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With the shocker that was Haze put behind them, Ubisoft spent no time moving on, showcasing their hottest upcoming titles to the world in an hour long conference in Paris. For those that couldn’t attend, it was broadcasted on the internet live; so for anyone who missed it, we’ve got a roundup of what was shown and how the games are coming along.

Far Cry 2 was the first game on show, with a 5 minute unscripted demo following the teaser trailer released today.  The PC version was the edition previewed and it showed Far Cry 2 in all its glory. It’s looking like it’s got the whole shebang; realistic shadows, vegetation, lighting, win, destructible environments and a gigantic 50km squared area to explore.  Everything is dynamic from the wind blowing the grass to the destroyable fences, to the fires you can set off to block enemies. The map / compass was whored to the audience and when used in conjunction with the binoculars, allows the map to be updated with what you can see, which means scouting your opponent’s camp is vital. There’s no loading in game, as it’s a dynamic streaming world. The animals are driven by a need concentric AI. The staple Far Cry hand-glider returns allowing silent movement among the trees. It all looked mighty impressive and was arguably one of the better games on show.

Up next was some new information about the latest Prince of Persia which is completely unique with no chronological link to the previous games. You’re in control of a wanderer, a wasteful character with a distinct lack of nobility. Ubisoft stressed that this is a new prince, in a new universe with new characters. The big drop was in the form of a complete lack of 'the sands of time' mechanic. There’s no rewinding this time around and instead, Elika a new female character who’s dynamically linked to you in terms of abilities, strength and combat will help you on your travels. A teaser trailer was revealed, showcasing a fight against a boss called The Hunter, but it looked a bit 'CG' so pretty useless. The game is out holiday 08, so it will not be long until some hard assets are presented.

Brothers in Arms: Hell Highway followed, with the impression that it’s going to be the most emotional and harrowing recreation of war yet. There was another exclusive trailer shown, supposedly all in game footage, but it was more game cinematic than actual gameplay. There was then a break of the ‘hardcore’ games and the Games for Everyone line was shown. Petz (Wii), My Health Coach, Imagine and My Secret World are the supposedly 'helpful,' yet personal ‘games’ but while we applaud the approach to casual gaming, they looked pretty shocking in both idea and the marketing-centric trailer that showed a broad range of people in both ethnic and age variety having suspiciously copious amounts of fun.

We’ve had ten years of Tom Clancy games and Ubisoft are toasting to another ten, especially since they acquired the exclusive licence to the games. Hawx was up first, showcased in another 5 minute gameplay demo, highlighting the detail of the planes, the environment below (Rio in Brazil) and the smoke effects. There’s a completely controllable 3D camera for cinematic moments. A handy waypoint system simplifies bombing, but we were put off by the ridiculous amount of beeps and ‘Warning’ that the computer kept spurting out. End War made a powerful appearance with the in-game engine shown. The voice system flawlessly controlled units with commands like; Unit One: Camera, Deploy Gunships. Unit Two Move to Bravo. Retreat, Upgrade and Attack obviously had a look in. Environments are fully destructible. The camera is a close cinematic view, but the mini-map helps keep things in order. There’s airstrikes and artillery on offer once you’ve upgraded strategic uplinks. The online persistent campaign is being showcased tomorrow. Story detail wise, it’s 2020 and WWIII has started thanks to a mass built up of Russian power. 

Then Soul Calibur IV strutted its stuff in the form of Yoda and Vader. The event closed with Raving Rabbids 3 which showed a snow-racing game which you control with your bottom, a dancing game which was demo'ed by 4 people and then the mention of 8 player party mode. Shaun White’s Snowboarding rounded things up with an insight into the creative process and a CG trailer. All in all, everything looks like it’s coming along well, and we’re suitably impressed. A quick Beyond Good and Evil 2 trailer was shown in the closing seconds to mass applause. 

Beyond Good and Evil Teaser Trailer.

Brothers in Arms: Hell Highway Trailer. 

Tom Clancy's End War Trailer. 

Far Cry 2 Tech Trailer. 

Prince of Persia: Prodigy Trailer.

Rayman Raving Rabbids 3 Trailer 1. 

Rayman Raving Rabbids 3 Trailer 2. 

Shaun White's Snowboarding Trailer. 

Soul Calibur IV Trailer. 

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