Assassin’s Creed Unity | Game Review

By now, you know what to expect from Assassin's Creed. A bit of history, a few assassinations and a lot of free running.

At its heart, Assassin's Creed Unity is no different. It deals with the French Revolution, and the memories of Arno Dorian, who is an assassin with links to the Templars. Slightly cocky with the obligatory love interest who is just out of his league, Arno is tasked with exposing the powers behind the Revolution. As expected, it's a tough journey and there are plenty who don't want the information exposed.

Along the way, Arno will pick up a few handy assassin skills, although when he first starts out he already has the parkour element down. That barely raises an eyebrow at times – you can scale the outside of the palace walls without onlookers expressing any surprise at all, until you get low enough for the guards to see you and start firing their weapons.

At other times, the guards are a little overzealous: for example, without ever having laid eyes on you, they somehow know you haven’t been invited to the party at the palace and will eject you if they spot you.

Graphics are a cut above the previous entries, and they should be, as Unity was developed exclusively for the next-gen consoles. Pushing through Paris’s crowded streets feels claustrophobic and frustrating, but can also offer your assassin a level of protection against detection.

There are some weird moments – for example, a woman who seemed to be stuck in the middle of a hay cart; a man in the crowd who somehow find the ability to levitate 10 feet off the ground; the odd black screen moment, when Arno’s vision was momentarily blocked. These glitches, however, are few and far between.

Unity also brings in some gameplay changes. You can now choose to free run up and down buildings with a button press, holding down the right trigger and A for up and B to free-run down, instead of just launching yourself at buildings, picking a direction and hoping for the best outcome. It's a change that will take a few attempts before it feels natural, especially if you have played the AC games previous to Unity. There's a dedicated cover system too, that allows Arno to peer around corners without exposing himself to detection, or hide behind an opportune piece of furniture. Combat has also been changed a bit, with more emphasis on swordplay – parry and dodge attacks to stay alive.

There's a lot to love about Unity. The main problem is that, unlike previous Assassin's Creed heroes such as Ezio or Altair, you just don't really care enough about Arno. While the story should be the biggest attraction of Unity – it's the French Revolution, after all – it feels a little flat.

There’s a bit of a saviour in terms of the new co-op mode. The online co-op play allows you to team up with up to three friends to roam 18th-century Paris and carry out missions as you explore. It’s worth roping in a few friends to join your Brotherhood, and the gear you pick up in the single-player missions will be accessible here.

As always, Assassin's Creed puts in a good performance, with just enough change in gameplay to keep things interesting.