I figure if other companies can just disable the online features to release the single player part of their titles, then taking off UPLAY wouldn't be impossible.

Right now I found a bundled PC-DVD copy of both Assassin's Creed 1 and 2 at a store for $9.99 and I still didn't buy it because of the online activation DRM. But I did pay the same $9.99 to GOG for Assassin's Creed 1 without DRM.

If I buy the disc, then use the disc verification DRM instead of adding online activation as well.

My only concern with online activation software is that if the company ever goes out of business or decides offering product activation is no longer economically viable, I'm left with a DVD coaster or digital downloaded software that I can't activate.

That equates to a rental service, not a product sale.

GOG has got the right idea by offering DRM free content and I wish them continued success.

Late 2009 actually.

It's also the last of the series without multiplayer mode.

Assassin's Creed was always a console game, like the Prince of Persia Sands of Times Trilogy, whoever plays them with keyboard and mouse are playing them wrong :P

Burn, burn this heretic. :P

The multiplayer is fun. In particular AC:B, I still prefer it over AC:R or AC3. Would like to AC:B here with multiplayer included, but not a very fat chance with that.

Also - even if it was obtained from GOG I'm not sure I could be convinced that it's safe to run an Ubisoft game on a PC.

Burn, Burn this zealot. ;)

Nah, never played any AC game. :p :D

I only played the first 2, and I never played the Sands of Time trilogy at all, I was gonna get the HD Collection but people told me it was a broken buggy mess.

Yes, please. Hopefully a multi-lang release, because playing AC2 in Italian is bloody awesome [though in the modern parts it kills the magic]. Gotta confess, i bought AC2+Brotherhood on the recent Steam Summer Sale, yeah, guilty as charged, sorry.;(

But they are designed to be played with a controller.

An Ubisoft developer even said that anyone that was going to play AC3 will have a controller anyway, so that was what they were focusing on. This caused some uproar at the time, but obviously they still support keyboard+mouse.

They do make multiple controllers for PC and its not limited to a mouse and keyboard.
Example: http://www.amazon.com/Game-Controller-PC-PlayStation-3-PS3/dp/B004EI0XZQ

I played GTA Vice City on PC with a plug in controller key mapped the same exact way it works on a Playstation.
The controller even worked with rumble feature no difference between pc or console.

Also Here's an odd one,
My copy of Assassin's Creed 1 from GOG and it only starts up in Windows 8 if I'm not connected to the internet.
When my PC is online, the game crashes during the loading screen.
When it's offline, it loads and plays without any problems.

This is a problem that has been reported to the forums before. Some people encounter it, others don't. I can't recall if there was a solution or not, but I'll take a look.

Edit: You can try modifying your hosts file, instructions here. Will probably have to re-install the game at some point since I don't recall having any trouble when I played it.

Thanks. I'll try that.