‘Assassin’s Creed’ Plus Two More Added To Xbox One Backwards Compatibility
The pace of Xbox 360 games released to Xbox One backwards compatibility appears to be picking up. Microsoft announced three new older games now playable on the current-gen console, including the original Assassin’s Creed.
Ubisoft’s original venture into world of Assassin’s Creed is joined by the racing game Grid 2 and the jet-pack shooter Dark Void. This comes after an update last week that added Alan Wake, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and PAC-Man in a general release and made Halo Wars available to those in the Xbox Preview Program.
Assassin's Creed, Dark Void and GRID 2 are now available on Xbox One Backward Compatibility https://t.co/8vFeFfKRFU pic.twitter.com/B0kGZZSmXO
— Larry Hryb ?? (@majornelson) March 21, 2016
Assassin’s Creed introduced the gaming world to the centuries-old conflict between the Assassins and Templars all the way back in 2007. This is when players first meet Desmond Miles and use the Animus machines to relive the genetic memories of his ancestors. In this case, it is the assassin Altair during the Third Crusade in 1191.
Ubisoft’s first entry in the Assassin’s Creed series was praised at the time for the original experience it provided, which now seems incredibly rote following annual releases. The world it introduced, along with the ability to climb and hide around a city, were fun enough to earn an 81 Metacritic score. However, it was criticized for losing steam about midway through, as the plot became convoluted and the activities began to get repetitive.
Capcom’s Dark Void attempted to introduce some interesting concepts to the world of third-person cover shooters, but it didn’t quite find the mark. The game sends a pre-World War II character to another world. Players gain the opportunity to use a hover pack and a jet pack soon after to navigate the alien world’s levels. This includes a “vertical cover system” to shoot at bad guys above and below on top of the standard cover system popularized by Gears of War.
Dark Void had an original science fiction premise that couldn’t quite bring all the elements together. It received a disappointing 59 on Metacritic, where it was hammered by reviewers for various flaws from dull mission design to being too short. It’s one of those “had potential” titles that can be picked up for just a couple of bucks today.
Grid 2 from Codemasters attempted to improve on the original Race Driver: Grid with more features and a friendlier driver experience. It came with some new content but curiously left certain features out from the original such as a cockpit view. It provided a decent variety of racing events and cars to drive but came up short when compared to similar racing series with long lineages such as Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo. The fact that it landed at the end of the last-gen console cycle didn’t help. It still managed to score a 78 from the Metacritic review round-up.
As the Inquisitr previously covered, Xbox One manages backwards compatibility by emulating the entire Xbox 360 operating system. This allows Xbox 360 games to run on the Xbox One without any special coding or other workarounds. The major hurdles remaining are the licensing agreements with development studios and publishers to allow the games to be played on the Xbox One and listed for sale on the Xbox Store for the console.
Following that, testing to make sure the game runs correctly on the Xbox One appears to be a time-consuming task. Microsoft has to test each game from beginning to end to ensure the emulator runs the title correctly. This can take hundreds of hours depending on the title.
What do you think about the latest Xbox One backwards compatibility releases? Sound off in the comments below.
[Image via Xbox]
