Well, it’s October, and I actually feel like throwing some
horror-themed stuff on here. Before I get to those things, I wanted to return
to the Assassin’s Creed franchise for a bit. I did think about talking about
the more recent games first, but I can’t skip the “awesomeness” of games like
Unity, Rogue, and Syndicate. Which reminds me, I need to finish Rogue one of
these days. I heard that it’s even not a long game, but still. I got a little
more time on my hands now, and yet… I kinda don’t care much about ‘ole Shay
Cormac. Before I get to that game, I got to touch upon my most recent play of
Assassin’s Creed: Unity.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity was released November 2014 on the
Playstation 4 and Xbox One (not to be confused with the Adjective-less Xbox).
Ubisoft wanted to innovate and use the power of new consoles, so we got no
watered down version of it on the PS3. While things didn’t work out at release
(you can look that hilariousness up yourself), that wonder and awesomeness did
eventually show up. The game also includes multiplayer co-op, which is
something I rarely care about. When the game was released, it got a mixed
reception thanks to a lot of glitchy code and messed up graphics. Ubisoft did
eventually patch these problems, but the damage was more or less done with some
folk. So, now that I’ve more or less finished the patched thing, what do I
think of the Adventures of Arno, Man of Boredom?
In the present day, you are an Abstergo Initiate. Basically,
you’re playing a game through the Animus. Think of it as an extension of how
Black Flag was with its present day storyline only you don’t walk around as
“Nameless, the Debugger.” Some familiar Assassins are able to hack your device.
They essentially recruit you to the cause and use you to find out what happened
to another Sage. For those who don’t know, Sages basically have memories left
over from the Isu, the first civilization. You end up living the life of Arno
Dorian as he joins the Assassins and ultimately faces this Sage in late 18th century Paris.
Arno was the son of an Assassin who got killed by Templars.
He ended up getting taken in by a man who’s ultimately revealed to be the
Templar Grand Master. He also ends up having a romance with the Master’s
daughter, Elise. Years later, Arno is framed for the Master’s death and locked
in prison. Another Assassin recognizes the watch Arno had and realizes his
father was an Assassin. The Assassin, Pierre, breaks Arno out of prison and
recruits him into the Paris division of the Brotherhood. You pretty much spend
the rest of the game doing your Assassin thing, protecting the city, getting
revenge on the Templars, and wooing a cute redhead.
PROS
This was an okay game. Even though I didn’t have too much
fun with it, it did have some good things within it. First off, it was nice to
finally get away from the Americas. We were there for three games (technically
four if you count Liberation on the PSP). It was time to see other areas of the
world and we got that here. It also felt like it went back to basics in terms of
gameplay, and that’s not a bad thing either. I guess Ubisoft wanted to tone
down the sea traveling since it had been doing that for a while. You just have
one big area to play in Paris and that’s mostly it.
The story feels like a bit of a retread since we have
another Assassin initiate who wants that thing we call “REVENGE!” Even though
that’s the case, it does feel somewhat fresh. The way the Assassins and
Templars work here in the game are much different than what we got before in
previous entries. We get inner turmoil in both organizations. Heck, the whole
Arno/Elise thing is another example. Those two spend most of the game on
opposite sides until they find out who killed Elise’s father. I’ll talk about
Arno more later, but he was… okay? At least he could fight well.
The gameplay is more or less similar to what we got in the
previous games. Stealth is pretty much the same it has been. We do get a few
new kill moves for stealth. As for combat, it does actually feel a little
fresh. There are times where it actually can get pretty difficult, and I like
that. We get a variety of weapons and armor to use. Black Flag played with this
a little, but this is definitely an upgrade.
The missions are good for the most part. Most of them are
the usual “go kill this dude” or “steal this thing.” They’re staples of the
franchise. One mission type I did like were the Murder Mysteries you did. Those
were actually kinda fun since you had to peruse through evidence to find out
who committed the crime. The Nostradamus riddles were also interesting but
pretty hard to figure out at times. Now that the game is actually patched up,
the graphics look pretty good. I can’t comment on the released version, but I
will probably leave a gif and a link to some of the more “hilarious” stuff.
Finally, the voice-acting was all-around good.
CONS
While I was able to finish the game, it did feel like a
chore to get through at times. First off, Arno is a pretty dull character. As I
said above, his motives pretty much match other protagonists’ motives: “REVENGGGGGE!”
Other than that, he only has his relationship with Elise and that’s just okay
for the most part. He does at least get a little development (he’s kind of a
sucky Assassin), but it doesn’t feel like it’s a lot. I even think he’s worst
than Conner from AC3. At least Conner had other things to him than this dude
does.
Elise was okay. As for Arno... Zzzzzzzz....
Once again, the villains are kinda lackluster. The Templars
are who they have always been: dudes looking to make order through any means
necessary. The main Templar villain is just your stereotypical bad guy and that
is a little dull. I will say that the game does throw a few curveballs since
one of the Brotherhood ends up turning against them. That was an nice
mission and I wish the game threw more things like that instead of the usual
Assassin/Templar conflict. As for the present day storyline… wait, there isn’t
one. It’s kinda similar to the one in AC2 but you get no breaks nor anything to
do in the present day. You get the Helix
missions, but they are kinda dull.
The missions are good for the most part, but they can feel
pretty tedious at times. In fact, they feel a lot like the early games’
missions and not in a good way. It also doesn’t help when you feel scrunched up
in this pretty bland area. Paris is pretty good looking, but I wish it had more
variety in its look. Even though the game has been patched up, some glitches
still linger. The Parkour can get a bit glitchy. I don’t know how many times I
accidentally fell to my death because of the controls, but it had to be more
than twice. I also remember Arno wigging out on me during a pretty important
fight. At least I didn’t fall into Limbo.
…………………………………
In the end, Assassin’s Creed: Unity was a step back for
Ubisoft. While it had some new innovations, it felt like what we got before and
that wasn’t a good thing. Add a lackluster protagonist into the mix and you may
have my least favorite game in the franchise. Now, I don’t know how Syndicate
will be, but Unity is definitely on the low end of the list. Well, that’s all I
got for this one. For now, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there. Don’t fall
into limbo, float on air, have your face disappear, or, you know, just be a
bland protagonist.
Just in time for Halloween. Hit it!
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