Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2014
It is offensive that Ubisoft would have the audacity to release this monumental piece of trash under the Assassins Creed banner.
If I could rate it out of 5-stars, it would be "give me my money back!"
This is clearly produced by a completely new development team who presumably has none of the previous experience from the teams who have developed the other games because everything from the game freezing, crashing my console, broken features, player-environment interaction, and the combat system being nothing more than a glorified button masher--everything screams "no quality control." Everything that made the Assassins Creed legacy is absent from this iteration in the series.
I am just going to copy and paste my review from another site. This will give you a solid gamers' gamer perspective into this foray of a hot mess.
So for starters, I'm about 2-3 hours into the game. Co-op was just recently unlocked as well as what most would consider the initial training for how to play the game. Co-op also seems to be an after thought rather than something that was designed into the fabric of the storyline from the ground up. I think that it's a rather drawn out 'intro,' where the tutorials will be muddled throughout the game as skills are unlocked. I personally prefer the original approach, where Altair's base training camp allowed you to unlock the majority of your toolset upfront, rather than later because having access to a wide-variety of skills earlier actually allows the player to more creatively approach the dynamic situations you will encounter throughout the game instead of being restricted to a limited skillset. I get that they want players to feel accomplished, like they 'did something,' but this game shines when you can respond to a situation in 15 different ways instead of the same way because you have only unlocked 1 skill in the game. I think most gamers can agree that when a character has his full arsenal of skills at his disposal--that it is much more enjoyable than when the character was basically just a joke of a hero, basically an infant in comparison to the seasoned warrior.
I find the actual gameplay and player interaction somewhat clunky and not as fluid as prior versions and each iteration in the series, without failure since the first sequel in the Ezio trilogy, has proven to introduce more glitches into the environment and increasingly complicate the combat system. Combat in this game feels clunky right now and it's totally button-masher style because of the lack of skills and abilities. Prepare yourself to feel like a cheap date where Ubisoft is trying to get laid without putting much effort...me however, no thank you sir--you're gonna have to rollout the red carpet and buy me a nice steak & lobster dinner, if you wanna get in this gentleman's pants--thank you very much!!
So far connecting (or linking) with ubisoft's servers for the online features is a very delayed experience. The usual easter eggs from ubisoft's u-play store aren't available and the best part is--they tease you by suggesting you go to www.assassinscreed.com/unite but the kicker is that it's "not available in your region." So America is getting the cold shoulder? Thanks, Canada!! I have no idea if our northern brethren are affected just the same but I do understand the same montreal-based team was responsible for this rendition of Assassin's Creed. And you ostensibly lose out on access to some enhanced tools (namely the "honor saber") because, as Americans, we can't access region-locked content. That is a slap in the face and Ubisoft should be ashamed to deny, what is undoubtedly the largest videogame demographic ('MERICA) in the world, access to some nice unlockables from the jump off. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth and now I gotta hide the dry-cleaned dress lest it be subpoenaed by congressional hearing--thank you, Mr. President!
You will also be encouraged to download a companion app for "unlockables." Ubisoft went deep with this one and now there are a plethora of micro-transactions. Want the best stuff--just forkout more greenbacks!!! I don't yet know if you can unlock the in-game gear later or if it's exclusively-available by purchase. I feel like this game wants me to put out and pay it also. I don't want a prostitute experience--I want a willing girlfriend experience!!! So far this union with the game and the gamer appears destined for doom. Apart from that the companion offers more of the same from what you have access to in the game (i.e. the user manual, tutorials, encyclopedia, etc.) and those things are the same as the console version (no discernable difference based on a few comparisons). What does make it different is that you can manage a team of assassins, known as the Nomadic Brotherhood, and delegate them for missions (ala Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood). You can then unlock access to chests in the console game and other content, but so far it doesn't seem worth the hassle of downloading. I was kind of expecting, maybe even hoping, for something akin to the Dead Rising 3 companion. This companion app is pretty, which seems to be more important than functional with everything Ubisoft is doing these days, but it doesn't really offer enough to enhance the gaming experience. In fact, it feels more cumbersome and seems to detract from the enjoyability of the game. What can you expect from a mobile app though? Apparently not much these days!
Okay, now for one of the positives--the game looks great!!! However it seems painfully prominent that more time went into making the game look next-gen at the sacrifice of fluid gameplay. Look, I consider myself a connoisseur of gaming and I demand the highest from my carefully-selected game purchases. I elect games on high standards--I've been gaming for years and the ability to introduce something new and wow me is getting harder and harder. I follow this series because it has traditionally offered some of the deepest storytelling this side of Final Fantasy and Lost Oddyssey, I'll throw in original BioShock for honorable mention too. And it originally offered one of the most breathtaking, digital playgrounds available...beautifully-crafted and massive sandbox play for an assassin character. While that's still there, they have divorced themselves from the fluid and streamlined combat system from days of yore in exchange for pretty and what is becoming half-baked, run-of-the-mill campaign stories. If this keeps up--they need to wrap the story up quick or they're going to lose my business for cheap reskins of last year's game ala call of duty franchise.
Also, they did a marvelous job of streamling the parkour, particularly in terms of getting down from the fun, high-up places. They actually integrated a controlled method for managing the character's descent quickly instead of just rolling the dice and hoping you have enough health to survive a crash landing because you are quickly trying to get to the ground, whether in pursuit or otherwise, because as veteran assassins creed players will know--timing is often sensitive in the missions and objectives of this series. Kudos to ubisoft for fixing that--really tired of having to suicidally jump from insane heights just so you don't lose your quarry but not anymore!!! yay! Along with this drastic and necessary correction came another bane of any player's existence...piss-poor camera angles. It is not only possible but now likely that in the fray of battle your view can now be obstructed by any surrounding environmental pieces, e.g. tree, bush, or buildings. So fighting near any object now carries the risk of miring your view and leaving you blind to critical indications of oncoming attacks.
Okay, it looks bleak but I am optimistic and hopeful that this game will prove to be another game I love. To be fair...the last couple iterations in the series started off the same way but this experience seems amplified because of how painfully drawn out it is. Right now, I feel like an infant in the game and I can barely manage to protect myself as capably as I have been able to at this point in previous games.
The story, so far, is surprisingly predictable with the few plot twists that have transpired--I'd be lying if I said I didn't see it coming. This game has some big shoes to fill and the promise looks grim! Still holding my breath though, this is one of my favorite and most-beloved franchises EVER!!!
Another thing that's commendable is how artistic some of the missions are but they add absolutely nothing to the gaming experience and the fact that they are somewhat complicated and counter-intuitively designed, in terms of how a gamer should play Assassin's Creed, which in my opinion should be based on instinct and skillful reactions. There's one mission, while retrospectively very neat conceptually, but in actuality is very cumbersome to play through because of how different it is from the traditional game. It's basically like a vivid dreamscape that narrates Arno's (main character) ascension to assassin rank, and it's got some delicious visuals but playing through it is a chore and the fact I failed something, which should be so trivial to the plot kind of irritates me. I didn't buy this game for that crap, if you're going to introduce something so drastically different and new for the sake of justifying a new game--don't make it overly-complicated, am I right?
Anyway, I have barely touched the tip of the iceberg and I will return with more updates to the game experience and you can read the evolution of this reviewer's thoughts/insights to this latest entry in what is arguably one of the best video game series of our time.
Call this vol. 1: 1 Step Forward and 2 Steps Backward
Okay, about 5-6 hours later and still not much further along the main story arc for Unity but a couple 'online' missions later. The co-op missions would be considered exclusively "online," as they require a connection (link) to ubisoft's servers. I have a few observations and quarrels with this. The first and most disconcerting is that there is obvious lag between you and other players online (now-now before you accuse me of paying for cheap internet, my avg down and up speeds are respectively 95+Mbps/15+Mbps--SO IT'S NOT ME). This to me implies that the connections are not centrally-hosted and essentially peer-to-peer. This brings a huge problem to the forefront for multiplayer gameplay as anybody with the proverbial "cheap internets" will introduce lag and this could potentially affect the player experience. I don't have a problem with requiring an online connection but my next observation and it's practically a twin brother (not quite but bearing a strong resemblance) to the internet connection speed. And that is disconnects...we all have them. The problem with the way ubisoft implemented their online missions is that if you get disconnected--there is no recovering your progress. And these are not trivial side missions either...we're talking 30+ mins and having to start all over for something out of my control and no fault of my own is bad news for gamers. Either one--create checkpoints from which to recover in the game or create persisting connections that allow gamers to have some connection fault-recovery instead of dropping them at the first sign of lag. But all in all, co-op missions are more fun since you can share the experience and the workload with buddies. Keep in mind that these missions are designed to be tackled by a team; while they are feasible to solo, it's much easier when you have a team to help. Also, as far as I know, the online missions might be the fastest way to get the assassin points needed to expand your arsenal of abilities so grab a friend and get to it, people!!! They are pretty fun though...everything online is more fun with a friend or stranger. You also have the option to play publicly and allow one of the stranger dangers, chat roulette style, join you for an online mission. After a while of searching, if no matchmaking occurs, you'll be presented with an option to play solo or invite a friend. Holding the menu button (360's back button) gives you this option at anytime during the matchmaking waiting period.
The visuals, people--they're breathtaking. The animations, for example of cutting the tow cable for the cargo elevators (old-fashioned wooden beam with a pulley system rigged for hoisting heavy cargo) is really fluid and you'll find a lot of neat animations throughout the city of revolutionary France. But it's a painful reminder that they misplaced their attention. The graphics are fantastic, expect no less from this series, but the gameplay is starving for improvement. I think that Edward and Connor both had very responsive control. Arno feels like he's stuttering and if you try to perform any extremely dynamic changes in direction--you'll see what I mean.
The way you select different weapons is through use of the directional pad (or d-pad) and it's nothing new but I'm a fan of previous versions where you assign items to each cardinal direction via a start menu and then use the item by pressing the assigned direction during gameplay. This style is somewhat preserved though only for up and down.
I have encountered chests that require me to be "initiate level 2." What does that mean? Well, play the game and you'll find that you can now store your progress "ONLINE" in the cloud of the internet ether and Ubisoft means to take advantage of this feature. Although, and if you're guessing I'm about to complain some more--the blue ribbon goes to you, sir (or ma'am??)!!! Anyhow, this initiate level requires experience. The experience can only be generated by linking your uplay account. Sounds simple enough, right? But there's more...try to manage or review your initiate progress and you'll find that it's a feature that is "coming soon." Kudos, Ubisoft! Introduce chests we can't even open because your hair-brained schemes are broken from the jumpoff. Long gone are the days when all the goodies and easter eggs in a game were all contained on the disc you brought home from the store. Now you have to sign up at this website and do any number of steps just for a couple freebies. Whoever said playing video games is like a job these days wasn't kidding...it's not even just a normal 9-5, it's one of those jobs where your boss pages you in the middle of the night and any hope for job advancement requires picking up his dry cleaning and a number of other ridiculous and unnecessary, IRRELEVANT tasks.
There is one glimmer of light in the unlockable system. There are a variety of ways to purchase items now. They have hack points, which are beside the normal in-game currency (something denoted by an F-symbol). Instead of doling out the numerous ducats (dutch currency--since I don't know and am too lazy to research the F-symbol's meaning) you can instead spend hack points to purchase any item you might desire. For example, one of the better swords in the game costs 125,000F or 1000H. I don't yet know how the transactions goes from start-to-finish since I haven't spent any yet. But I think it's cool that you get an alternative to get to your desired destination, if you will.
I am about 6 hours in, been exploring like crazy so probably only about 1-2 hours into the main story's progress but I am finally starting to have some fun. It seems more challenging and I'm up for that but it needs to be reasonably paced. I can't wait to tackle more online missions, problems withstanding, with some XBHers!!!
The companion app seems a bit more intuitive after some more face time with it now. In the console game, you'll find what are called "nomad" points. Accessing these is what gives the companion app's nomad brotherhood missions and it's self-explanatory from there. In case you are having issues finding these missions in the companion app. If you are sure that you have already accessed a nomad point in the Unity console version, then hit the home button on the companion app (upper right-hand corner) and then peruse the map for some green hexagonal icons that will likely be shimmering, a beacon for your attention. Hope this helps!
Vol. 2--A New Hope...but it's on life-support
Man, guys--I'm really trying to like this game but it would be hard for me to recommend purchase to anybody apart from diehard fans of the franchise who are committed to continuing the main story arc. The game not only crashes itself and requires frequent resets but it also causes the xboxOS to crash as well, requiring hard power cycling. There are unusually-long load times. This is really starting to go beyond the point of ridiculous because the game seems like it was prematurely released and arguably not tested by any external, unbiased 3rd parties or even in-house because if it had been I don't think it would carry the amount of problems that it has.
Additionally and tragically, throughout the entire course of gameplay all I can think is 'what a bumbling disaster of controllability and monumental quality-control failure.' The best adjectives to describe interacting in both combat and the surrounding environment would be clumsy, clunky, dysfunctional. I'm talking about spending 3-5 seconds positioning yourself perfectly, merely to open a chest or any other interactable object in the environment. It's only a couple seconds but having to fumble around an object just to interact with it is a gameplay no-no. They need to fix the proximity area where players become eligible to successfully interact with objects.
Combat is just wow. Anybody who played the first game might recall that given an opponents stance, there was either a way to proactively break their defensive posture to execute an attack or reactively counter their attack. There was simply an answer for any given enemy type and how they were facing you, whether offensively or defensively. Through the evolution of the series this has steadily gone away. I'm finding this game to be a button masher and it's just really breaking my heart. I'm fixed on waiting to see how the next release in the series will review before I purchase it instead of unquestioningly pre-ordering as soon as possible. This game is mounting to be a massive disappointment in terms of enjoyability. This game is reviewing poorly and I'm in agreement--whole-heartedly. I feel like I have to mash on buttons constantly to get my character to do what I want and even then, the responsiveness is terrible and leaves me quite often open to attack. It is the opposite of fun to sit there and get my but whipped by every opponent in the game unless you get a stealth kill, prepare to risk your life with any and every opponent who's attacking you because even the low-level guys can counter your single attack option (x-button) and negate your offense. I've even encountered waist-high fences that I couldn't mount, haha. Seriously? Deft agility is a staple of this series and I can't even hop a 3-ft fence--tragic misfit in the series is what this game is.
The only reasonable conclusion at this time is that a new development team was responsible and they don't have an ounce of skillful gamer in their midst because everything about the gameplay screams "I need to be improved." It's just clumsy, clumsy, clumsy! Straight up button-masher and if this were one of my kids...I would belt him until he changed his behavior.
Eagle vision is now time-limited and also has a refresh period before the next consecutive use. The amount of things changed is great and it was not changed for the better. My resolve to finish this game is weak and I am most-certainly not motivated to complete all the side missions like I have been in previous games.
It just has to be this development team. There's no way the folks responsible for Black Flag could have developed this game in tandem, given the amount of time needed to produce a video game product. I'm sorry guys, but I can't lie to you about my experience. My next and last update will be after I complete the game. I feel like everything that needs to be said about gameplay has been covered thus far.
Also, about the companion app--be prepared to lose progress and sync with the game. I have read about others losing recruited assassins and it happened to me. They were my starter assassins so not too much of a big deal but definitely worth mentioning 'cause that is a bug that should not be happening.
Vol. 3: Where the Hell Was Quality Control On This One???
In conclusion--I really wanted to like it but no matter how much optimism and effort I invested to find positive things. I'm just coming up empty-handed.
Save your money, don't pre-order the next installment and wait for reviews from a TRUSTED SOURCE (somebody you know isn't getting paid for favorable reviews).
