First of the series designed solely for the new generation of console, Assassin's Creed Unity makes his entrance on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC today. Is this the evolution expected for the series?
In Assassin's Creed Unity, the player plays Arno Victor Dorian, a young man haunted by a terrible tragedy and who enlisted in the Assassins to fight the corruption that blights the France, at the time of the French Revolution. It is part of a new kind of assassin, using the "Phantom Blade", a crossbow short-range attached to the wrist, on the model of the hidden blades. These same hidden blades are always present, but integrated in the system of crossbow.
It's very good, maybe even great in places, but the story's smaller focus has come at the expense of its exquisitely rendered backdrop. The grandness and spectacle that so often graces the finest Assassin's Creeds is sadly sorely lacking here.
As it is, mild improvements in traversal and combat are quickly overwhelmed by the creaking systems onto which they have been grafted. Revolutionary Paris is one of the most beautifully realised environments in a series that has had its fair share of them, but the game you play doesn't really do it justice.
In the quest to build something that looked and sounded "next generation," Ubisoft Montreal failed to fix the problems that have accumulated over so many annual release. Combined with an uninspiring story, and a long list of considerable technical problems, Unity falls short of the fresh start Assassin's Creed needs.
Assassin's Creed Unity is the best and worst of Assassin's Creed. It's hard not to appreciate everything that it gets right, and you'll have a good time if you can wrangle some friends for co-op, but it's impossible to ignore where Unity falls tragically short.
Inordinately long load times, repeated onscreen notifications, and a couple of hard freezes prove that Unity is a complex game that hasn’t yet had all of its bugs smashed. However, Unity’s frequent missteps are balanced against an astonishing array of engaging content set in a stunning world.
Return to the basics of the series while consolidate more of its mechanisms was a bold, successful bet with brio by the teams of Ubisoft. Paris is not only one of the most beautiful cities never performed for an open world, but it is full in addition to activities schedules scripted and accessible indoor environments in large part without loading time.
