Many things can be said about Ubisoft. They are a French game developer that produces some of the most exhilarating open-world RPGs today, but they also tend to fall victim to repetitiveness. Ubisoft is known for some of the most iconic franchises in gaming: Assassin's Creed, Tom Clancy, Watch Dogs, Far Cry, and so much more.
After playing a bunch of Ubisoft games, gamers will notice an ongoing formula across the French developer's products. People call it 'The Ubisoft Formula.' Just like how a Michael Bay film could be distinguished by extreme cinematics and explosives. With that being said, here are ten classic signs a title is obviously an Ubisoft game.
10 Beautiful Open World
Ubisoft creates some of the most breathtaking open worlds. Every open-world Ubisoft game has wide and varied landscapes with different landmarks and biomes. On top of this, some Ubisoft games allow players to explore their wondrous worlds by implementing mobility mechanics (grappling hook in AC: Syndicate, wingsuit in Far Cry games, vehicles in Ghost Recon), optimizing the exploration experience. Ubisoft also does its research well before creating worlds appropriate for the time era the game is set in, as with the case of Far Cry Primal and Assassin's Creed games.
9 Well-Optimized Graphics
Ubisoft delivers on some well-optimized titles such as Far Cry and Assassin's Creed. The graphics of Ubisoft's open worlds are spectacular even on the lowest settings. What's amusing about this is that the spec requirements to bring about the detailed realism is relatively low. The poor man's ray tracing is perfectly emulated by Ubisoft as it can deliver breathtaking eye candy with just a GTX 960m.
8 RPG Elements
On top of the open-world genre that Ubisoft has mastered so well, the game developer has also married RPG elements well into its games. Players are given a plethora of skillsets to acquire abilities from as they wish. This lets them tailor their playstyle and their approach to the game.
Since Ubisoft values co-op as well, the selection of abilities and weapons allows players to mix and match with their buddies. With that being said, players can take on different roles in Ubisoft games such as The Division, Far Cry, Ghost Recon, and Watch Dogs with their diverse skill trees.
7 Dream Sequence Mission
Whether in a dream, an imagination, a flashback, under a divine presence, or just high on drugs, Ubisoft will always have those missions that seem to bend reality. During these missions, walking is already a chore. The walls seem to speak, hallways seem to stretch, and the sky seems to fall. During these momentary blunders of the laws of reality, developers can get as creative as they want. Some boss fights incorporate these hallucination-induced moments to make things more grueling. These missions convey messages and ideas that couldn't otherwise be told with a sober and fully-aware character.
6 Element Of Stealth
Across Ubisoft games, players have the option to prowl around a camp and silently take out all the guards in it. Instakill is also a stealth mechanic in the game with takedowns having their own brutal animations. Though it is a no brainer that a game like Assassin's Creed has an integral stealth system, games like Watch Dogs, Far Cry, and Ghost Recon implement that system too. Enemies have a specific detection range and take some time to realize the presence of an intruder. Some missions even make stealth mandatory else the player fails the objective. This ties into the next item on the list.
5 Tailing Missions
Ubisoft gamers have most likely encountered this specific scenario. They have to tail a key informant or personnel without being detected so that it reveals another key location, thus opening up more of the plot. This mission also reveals more about the key informant since it also has the main character eavesdrop on his tailing subject.
Get too close, the players are detected and they lose the mission. Stray too far behind, they've lost the informant and have also failed the mission. These missions are all about getting within Goldilocks distance of the tailing subject without being spotted. Sometimes, the mission ends with the termination of the tailed subject.
4 Faction Wars
Across Ubisoft games, there will often be more than one opposing faction. Ubisoft usually has up to three warring factions in a game. The "good" faction that is on the players' side is usually represented by the color green (rebels, guerilla forces, etc.), the main "evil" faction against the players that is represented by red (private army, rogue soldiers, etc.), and an authoritative faction (the police, imperial guards, the army, etc.) that hates both those factions but is often the most powerful one. Ubisoft provides its games with this colorful triple threat, creating some havoc and wonderful chaos in its games.
3 Different Side Quest Types
Ubisoft has a lot of random events that take place in its worlds. In an Ubisoft game, there are side quests scattered all throughout the world that could fall under a specific type. There are convoys where players have to either destroy or acquire an enemy vehicle containing resources, there are hostage rescue missions, lieutenant interrogation missions, and the favorite, camp clearing missions. These missions level up the player outside of the main story, allowing him to easily roll over the first boss.
2 Towers That Reveal More Of The Map
Assassin's Creed games have players climb up a really tall point where they can unlock a part of the map. Though Ubisoft's worlds are open, "locked" areas are those regions that are blacked out on the player map. Doing these tower missions reveals the region's points of interest such as enemy camps, side activities, and landmarks.
Unlocked towers may also serve as fast-travel points for the players. These tower missions are a test of platforming and puzzle-solving skills that lets players discover the verticality of the world. They are really fun to do. Far Cry and Watch Dogs also follows this exploration mechanic.
1 Taking Down The Government Narrative
Ubisoft games will always feature an uprising in the grand scheme of the narrative. The game developer seems to be fond of this kind of storytelling conflict. Assassin's Creed games revolve around assassin's taking down key personnel and destroying the oppressive regime from the inside. Far Cry games, 4 to 6 at least, centers around a revolution against the governing body. Watch Dogs features hackers terminating billionaires and political figures in a technologically-dominated dystopian world. Ghost Recon games feature elite special operations soldiers dismantling a system from the inside. It's narratives like these that take players on a journey from an insignificant warrior to a regime-tearing revolutionary.