Arno goes on a trip with his father, meets a pretty young girl, and soon finds his deceased father lying dead at his feet. He grows up into a roguish man with a fondness for getting himself into trouble. His bad boy ways catch up with him as he tossed into prison after he is framed for murder. Coincidentally, he is placed in prison with a man who served with his father as an Assassin. With this new knowledge he takes on the role his Father once held and starts on his path to revenge.
[section label=”Likes” anchor=”What we liked”]
What we liked
Splendid Visuals – France is beyond gorgeous, and this is easily one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. The detail of each of the buildings is superb. The increased number of civilians are what truly steal the show, with over 100+ NPC’s crowding the streets and causing havoc. Each of the main characters are painstakingly detailed and have accurate and convincing facial expressions to match. This is easily the best looking and detailed Assassin’s Creed title to date.
Stealthy – I always thought that for a game all about Stealth, Assassin’s Creed had one of the absolute worst systems for doing so. Someone using the Animus has played a little bit of Splinter Cell, because Arno has finally learned what other Assassin’s haven’t… how to sneak around and use cover. It isn’t perfect by any means, but at least the options have expanded significantly.
Wealth of Content – Unity makes sure that you don’t ever have to worry about running out of things to do. There is so much content that exists in the game that it can be a bit overwhelming at first. Once that map opens up and each of those quests and collectibles appear on the screen, you’ll wonder if you will ever complete it all.
Cooperative Play – I’ve been dying for an Assassin’s Creed to allow for some true cooperative play. Unity does a great job at setting up missions for up to four players, or allowing them to free-roam and take on the world with their pals. If only the game wasn’t a mess in pretty much every other way.
[section label=”Disliked” anchor=”Disliked”]
What we didn’t like
Buggy – What would an Assassin’s Creed game be without bugs? From people sinking into the floor and regularly popping into view, to the odd appearance of textures forming in the background. This title is full of all sorts of nonsense that will surely create many a YouTube Blooper Reel.
Not Optimized – I have a GTX 980 and this game has all sorts of issues playing the game past the high setting. The frame-rate sporadically dips from 60 to 45 during cut scenes or anywhere there are tons of people standing around the city. This game was clearly was designed for a graphics card that will only appear when we get warp drive technology. It makes it a pain in the ass to configure for both looks and performance, and the random leap between frame-rate can get in the way of the experience.
The PS4 version on the other hand is filled with muddy textures, and basically becomes a slide show in most areas. This actually impacts combat and movement responsiveness which made it harder for me to parry attacks. The game had the nerve to freeze up randomly in some areas as well, while still sporting all of the buggy issues mentioned on the PC version. The console version is an absolute mess.
Terrible Story – The plot relies on the tried and true revenge trope and a lot of convenient moments so that Arno can kill people. Unlike the previous games in the series, assassinating a Templar figurehead will emit a wave of memories for Arno to pick up with his ESP or whatever godlike ability he possesses. The problem is that for some reason the story is led by his sudden visions and nthe meanderings of the Assassin’s running the animus from the outside.
The story outside of the animus highlights the Assassins finding a random hacker, and asking him to help them beat Templars. He has no choice but to help them of course, and that’s the whole back story. You play a random guy who has to stop the Templars from stealing history… go you! I feel like I’m playing a random episode of Carmen San Diego or something, nah… that would be cool.
Stiff Combat – There are a few changes that have made the life of an Assassin much harder. Enemies strike with a bit more precision and can kill an under-geared assassin in one or two shots. Other than that the combat remains strikingly similar to previous games in the series, and in some ways it takes many a step back. Arno can get hit while trying to finish animations, or fail to properly lock-on a target to attack someone at his back. He will often flail about attempting to fight, and the overall feel of combat feels slower and less refined. It looks bland in comparison to games like Shadow of Mordor, which proves that sword combat can be fast, fluid, and visceral.
Parkour fail – Assassin’s Creed games are notorious for ignoring the problems with its automated navigation system. In fact, Ubisoft promised that Unity’s climbing system was “overhauled” for the Next Generation. If by overhauled they meant they add some pretty animations and kept the awkward loss of momentum issues… I’d agree. Anyone expecting quick and fluid animation as shown in E3 video will be sorely disappointed.
Outside content – Assassin’s Creed Unity has a collection of content within the game that cannot be accessed without other apps. You have to download the companion app and sign up for the initiates’ website to access certain chests in-game. So unless you feel the need to get all these excess programs, you won’t be able to enjoy all the content.
[section label=”Conclusion” anchor=”Conc”]
Conclusion
As it stands as of the very first week of release, Assassin’s Creed Unity is a technical mess full of bugs and performance issues on every platform. When you can get around the frame drops and the glitches, the gameplay doesn’t make great strides improve on the tried and true formula. Assassin’s Creed Unity earns a Fans Only from Geek Citadel. This franchise has taken a spiral due to the lack of attention paid to creating a working game.
The most volatile part of the problem is when well-known video game journalists like IGN, Kotaku, and many more don’t let us know these problems exist. They wait until we’ve all started boohooing after we purchased the game, but they have clearly had their hands on it a week ahead of schedule. Right after that they want to make an article saying “You should stop buying games early,” so they can fit into the mold. No guys, you should have created an article stating that this game is awful before release.
I know a lot of these “video game journalists” are afraid to lose the free games they receive from companies. Yet people on YouTube go out of our way to buy a game, play it, and create a review without a handout from publishers. If we can take our time and do that without fear of being blacklisted by these companies… why can’t Gamespot, IGN, and Kotaku? They get paid to do this stuff, so where is the journalistic integrity when we need it most? Don’t be afraid to say before we spend $60 on a game that it is garbage.
Publishers also seem to think they can just push a game out the door because it “should be released by now.” That’s an easy way to push garbage onto us people who are paying for these games. It’s an unforgivable practice to ship a game as retail in such a broken state. Assassin’s Creed Unity is a game I want to like, but the more I try to play it the more the flaws hold back my experience. For a game branded as a full release, it absolutely feels like a game that belongs in Early Access.
