Gameplay
This is where I have to keep my fanboyism in check and not just start spouting superlatives, but it’s hard not too. Assassin’s Creed: Unity is not a simple re-hash of last years release, but a true next-gen powerhouse that delivers in the gameplay department.
In my eyes the graphics could be poor and the story sub-par, but if the gameplay is fun I’ll happily throw my money down again and again, as is the case with Assassin’s Creed: Unity.
Traversal, combat, assassinations and just about everything else has had a complete face-lift from Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Controlling Arno feels fluid and natural, the controller being a mere extension of yourself, a natural interface between you and Arno.
Where previous games managed to induce fits of rage with dodgy climbing mechanics (Ezio fell to his death many a time by my hand, though not by my will,) Assassin’s Creed: Unity has near-perfected the movement of an Assassin.
I was gobsmacked by Assassin’s Creed III’s traversal system, at the time I thought it revolutionary and couldn’t imagine it getting any better (Black Flag was further proof of my theory,) but Unity blows it out of the water.
Simply walking through the bustling streets of central Paris is a joy to behold, due in no small part to the fact that I’m not accidentally picking pockets or stroking the faces of soldiers and causing a ruckus in doing so. Instead with a slight push of the left stick you can stroll through the densely populated and thoughtfully designed streets with ease, taking in the little details, more on them later.
Of course you don’t want to spend all of your time walking amongst the peasants and their squelch, so you’ll spend just as much time hopping from roof to roof, scaling the famous landmarks of the day and generally doing wicked-cool stuff that you’d fail miserably at in real life. It’s not hard either, in fact it’s as simple as one could imagine.
I’m usually big on complaining about stripping down features and making them too easy, as was the case with Assassin’s Creed: III’s combat, though on this occasion it’s a welcome move. Whilst it does feel like your simply pushing one button and guiding with your left thumb, that’s exactly as easy as it should be. Assassin’s Creed games aren’t climbing simulators and as such it makes sense for the most common method of travel to be as simple as possible to leave the player free to enjoy the game, rather than holding down a combination of buttons in order to move one hand in front of the other.
The climbing, or parkour should I say, has made much easier, most likely to ease in new players. It works splendidly and with the new ‘up and down’ feature, by where you simply press one button to initiate upwards movement and another to make your way back towards the Earth, there’s a lack of frustration that often came about from dodgy controls. That said, I still managed to fling myself off of a few buildings to fall to my demise. I’m a clumsy guy with big hands though, so I’m laying the blame on them.
Combat is another feature to be revamped, but instead of being drawn back and made overly simplistic, it’s actually a bit harder. Where previous games would allow you to simply keep up the volley of counter-attacks and defence-breaks until a substantial pile of corpses surrounded you, Assassin’s Creed: Unity forces you to adapt to your enemy and learn new methods of dispatching foes.
There are of a course ‘classes’ of enemies, and by that I mean you have your regular grunts who are just waiting to have their throats cut whilst the ‘heavies’ take a bit more skill to kill. It’s the same basic principle as combat in Assassin’s Creed: III and Black Flag, but I didn’t ever feel over-powered to the extent I did in the aforementioned games, in fact I felt downright vulnerable at times and was forced to scurry away like a rat, lest I be killed.
Assassin’s Creed games have come under fire ever since Assassin’s Creed II for the lack of actual stealth involved. Where the first game did a decent job and forced you to move silently amongst the crowds and plot a path to make your kill, subsequent games have been generally a lot more action-orientated, to varying degrees of success.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity takes a step back from the action, though there’s still plenty of it, and lets you take your time, assessing your surroundings to make the perfect kill.
Assassination targets are presented in a sandbox type of way, in that you have one fairly large area and your target is somewhere within, usually well guarded and hard to get to. Not a problem.
Instead of being told to run through a crowd and stab the bastard in the neck or being presented the option of taking a cheap shot from above with a ranged attack, you’re encouraged to survey the area first. Where are the guards? What are their movement patterns? If I distract guard A will guard B follow suit or will he be more savy to what’s occurring and become more alert to the imminent threat? These are questions I found myself asking over and over again, and the perfectionist in me forced several replays of missions until I was satisfied that I’d pulled off the ‘perfect’ assassination.
Assassinations are good fun too. For purists who like to achieve their targets and collect trophies/achievements you’ll be more than happy with the challenging gameplay on offer. The first few kills are fairly simple and walk you through it with a helping hand, but once you’ve been taught the basics then you’re on your own and it’s a tough, brutal world out there.
Sure you can make a few slip ups and still get to your target, but it’s a lot harder when things don’t go to plan and when everything does go balls up, you’ll probably find yourself wanting to restart the mission and give it another shot, maybe taking the not-so direct approach. That’s the beauty in Assassin’s Creed: Unity’s gameplay. You’re not confined to a strict set of parameters, but instead you’re offered the choice to build your own approach and should you cock it up, you’ve only yourself to blame. (It’s fair to blame the game though, we all do it and it makes us feel better about ourselves.)
You’re given a fair few tools to relieve your foes of their Earthy shackles and send them off into the afterlife with some great battle-wounds to brag about. The new and improved hidden blade features a mini-crossbow of sorts that is capable of more or less all that could be done with darts in previous games, but it’s a nice touch. There’s also a fine selection of weapons to gather and upgrade throughout Paris, so it’s worth taking the time to mooch around and see what you can find.
The real improvement when it comes to stealth gameplay is the ability to crouch. Yes, after almost eight years of Assassin’s Creed games we’re finally being given the ability to bend our digital knees and hide behind objects. It seems like such a trivial thing but its been sorely missed from the series for far too long.
It’s not hard to use either, with the press of a button you’ll be mooching three feet closer to the ground, able to move along low cover and avoiding confrontations when needed. As I said, it’s such a simple thing but why Ubisoft never gave players the full range of movement before I’ll never know, but after years of players complaining (rightfully so,) they’ve buckled and put it in there. Strangely enough, Ubisoft’s other stealth-orientated series – Splinter Cell – has had a crouch feature since it first released, you’d have thought they’d have taken some cues from master Assassin Sam Fisher…
Well, they did, and not just in the bending of the knees. If you’ve played the last couple of Splinter Cell games then you’ll instantly recognise the ‘last known location’ element that has been incorporated into Assassin’s Creed: Unity. It’s as simple as it sounds; when you’re being pursued you can hide yourself behind object or break the line of sight and you’ll leave behind a faint ghostly image representing your last known location to the guards. No more second guessing where the guards will search for you, now you can steer them away from you as you run for your life.
Side-quests are a welcome distraction should you find yourself not wanting to rush the main story. The many optional side-missions offer different ways to play, with the best of the bunch coming in the form of murder investigations. You can investigate killings throughout Paris and become the Sherlock Holmes that the city needs, or you can simply not bother, your choice.
Personally, I found them to be fun little stories that contained their own narratives, not unlike some of the ‘stranger’ missions found within Red Dead Redemption. Whilst there’s a fair amount of these side-missions, there comes the natural occurrence of repetition. It’s not too bad though, I only noticed it myself as I spent a few hours away from the main campaign to explore the sights of the city and stumbled upon a few quests along the way which I completed one after another. Space them out and you’ll forget that you’re repeating yourself.
There’s a lot to do away from the main story, not just the side-missions. There’s the usual high points for you to climb in order to synchronise the map, revealing the locations of different missions, stores and more. Another fan-favourite that’s present are the collectibles. Oh yes, many collectibles. I’m nowhere near finishing the collectibles and I don’t think I’ll ever get around to it, I’ve only ever managed to do so in one Assassin’s Creed game and that was Assassin’s Creed II, with the help of an online guide. For those who enjoy the hunt and need to get the Platinum trophy or complete the Achievement list, you’ll be in for a treat. Otherwise it’s not detrimental to the game, you’ll still be able to live a righteous life without them. Just not a complete one.
I haven’t yet had the chance to try out the co-op missions as none of my friends are lucky enough to own the game this far before release and I want only to play with people that I know, lest I deal with the frustration of language barriers or just idiots. So once the game is officially released there will be an update here relating to the gameplay of the much-touted co-op missions that Ubisoft seems ever-so-proud of.