Ubisoft’s done it again. Here’s a new weird NFT game that’s been released with close to zero fanfare by the publisher. This one’s got Rayman in it, and is based on a thing that’s inspired by Far Cry 3’s fun Blood Dragon expansion, if you can believe that.
As you may be aware, this isn’t the first time Ubisoft’s pretty much stealth-dropped a weird NFT/Web3 game this year – there was Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles in late October. The name proably doesn’t mean anything to you, but you might remember it as the game that suffered from a bug which led to one or two players starring in and insta-winning every single match put on, until a ban, a fix, and then a kinda awkward unbanning.
Enter Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E., a thing that was released earlier this week with barely any marketing, likely because, as Stephen Totilo of Game File reports, it features a bunch of cryptocurrency and blockchain s**t, and even requires an NFT to play.
Here’s where things get weird, though. This game is based on a Netflix animated series called Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix, which itself draws inspiration from Far Cry: Blood Dragon, an actually good expansion for – or standalone mini-game based on, depending on your view – for Far Cry 3.
You remember Blood Dragon, right? It was a cool 80s action movie-style twist on your island adventure with Vaas, and it let you play as a military cyborg called Sergeant Rex “Power” Colt voiced by Aliens and Terminator actor Michael Biehn.
Anyway, based on what Totilo says, this NFT thing’s nowhere near as fun as that. Instead it’s reportedly an early access game that’s “the most basic top-down shooter imaginable”, letting PC folks do some shooty stuff while running into characters from that Neflix show and Rayman, who’s guest starring it for reasons.
“Rayman is the glossy face of Eden’s entire media system, from the Eden Report to the Eden Late Show, including any form of entertainment program,” reads the Ubisoft mascot’s character description on Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E.’s website.
“In his earlier life, Rayman was a resident of a universe called Dimension X. As an immigrant to this reality, Rayman was witness to the many injustices of America and struggled to overcome rejection by everyone he met. He was happy to see America fall – and even happier that Eden gave him purpose. As he is Eden’s chief propaganda officer, Rayman’s friendly image is seen everywhere. Though Rayman’s likeness has great influence, Rayman is simply a cog in the Eden machine.”
Hang on a minute, has Ubisoft transformed Rayman into a Die Hard villain that you actually want to side with by the time you’re halfway through the movie? Maybe, but I’m not playing some NFT bollocks to find out.
