Support NeoGAF

[shinobi602]

A former team lead on the Assassin's Creed series has accused Warner action game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor of imitation.

Charles Randall, who currently works at Below studio Capybara Games, expressed shock on Twitter over what he claimed were assets used in Shadow of Mordor's gameplay video identical to those he worked on during his time at Ubisoft Montreal.

Randall went on to suggest the possibility that Ubisoft could have even licensed its Assassin's Creed code or assets to Shadow of Mordor developer Monolith, however neither the studio nor publisher Warner has made mention of such a deal.

Via CVG

 

[Eggbok]

Does this confirm that Shadow of Mordor will be good?

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Uh oh. They actually stole code and animation? This is terrible.

 

[Barzul]

Just read this. If anyone would know, he would. The game does look very derivative, but in a good way.

 

[Stumpokapow]

"I know it when I see it"

 

[Ninja Scooter]

"I know it when I see it"

so Assassins Creed=porn?

 

[Rodney McKay]

He is Neo.


He can see the code.

 

[bishoptl]

"I know it when I see it"

pornography?

edit: goddamit Scoots

 

[ZiZ]

that's the first thing I thought when I saw the climbing animation

 

[Pudge]

I mean, it's basically LOTR+Assassins+Batman. Of course it looks derivative. Still better than any of those things individually in my eyes.

 

[antitrop]

Uh oh. They actually stole code and animation? This is terrible.

I fuckin' doubt it. They probably used AC as the model for their animation, but straight "stealing it" seems unlikely.

Here's the link to the video: http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/fu91lg/middle-earth--shadow-of-mordor-gameplay-walkthrough

 

[Dennis]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

 

[Ahasverus]

I WISH the new Assassins Creeds imitated 2.

 

[nckillthegrimace]

so Assassins Creed=porn?

No, but AC3 is certainly obscene.

 

[Askherserenity]

The probably didn't steal the animation, but I kinda hope they did because the game looks like shit anyways.

 

[Alienous]

Didn't see anything like that. It seems far more janky.

I'm sure Charles is mistaken.

 

[jett]

I've only watched 90 seconds of this Mordor game and that's enough to call it a straight up AssCreed ripoff. I can't say if they're actually stealing assets, but good lord this is truly shameless.

 

[RooMHM]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

And the lowest form of creativity.

 

[antitrop]

The probably didn't steal the animation, but I kinda hope they did because the game looks like shit anyways.

I wish they were just making a new F.E.A.R. game, instead.

 

[Remachinate]

A Capybara staffer calling out another studio for copying? Where have I heard this before?

 

[robotrock]

I WISH the new Assassins Creeds imitated 2.

idk man that sailing

 

[webrunner]

wasn't there some thing about mocap studios having the freedom to re-use mocap stuff they licence out if it's needed by someone else?

 

[Ninja Scooter]

I mean, I guess so many hands and eyes go through an AC game that it's possible someone who went on to work for Monolith took something with him, but it seems like a pretty big accusation to be making on twitter. Maybe twitter dude should have taken it to his bosses or something instead of potentially defaming a company to the masses if it turns out not to be true.

 

[MaximoffZero]

so Assassins Creed=porn?

No, but AC3 is certainly obscene.

ZING!

 

[EvilKatarn]

The video really did look ridiculously similar to Assassin's Creed and the Arkham series. So much in fact that I feel that I've already played Shadow of Mordor by having played those games.

 

[iNvid02]

A Capybara staffer calling out another studio for copying? Where have I heard this before?

interesting

 

[SeventhSon]

If the animations are identical, it's possible they were licensed, as mentioned.

Or it could be that there are a finite number of realistic animations a humanoid can perform, and when making combat that uses that counter/combo style, the animations will end up looking really similar.

 

[flyinpiranha]

Wow, after watching that video (haven't paid much attention to the game) I completely see what they're saying. Even "eagle vision".

But, I don't know if it's stolen assets or more/less a carbon copy of certain aspects much like the first Saints Row.

 

[jediyoshi]

Yikes, imitation is one thing, but straight up claiming directly lifting of assets/code is pretty wild. Wonder if there'll be any responses.

 

[TheCowboyPoet]

I did notice when he was climbing the wall, it looked VERY Assassins Creed-y.

 

[UnluckyKate]

I knew the game look awfully famillar. If it's AC2 animation, then it's also ACB and ACR too

 

[CaptainTiptop]

AC2? Definitely buying Shadows of Mordor.

 

[Silky]

Does this confirm that Shadow of Mordor will be good?

oh man

 

[styl3s]

Seems like a big accusation with absolutely no proof.

 

[Dolor]

If the animations are identical, it's possible they were licensed, as mentioned.

Or it could be that there are a finite number of realistic animations a humanoid can perform, and when making combat that uses that counter/combo style, the animations will end up looking really similar.

No, no, Ubisoft patented the look of natural human movement, dontcha know?

 

[kingofthedead45]

Reminded me of

 

[Alienous]

The video really did look ridiculously similar to Assassin's Creed and the Arkham series. So much in fact that I feel that I've already played Shadow of Mordor by having played those games.

Just how much it is like Assassin's Creed, mechanically, only struck me the second time I watched it. It's pretty blatant.

That said, I don't see any reason to believe any assets were taken. I mean, it's running on a different engine (presumably) and is probably just emulating a lot of what Assassin's Creed done. And whilst that might not be the most creative thing, it's part of the games industry.

 

[kasane]

does he have any proof besides ' i know it when i see it? '

 

[SEGAvangelist]

I fuckin' doubt it. They probably used AC as the model for their animation, but straight "stealing it" seems unlikely.

Here's the link to the video: http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/fu91lg/middle-earth--shadow-of-mordor-gameplay-walkthrough

If they aren't stealing anything, no harm no foul I guess.

 

[TimmiT]

You forgot the part where he doesn't really seem to mind it:

Also, there are more tweets in which he specifies what he worked on in Assassin's Creed 1 and 2: https://twitter.com/charlesrandall

 

[Quadraphonic]

Something about the shaders, or the camera movement, made me think this was the same engine as AC2. Something about it was eerily similar, regardless of the character models.

Edit:
The combat animation at 2:30 would probably be the best bet for revealing if that stuff was stolen.

 

[Empty]

it's obviously not literally lifted but it's really weird how similar the movement is

 

[ChosenPredator]

lets see the gif comparisons !

 

[Tesseract]

i know fakery when i sees its.

 

[Blue Ninja]

They're awfully familiar, that's for sure.

But, looks like Mordor actually has a crouch button.

 

[darkblade77]

I think I might be affected by confirmation bias, but the climbing animation really stuck out to me here. The 'nodes' or footholds the character reaches for, as well as that cross-handed position he takes at one point both looked extremely similar.

 

[kazebyaka]

At the start of the video, climbing animation looked like it could be stolen from Assassin's Creed, resemblance is uncanny.

 

[Tobor]

I WISH the new Assassins Creeds imitated 2.

AC4 > AC2

 

[Silky]

They're awfully familiar, that's for sure.

But, looks like Mordor actually has a crouch button.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[mikeGFG]

how many different ways can a fit 30-something white dude shimmy across a ledge?