Assassin's Creed Unity

My, my...how much a year changes things.

It's no secret that this year has been a rather disappointing one for gaming. Sure we have some treasures here and there, but I think that most serious gamers (at least on Xbox Ones and PS4s) would agree that there have been some significant bummers this year. For starters, many of the bigger games, Watch Dogs and Destiny for example, failed to blow us out of the water. Still both pretty fantastic in their own right, they didn't bring much new to the table as was hyped up that they would.

On top of that, 2014 has been riddled with games that simply released too early and with far too many bugs. Several titles come to mind, and Ubisoft has been taking the brunt of much of the outrage, which is a far cry from where they were last year when I awarded them Best Studio in the 2013 Rath Awards. Speaking of "far cry", I'm glad to report that Far Cry 4 does NOT disappoint and is about every bit as awesome, if not more, that you remember Far Cry 3 being. Thankfully, no balls were dropped on that one and you should see that review within the next month or two.

But back to my opening statement, "my, my...how much a year changes things". After releasing what I found to be the pinnacle of their yearly series, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, it was clear that Ubisoft was taking the series back to its roots a bit with Assassin's Creed Unity. Oddly, they thought that they needed to make a completely separate game for the last-gen systems, but I was purely in the "next-gen" phase of my life so Assassin's Creed Unity it was. Unfortunately, it seems as if Ubisoft spread themselves too thin with two games, and that the yearly-iteration timetable finally caught up with them as Assassin's Creed Unity is not only the buggiest Assassin's Creed game to date, but probably one of the buggiest games I've ever played, period.

"On guard! Oh, wait...s**t...I'm frozen."

Where I often like to sit when I go to church ^^

Before I delve into the laundry list of complaints and issues I had with the game I should state that I am an invested fan of the series now. Black Flag successfully won we back and now I'm so involved in the story (7 games and 7 years) that I probably won't skip any future games. Unity isn't a complete failure as it does some things I enjoyed very much. For starters, the story is pretty engrossing and one of the simplest tales yet, mostly adding up to a game-long mystery hunt. Arno Dorian is the new protagonist, and I generally liked him although I found him a bit too similar to fan-favorite Ezio. Given the French Revolution time period, there are a lot of significant political figures and events taking place and the story and world reflect that well. Not to mention, there are a few set pieces that are beyond awesome and probably some of my favorite gaming memories of the year. I won't spoil them here, but they are completely unexpected and I loved them.

The series does away with the "huge open world" concept and goes back to its roots with a single large city to explore and roam. The map of French Revolution-era France is vast and I found it to be one of the most impressive cities the series has ever created and easily the best and most complete city since Brotherhood or Assassin's Creed 2. It also has an incredible amount of detail that left me staggering at a few points. At times it feels like a flowing painting with gorgeous sculptures, stained glass, and architecture all combining to make a city so complex that I can't even wrap my head around how the team at Ubisoft accomplished it. These details are all made possible by a new engine with some pretty serious power that makes the Assassin's Creed series look the best it ever has not to mention all of the citizens that run around and populate the city. At one point, I was hanging in front of one of the stained glass windows of the Notre Dame cathedral, watching a French Revolution protest occurring below me with easily over 50 NPCs on screen. It was wildly impressive and looked gorgeous.

Architectural brilliance throughout. One of the few high points.

I welcome the newest addition to the assassin arsenal which can best be described as "downward free running". Ubisoft took a problem that, quite frankly, I didn't even know I had with the series and created a smart way to help your assassin scale buildings downwards as efficiently as he scales them upwards. Unity also features the series' first stab at co-op (pun intended) which, when it's working, plays better than I would have expected it to.

Other than that however, Unity represents something that is rather unacceptable in the gaming community: a broken game. Obviously different players are going to have various experiences with it, but thus far mine has been nothing short of frustrating. With all of the things it does right, there is a great Assassin's Creed game buried in here somewhere, but it's not the one we got.

This is Arno. Taking a dump. In Paris.

For starters, it should be said that, despite the series' environmental innovation (Jerusalem to Italy to Civil War era to open seas to France...you can't knock them there) the game still plays largely the same as Assassin's Creed 2. Since then, many games have come out, and many of these games have replicated mechanics used in the Assassin's Creed games. Well...now it's 2014 and honestly? Other than free running and maybe climbing (although I would undoubtedly give that mechanic to Uncharted) there isn't a single thing that the AC series is BEST at anymore. Stealth, swordplay, projectile weaponry, RPG elements, open worlds...they have all been done better by other games. Which is part of what makes Unity so frustrating to play. The AI enemies are much harder (read: cheap) this time around and I often felt restricted by the game's swordplay mechanics, especially when compared to the incredible fluidity provided by this year's surprise hit, Shadow of Mordor. Several times you will have a**hole enemies stick back from the fights and pick you off, with incredible aim mind you, with shots from their pistols/rifles. In Mordor, enemies about to shoot projectiles were just a hop and a skip away, but in Unity it's borderline impossible to make it to the outer distances of a multi-enemy brawl without dying. I'm not saying that Unity should be as fast paced as Mordor, but there becomes a problem when the gamer feels helpless because of the game's mechanics. Equally as annoying is the series reliance on a poorly-colored "parry" indicator. It's a thin, bright yellow bar that is nearly invisible in close quarter's combat or brightly lit outdoor situations. Fighting problems stem to Arno's projectile weapons as well where, in the heat of a multi-enemy battle, the "quick-shot" mechanic isn't all that "quick" and often Arno ends up reloading, despite the fact I had a knife/bullet in the chamber already. I suppose that the awesome 4-shot pistol combos from Black Flag were too cool for the series?

Even worse than the combat itself though is the constant bugginess present throughout the game. Will it maybe get fixed with later patch releases? Sure, maybe. But the fact remains that still, over a month after release, I'm encountering bugs that infuriate me. I'll be honest, I haven't had too many game crashing instances. I fell through the map once and I froze at the very end of a co-op mission once (man, did that one piss me off), but generally the bugs I've encountered just really take you out of the game. Arno is a great fee runner, but the series-long issue of "No don't jump over there you idiot!" is more rampant than ever before. Even during stealth, there were a few instances where, coming out from cover (a horrendous cover system I might add), Arno would seemingly be stuck in place. Turns out, he decided to "free run" onto a small pile of books. And wouldn't you know it? Then the guard turns around and finds me! The most annoying ones come when the game literally does not respond to your controller's button presses. It's not freezing so much as the game being utterly confused with itself and I try to climb up, climb down, drop, eject off the wall...anything to just get Arno moving. Finally, after a few seconds, the moves all vomit out at once causing Arno to go most likely where you didn't want him to go. Let's just say that I've had some very choice words for our protagonist in the last few weeks.

Impressive amount of NPCs on screen...until they slow down the game.

Unity also has a problem with "too much to do". Most everything is unlocked on the map right away and, unlike Black Flag, most of it isn't all that compelling to accomplish outside of the main missions and a few side activities. It's overwhelming and doesn't really allow the player to grow into a methodology of collecting things or finishing tasks. Additionally, there are a number of items that you can only access if you "load your profile here" or "download this companion app" that annoyingly stay on your map as a constant reminder of how poor of a decision it was to include them in the first place.

Honestly, I could go on and on about Unity and how it's not up to par, but I'll leave the remainder of it for the CONS section. In a year of *generally* disappointing gaming and one riddled with bug-filled games, Unity is possibly the worst culprit and best example of a game that acts more as a future framework than an actual, justifiable $60 purchase. It has a few high points and some additions that could really help the series in the long term, but ultimately it's an incredibly weak and frustrating entry for a series that can do much, much better.

Play it eventually if you are invested in the story like I am but, take my word for it, there are far better games you could and should be playing right now.

Priorities people. Assassin's Creed Unity is not one of them.

CONS:

• Arno resembles Ezio a little too much for my liking
• This is the next generation and I felt like I was playing a several-year-old last-generation game despite the pretty graphics
• Assassin's Creed needs to take a damn hard look in the mirror. It can no longer claim it's the best at really anything and very soon that will come back to bite it
• I miss naval warfare
• Terrible combat mechanics, especially when held up against Shadow of Mordor
• Cheap AI that always likes to stand back and shoot (and apparently can nail you from half a mile away with a French Revolution-era pistol)
• Who designed that "parry" indicator? Fire them
• Some wonky camera work in close quarters/indoor combat
• Aged stealth mechanics are not helped by an atrocious cover system
• "Quick-shot" projectiles aren't so "quick" after all (God I miss Black Flag)
• I had tons of connectivity issues finding co-op games
• General bugginess ranging from game ending to minor, but annoying
• Hundreds of "I didn't tell you to jump there!" instances
• I've never heard or felt my PS4 run so hot
• Completely removes the competitive multiplayer that the series was just starting to greatly refine
• Button freezing is not acceptable. Easily the biggest blemish (at least in my eyes)
• The map is overwhelming from the get go and there is a lack of compelling things to do
• Puzzles have been generally missing from the AC series for a while but the Nostradamus puzzles in Unity are borderline impossible unless you know the map/France/French history like the back of your hand or use guides
• No Ubisoft, I don't want to create an Initiates profile or download the companion app just so I can open this f**king treasure chest!
• Unlike past games (mainly Black Flag), the map has a severe lack of cool, secret locations to stumble upon
• Disappointing step backwards for the series despite it being the first next-gen exclusive game

PROS:

• The story is simple and intriguing with some good characters throughout. Arno certainly has potential
• I forgot to mention this in the body of the review but the customization options are MUCH better this time around, especially when it comes to colors, and what you are wearing. There are tons of options for different hoods, jackets, gauntlets, pants, belts, etc. that lead to some bad ass combinations
• A few of the side activities are fun and worthwhile
• French Revolution-era France is nothing short of jaw-dropping. The amount of detail is staggering and the game truly looks like art at times. Whoever was on point to capture architecture for this game is probably the best in the industry right now. It looks that good
• The series goes back to basics with a single-city map and it's easily one of the best cities the series has ever produced. It's filled with awesome landmarks, has a good free-running flow, and a surprising number of indoor areas
• Free running downward is a huge addition. It would be hard to go back to not having it from this point forward
• There are some really fun missions throughout with the highlights being some unexpected set pieces based on Animus complications
• The co-op in Unity is a good step forward and it could be a game-changer in future iterations
• When the game gets into a groove that isn't interrupted by bugs or poor combat, it's still a blast to play

Rath's Review Score: 6.5/10