‘Assassin’s Creed: Unity’ PS4 review
By Steven Cayer, Senior Columnist
4/5
It seems like Ubisoft has an Assassin’s Creed quota they need to meet every year, because this year they’ve released not one but two games: Assassin’s Creed: Rogue for the PS3 and Assassin’s Creed: Unity for the PS4.
In Unity, which takes place in Paris during the French Revolution, Arno Dorian is a Frenchman whose father and stepfather get killed by a much greater power. He’s then contacted by the assassin’s creed, which trains him just like every game before. It’s a typical revenge story with next-gen visuals and mechanics.
The visuals are beautiful but only in some scenes, such as when you climb very high towers to open up the expansive map, taking in a 360-degree view of Paris every time. Walking through the densely crowded streets is another example of when you really notice the laziness of the developers. Often you’ll pass through people or even see the same person a few times. This threw me back to the realization that Ubisoft needs to spend way more time on their games.
Unity includes a few new mechanics like much better climbing, tougher combat, and even a whole customization menu where you can buy skills, weapons, and armour. This makes choosing your weapons actually important in how difficult the game is. The biggest overall difference is the wonderfully omitted competitive multiplayer and the awesome addition of online co-op. You and three of your friends can plan an assassination or a heist with many different ways to complete them.
This concept also beautifully blends into the single-player campaign. Every so often, you get a mission to assassinate someone, making you choose how you go about doing so. For example, I chose to steal back the keys of the church and give them to the priest, who then let me walk right in, instead of lock-picking the window to get in.
This game was bold and it had a bumpy start, but I think it’ll ultimately get you where you want to go.
