Assassin's Creed finishes on top

By Games Industry.biz Published 2 January, 2008

UK Charts: Then leaps off?

Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed has finished 2007 at the top of the UK's all formats charts with a drop of only 7 per cent in sales, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

Electronic Arts' FIFA 08 missed out on the top spot by around 1000 sales, for the week ended 31st December.

The Christmas number one, Activision's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, has slipped down the charts to number three with a 37 per cent decline in sales.

Sales of EA's The Simpsons Game fell by 24 per cent as it dropped one place to number four, while Need for Speed Pro Street stays at number five, with sales down 23 per cent.

The only game in the top ten to see sales increase for the period was Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, as the game moved up the charts from number 13 to number six.

THQ's WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 is at seven, Nintendo's More Brain Training is at eight, Activision's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock at nine and SEGA's The Golden Compass enters the top ten at ten.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • zoidberg #1 4 years ago

    so need for speed didn't win this year?

  • dr_swin #2 4 years ago

    hurray for cod4 keeping nfs away from the top spot. (and the other games for that matter)

  • udat #3 4 years ago

    Is there a chart covering the entire year as well as just last week? I'd be curious to see what were the top selling games of the year.

  • alimokrane #4 4 years ago

    YAY! People who have taste are still alive, ALIVE! Thank god COD4 is the christmas number one. We really are sick of Need for speed taking that spot every damned year! Hooray!

  • The_Inquisitor #5 4 years ago

    Assasins Creed proving that graphics still wins over gameplay when it comes to sales.

    And where is Mario? : (
    Edited by 1 at 02/01/08 @ 10:40

  • kangarootoo #6 4 years ago

    Pity it wasn't that good then..... ooh, could that be my first genuine troll post?

    I played almost all the way through it, and admittedly some aspects were fantastic, but it had some big annoyances and after discovering that the final part of the game was just going to be lots of fights back to back I just lost momentum and gave up. I almost gave upo a couple of times right near the start too, which can't be a good sign.

    Hopefully Ubo will learn and the sequel will be ace.

    Oh, and for the record, that whole future stuff was just shite, annoying even (walking slowly and pressing B is not gameplay and is not fun). Yes I understand there is a franchise is the making, but at my expense as a gamer? Not happy with that aspect at all.

  • Brianstorm #7 4 years ago

    Great to see COD4 at Xmas number one, what a game. Re. Mario I haven't seen a copy in a shop for ages. me thinks they couldn't get enough made, which will be why it isn't in the chart.

  • septimus #8 4 years ago

    Assassins Creed plays great and deserves to sell well.

  • HyperShadow #9 4 years ago

    I could've sworn that I read the two brain trainings were top of the charts for Christmas with Mario and Sonic coming in third.

    O_o Must've been mistaken then

  • FooAtari #10 4 years ago

    So, is Creed a worth a play? Is it a flawed game with lots of new ideas and decent gameplay elements? Or is it just an average game that does nothing well?

    Wish there was a demo up.

  • barnard666 #11 4 years ago

    Ubi Exec - Ahh, so we can make a slightly below average game, and it will still sell...hmm this marketing hype thing really is worth the same ammount of investment $ as the development of the game itself...if EA can make it work...hen so can we.

    I know Ubi have been slowly going this way for a while, but I still find it sad.

  • skillian #12 4 years ago

    Maybe people just want something new and different?

    5 of the top 6 films this year were sequels, and the games market didn't seem much different. I'm happy Assassin's Creed sold well :)

  • leedavies #13 4 years ago

    Coincidence that Assassins Creed was on offer in Game for 29.99 before Xmas?

    And Pro Evo 6 too...

    I picked up Assassins Creed and was pleasantly surprised. Gets a little repetitive towards the end, but it's a really fun game. Reasonable variety in the missions, but they do get a little repetitive later on. But it's all just good fun. Worth a punt.

  • Stoatboy #14 4 years ago

    @FooAtari: I think people's mileage varies with Assassin's Creed. For the most part I love it, but there really are some big old flaws in there. It looks fantastic - the cities are some of the most stunning game environments ever created, and whilst the free-running is essentially on autopilot, it's still pretty good. When you've got a full set of combat moves the fighting's pretty good too. The major assassination's are variable, but when they're good they can be very good (but I think here you'll get out what you're prepared to put in a lot of the time - make the effort to be a super sneaky assassin and it plays much better than if you just charge in and hack them down - which is probably easier a lot of the time, but less satisfying). Much of what's left is either dull, trivial or downright annoying, but frequently mercifully brief. In summary, it's flawed to bits, but in my top 10 games of the year.

    Some of what the Penny Arcade guys said is probably true - if you try to charge your way through the game you'll likely end up hating it, because you'll be condensing the worst bits, and hitting endlessly repetitive fights. If you take your time, and mix a bit of flag collecting (of which there's far too much btw) with the odd mission here and there as I have then it probably helps a lot.

    If in doubt, and in absence of a demo, I'd suggest a rental. If it's your cup of tea, you really don't want to miss out. If it ain't though you could easily hate it.

  • bad09 #15 4 years ago

    @ FooAtari
    If you play the game just to complete the missions, then yes it is an average game with little mission variety. But AC is more than that, it is a great game to just wander around in and soak up the atmosphere, the detail is amazing and you really feel like you are there. I really like the fighting system, though it is a little simplistic. Lots of nice little touches make it a great game to play for me - flawed yes, but still great!

  • sanctusmortis #16 4 years ago

    Assassins Creed over COD4 any day. Constantly respawning enemies have no place in modern story driven FPS games. At least in Creed you SAW reinforcements in an area arrive. All COD4 had was checkpoint rushes and a half decent multiplayer.

  • Artemis_Matsas #17 4 years ago

    I have to agree that COD4's single player mode is firmly rooted to the past. If you shoot the wrong group of enemies, then you'll end up shooting on never ending respawning drones. I was really shocked on how old it felt.
    The multiplayer bit though made up for the average and really short single player mode.
    BTW, i love Assasin's Creed. Sometimes it really feels like a work of art.

  • cyber_nicco #18 4 years ago

    "Re. Mario I haven't seen a copy in a shop for ages. me thinks they couldn't get enough made, which will be why it isn't in the chart."

    That's just plain crazy.

  • FooAtari #19 4 years ago

    Thanks Stoatboy, bad09. I think i'll hold a little for a demo for the moment, I have 4 or 5 games waiting to be played so no rush.

  • paulf #20 4 years ago

    @fooatari - they aint gonna release a demo unfortunately, i you dont like cutscenes I'd suggest giving it a miss. Would of been a much better game if they got rid of the story as well.

    As for those who think its a better game than COD4, I agree with your points about endlessly respawning enemies, but Id take those over a shoddy sci-fi plot (area not accessible etc), unskippable cutscences and npcs that say the same thing over and over ('I'll make sure my son hears of this') any time

    Impressive sales for both though, I noticed there are at least 2.25 million players of cod4 online (xbox 360 version) can't be bad

  • bad09 #21 4 years ago

    Hey FooAtari you had better rent it as there will be no demo for AC, they confirmed that.

    Those of you wondering about Mr Mario, Mario Galaxy is not selling as well as you would think, it sold well at first but dropped off. SMG is sitting at a 10-20% adoption rate for Wii owners with sales sliding quickly (previous Mario games averaged around 80% adoption). I've heard it is considered a borderline flop believe it or not! The problem is the huge number of Wii owners doesn't translate to software sales. Casual gamers lapped up the machine which increased the user base but don't buy as much software as traditional gamers.

    But having played it I can see why people aren't buying it, it's very simplistic, basic and personally I found it quite dull to play. I can't see why reviewers are so mad for it!

    PS. I am a mario fan before you string me up people!

  • Sid-Nice #22 4 years ago

    Game and Gamestation between them were selling Assassin's Creed, Fifa 08 and COD4 from £24.99 to £29.99; so in some case 'Half Price' games. I wonder did EA, Activison and Ubisoft authorise these reductions or did Game and Gamestation take upon themselves to sell the software at a bargain price? In theory the Simpson’s game was the true Christmas No1.

  • bad09 #23 4 years ago

    @ Sid Nice

    The publishers don't authorize price drops. What a shop sells a game at is entirely up to them. The drop in price for popular tiles like AC and COD4 was probably to get people into their stores, the high street has struggled this year in the UK with more people turning to sites like Amazon and Play online.

  • Ryze #24 4 years ago

    I reckon bundles helped AC.

    I wouldn't have paid £40 for it.

  • kangarootoo #25 4 years ago

    @FooAtari

    Definitely worth a play, but rent rather than buy.

    @sanctusmortis

    Reinforcements in AC just spawn as required. I've seen them pop into existence in front of my eyes on more than one occasion. I agree overly scripted enemies (I say overly, because ALL enemies are scripted, to be pedantic about it) can be pain, but I didn't think it was much of an issue in COD4. Once the combat got going they ran about quite freely.

    I personally enjoyed COD4 more overall. Both COD and AC both had some wow moments, but COD4 rarely annoyed the sanity out of me the way AC did sometimes.

  • kangarootoo #26 4 years ago

    "or did Game and Gamestation take upon themselves to sell the software at a bargain price?"

    Errr, yes, like they always do. It was Xmas, so price drops were inevitable. Same as last year and the year before.

  • bad09 #27 4 years ago

    @ Crofto

    "Yes the great public never fail to highlight how moronic they are."

    So people are moronic for not buying the games you like? That comment is moronic!

  • Empedocles #28 4 years ago

    AC is defo my game of the year, true some big old flaws but the effort you put in to exploring the game world and trying to play as an assasin rather than rambo the better it gets.

    For the record I think the future/present plot device is also a rather elegant way of enhancing the story and allowing the game play to skip forward to interesting points without breaking the fiction.

    9/10 for me

  • Apologie #29 4 years ago

    Assassins Creed is a boring boring game... good graphics, nothing more.
    Edited by 1 at 03/01/08 @ 13:27

  • DAN.E.B #30 4 years ago

    please sir just a few coins!!!!!!

  • kangarootoo #31 4 years ago

    JESUS, those beggar npcs were the most annoying in gaming history (seconded only by the pot carriers who would fling their wares about the place if THEY brushed against YOU if you weren't making some secret assasin sign in your pocket whilst otherwise standing motionless).

    I slilent killed a beggar once when their incessant pleading got too much (in the game I might add, not in real life), but got immediately "mission failed" for not messing with the time continuum or some such. Man, you should have seen the shade of purple my face went. I nearly went out and killed a real beggar in a cloud of red mist.

  • kangarootoo #32 4 years ago

    I also had one of those leaps of faith miss the haystack once too. The only thing that quelled my rage in that instance was the rather comic nature of my graceful smack onto the pavement from about 180m and the surprised response of the passers by.

  • mandeep100 #33 4 years ago

    how did this game finish number 1?

    It is probably the most repetitive game game since spider-man 2, how many times do we have to get to view points and save the stupid citizens again and and again

    the whole memory business just completley ruined the game, why oh why couldnt they have just set the entire game back in the correct time period. Mass effect should be number 1, although it has some flaws to

    Although it is a decent start to a new franchise and it is a good platform for a potential assassins creed 2