[DAZ Review] Assassin's Creed Unity - No Spoilers
[Assassin's Creed Unity] Loosely 5.5/10
1) AC1
2) AC2
3) AC:Bh, AC: Rev
4) AC Unity/Black Flag
5) AC3
Assassin's Creed Unity has a lot of potential, and some of it can be fulfilled even more if Ubisoft were to release patches for it to increase its fluidity on consoles. A majority of PC players are also having framerate difficulties. The framerate is not consistent, and it hurts the experience significantly.
AC Unity has an Okay story, a touch below Good. It's not great by any means. Elise and Arno are the only real amazing characters, so is Pierre Bellec. However, the story is very short. The campaign is extremely short. This may be the shortest, most insubstantial campaign ever released for an Assassin's Creed game. While I know there are some people who adored Connor's story in AC3, the vast majority of humanity will agree that AC3 just had a really flat story. Unity kind of echoes this, I'm really sad to say.
However, most of the reason for that is just because it's so short. No character receives development. No character receives a good amount of screen-time, except for Arno and Elise, and both of their screen-time is also very short.
The entire game suffers from responsiveness and fluidity issues. The climbing controls, as well as the Stealth controls not only take some getting used to, I would claim they are not the best-designed controls, either - nor are they fluid in any way.
The Combat controls are just about perfect, and the most fluid part of AC Unity. Combat is lots of fun, well-balanced and adequately tense-feeling.
Ranged combat, namely Phantom Blades are an incredible addition and the weapon, or similar, should stay in Assassin's Creed forever. How to trigger Manual Aiming isn't exactly clear, but it is beautiful and a great mechanic when you do. Silent headshots are beautiful. Hold your Quickfire Phantom Blade button, then hold your Parkour Button to begin aiming for real. Release it to squeeze off the shot, or press your Cancel button to cancel it.
The Cover system is broken and irritating.
Parkour can be lots of fun once you get used to the strange, almost sluggish system. Controlled Descent is perfect, it's one of the best parts of the game and it should be in every single Assassin's Creed.
The game's Side Quest content is massive, amazing and very well-designed. The game's Shop system is very well-designed, allowing you to Quick Refill All by tapping your Attack button.
Assassin's Creed Unity can be summarized like this;
What is amazing in this game, is extremely amazing. What is bad in this game, is very bad.
Its amazing qualities are good enough to give it a 5.5 in my eyes. It's a decent game if you spend more time on the gameplay and less on the story. AC Unity doesn't have the best Game Design, but it has INCREDIBLE Level Design. best missions, best levels since AC1/2. I wouldn't buy it immediately, I would wait for some stability patches or word from Ubisoft.
Concluding, while I wished it was better, I enjoyed Assassin's Creed Unity.
It is not a brilliant game. It's okay - and until patches that is all it's going to be.
Do you feel as though this game was rushed in any way? Would pushing the release date have helped?
Also, is it really full of microtransactions? That's what I heard. Not sure if it's true, but allegedly Ubisoft gave reviewers a copy where microtransactions were nonexistent. What's up with that? Seems kind of Abstergo-ish.
Do you feel as though this game was rushed in any way? Would pushing the release date have helped?
I do feel like it was rushed a little, yes. Namely, the story suffers for it, as well as the framerate and the consistency of parkour controls. Tutorialization for the new Parkour system is also almost non-existent. There should have been much more tutorialization granted, especially for players who have never played Assassin's Creed before.
@Story, Whoever was writing this game, it's as if they don't know how to write a video-game... I seriously doubt this writer has ever written a proper novel before, either. The side missions also all seem to be fairly similar - although they do not feel repetitive. I am not sure why this works, but it is probably because of the new Combat and Parkour Systems.
Also, is it really full of microtransactions? That's what I heard. Not sure if it's true, but allegedly Ubisoft gave reviewers a copy where microtransactions were nonexistent. What's up with that? Seems kind of Abstergo-ish.
I wouldn't say it's "full" of microtransactions, but they are available in case you want to buy a Weapon early. I wouldn't say they are worth it, however. Renovate all of the Cafe Theatre and Social Club locations so your Income is pretty high - that way you will afford pretty much every weapon in the game. The only weapon worth unlocking for money super early on, in my opinion, is the Katana - because it's fast, and one-shot kills Level 1 and Level 2 guards, especially if they're Brutes (who always wield axes, and cannot Block at all).
What about the main missions? Is there a lot of freedom? Have you tried mucking up things? What about playing without objective markers?
I heard there were framerate/performance issues. Is this the case for you?
Also, how long did you take to go through the campaign?
[Assassin's Creed Unity]However, the story is very short. The campaign is extremely short. This may be the shortest, most insubstantial campaign ever released for an Assassin's Creed game.
I'd caution to reserve judgement on this one. AC:Rogue's story is 23 missions long. 6 sequences ranging from 2 memories to 5 each.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Just started playing Unity myself so I'm avoiding reviews so I can form my own opinion of it.
But already I'm a bit disgruntled tabout the fact that they removed the ability to push through civilians/guards (the O button on PS controls). Why would they do that? 
What about the main missions? Is there a lot of freedom?
Assassination missions have lots of freedom. Closest to AC1 I've felt, almost a bit Dishonored-like.
Have you tried mucking up things?
Not yet, the framerate kind of discouraged me from lots of experimentation.
What about playing without objective markers?
Haven't tried that either, but it could be good... If the framerate were fixed.
I heard there were framerate/performance issues. Is this the case for you?
Oh hell yes. On PS4 apparently it's the worst. Xbox One seems to have more luck.
Also, how long did you take to go through the campaign?
About two days-ish. Not sure how long that is in hours but it's really not a long campaign - not at all.
DarkAlphabetZoup wrote:
[Assassin's Creed Unity]However, the story is very short. The campaign is extremely short. This may be the shortest, most insubstantial campaign ever released for an Assassin's Creed game.I'd caution to reserve judgement on this one. AC:Rogue's story is 23 missions long. 6 sequences ranging from 2 memories to 5 each.
I wouldn't. When I say it's insubstantial, I mean that it's insubstantial. Unity's story is almost non-existent - both in Animus and Modern Day. There are absolutely no Modern Day missions. I watched a bit of a YouTube playthrough for Rogue and the story at least does stuff. Unity's... Doesn't really... Rogue has more substance in campaign in 20 minutes than Unity seems to have in its whole game. I'm just calling it as I see it.
I heard there were framerate/performance issues. Is this the case for you?Oh hell yes. On PS4 apparently it's the worst. Xbox One seems to have more luck.
did Patch2 fix anything?
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
I'm not finished with this game, but it's pretty disappointing. I've mostly been doing story missions, though. The assassinations are fun and frustrating (fighting is a bad option in this game and guards actually look up and through windows to spot you without warning). However, once you pull it off, you feel very happy with the work you put into it. Travelling is also the most fun part of the game. The animations and sounds that accompany your button inputs are satisfying. I have to agree that the rest of the game (especially the God-awful writing) are amateur-level stuff. I expected so much more from a "next gen AC".
I haven't completed the game yet (80% of the way there) but so far I have no problem with the story (other than how short it is). It's a whodunnit and each assassination gives you a couple more pieces to the puzzle. Not sure what bothers you guys about it, but I'm satisfied so far.
Now for other aspects of the game, I have a huge list of pros and cons that I've been compiling. 
I just finished the Unity single player missions and I have to agree with most of what DAZ said about it. I'll probably add more later after I've thought about for a while.
One major thing that bums me out is how short the single player campaign is, 12 sequences with sequences varying between 2 and 3 missions on average just doesn't cut it imo.
Now here's hoping that Ubisoft will announce the release of Rogue on ps4 anytime soon...
Good points in this video. Some I didn't think of in as much detail, but true nonetheless.
(Spoiler-free)
Double McStab with Cheese wrote:
DarkAlphabetZoup wrote:
[Assassin's Creed Unity]However, the story is very short. The campaign is extremely short. This may be the shortest, most insubstantial campaign ever released for an Assassin's Creed game.I'd caution to reserve judgement on this one. AC:Rogue's story is 23 missions long. 6 sequences ranging from 2 memories to 5 each.
I wouldn't. When I say it's insubstantial, I mean that it's insubstantial. Unity's story is almost non-existent - both in Animus and Modern Day. There are absolutely no Modern Day missions. I watched a bit of a YouTube playthrough for Rogue and the story at least does stuff. Unity's... Doesn't really... Rogue has more substance in campaign in 20 minutes than Unity seems to have in its whole game. I'm just calling it as I see it.
I'll say it - Unity had a better executed story than Rogue. Rogue had a better story that never was. ie, Rogue's story had much much more potential than Unity's, but it wasn't capitalized on. I have 2 major problems with Unity's story... I have MANY major problems with the execution of Rogue's.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus