The persistent hype of all flavors surrounding Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed (PC, PS3, X360) seems to have paid off, as the title sold more than 2.5 million copies in the four weeks following its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 launch. The figure makes Assassin's Creed the fastest-selling new video game property ever in the U.S., the company claimed in a statement.

Based on these startling numbers, Ubisoft has revised its current fiscal year estimates, predicting sales of 5 million units of Assassin's Creed rather than 3 million through March 30, 2008. In fiscal terms, the company bumped its revenue prediction to 840 million Euros ($1.23 billion), up from 825 million Euros ($1.21 billion). Read more »

We recorded this thing before the super-crazy exploding news of the week broke, but ShackCast 20 does include discussion of Assassin's Creed (someone on our staff finally played it!), the just-announced Deus Ex 3, the upcoming Xbox Live update, and Harvey Smith and his departure from Midway Austin after comments regarding BlackSite: Area 51.

Plus, reader mail and what we've been playing, which includes Pain on PS3 and Gears of War on PC. Read more »

Ubisoft is currently working on a patch to resolve the freezing issues some are experiencing with the PlayStation 3 version of Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed. The pre-meditated murder simulator was released earlier this month on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with the PC version planned for an early 2008 release.

"We can confirm that we are actively working on a game update," UK Community Manager UbiRazz posted on the game's Read more »

Jade Raymond is going to make you her bitch. No, that's not what they're saying? Well in any case, here's a new trailer for Assassin's Creed. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game hit stores next week.

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Over at Eurogamer you can find an Assassin's Creed preview, going hands-on with a final build of the game.

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play.tm has been updated with an Assassin's Creed preview, going hands-on with Ubisoft's new action adventure game.

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The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed are now being manufactured and will hit stores on November 13, Ubisoft announced today. A $69.99 limited edition, said to pack a figurine and other goodies, will be available along with the standard $59.99 version. The PC version of the latest stealth adventure title from the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time team was originally scheduled to release alongside the console iterations, but was recently delayed until early 2008. A Nintendo DS edition is also in development and is currently slated for a February release. For more on the console and PC edition of Assassin's Creed and its escapist atmosphere, check out our hands-on impressions. "We've been working very hard for nearly four years to make Assassin's Creed a reality and now there is a confirmed date when players will get to experience the results of our efforts," producer Jade Raymond quipped while attempting to avoid her creepy mob of admirers. "This is a huge event for the team. Our biggest reward will be everyone having a lot of good solid fun."

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Over at Gaming Excellence you can find a Q&A with Ubisoft Montreal's Claude Langlais, who has helped develop the Scimitar Engine used in Assassin's Creed.

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Famed Hitman series composer and British Academy Award winner Jesper Kyd will compose the score for Ubisoft Montreal's upcoming historical hitman action title Assassin's Creed (PC, PS3, X360), Ubisoft announced today. Kyd is known for his work on Io Interactive's Hitman series of games as well as another of the studio's properties, Freedom Fighters (PC, PS2, GCN, Xbox). Kyd worked with Io again on the studio's upcoming heist shooter Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PS3, X360), and his other projects include scoring Epic's forthcoming Unreal Tournament 3 (PC, PS3, X360) and Bizarre Creations' upcoming third-person shooter The Club (PC, PS3, X360). Assassin's Creed is expected to retail for the consoles sometime in November, while the PC version was recently delayed until early 2008. For more on the much-hyped title, check out the Shack's own preview.

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IGN has the latest Assassin's Creed preview, going hands-on with Ubisoft's new action adventure game. More impressions here.

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Though the console version are still on track for a November release, the PC version of Ubisoft Montreal's stealth action title Assassin's Creed won't sneak into retail until early 2008, Ubisoft announced today. Ubisoft had not given a different date for the PC release until today's announcement on the company's holiday lineup. Both console and PC versions of Gearbox Software's WWII shooter Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway will also be pushed from their holiday 2007 release to a retail date within Ubisoft's fourth quarter for the current fiscal year. This places the Ubisoft-published title in stores sometime from January through March of 2008. The announcement listed the Wii port of Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 as on track for a December release, but made no mention the upcoming original Wii title in the series, Demiurge's Brothers in Arms: Double Time.

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Also on GameSpot is this Assassin's Creed Q&A. Creative Director Patrice Desilets talks about the game's control system, equipment, creating the crowds, and lack of multiplayer.

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Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed has the potential to be an extraordinary title, which should be no surprise to anyone who's kept up with the game. Though it is certainly not perfect in its current form, it definitely gave me a bit of that escapist high I get from using video games as a less cool alternative to drugs. Playing the new Xbox 360 demo for Assassin's Creed at this year's E3, I finally got a feel for what makes the game so mesmerizing: its beautiful fluidity. The effortless flow of the protagonist's movements permeate the gameplay as he essentially swims through a sea of bodies and buildings. Just running on rooftops and climbing on walls without having a mission is a great deal of fun, which says lots about the game's playability. This element actually reminded me of Real Time Worlds' Crackdown in an exploratory sense, though jumping through the cities in that game lacked the elegance of Assassin's hero. Unfortunately, Ubisoft's skilled implementation of a nearly liquid environment plays so amazingly that less polished gameplay elements like sword combat noticeably break the game's flow. When leaping between balconies and rooftops, slinking stealthily through crowds and silently assassinating evil fucks, you do not at all need the change of pace brought on by having a slow-paced standoff against four enemies with swords. As protagonist assassin Altair, I began the demo mission atop a church in the center of 12th century Jerusalem. A fairly impressive draw distance gives a view of much of the surrounding area, even outside the walls of the city--an Ubisoft rep said the demo map this year is 15 times bigger than last year's. Still, up close, building textures weren't exactly stunning, with muddled graphics detracting from most of the city's stone structures. The player would normally have to obtain mission details before being sent on the prowl, but the demo allowed me to skip those elements and hit the ground running. I already knew I was after a slave trader named Talal, who was pinpointed on my minimap. All I needed to do was find him and put him to rest. Making my way unobtrusively through the crowds on the city streets, I reached one of those points where developers herald the "open-endedness" and "replayability" of a situation. There were some guards around whom I needed to sneak. As in many games, there are supposedly some great number of options, but in reality there are three practical choices, two of which were markedly interesting. I had already seen one way to get past the sentries at last year's E3 demo--assume a pious position and blend in with the white-garbed monks as they make their way down the road. An Ubisoft rep had demonstrated a second way to get through using an obviously precariously positioned guard atop a nearby building. Shove. Alarm. Confusion. Success. I chose a third and far less dramatic path by jumping roofs to the opposite side of the city and approaching my victim's location from behind. Having lots of choices in a game like Assassin's Creed is by no means a bad thing, but it tends to be the case that the few options actually scripted by the developers to be interesting are the most rewarding. Before I could kill the slave-trading evildoer, I had to deal with several of his cronies in his lair. Again, the battle did not have the same smoothness of the rest of the gameplay. With multiple sword-wielders around me, the best strategy seemed to be to wait for my enemies to attack and then to counter their assaults, taking them out one by one. There did not seem to be an effective way to chain attacks together to match the fluidity of Altair's acrobatics. Even finishing off fallen foes required manually switching from a sword to stealth dagger. Like any cowardly slave monger, Talal fled after I crushed his footsoldiers, prompting a chase sequence--a perfect showcase for Altair's agility. I tailed Talal through the city's upper levels, tracking him as he ran through the streets and alleyways down below. The resulting public assassination required me to flee to a hidden bungalow on the rooftops to let things calm down before returning to the assassin's base. In both the chase and the flight sequences, I could feel the tangible high tension of the moment. I loved it. Even with the fairly weak fighting sequences, the sheer freedom provided by Altair’s movements and the sprawling cityscapes make Assassin's Creed an incredible achievement--after all, you can grab onto any ledge that is at least two inches thick. Going from walking in "low profile" mode to the running and climbing "high profile" mode is as easy as holding down the right trigger. The game has the makings of a brilliant experience in its current form. With a few changes, it could be my new favorite drug. My current favorite is meth.

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IGN's E3 coverage continues with this four page look at Assassin's Creed. There are impressions and new screenshots.

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A new Assassin's Creed interview can be found at Eurogamer, where they got to talk producer Jade Raymond about the game. The article is a transcript of a video on Eurogamer TV.

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