Before Ubisoft became known in the gaming community as a factory of mass-produced open-world games about the most incompetent assassins ever, they made video games that defined and changes genres instead of copying what other developers do. Still, there were some gems that came out in this decade of gaming amidst all the copy-pasting of open-world elements.
Conversely, Ubisoft was not all rainbows and sieges-- er, sunshine, they also had their fair share of bad games, but the difference is that they handled their AAA titles better. In any case, these badly rated games make the good ones stand out more. So to give you both extremes of Ubisoft's craft, here are five of their best games and five of their worst according to Metacritic's Metascore metric.
10 BEST: ASSASSIN'S CREED: BROTHERHOOD (PS3 - 90)
If Assassin's Creed II was a refinement of the Assassin's Creed formula, then Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is an encore, a fun and gorgeous encore which was to be repeated a million times over again since it provided a template for all Ubisoft games moving forward. Nevertheless, Brotherhood was the start of Ubisoft striking gold with Assassin's Creed.
It continued Ezio Auditore's story at its peak and also featured the most compelling villain or antagonist in Assassin's Creed games. The gameplay is also a more creative version of the first two games and it was the first Assassin's Creed game to introduce a multiplayer. The game's faults are far and few between.
9 WORST: THE EXPENDABLES 2 VIDEOGAME (XBox 360 - 32)
The Expendables 2 Videogame's blunder was already to be expected since it's a video game movie and those aren't usually well-received. Heck, even the film isn't that great and most likely would not have been welcome if not for its nostalgic value. Anyway, The Expendables 2 Videogame is just plain bad.
Apart from looking rushed and having really terrible lip-synching, the gameplay also feels more like a mobile game and doesn't really reflect the intensity of the films. Even the user interface is enough to deter anyone serious from purchasing this game. In fact, you're better off just watching the films to experience The Expendables 2.
8 BEST: TRIALS EVOLUTION (XBox 360 - 90)
Not many games can give you an adrenaline rush these days. That's why Trials Evolution from 2012 can scratch that itch better than most sports games of today. It's a motorcycle stunt game that also allows for multiplayer races. However, the main goal is to do the most insane stunts you can along the way.
Its predecessor, Trials HD was voted as the best arcade game of 2009 for the Xbox 360 and somehow, Trials Evolution manages to top that up and improve upon its predecessor, which is a tall order. Gone are the claustrophobia-inducing warehouses of the previous game replaced by the dynamic environments from beautiful landscapes to even mad warzones.
7 WORST: FIGHTERS UNCAGED (XBox 360 - 32)
Fighters Uncaged is one big arcade experiment for the Xbox 360 Kinect masquerading as a video game. As you can imagine, it didn't do so well on that premise and idea alone. After all, it's a fighting game based on motion controls and it just so happens that many video game players are don't move that much nor do they have incentives to do so.
Of course, Kinect being a relatively new technology at the time Fighters Uncaged was released (2010), it was quite disastrous. Certain moves weren't being read which lead to many hits not counting, frustrating many of its players. Not only is the production cheap with ugly character and environment designs, but there's also no multiplayer on release, making Fighters Uncaged one of the worst fighting games ever.
6 BEST: FAR CRY 3 (XBox 360 - 91)
Back when it was first released in 2004, Far Cry was a groundbreaking game-- one of the most innovative progenitors of open-world games, even. Its sequel, Far Cry 2 was meant to be a competitor to Crysis but fell short with the repetitive mission design. It wasn't until Far Cry 3 that Ubisoft went back to the drawing board for the franchise, but when they did, they came up with one of the most fun first-person shooters this decade.
Far Cry 3 introduced a refreshing video game locale. While the gameplay loop and the story were just a cut above average, Far Cry 3's stellar presentation and gunplay make it a worthwhile gaming experience. Additionally, Vaas Montenegro made for a chilling video game villain thanks to Michael Mando's performance that he makes the boring protagonist worth tolerating.
5 WORST: ESPN SPORTS CONNECTION (WII U - 31)
It's a sports video game... for the Wii U, which means it most likely won't be well-received... which it wasn't. ESPN Sports Connection is a collection of six sports games playable with the Wii U remotes or its other motion control apparatuses. Of all those six games, the only one that was generally enjoyable was tennis.
The other five can go in the trash bin if they can, which they can't since you bought the game as a bundle. The worst of them all were football and baseball where the motion controls only worked half the time and the control scheme was just terrible for any gameplay standard. Overall, a bad sports game for the Wii U, which sadly, is pretty standard.
4 BEST: RAYMAN LEGENDS (WII U - 92)
Rayman Legends has rightfully earned its critical reception even for the Wii U, the platform where it's rated the highest. Despite its simple 2D animated sidescroller premise, Rayman Legends won't bore you since it has a tendency to keep reinventing gameplay levels and introducing new and challenging things for players to run through.
Rayman Legends is a game where each level is apparently more interesting than the last, meaning you get incentives to play. Combined with the lively art style and fun controls, Rayman Legends is a rewarding experience, regardless of which console you play it with.
3 WORST: FIGHTER WITHIN (XBox ONE - 23)
One would think that Ubisoft would give up on Kinect fighting games after its blunder with Fighters Uncaged, but three years later-- in 2013 it introduced a sugar-coated abomination called Fighter Within; it managed to be a lot worse. While the graphics were decent enough for the era, everything else just falls apart in this game.
Even the Kinect controls don't work properly sometimes in the game's menu and only gets worse when you're in-game. The story tries its best to emulate industry veterans like Mortal Kombat but end up conveying gobbledygook despite being in English. Fighter Within is proof back then that the gaming industry is still not ready for motion controls.
2 BEST: RAYMAN ORIGINS (WII - 92)
Between Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends, it's pretty much a tie. Both games are fun and unique in their execution and the small difference in visual quality means you can play either and not miss much from the other. Still, Rayman Origins is something you ought to try before Legends since it introduced the core concept of the series.
The gorgeous and hilarious art style similar to Looney Tunes is there along with the over-the-top 2D platforming action. Meanwhile, the story is quite simple, Rayman and his friends frustrate an evil old lady with their snoring so she sends an evil army against them. Couple all those with the awesome sound design, and you have the highest-critiqued Ubisoft game for this decade.
1 WORST: SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING CAMP (XBox 360 - 21)
You have to wonder what Ubisoft had to do to make a game so poorly-received that only 21 percent of all the gaming industry's critics "liked" it. Well, to sum it up in one word, again: Kinect.
Seriously, Ubisoft just miserably kept trying to make motion control gaming a thing in the early 2010s and Self-Defense Training Camp was the worst of it. Self-Defense Training Camp tried so hard to be a replacement for actual martial arts and fitness instructors that it's hard to even consider it as a video game.