Review: Assassin’s Creed Unity

If your eyes love the translucence of a screen and you are in constant danger of suffering from carpal tunnel (don’t think so much, its something in your hand),Your eyes hurt when you come out in to the real world. Feel like you’ve been punched in the face? No bro, that’s just sunlight! You need to come out of your pandemonium because….there is pizza for lunch. Just kidding but yes there is something that’s going to bring back that smile you lost 2 seconds ago. Why? The seventh major installment in the Assassin’s Creed series, and the successor to 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is out. You can stop hi-fiving yourself now.

Assassin’s Creed Unity is a historical action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released in November 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

If we can say one thing about Assassin’s Creed Unity, it’s that it is the most beautiful of the series’ entries so far. It’s the first game that has been developed solely for new-gen Xbox One and PS4 consoles and PC and it shows in every pixel. That’s not something that hasn’t been captured in other Assassin’s Creed titles, it’s just something we have come to expect when purchasing an Ubisoft game nowadays.

But Assassin’s Creed Unity takes those aesthetics to a whole new level. You ready to transform into a a true Master Assassin ? (in the game.. of-course!!).

A UNIQUE CO-OP EXPERIENCE YOU MUST PLAY TO BELIEVE

Paris, 1789 – The French Revolution turns a once-magnificent city into a place of terror and chaos. Its cobblestone streets run red with the blood of commoners who dared to rise up against the oppressive aristocracy.

As the nation tears itself apart, a young man named Arno will embark on an extraordinary journey to expose the true powers behind the Revolution.In addition to an epic single-player campaign, join with up to three friends online and experience the open world of 18th-century Paris. Pull ambitious heists and take part in unique narrative-driven missions designed exclusively for co-op play. Sabotage an execution. Protect an emperor. Assassinate a Templar agent. Victory won’t be easy; you and your lethal band must rely on communication, coordination, and diverse skills to accomplish your missions, then vanish into the shadows.

Unity follows Arno’s life from a young boy to the peak of his Assassin’s career and it’s one of the most compelling and strongest that we’ve seen from an Assassin’s Creed game for some time, especially at the beginning. That said, and we won’t ruin it for you whatsoever, you do come away at the end credits a little disappointed – and you’ll see what we mean when you get there (yeah, no spoilers please!).

Combat for the game was rebuilt, with fencing being used as an inspiration for the new system. In addition to returning weapons from previous games.Play as Arno, an entirely new breed of Assassin, and take down your prey with a range of new weapons such as the Phantom Blade, a hidden blade with crossbow capabilities.Navigation for the game was also overhauled. Ubisoft created new “Parkour Up” and “Parkour Down” mechanics to make it easier for the player to scale buildings in either direction. Additionally, Arno learns new parkour moves throughout the game, but the player can also purchase new skills as well.

For the first time, the series will allow players to customise the characters abilities, adopting a skill tree that enables players to assign points earned through gameplay to improve their skills in stealth, mêlée and ranged combat, health.Players will also be able to customise their weapons, armour and equipment to further complement their individual style of play. They will also have a wider selection of weapons available, including swords, axes, spears, polearms, pistols and incendiary devices.

Assassin’s Creed Unity also introduces cooperative multiplayer to the series. Players can enter taverns, which act as social hubs in the game, where you can see if any friends are playing the game at the current time. If they are currently in a mission, they will appear as a “ghost” version of their player, allowing you to approach it to request to join their mission. If accepted, you are transitioned to their game and both of you reset to the most recent checkpoint, and continue on from there. Up to four players can join together in this fashion. Enjoy an unprecedented degree of freedom and control over your Assassin.

DISCOVER REVOLUTIONARY PARIS, BROUGHT TO LIFE AS NEVER BEFORE

It just simply isn’t the breath of fresh air that Black Flag was last November. While that took something that was loved from AC3 and ran with it, Unity takes a few giant steps backwards and finds itself in what feels like a bigger, better looking AC2. It’s the biggest and most densely packed of the Assassin’s Creed worlds, which is in part helped by the fact you can go inside a large number of the buildings. Often chests and missions can only be found tucked away inside the various homes. When climbing using RT, pulling LT will make Arno swing inside windows – often with little success we might add. The fact that the buildings are much more than just shells or building blocks also helps make this the most engaging and realistic Assassin’s Creed yet.

The real focus of Assassin’s Creed Unity is its enhanced sense of freedom. The main storyline missions have been revamped so that you have total control of how you approach missions. Major assassinations now take an open fortress format where Arno perches himself on a nearby lookout point and surveys the area. He’ll mark out distraction opportunities or alternate entrances that you might want to take advantage of, and from there it’s up to you how to handle the mission

Assassination missions are plenty and have a cinematic vibe as Arno identifies numerous ways to enter forbidden areas. Plus, the ability to perform additional tasks in these missions adds an enjoyable extra layer to proceedings. Add in the Rift sequences, where Arno crosses into a series of other time periods, and it’s clear there has been an injection of sheer joy into Unity that no fan of the Creed can miss.

With each mission you’ll be presented with optional objectives too, such as taking out a number of guards from cover or hiding points, performing double air assassinations or sabotaging alarm bells.Some of these will require specific skills, which are a key part of Assassin’s Creed Unity.

Arno is ever evolving, unlocking new sync points to spend on skills, and Creed points to upgrade items of clothing. The level of choice on offer is gloriously varied. Plus, the dilemma of choosing between double air assassinations or professional lock picks at a stage when you’ve only got nine sync points to spend is a far cry from the unlimited equipment in previous entries in the franchise. Unity is far better for it. Like Assassin pocket money, you can save up again to buy, but it’s choosing what you need for the murder at hand that’s key.

BRAND-NEW PARKOUR, COMBAT,AND STEALTH GAMEPLAY

Controls and Graphics
The control structure has been completely streamlined, making it far easier to traverse Paris at speed. Pulling on the right trigger still puts Arno in free-running mode, but now you climb up or down by pressing one of two buttons. He’ll automatically climb if you’ve got RT pressed, but hold down A (or X on PS4) as well and he’ll jump higher and further with increased skill.

But, the real change comes to climbing down. There’s still bizarrely placed hay bales to swandive into from rooftops, but if you press B (or circle on PS4) with RT then you’ll find Arno descends the buildings at speed, finding handholds and other grip points to quickly get to ground level.
Climbing on top of rooftops has never been so satisfying. Assassin’s creed Unity is definitely the best game of the franchise. I think the hype of the game was so high that when it came out people wanted it to be perfect. But lets be honest, the only near perfect game may be The Last of Us Remastered. So far I’ve tried both the campaign and the Co-op multiplayer and I’m having a great time. Sure the cover system and the climbing doesn’t always work but it definitely works most of the time. It is a very complex system that will take time to perfect. When the system works, which it does most of the time, it feels awesome and looks awesome expolring Revolutionary Paris. Jumping and climbing look very smooth, although sometimes hiccup.The graphics in this game are amazing.Carve through the stunning full-scale open world city, a feat only made possible through the power of an all-new game engine. Explore detailed building interiors and discover secret catacombs and sewers.
For those familiar with Assassin’s Creed games, this will seem odd at first and take a little while to familiarise yourself with. But, once you have, it’ll feel like second nature and make your Parkour skills – and therefore your stealth abilities too – second to none.

Unity manages to push the series forward enough to make this truly great, it’s only sad that a few left over hiccups have carried over from the previous generation. Traditional Creed problems aside, this manages to be an unrivalled murderous sandbox and Paris hands over a visually impressive blood drenched historical playground.There can still be a few frustrations, though. Although it’s near impossible to accidentally leap to your death, it can be tricky to push Arno from one wall and across a gap to another. Plus, Ubisoft has chosen to add a few animals into the crowds, like dogs and goats, which act as solid, immovable objects that you can’t climb. That means, if you run into one at pace, you stop dead in your tracks and can get stuck entirely.
Also, you can find yourself stranded on a point at times, unable to climb up or down, even by the route you came by. The control system has definitely improved upon previous series instalments, but there’s still a few irks to iron out yet.

DEEP CUSTOMIZATION MECHANICS TO CRAFT YOUR OWN MASTER ASSASSIN

Conclusion: Assassin’s Creed Unity feels like the perfect starting point for gamers new to the series. It’s the pinnacle of the series in so many ways and the revamped combat and control systems make it accessible to all gamers.

The new RPG elements also work well to add a level of customisation options to the gameplay, and the open-ended missions are definitely a welcome focus. You finally feel like a real assassin who is in control of their weapons and skills.

Lighting effects will make you stop and think about the location you’re running through, while the interwoven history will take you on a very different journey.

A RUTHLESS NEW HERO FOR A BRUTAL WORLD