It's clear developer Ubisoft had some ambitions for Assassin's Creed Unity ($59.99). Stealth is more interesting than in previous games, combat is simpler and more challenging, and the mission structure is a more open-ended, allowing for more creativity during assassinations. The building interiors in revolution-era Paris are beautifully designed, and customizing assassin Arno Dorian is a lot of fun. But for every step forward, Assassin's Creed Unity takes a step back. The Enemy AI is comically stupid at times, the cover system is clunky, the combat lacks the creative options of earlier games, and the game is poorly optimized. I tested it on a PC, and Assassin's Creed: Unity is also available for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One($200.00 at eBay)
Mission Structure and Combat
The strongest point in Unity's favor is the way missions are structured. Once Arno is adopted by the brotherhood, he undertakes assassination missions for them while also unraveling the mystery behind the murder of his father figures. Assassination missions are self-contained hits that give you a target, but don't dictate how you should approach them.
These missions have a unique and adaptive set of circumstances whereby players can actually make mistakes and still succeed in the assassination attempt. In past games, players were forced to restart from a checkpoint if they were discovered or failed a certain objective. Unity's mission structure is much looser, so if your target notices your presence and flees, for example, you can still complete the mission if you manage to catch and kill him. Missions also tend to have secondary objectives that help you secure your escape or make the task easier. The secondary objectives don't need to be completed to finish the mission, but they generally help you in some way and are often worth completing.
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The game's Missions are reminiscent of the Hitman games in respect to their open-endedness. Unity's missions aren't as large or complex, but they offer a satisfying amount of freedom. I hope to see more missions in this style in future Assassin's Creed titles.
Why You Should Game on a PC
Stealth is another aspect that has been improved. A cover system has been added to the game that lets you more easily sneak around guards and enemies, which ties in nicely to the more open nature of Unity's missions. Unfortunately, Ubisoft removed the whistling command, which would have allowed players to create some useful distractions as they skulk. That said, creating distractions, knowing a patrol's line of sight, and dispatching targets from afar are still critical to the stealth in Unity, and they add up to create some satisfying and engaging missions.
Finally, combat in Unity has become both more difficult and more accessible. Melee combat has been pared down to attacking, parrying and evading, which makes sword fighting much more streamlined and intuitive. Light attacks deal good damage, but can be easily parried. Heavy attacks must be evaded, but they can also be interrupted by a light attack.
Plusses, Minuses
The improvements to the stealth mechanics bring with them some flaws. The cover system opens new avenues of stealth and evasion during assassinations, but it is also cumbersome and clunky to use. Arno can be somewhat unresponsive when commanded to take cover, and moving between cover points feels slow and inefficient.
The enemy AI comes in a wide spectrum, ranging from paranormally clairvoyant to mindlessly stupid. During an early sneaking mission in Versailles, I managed to sneak around a guard by essentially walking up next to him, from the front. Later in the game, I found myself wandering the streets and happened upon a dead woman. I have no idea what killed her, but the guards in the area were convinced I was responsible and opened fire the moment I was in their sights. Both of these cases could be a simple matter of buggy AI, but guards can be so radically unpredictable that I can't help but feel that their perception and obliviousness is result or poor design.
As mentioned, combat is simplified and made more challenging in Unity, but Ubisoft sacrificed some of the series' staple combat mechanics to do so. In previous games, players could grab and shove opponents around to make room or clear crowds, or simply use them as human shields. Not in Unity. This particular mechanic would have been especially useful, as firearm-toting enemies are commonplace and can shoot Arno to pieces with ease.
Disarming was another great way to weaken enemies in previous Assassin's Creed games, because it allowed you to wrench away an opponent's weapon and limit him to fisticuffs. Unity favors hand-to-hand combat instead of weapon combat, so this feature was also removed. Rather than making combat challenging by improving the efficiency and deadliness of enemies, the challenge in Assassin's Creed Unity stems from handicaps and limitations thanks to Ubisoft's attempt at economizing the protagonist's abilities and balancing combat.
The Sights
Graphically, Unity is a mixed bag. Revolutionary-era Paris looks great from an architectural standpoint; the structures and interiors are stunning to look at and explore. But the NPCs and some of the street details are stunning for an entirely different reason: they look awful as a result of the abysmal texture loading.
It's completely understandable to use differing levels of detail to reduce the complexity of objects and textures in the background. But this is only acceptable if the objects being simplified are actually in the background. Assassin's Creed Unity has textures and even entire character models spring into existence right in front of you, making the pop-in impossible to overlook. Unity touts a bustling Paris, with hundreds of people commuting and interacting with one another in what is supposed to be a realistic and impressive next-gen performance. What you get instead is a silly-looking and slipshod cityscape from two generations ago.
It's a shame, because Assassin's Creed Unity really pushes the envelope in terms of rending crowds of people. There is a lot going on in the city, and the sheer volume of people that go about their lives as you play can really make the city feel alive. It's disappointing that the game fluctuates so wildly between low and hi-res models and assets. Assassin's Creed Unity only looks consistently great in screenshots.
Not Revolutionary
The bland and predictable story is yet another disappointment. The French Revolution is one of the most iconic events in modern European history. This tremendous political and social upheaval caused a shift of power between the monarchy and aristocrats, the clergy and the general populace. It was a time of great reform, horrific bloodshed, and cunning politics. But all of that takes a backseat to Arno Dorian's vengeance in Assassin's Creed Unity.
Unity focuses on the power struggle between the Templar and Assassin orders, as well as Arno's revenge-fueled coming-of-age story. The French Revolution serves as a backdrop in Unity rather than a focus of the narrative. The story does unfold as critical turning points in the Revolution occur. Arno escapes from the Bastille as it is being stormed, for example, and he confronts the antagonist during the execution of King Louis XVI. So key characters in Unity are tied to critical figures of the time period, but these connections are thin and obvious and seem more like lip service than clever writing.
Not Enough Improvement
Assassin's Creed Unity could have been a much better game if it had a few more months of development time to tidy up the graphical issues and control clumsiness. But even with that luxury, Unity would still be a fairly straightforward and unimpressive entry in the Assassin's Creed series. There is enjoyment to be had in Unity, certainly, but nothing it does is outstanding in any way, nothing sets it apart from previous games (at least not in a good way). Ubisoft Montreal took a step in the right direction with the stealth mechanics and simplified combat, but there isn't enough oomph in either system to leave a lasting impression. Each is good, but both could be much better. Hopefully they will be in the future. At the very least, Ubisoft has addressed the criticism directed at Unity and is working towards patching the game into a much more acceptable state, and it is offering customers the first of the Assassin's Creed Unity DLCs, Dead Kings, for free.
Ubisoft makes some good changes to its Assassin's Creed formula with Unity, but the game is doomed to mediocrity due to its lack of polish and originality.
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