The fire that broke out in the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral on April 15, 2019 shocked the world. As a tribute, the video game company Ubisoft decided to give away its title Assassin’s Creed Unity (2014) for a limited time, set in revolutionary Paris . At the time, the public harshly criticized this installment of the saga but, perhaps because of the emotional situation, the assessment received on Steam changed from one day to the next and became an accumulation of sweet words .
Is Assassin’s Creed Unity like a good Châteu Latour that improves over the years or has the gamer community been carried away by circumstances? We have played the title again in its PC version and these are our conclusions:
Overview
After the good reception of AC IV: Black Flag , a game that unleashed the charm of the pirate life ( the better life! ), It was AC Unity’s turn. It coincided with the generation change on consoles and was the most ambitious title yet because it introduced greater customization, new types of missions, numerous RPG elements and a multiplayer mode that it promised. All this raised the expectations of the public and the critics and made the disappointment even greater .
Looking at it today, with less hype , the title raises very interesting proposals that have been seen in later titles and that have fitted in better than they did in AC Unity . Ubisoft’s mistake was and still is having used such a big title and with so many technical problems (we’ll talk about them) as a testing ground to introduce new mechanics in a saga that even in its less successful titles raised passions. In the end, this installment leaves you with a bittersweet flavor in which you see more what could have been than what ended up being and it is precisely that missed opportunity that angered the community so much at the time.
Playing it again the critics are less harsh but they are still there and the game, although entertaining, is not what many of us expected .
Live the Revolution
Perhaps the time and place where the video game is located is one of the aspects that we can least complain about. Paris is always an interesting place and the historical reconstruction that was done for AC Unity of the French capital in the 19th century, simply impressive . Added to that inherent beauty of the city is the historical context of the French Revolution and the chaos it caused for France. Very cleverly, Ubisoft presents us with one of the most cosmopolitan and interesting metropolises in Europe, filled with bonfires, enraged mobs and armed groups fighting within the disorder that was the revolution of 1789 . To this is added a perfect breeding ground to place before us palace intrigues, conspiracies, fighting in the middle of the street and clashes between rival factions that give a frantic pace to the game.
It is in AC Unity where a barrier that had been squeaking for a long time was eliminated and it is allowed to enter houses and premises beyond bases, taverns and shops. The player’s options when it comes to immersing himself in the game and the possibilities of fleeing or sneaking are multiplied with this simple detail.
Plot and characters
Arno, the son of an assassin and raised by a Templar , is the protagonist of this installment. His is a classic tale of revenge and discovery of his legacy in the midst of a revolution that, while it works quite well as a plot arc and character motivation, does not add anything surprising to the game . Arno’s personal motivation means that, even being a member of the brotherhood of assassins, he goes a bit to his own thing and even questions the creed, something that had been seen very little if the case of Shay Cormac is not taken into account. Although he is presented as a charismatic, determined and resolute person, this ends up being a lukewarm character with whom you do not get to love and who is still very far from the great Ezio Auditore da Firenze .
The plot is updated to the times of the French Revolution but continues to present intrigues and betrayals as the main point to move the story forward . Except for a brief attempt at peace between Templars and Assassins and the bland Romeo and Juliet romance between Arno and Elise, it has little to contribute. The story is of considerable length and works well enough to be consistent and not a constant McGuffin. We did highlight the new missions such as unsolved murder cases that broke the monotony of the previous games a bit.
Multiplayer and RPG
The two great novelties of the title. Although it would be in AC Origins where the RPG characteristics would settle within the saga, Unity presents them to us in a quite respectable and well-managed way . The levels of the enemies made even the worst thief in Paris could get us in trouble, the combats were much more hectic and the deadly combos more difficult to perform. In addition, we could choose our clothing and equipment based on parameters that improved or worsened our character and the stealth factor was enhanced within the missions. AC Unity managed to maintain a delicate balance between the pillars of the saga and the RPG elements that many would see broken in later installments.
As for multiplayer, the truth is that the idea promised and could have been something very fun . But the reality is usually different, and in this case the multiplayer mode is relegated to a quasi nuisance due to the problems with the connection servers . In addition, a great coordination between the different players is necessary to be able to carry out the missions in a precise way; but in reality these usually end in a pitched battle in which stealth and strategy are worth very little .
Technical failures
After its launch, players were primed with AC Unity through memes and GIFs that tried to bring the colors to Ubisoft . The technical glitches in the title were many and later patches weren’t able to fix them , so the beauty of the Paris they created was partially tainted by these things. The rhythm of a video game per year that the company had is what probably caused failures that, even after five years, are still there and completely take you out of the experience .
To this must be added that the game was so ambitious in its graphic section that even the consoles that were just released on the market suffered from time to time and there were few computers (today there are still no computers) that supported this title at its maximum power . In a few more years, the graphics and textures of AC Unity will be more than enough reason to play it again.
Conclution
Assassin’s Creed Unity is a game with great potential and mediocre execution. Undoubtedly, later titles would not be what they are if AC Unity had not been there, but fans of the saga leave us with a sense of frustration at this missed opportunity. With a little more perspective, Assassin’s Creed Unity took more clubs than it deserved, but you should not get carried away by emotions and elevate it to the Olympus of video games. C’est la vie .
