Assassin's Creed 2 Lead Accuses Warner Bros & Monolith For Using Their Code & Assets In Middle-earth

DSOGaming writes: "Well, let's be honest here. The first game that came on our minds while watching Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor's pre-alpha gameplay walkthrough was Assassin's Creed. Monolith's title looked too similar to Ubisoft's series, and it appears that we weren't the only ones getting those AC vibes from this new LOTR game."

[WorldGamer]

Drama for your and my mama. The games do look very similar.

[MestreRothN4G]

And soon we will find how much they're similar.

In any minute, a video comparison will pop out.

[PeaSFor]

after all, all fps in the world are "ripping off" Wolfenstein3D.

[vishmarx]

now i am to believe that WB doesnt have enough money to rent a 5yr old engine to make a game with much higher production values

[GameSpawn]

You don't need a comparison... watch the walkthrough of Shadow of Mordor on CVG:
http://www.computerandvideo...

It's freaking uncanny even to an amateur eye.

This still looks like an interesting game despite the controversy. Hopefully someone fesses up to licensing out the assets so the game can stay as is, because if they are forced to pull any or all AC2 related assets the entire game may change for the worse.

[MestreRothN4G]

Again: only by having both side by side we can REALLY see if the animations are equal. Almost equal = story is over.

[assdan]

Just wow.

[YellowTempes]

And there is nothing wrong with that. I think that any RPG should put in the Assassin's Creed climbing code.

[mobijoker]

I just checked out man....
Its clear as crystal they are using the AC mechanics...

But I don't mind that...the game looks and plays great...
Let the devs battle on patents or rights....
As a consumer if a game is good I don't care...

[Wingsfan24]

Even if it is using those assets, lots of game developers share assets. Not a big deal in my opinion as long as they're credited for it.

[Double_Oh_Snap]

Indeed, lets wait and see. I'm sure both parties with comment soon.

[Nasdac]

It is funny that they don't speak about the copy-paste they make in AC2 from Sly Cooper 2 but still critisism others. They copy every inch of the game from top to bottom.

[Salooh]

The game looked fun. It combine AC, God of war, prince of persia and with some RPG elements in one game. Even though i know it will be another new assassin creed with repetitive gameplay but it's still something new and refreshing compared to AC. Hope it release the way they want it. I would buy both day one so i don't care if it copy AC. It looks fun to me..

[TheDivine]

The chase mission running after some jackass is exactly like AC, the part where four humans were captured looked like it was reskinned from AC4's rescue pirate missions, the climbing, rope walking, assassinations, combat all looked identical and it even has Eagle Vision for Pete's sake. The walking movement looked the same. Its either a clone or reused code from AC but I happen to love AC and love LOTR so I'm all in. Still lets call a spade a spade. This is like PS All Stars or Dante's Inferno, clone to the max.

Ubisoft could've lisceneced the engine or assets. Just because this guy says its his code doesn't mean its his code. Even if he wrote it he worked for Ubisoft who owns it now and what they do with it is none of his business.

[john2]

Precisely. If they admit licensing - and credit AC2 - then everything is fine. However something tells me that this won't be the case

[liquidhalos]

This looks fun, its the first time ive heard of this game, if it still goes ahead im getting it

[DARK WITNESS]

Sharing assets happens all the time, thats not the issue. if they took assets without asking then it's not really sharing.

[CyrusLemont]

The 8 minute gameplay video screamed Assassin's Creed in terms of climbing and parkour right down to the animation. There was even one of those ropes across two buildings that looked identical to the ones in Assassin's Creed lol. It still had some originality in other aspects though. It'll be unfortunate if the game gets delayed because of this as it looks really good. Hopefully a formal apology is issued due to the lack of acknowledgement and permission?

[sarshelyam]

I was doing this in Sly before Assasin's Creed.

[Mills93]

some animation's did look straight from AC but I suppose a lot will be changed before release

So much more hyped for this then the next AC, although I still need to give BF a try

[WolfLeBlack]

Let's be fair to the guy, when you go read all of his Tweets he doesn't actually have a problem with his coding being used, and seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the game itself. But he did mention that if AC code is in the game it'd be nice to get a mention in the credits :D

[ThatKanadianKid]

Things taken out of context as usual.

[CrossingEden]

Was wondering about this. I did think that the parkour animations looked EXACTLY the same. Plus as a lead developer it's highly believable that he would recognize HIS work more than anyone else.

[Lilrizky]

Well yeah, even as a person who didn't develop the game I noticed it immediately. I was like Ok, the climbing looks similar, but a lot of games to the climbing thing nowadays, The protagonist crouching and the rope being almost identical to AC games did it for me. Oh well still looks awesome

[OrangePowerz]

He can't recognize code without having to actually read trough the source code unless he lives in the matrix.

Many games use similar animations now, Tomb Raider has climbing animations that look like the ones from Uncharted.

The rope looked like a rope, not much that can be changed about how a rope looks and it was not used in AC2, they had that later.

There are clearly very clear similarities, but acusing a company of stealing code and assets is a rather serious accusation, especially when there is zero proof.

[scruffy_bear]

Looks like a pure copy of Assassin's Creed 2

[PS3Freak]

Looks pretty damn similar that's for sure.

Definitely feels a lot like Batman too.

[ExitToExisT]

The game is carbon copy of AC in terms of gameplay but i don't think AC2 code or anim is being used.

[Ashunderfire86]

Man this is like saying Visceral Games use the code for God of War to make Dante's Inferno, yet Santa Monica Studios never complain like this guy. I say it looks a lot like Batman Arkham Series Than Assassin's Creed 2. As a matter of fact it looks better than Assassin's Creed, and probably plays better too.

[OrangePowerz]

Just because it looks very similar to AC doesn't mean they use it's code. Tomb Raider has parts that are similar to Uncharted, doesn't mean they took their code.

[Salooh]

True but it's obviously the same code, Anyone who played AC will see the similarity in Parkour and sword fighting system. The rest is different though that's why it's refreshing.

[OrangePowerz]

That doesn't mean it has to be the same.code. Using the same code means that they took the source code of AC and copy and pasted it into theirs. That is a serious allegation to make as it would be against copyright law.

[blackbirdi]

first of all its in the pre-alpha stAGE THATS mean the assets are just place holder , second many of the developers are from warner studios montreal which they had worked before at ubisoft montreal too like Ben Mattes, third it seems they are using some batman arkham stuff so he should be quite and don't make a such drama most of the games shares the sAME codes ... and who knows he leaves ubisoft long ago so no body knows if they bought the codes/assets from ubisoft

[Relientk77]

I am watching it now, and it literally plays like Assassin's Creed lol

http://www.gametrailers.com...

[Tdmd]

I've just watched it and here's my two cents: since ACII people are begging for a better combat, better stealth, and freedom to play the missions in a non scripted way. If Shadow's of Mordor is an AC copycat, it also looks to be the best AC game yet! lol
They have a better - faster combat, a crouch button(!) and a much less scripted mission scheme of gameplay. It's like they heard AC's fans and are in their way to release the better game!

[Crossbones]

That's what I was thinking to.

[KillrateOmega]

Always some drama. God forbid a game have similar, realistic animations.

[Ulf]

LoL BS. Next Epic will sue everyone who made a TPS for "looking like Gears".

[sarshelyam]

I saw hints of Assassin's Creed, Darksiders, and Soul Reaver. Not sure that means it was ripped...certainly inspired, but what isn't these days?

[miacosa]

Just saw an 8min video and it sure does look like a skin for AC.

[andjudunno]

AC never had a crouch mechanic

[deadfrag]

Well it seems to play way better in terms of gameplay than AC!The combat sword fighting is much better implemented from the looks if so its a welcome to me because AC combat sucks badly and this one seems to go the better route!

[JasonKCK]

LOL I actually want to play this more than Assassins Creed.

[nishanth123]

You Bastards! Why don't you leave the game alone. Just when I thought I'll see a decent open world LOTR game, this happenes. Unbelievable!

[AnEwGuY]

I felt the same way when I played Uncharted, just months after finishing Tomb Raider: Underworld. There's a very fine line between borrowing and stealing, when it comes to game design.

[Lamigol10]

Who gives a s**t as long as it's a great game ! We get to enjoy the game .. the warring companies go to court to settle it ... everybody's happy !!

[Hellsvacancy]

I don't care, I'm sick of the AC games anyway, they're too easy, this new LOTR looks cool

[Gamesgbkiller]

stole it or not .. at least they are improving on that.

AC games didn't change that much in gameplay wise.

This game does alot more.

We just have to wait and see.

[KontryBoy706]

This game has Assassin's Creed and Batman written all over it!

[john2]

Yeap, those two games were definitely Monolith's inspiration. Exploration = Assassin's Creed and Combat = Batman