better to play than Unity, and the parkour has yet to be matched in a game since. There is also something about the graphics here. Despite the game being 11 years old, it still looks as good as most modern-day AAA releases. The lighting is incredible and the recreation of Paris during the French Revolution is one of the most striking in gaming.
It has some issues, sure, but it’s one of the last bastions of Ubisoft goodness before it became an open-world generator.
6 Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
The Grit of War
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is a tightly paced, over-the-top military action romp that hits all the right marks. It’s got this gritty, realistic feel to the graphics and the shooting that you don’t really find in today’s games, and playing it feels both modern and retro in a bizarre mix that feels great to play.
I think this is the epitome of how good a cover shooter can be. We’ve got futuristic gadgets to use, although these days, those are just modern weapons, and it’s an interesting look at what was considered futuristic in 2012, as a lot of that came true. The story is nothing to write home about, but it’s compelling enough to give you a reason to go from mission to mission.
There is a certain feeling of danger here that the new, open-world Ghost Recon games don’t really nail. I think it’s the more intimate nature of the missions and the fact that you have a set team that makes it feel that way. You need to drag away teammates, revive them, protect people, and since it’s just 11 hours long, it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
5 Far Cry 3
What Started It All
Far Cry 3 is the first real open-world FPS I can recall, and while it would be the blueprint for Ubisoft’s game strategy over the next decade, this one was not yet an open-world checklist slog. This was the third entry in a series that hadn’t had a ton of fanfare prior, but it goes to show you what a cool story and a great villain can do for a game.
That villain is Vaas, who to this day has full control of the phrase “Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity?” He was so compelling, and even though he wasn’t the main villain, he absolutely stole the show regardless of the scene he was in.
The gameplay wasn’t anything special, with basic first-person shooting and some light stealth elements, but the presentation was incredible and cinematic and trippy all at once. It was clear Ubisoft put a hell of an effort into this one, and it was good enough to kick-start another huge cash cow.
4 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Setting the Stage in the Sand
If you ever wondered where the idea for Assassin’s Creed spawned from, look no further than this game. While the plot is different and graphics far more stylized, the combat has a lot of what made Assassin’s Creed a hit. Before this game, acrobatic, cinematic combat that was still based in realism was not an easy thing to find by any means.
The gameplay here in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is just old-school greatness, with some fun parkour, an excellent time reversal mechanic, and some great combat scenarios. The story is also pretty compelling, with the Prince narrating his journey alongside Farah, his soon-to-be love interest, as they try to stop the Sand of Time from covering the world.
It’s got some arcade elements, but it’s a cool time capsule and one of the better franchises to come out of the early 2000s.
3 Watch Dogs
We Didn’t Know What We Had
I’m going to dish some hard truths here. Watch Dogs was a fantastic game, Aiden Pearce was one of the best protagonists they ever created, and the hacking gameplay and third-person shooting mechanics were as good as it gets for a GTA-type game of this nature.
Seriously, playing this game today feels like a modern experience in every way. The writing is incredible, the villain, Damien, is both realistic in his motives and tragic in a way, and the world that Watch Dogs sets up with Dedsec lurking in the background as the clear, ultimate threat, is just perfect.
The backlash this game got was mostly due to the graphics being downgraded, and Aiden being weirdly criticized for being what was honestly a stunningly accurate portrayal of a depressed sociopath, which caused the series to do a 180 into the cringe-fest that was Watch Dogs 2 and then the aimless direction of Watch Dogs: Legion.
I’ll never get over that because it was all there in the first game. The gritty nature of the story was both small and big at the same time, causing a full city blackout, which was endlessly cool when infiltrating buildings or escaping cops, and the narrative was a fast-paced action movie come to life. I hope they one day go back to what made the first game so special because the next two missed the mark for me in so many ways.
2 The Division
New York On Lockdown
Some may prefer the 2nd game, but for me, The Division is the one to highlight from this series because of its startlingly realistic depiction of New York City. It was an eerily accurate depiction of the city being shut down during a virus outbreak, and while that wouldn’t come to fruition until 4 years after the game released, it’s one that stays with me for that reason.
But it’s not just the environment that’s great. You’ll be taking on different factions of enemies throughout the game, and you can do it alongside friends or strangers who are in the game as well. This type of open city, seamless multiplayer was just not a thing when The Division came out, and it even added a mode that more or less created the extraction genre.
It’s got some weak points, like enemy variety and a somewhat lackluster story, but when you’re having showdowns with pyromaniacs wielding flamethrowers in Madison Square Garden, I found little to ruin my fun.
1 Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Stealth Unmatched
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is the best stealth game ever made. It’s got an amazing array of gadgets to use, a brilliant lighting system, realistic sound recognition, and overall, amazing enemy AI.
Even though this came out in 2005, parts of the game still look as good as games that come out today. The missions are brilliantly designed too, with a large variety of main objectives and side objectives, and while Sam Fisher is a complete badass, you have to be smart to come out alive because he’s no superhuman; he’s just an espionage specialist.
There are a bunch of cool stealth moves to pull off, and there is also co-op, so you can play a whole separate campaign with a friend as well.
They don’t make games like this anymore, and it still stands up today as an all-time classic.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
