To me, the Assassin’s Creed series died with Unity. It was, without a doubt, the worst game in the series. I’m including Assassin’s Creed III in that argument. And I said that without ever having played Unity.
That is an egregious fault on my part. I based that declaration on the negative press Unity received upon launch. I based it on the raft of glitches and crashes people experienced on launch day and to this day. I based it on third-party comments, not on my own experience.
That is wrong on my part. I am a huge proponent of playing a game and judging it for yourself. Dismissing a game because of others’ opinions is antithetical to the gaming experience. In part, the Never Played series was made as atonement for judging games I never played.
I have now played Assassin’s Creed: Unity. And I can safely say that it is, without a doubt, the worst game in the series. And I’m including Assassin’s Creed III in that argument.
I am on record with the Digital Crack crew as saying that the best games in the series are the Ezio Trilogy: Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and Assassin’s Creed: Revelation. In my opinion, the series has never reached that level of excellence since. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was at least able to mask its deficiencies with the pirate’s life and ship combat, which were awesome. Unity should be so lucky as to have so awesome a mechanic.
Glitches aside, there is nothing about Unity that evokes any kind of emotion other than apathy. The game’s protagonist, Arno Dorian, tries too hard in my eyes. He tries to exude the same borderline-asshole charm and presence as Ezio but seems to fail. Whereas I felt for Ezio and his plight, I did not feel for Arno’s struggle as much.
It’s a shame that Arno didn’t resonate, because the backdrop of the French Revolution was one rife with intrigue and great for a charismatic lead. The story was a bit darker than previous entries, but the weight wasn’t there for me. During my gameplay, I came across famous French historical figures Napoleon and Robespierre, but never felt the importance of their presence in the game. Unlike Da Vinci in Assassin’s Creed II, the cameos in Unity felt like mere name drops.
(Note: I have not played the DLC, which adds the Marquis de Sade to the cameo list.)
Considering this was supposed to take place in an era of severe turmoil, the only turmoil present was between Arno’s adopted Templar ties and his Assassin roots. I didn’t feel the narrative took proper advantage of the setting. The revelation that Elise, Arno’s love interest, is a Templar does complicate things for our protagonist, but feels contrived. It’s like if all the tension in this game is manufactured by story convenience; you can see some of the plot twists coming a mile away. The game is not very imaginative.
In fact, it felt to me that the only thing that Ubisoft Montreal wanted to highlight was Unity’s graphical prowess. Visually, the game is a massive upgrade from its predecessors. True, it was expected to be; the previous games were on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. But some of the effort they put is readily evident. The crowd density on the streets is massive, and the amount of visual detail on everything onscreen is laudable.
Too bad Ubisoft Montreal didn’t focus as much attention on the gameplay and quality control. Unity’s litany of bug and glitches has been well documented. Personally, I did not experience many of them. Then again, I played a heavily patched version of the game on the PlayStation 4. Launch day players had to sift through some of the most gruesome glitches ever seen; pictures of NPCs missing skin on their face abound. I did have Arno fall through the floor twice, resulting in a restart of the game.
The gameplay disappointed as well. I found it difficult to parry or block during combat compared to other games in the series. Performing parkour was effortless most of the time, but sometimes Arno got stuck alongside a wall with a definite way to scale it but no desire to do so. Sometimes, it seems the game just doesn’t want to cooperate.
It’s a shame, too. While playing Unity, I had glimpses of what the developers were trying to accomplish. While travelling through Paris, the size and scope of everything would hit me hard. The sheer density of the populace was astounding. At times, the city seemed very vibrant and alive. It’s a shame that the gameplay controls and glitches keep pulling me out of it.
One thing I feel I have to mention is the game’s multiplayer focus and how they handled it. Multiplayer is something Ubisoft loves to focus on in the Assassin’s Creed series for quite a while now. Although I wasn’t a fan of earlier attempts at multiplayer, I have to admit that some of the ideas they came up with were pretty good in concept and execution. However, Unity’s multiplayer fell apart with its “multiple Arnos” premise. I played very little multiplayer for this game; it was not fun.
Is the game irredeemable? I don’t think so. Although it’s not a great game, it has its moments. The story is well-paced and does hold up well. Playing on console, I would imagine that I had a better gaming experience overall than the PC crowd. Historically, Ubisoft has had an untrusting, almost hostile relationship with PC. I wouldn’t expect the French company to cater too much to that crowd.
Overall, however, I was not satisfied with my playthrough of Assassin’s Creed: Unity. The series had grown stale with its yearly releases, and I think Ubisoft’s recent stance of “it’s done when it’s done” is quite respectable. Although Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate was a much better-received game, it’s been obvious for a while now that the series needs a break to recharge its batteries and come back with a new focus. As an early fan of the series, I would love to see a return to form for Assassin’s Creed.
At the very least, I will judge the next Assassin’s Creed based on my experience with it, not just on third-party criticism.
