Re-Visiting Assassins Creed Unity
After finishing up Ghost of Tsushima last week, I felt this need for more sword-wielding combat. I looked at my backlog and found a few prospects. I also found an icon in my digital library that I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was Assassin’s Creed Unity, a game that I hadn’t touched since the month that it was released–way back in 2014. Up until then, the Assassin’s Creed franchise was my jam. With Unity, we were supposed to get the ultimate Assassin’s Creed experience. What we got was one of the most disastrous game launches of all-time. I clicked on that icon to re-visit just how bad it was.
When it comes to the Assassin’s Creed games, I find that I hold them in high regard despite the series’ consistent knack for making terrible creative decisions. If you’re a fan of the series, take a moment and try to explain the lore of the franchise from game-to-game. For as interesting as the foundation of the storytelling was in those early games, there was a clear point—between Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed Revelations—where things came off the rails at Ubisoft. At some point, the developers were like “Fuck it, this one takes place in the American Revolution.” In just a few years, you went from Assassin’s Creed 2 being most people’s 2009 game of the year to a lot of those same people declaring that the series was all but dead after the third installment in 2012.
Thankfully for Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed 4 came out a year later in 2013 and added some much-needed stability. Despite the game’s story still not making any sense (“Fuck it, now you’re a pirate.”), adding new gameplay elements such as ship battles, sea shanties, and a charming, charismatic protagonist made all the difference. Assassin’s Creed 4 was also a multi-generation release, releasing on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 consoles. With this rejuvenation of the franchise, anticipation was high for what a truly dedicated next-generation Assassin’s Creed experience would be like. Photo-realistic graphics? Full-scale cities to run around in? Crowds of NPC’s that truly made the city feel alive? That’s what fans of the series wanted. Instead, what they got was Assassin’s Creed Unity.
Of the numerous issues that Unity had, the fact of the matter is that it was a game that had no right to be released when it did. All the games in the Assassin’s Creed series have been buggy. That’s a bit of what makes them so charming. That wasn’t the case here. Assassin’s Creed Unity was an unfinished, broken game. It was the first experience that I’ve ever had with a retail released game that I found unplayable. The frame rate would chug all over the place; animations were unstable; NPC’s AI was frustrating, and the consistent issues with the textures were something out of a Jefferey Dahmer fever dream. It’s not that Ubisoft’s developers had become less talented. It seemed Ubisoft knew what people were expecting a next-generation Assassin’s Creed to be and they tried to deliver that. As it turns out, whether it was the limitations of the development cycle or the hardware, it just didn’t work. Ubisoft would release patch-after-patch to fix the game, but it was too late.
I have had this desire to play an Assassin’s Creed game for a while now. I think that is why I became so obsessed with the Ghost of Tsushima. That game does Assassin’s Creed better than Assassin’s Creed does. Sure, three Assassin’s Creed games have come out since Unity’s baby poopy diaper filled burrito, but those games are very different from what Ubisoft had attempted with Unity. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, which takes place in London, was the next release, and it was far less ambitious. Instead of improving on Unity and pushing the franchise forward, Syndicate offered mostly more of the same from the previous generations of Assassin’s Creed games. Not to say that is a bad thing. Lots of people praise Syndicate, but for me, it just never clicked. I wanted something different…well until I got something very different. That’s what Assassin’s Creed Origins, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Valhalla are. These are games that have taken elements from games like The Witcher 3, Destiny, and The Division and thrust them into Assassin’s Creed, even if it’s not an ideal fit. The new direction for the series is all about large, sprawling worlds, crafting, leveling up your character, grinding for loot, and microtransactions. On their own, they are great games if that’s what you’re looking for, but there is very little Assassin’s Creed to be found in them. Instead of using stealth to hunt down your targets and take them out with your hidden blade, the new Assassin’s Creed protagonists are fearless tanks that use magical flaming swords that they retrieved from clashes with mythical beasts. It’s too different. And I don’t know that going back to the remastered versions of Assassin’s Creed 2 & 3 is an option either, as those games probably haven’t aged well. So why not give Unity another shot. Maybe my desire for a traditional Assassin’s Creed experience could help me overlook the technical issues. That’s what I went into it hoping. Oddly enough, what I got was way more than just that.
For as terrible and frustrating as the Assassin’s Creed Unity experience was back in 2014, I am blown away by how far it’s come. This isn’t me letting Ubisoft off the hook for releasing an unfinished game, but I will say that there is a night and day difference between that original version and the one that it ultimately became. In a world where we have seen companies like Bioware, EA, and 2K counter unhappiness from their consumers by dropping support altogether, I can at least give Ubisoft credit for sticking with Unity.
Booting up Unity for the first time in six years, I was a bit taken aback. Visually, this game is incredible. For a game that was released so early into this console cycle, Unity’s graphics and overall aesthetic hang in there with the best of what’s been released since. I remember Syndicate having this washed-out, polluted look that made everything various shades of grey—sort of as if you had just walked into a room full of chain smokers. Origins and Odyssey are great looking games, but they’re doing their own thing—more vibrant and artsy than realistic. It makes Unity stand out even more. The grimy colors give it this natural appearance, and it’s a shame that this game was released before the popularity of photo modes because this is a game that would have benefited a lot from it. The fact that the game is set in Paris only adds to the immersion. Unlike Greece, Egypt, and London, Assassin’s Creed Unity’s setting allows for that rooftop-scaling insanity that the series was built upon. It’s a city full of slums, entertainment districts, political rallies, and cathedrals. The amount of NPCs that fill the streets is mind-blowing. It was probably a pain in the ass to get done by the developers—which is likely why you don’t see it in the sequels—but it’s so effective at making Paris feel alive. Blending in with a crowd in Assassin’s Creed games always sounded cooler than it was. It usually meant slowly walking next to 2-3 people for a few seconds. In Unity, there’s a constant sea of people in the streets. It can be overwhelming at times, but I also love that the NPC’s aren’t there for the sake of being there. Walking around, you will see the NPCs interacting with one another. You will see unique scenes playing out as you peruse. Last night, I was headed to a mission, saw this massive crowd near the river, and went down to investigate. It was a public execution. From a technical aspect, I wanted to see how it would play out. Would it be a repeated animation? Instead, I hear a woman cry out for help. It’s the mother of one of those being executed, and she’s pleading for me to intervene. On a somewhat related note: If you try to shoot an executioner with a poison dart in the middle of the day in a restricted area, it’s not going to end well for you.
Speaking of the animations, I found that Unity was a mixed bag. On the downside, it’s noticeably slow, especially when compared to the newer releases. Whether you’re running around town or in a sword fight, your character, Arno, feels sluggish. It feels like there is some lag between what you want to do and what Arno does. It takes some getting used to, but it’s worth the work. I prefer a slower, more natural Assassin’s Creed than the hasty pace of Odyssey. On the plus side, there’s free running. All Assassin’s Creed games have had free-running (or parkour) in them, and that system has gotten more generous in recent times. In Odyssey, you can scale anything at any time. Your character is Spider-Man, and there’s times that I would find myself climbing a giant sculpture or marble wall and have this “What in the fuck is he grabbing to climb this?” moment. In Unity, again, it’s a more realistic approach. You can’t just run up the side of a building. You need to plan your routes a bit more carefully. Pressing the R-Trigger will get Arno into his free-running animation, but then you have full control. Press X or A while running and Arno will ascend, pressing O or B will have him descend. When properly used, it looks fantastic, and it feels even better. There is this sense of limitation that is oddly satisfying. You will come across a bell tower or rooftop and find yourself stuck wondering how the hell you climb up it. You’ll need to investigate. There will be some trial and error. But you’ll find the secret to climbing it and it’s so satisfying.
While watching Ubisoft’s presentation of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla back at this years’ E3, I kept hoping to see some remnants of those old games. While the AC formula might have grown stale over time, Odyssey and Origins are just too different. Great games. But aside from one or two forced references, not Assassin’s Creed games. It appears that’s going to be the case with Valhalla as well. With the game being set in the age of Vikings (Fuck it, now you’re a Viking!), it appears that it’s a game that will embrace that brutal combat and mythical component. For those that are disappointed by that, I would highly recommend checking out Ghost of Tsushima if you haven’t already. That game is essentially the Feudal Japan Assassin’s Creed game that fans have been begging for. If you have finished that, I think that Unity is worth giving another shot.
I can’t help but think about what Assassin’s Creed Unity’s legacy would be if it had another year or two in the oven. It’s a pure Assassin’s Creed experience. The parry-based combat is a bit dated and janky, but it’s nice to go back to—especially coming off Ghost of Tsushima, which lays the foundation of its combat on parrying. The setting and the period may not be the most interesting, and the character of Arno may not be all that likable, but Assassin’s Creed has never looked or felt better as it does in Unity.
