Review
Played on: PlayStation 4
Released: 2014
Released: 2014
Just as sure as Christmas returns each year, another Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed release does. 2014 was no different from the years before it. One could complain about the lack of originality but you can't deny their popularity. The AC games already hit a barrage of complaints back when AC3 was released, but thankfully, they really went all in and made ACIV: Black Flag a great game. The only complaint was that, on PS4 and XB1, Black Flag seemed to be a port from a 360/PS3 game.
To rectify this, Ubisoft have made two AC games for the Christmas season of 2014. Assassin's Creed Rogue, a naval focused sequel to Black Flag on 360/PS3, and Unity, a brand new game built for the new consoles.
Unity is set before, during and after the French revolution. Some parts are in Versailles but the main game is set in the centre of Paris. A really interesting setting and era in time that suits the series well. Here, we follow Arno from childhood, who witnesses his father's assassination at the Versailles palace, to his adulthood in Paris joining the Assassins during the revolution.
Unity is set before, during and after the French revolution. Some parts are in Versailles but the main game is set in the centre of Paris. A really interesting setting and era in time that suits the series well. Here, we follow Arno from childhood, who witnesses his father's assassination at the Versailles palace, to his adulthood in Paris joining the Assassins during the revolution.
Along the way, his childhood love, Elisé crosses his path many times during his journey to revenge both their fathers murders. You also get to meet, in classic AC fashion, many of the famous people during this revolutionary time, including Napoleon!
Unity is an AC title more close to AC1 and 2. Focusing on a city setting with missions within it. In fact, Unity only has the one main city that is Paris. However, the amount of detail put into it, is breathtaking. From the moment Arno escapes the Bastille and walks out on a rooftop in front of the Notre Dame, the game really blows you away with how incredibly detailed it depicts Paris.
Unity is an AC title more close to AC1 and 2. Focusing on a city setting with missions within it. In fact, Unity only has the one main city that is Paris. However, the amount of detail put into it, is breathtaking. From the moment Arno escapes the Bastille and walks out on a rooftop in front of the Notre Dame, the game really blows you away with how incredibly detailed it depicts Paris.
Sure, it runs at a 900p on consoles but the incredible lighting, the huge crowds of people in the streets and the sheer attention to detail on the buildings is really eye opening. They've done a lot of work to this new game engine and the small details really shine when you've played a few hours. The interiors of buildings, are especially well made for such a large open world.
The sun isn't always shining in Paris though, literally it can rain, bringing me to some complaints. Apart from fairly frequent drops in framerate in crowded areas, nothing too bothersome in my opinion, there's still that pain in the neck syndrome of loss of control. Arno, just like all the previous AC characters, will stick to everything. This is especially annoying when you're running away from angry swordsmen that wish to stick you with pointy steel objects.
Can there not just be a totally separate running button? That allows the character to simply run on ground level without perching on a barrel or fountain and simply be sitting there while the angry swordsmen are sticking you to death? It just breaks the flow completely. They need to overhaul the whole movement of the character in the series, it's been due for many titles now and still Ubisoft seems to neglect doing so.
I found the setting of the French revolution brilliant but within it lies a problem, it just seems to be crowds of people shouting. I'm very aware the whole revolution was a far more dramatic affair. They could have had some key moments, with cannons and firearms in the streets. The game begins dramatically enough with the storming of the Bastille but most of which you only witness fairly calmly from within the walls and ends immediately after you jump over the fortress walls.
The relationship between Arno and Elisé is very underplayed and should have been emphasised more to make the player care. Although Elisé is a strong minded and great character, I felt Arno was somewhat bland. His lack of enthusiasm is somewhat stale compared to the more outspoken Edward Kenway in ACIV. The ending of Unity feels abrupt too and is kind of a let down. The revolution is such a significant part of history and yet I felt like nothing hardly happened in Unity's depiction of it!
I did enjoy AC Unity, I felt it caught far more criticism than necessary and it really shows how detailed they can make a city come alive. I would say that ACIV Black Flag was a better and more varied game though.
The sun isn't always shining in Paris though, literally it can rain, bringing me to some complaints. Apart from fairly frequent drops in framerate in crowded areas, nothing too bothersome in my opinion, there's still that pain in the neck syndrome of loss of control. Arno, just like all the previous AC characters, will stick to everything. This is especially annoying when you're running away from angry swordsmen that wish to stick you with pointy steel objects.
Can there not just be a totally separate running button? That allows the character to simply run on ground level without perching on a barrel or fountain and simply be sitting there while the angry swordsmen are sticking you to death? It just breaks the flow completely. They need to overhaul the whole movement of the character in the series, it's been due for many titles now and still Ubisoft seems to neglect doing so.
I found the setting of the French revolution brilliant but within it lies a problem, it just seems to be crowds of people shouting. I'm very aware the whole revolution was a far more dramatic affair. They could have had some key moments, with cannons and firearms in the streets. The game begins dramatically enough with the storming of the Bastille but most of which you only witness fairly calmly from within the walls and ends immediately after you jump over the fortress walls.
The relationship between Arno and Elisé is very underplayed and should have been emphasised more to make the player care. Although Elisé is a strong minded and great character, I felt Arno was somewhat bland. His lack of enthusiasm is somewhat stale compared to the more outspoken Edward Kenway in ACIV. The ending of Unity feels abrupt too and is kind of a let down. The revolution is such a significant part of history and yet I felt like nothing hardly happened in Unity's depiction of it!
I did enjoy AC Unity, I felt it caught far more criticism than necessary and it really shows how detailed they can make a city come alive. I would say that ACIV Black Flag was a better and more varied game though.
Unity goes somewhat back to the old style of the AC series, sadly without multiple cities and as such is more direct and less overwhelming experience. The time period, choice of city and presentation throughout is incredibly well made and I definitely would recommend people to play it.
While it has it's shortcomings, I feel that they can easily fix a lot of these for next year's release and hopefully avoid the negativity surrounding this game. Unity could have done with a few extra months of development, luckily buying it now will allow you a patch that fixes the early problems.
While it has it's shortcomings, I feel that they can easily fix a lot of these for next year's release and hopefully avoid the negativity surrounding this game. Unity could have done with a few extra months of development, luckily buying it now will allow you a patch that fixes the early problems.
