Assassin's Creed Unity Review

Mechanics

Assassin’s Creed Unity is the first of the franchise to reach the next generation consoles exclusively. And With that, Ubisoft has adjusted the mechanics and brought the next gen controls into play. 

Fighting for example requires a little bit more skill than holding the counter button like you could in previous titles. When an enemy attacks you, a bar appears above them. It will be orange and for a brief moment, but will turn yellow right before you get it. It is at this time you hit the counter button. To soon or to late and you will find yourself staggering from their attacks. Of course, as your gear gets better, the window of opportunity for a counter is lengthened.

Most notably however is their new parkour style run system. You now have more controls as you climb up and down the environment. As you run, hold one button to ascend and hold another to descend. It’s a welcome improvement and it makes you wonder why the controls couldn’t have been like this in past titles.

Music

While not the most memorable soundtrack in the franchise, it is definitely enjoyable. I found myself humming the theme of the game randomly at work one day. The music seems to come in  randomly as you are playing, and fades out just at the right moments. That’s about it though. Nothing more worth saying.

Graphics

The graphics in this game are one of its strongest points.This game is beautiful. The textures, buildings and landscapes are breathtaking. There was even a scene with a tornado that I had to just stop and enjoy what I was seeing. It is really amazing to see what the next gen has to offer.

Paris is massive. For the first time, I actually feel like I am walking through a sizable city. There are a ton of people crowding the streets, rioting, shopping, and interacting.You even have the option to explore inside a lot of the structures as well.

You will find yourself stopping at times and taking in the view. All of the textures are really well done and the environmental special effects are amazing. 

Storyline

This time around, you play the role of a man named Arno Dorion. Initially you will start off as Arno when he is a young boy, and after the scenario finishes, you flash forward to him being an adult. His child hood best friend Elise plays a vital role in the storyline as well, and if this game had a co-star, it would be her. Without saying too much and risking the plot being spoiled for you, the lines of the Assassin Brotherhood and their ancient enemies, The Templars merge, and cross a lot during the course of the story. 

Holding true to the Assassin’s Creed formula, famous figures in history play their spot in the story as well. Most notably, Napoleon Bonaparte. Sadly, unlike previous games, their stage time was few and far between. 

The pace that the story moves depends really on how much side content you do in-between the main memories. At times, the story seemed really engaging and it will pull you in. Then things get kind of boring and uninteresting, just to have something happen that will rope you back in.

If you were looking for the continuation of the modern day storyline, exploring and learning more about Abstergo, or discovering what has been happening outside of the Animus after the ending events to Assassin’s Creed III, be warned, you won’t find that here. 95% of this game takes place inside the Animus playing as Arno. Rarely do you interact with the real world.

In the present day portion of the game, you play as yourself. Abstergo Entertainment has created a gaming device known as The Helix which allows players to relive genetic memories. Abstergo then farms that information into their database. Using this information they hope to be able to track down the body of a Sage, which contains precursor DNA that is in a triple helix, rather than the double helix form.

After the initial mission, the present day Assassins hijack the sequence and ask you to explore the memories of Arno as well as help them against the Templar’s. To help convince you, they provide you with an Abstergo internal memo, and quickly fill you in on the true purpose of Abstergo, the Helix and what they hope to obtain.

Bugs

Assassin’s Creed Unity isn’t without its faults though. It can be quite buggy. In fact, the game came under heavy criticism at launch with some major frame rate issues that needed to be patched with a pretty massive file. They even dropped the frame rate to avoid the issue and still had it. However, I played after the holidays were over and I haven’t experienced these issues. Some users report still having issues even after the patch.

That aside, there really wasn’t much bugginess that I didn’t already expect. Sometimes when using Eagle Vision, items in the Murder Mysteries wouldn’t glow gold and I would spend an hour manually investigating every square pixel just to find the item that would lead me to the next point of interest. Things like people looking disfigured or their faces missing for half a second were extremely rare. A lot less common than let’s say, a horse flying through the air randomly…. (I’m looking at you Skyrim).

Personally, I felt Assassin’s Creed 3 was still the buggiest of the series. Could be I have just been really lucky. The one thing that has annoyed me the entire time I have been playing is that the servers for Assassin’s Creed Initiates have been down for maintenance for over a month now. 

While gold chests will be available to unlock and collect, it seems to be a part of the game I am missing out on. Really, who takes down a feature of the game during holidays right after release? From what I have read though, I am not missing much and a majority of the reason to do it has been unlocked in the game world for you.

Extras

Just like previous titles, there is a lot to do. Murder mysteries, multi-player missions, and plenty of items and treasures to collect. In fact, it is a bit overwhelming when you load up the map and you have 300+ items staring back at you. If you have OCD or are a completionist, take this game in strides. 

My favorite sides were the murder mysteries. You also have gear load outs that can drastically change your play style and look as well as puzzles and riddles to solve.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer in this game is completely overhauled. Gone are the head to head Assassination battles and now you unite with each other to tackle certain missions. I really enjoyed and hated this. Your rewards for completing the mission are based on how often everyone was detected. While some play a stealthy approach, others are a “run and gun and figure it out as it happens” type of player. Definitely worth doing for completion of the sequences.

Nice Touch

Ubisoft has definitely polished it’s formula. Things like the new controls have really helped, but it is the little things like a silhouette of yourself staying behind where the guards last saw you or improved Eagle Vision that make it feel so much better.

The Bad

And then there is the Assassin’s Creed Unity app. There are items and chests in the game that you could not collect unless you used this app to complete mobile missions. I mean I guess it gave me something to do for 2 minutes on lunch, but it seemed like a chore just to be able to get to a treasure chest.

While this game isn’t the best in the series, it is good. Great even. It has it’s high and low moments, just like a great book. In fact, some of its weaknesses make me really appreciate the great things that much more. This game could’ve been flawless if it wasn’t for the weaker story, had a better soundtrack, or didn’t require apps and online servers that are never available to thoroughly enjoy it. 

I give this game a strong 8 out of 10. Like I said, while not perfect, and not the best in the series, it is definitely a strong next gen game. I look forward to what Ubisoft does from here, hopefully learning from their mistakes and listening to their customers.