Should i play Assassin's Creed Unity?

[Deleted member 93841]

Unity's main problem, iirc, was that it was ridiculously buggy at release. Unity is probably the one that properly killed the old-school AC formula, because that's the one that made it obvious that Ubisoft were just churning out annual games for quick cash. Once the bugs were fixed, it was not much better or worse than others in the franchise.

I definitely enjoyed my time with it. I just remember it being kinda short, which also isn't always a bad thing, considering how bloated some of the AC games were.

 

[John Caboose]

It was honestly my favorite AC game. French audio is highly recommended.

The final boss of the DLC was infuriating, but they lessened a lot of frustrations from the previous games with some smart gameplay system changes.

 

[elPolloDiablo]

yes you should definitely play it, it's a great game. Paris is really cool, there are a lot of npc's roaming around the city and the interiors still look absolutely amazing. But for the love of all things holy turn off most icons on the map. You can filter them to only show relevant stuff and it immediately becomes more manageble.
I will also echo the Syndicate love, really enjoyed that one too, even though they made me play as Jacob too much and I liked Evie more.
(Why do AC threads always make me want to reinstall those games? I was just getting in my groove with Death Stranding DC and now I only want to reinstall Unity and Syndicate haha)

 

[Firmus_Anguis]

I honestly liked Unity, so yes!

It's in line with the older AC games and the traversal is as refined as ever.

Really felt "next-gen" at the time eventhough the consoles (mainly the CPU's) clearly couldn't handle the amount of NPC's on display.

In some ways it still looks better than the AC's that came after.

 

[Hayeya]

It is a great game with fantastic graphics and good story.
Recommended.

 

[Kemiko]

Absolutely.

It's one of the best Assassins Creed games and probably one of my favourites. I love the characters, world, gameplay. It's probably the most I've enjoyed an AC story since 2.

Such a shame that it has the reputation it does, I with the series would go back to that style of gameplay.

 

[Iztok]

It's the only AC I ever finished, so my vote is yes.

 

[Ronghar]

I would love to replay it too, but I need the PS5 patch.... I still hope they will deliver.

 

[Anoxida]

if you like AC then yes of course. imo best city and parkour of the old formula AC. Dont expect much in terms of story or characters, probably weakest in the series in that department.

 

[phonicjoy]

Personally, I thought a lot of the quality tanked in Syndicate outside of the main story. The side quests are really shoddily written and for me it definetly feels like a game made by 5 different teams of very different quality or time that it feels notable in this game for me even though all AC's are probably handled this way. Even from main missions there seem to be noticable consistency and continuity issues.

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I feel exactly the same. Unity felt more cohesive. It also felt a bit like they wanted a male protagonist shoved in there. I only played him when it was a requirement.

Unity just gorgeous.

 

[Theorry]

Its the best assassin game of all AC games

 

[Mass_Pincup]

The parkour gameplay coupled with Paris' architecture and the ability to go inside building makes it one, if not the best AC game out there.

 

[raddyo]

It's at least very impressive technically. The architecture, the movement, it's all beautiful. But I remember getting bored pretty fast and really pissed because of bugs and crashes on the PC version (this was a few years ago). Had to rush it through the end because I was not really feeling it for this one.

I'm playing Syndicate right now and I'm kinda feeling the same, except that Unity is a lot more beautiful. I do enjoy the ease of vertical playthrough on Syndicate, helps a lot, but there isn't much into it.

Heads up though -- I really feel the combat and a few systems are outdated once you play the new trilogy (Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla). Makes you think why so many people were tired of so many ACs.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

How come you are a big fan of certain franchise and you miss on one of the main entries?

Unity still to this day have one of the most beautiful interior design of any game:

The game is incredibly gorgeous even after 8 years.

 

[Atom]

Between Syndicate and Unity, always go Unity. It probably feels the closest to what a fully fleshed out AC1 would be in a lot of its city focus, and assassination design. Played it for the first time in like 2016 or so and really enjoyed it. Visually fantastic and still looks great, even if I prefer the look of stuff in ACRev, or 4 -- something about the lighting and saturation of some colors, Unity and to some extent Syndicate feel maybe a bit more realistic but I didn't like the colors of either as much.

My AC recs are usually one of each set of similarish games:

1 at some point just for how weird it is, even if you don't finish it. It's fun in a sort of Hitman-esque way and gives a glimpse into what the series could have maybe become.
2, B, R -> 2, but preferably 2 and B or all three. 2 has great diversity in cities, tons of hidden puzzles and tombs, a great feeling of progression, and a fun story that feels mostly sort of resolved within itself, though some obvious sequel hooks.
3, 4, Rogue, Liberation (?) -> 4 everytime. Nothing like it in terms of pirate fantasy. Ship mechanics are great, islands are fun to explore, ship combat, the environments etc. are all a lot of fun. Much more of a fun romp and a less explored part of history. Love the Caribbean so am kinda biased.
Syndicate, Unity -> Easily Unity. Gorgeous, great assassination missions, decent characters, fun parkour overhaul. Good simulation elements and a really nutty midgame moment.
Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla -> Origins easily. It's like 30 hours for the main story before that ballooned to 50, 60 hours in Odyssey and Valhalla. Great atmosphere, interesting culture, good characters and setting.

With the caveat being that time period can be a big factor. If someone loves ancient Greece go for Odyssey etc.

 

[Sabercrusader]

Game certainly looks beautiful, and I can speak to if they fix all the bugs since launch, but I can say since you're a big fan it's worth it. Not my favorite AC by any means, but not the worst of the old style.

 

[Kyrios]

Yeah I didn't play it until last year and I really enjoyed the game. The map was really busy with extra stuff but playing that game made me really miss Assassin's Creed games on a smaller scale.

 

[giancarlo123x]

Even running like shit at launch on ps4 I enjoyed it a lot.

 

[Loxley]

Unity has somehow transformed from a good-looking-but-ultimately-mediocre entry in the franchise at launch to the most overrated Assassin's Creed game by a large margin in the current day.

 

[TheRed]

Absolutely, Paris is still stunning, especially the interiors are on another level. Personally had my favorite parkour and the buildings were massive it felt more like a real city. I also enjoyed the combat and stealth.

 

[Z-Brownie]

if you're a AC1 & 2 fan, than you should, not a great game but i think you will enjoy for what it is.

 

[clmartin]

I really loved it. Much preferred to the newer style of AC games.

 

[Alienous]

Assassin's Creed Unity is a good game. It a kind of 'back to basics' soft reboot, and it leans heavily on the elements that make Assassin's Creed unique.

 

[jett]

It still feels like it's glued together with duct tape in almost every facet of the game. There's basically a non-existent amount of polish.

 

[Pyccko]

second best game in the series, so yeah probably

 

[Chibrou]

I like old school AC but I've not finished this one, the map was just full of icons making it hard to see, and there was also chest locked behind a paywall if i remember correctly, and the start of the cluttered loot.
Loved the settings and the town but didn't enjoyed the game at all.

 

[Deleted member 2595]

It's actually extremely good. I'd rate it in the top 3 or 5 of all the Assassin's Creed games and probably a top 20 open world game for me.

I played the initial launch on a base PS4 and actually found the bugginess and performance problems overrated at the time. Now it's much better and on a decent-range PC it's one of the best looking games ever. Staggering stuff.

Also LOVE the implementation of the HUD, where you can click and hold the right stick to turn off the entire HUD except for your objective marker. Click and hold again to turn it back on. So perfect and makes the game so immersive. You can still stand on high biuldings and crouch to get shown all the nearby points of interest.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is also brilliant, but it seems you already played that OP?

Anyone have some tips for parkour? It feels really janky and I get caught on things so damn much.

Click to shrink...

If I recall right, they don't tutorialise parkour very well, but when you 'get it', it's maybe the best parkour system ever in a third person game.

It's something like:

• Hold R2: Parkour horizontally in a straight line. You will hop and jump to objects at the same height in the direction you press - you won't clamber down or climb up.
• Hold R2 + Cross: Parkour upwards. You will climb up objects in the direction you press.
• Hold R2 + Circle: Parkour downards. You will clamber downards in the direction you point.

When you get the hang of this, it's fantastic. Perfectly practical and smooth and fun to use. No more hopping into walls when you want to climb, no more climbing when you want to drop. However I think it's slightly too complicated so most users probably didn't 'get' it, and they backpedalled from it in AC Origins onwards.

(Of course on Xbox contoller it's instead
RT == horizontal parkour
RT + A == parkour up
RT + B == parkour down)

 

[GoldenCat]

It's actually extremely good. I'd rate it in the top 3 or 5 of all the Assassin's Creed games and probably a top 20 open world game for me.

I played the initial launch on a base PS4 and actually found the bugginess and performance problems overrated at the time. Now it's much better and on a decent-range PC it's one of the best looking games ever. Staggering stuff.

Also LOVE the implementation of the HUD, where you can click and hold the right stick to turn off the entire HUD except for your objective marker. Click and hold again to turn it back on. So perfect and makes the game so immersive. You can still stand on high biuldings and crouch to get shown all the nearby points of interest.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is also brilliant, but it seems you already played that OP?



If I recall right, they don't tutorialise parkour very well, but when you 'get it', it's maybe the best parkour system ever in a third person game.

It's something like:

• Hold R2: Parkour horizontally in a straight line. You will hop and jump to objects at the same height in the direction you press - you won't clamber down or climb up.
• Hold R2 + Cross: Parkour upwards. You will climb up objects in the direction you press.
• Hold R2 + Circle: Parkour downards. You will clamber downards in the direction you point.

When you get the hang of this, it's fantastic. Perfectly practical and smooth and fun to use. No more hopping into walls when you want to climb, no more climbing when you want to drop. However I think it's slightly too complicated so most users probably didn't 'get' it, and they backpedalled from it in AC Origins onwards.

(Of course on Xbox contoller it's instead
RT == horizontal parkour
RT + A == parkour up
RT + B == parkour down)

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I've been doing this, but I still end up trying to run up walls instead of actually climbing lol. I mainly have issues with parkouring up/straight tbh. I'm playing it on Geforce Now so maybe latency is the issue?

 

[Kotze282]

I think it is the best AC game because it is the most focused.

 

[Sparks]

One of the best Open World creations in gaming in terms of fidelity, scope, size, atmosphere etc. Gameplay is a little eh and there is way too much side crap, but I'd play it just to experience the world they built. The LAST Assassins Creed game, still hurts my heart, was my favorite franchise.

 

[Mr Moot]

I'd say I didn't imagine such praise entering this thread. I had a ton of fun playing Unity back in the day on my Xbox One despite some bugs (but not more than other open world).

You should definitly play it OP

 

[BrickArts295]

It's shockingly the one AC game that perfected the old gameplay formula. The visuals and art are still unmatched by even the most current AC game.

 

[Rumenapp]

Tnks to everyone who convinced me to get the game to play on SX.

It was pretty cheap, installed and ready to go.

 

[LastNac]

Hate the character, hate the map. But hey, Spielbergs son worked on it so that's cool.

 

[Deleted member 2595]

One of the best Open World creations in gaming in terms of fidelity, scope, size, atmosphere etc. Gameplay is a little eh and there is way too much side crap, but I'd play it just to experience the world they built. The LAST Assassins Creed game, still hurts my heart, was my favorite franchise.

Click to shrink...

What do you think about syndicate? Not Assassin's Creed enough?

 

[Sparks]

What do you think about syndicate? Not Assassin's Creed enough?

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Ehh, I can't fully remember my thoughts, but it just didn't do it for me. It really felt like the delineation started to happen with that game, I never finished it and it was one of the first AC games I didn't finish. I'll have to go back and try and remember what about it turned me off.

 

[Bansai]

Absolutely, it's been patched out for the most part, it has hands down the best parkour in the entire series, and it's probably the most impressive "old school" AC game scope-wise.

This is coming from somebody who made this vid on release:



I'm of a mind to replay it very soon, since I never touched DLCs, and they come recommended.

 

[Deleted member 46948]

Yes. It was very rough at release but since then it's been patched into a fairly enjoyable AC installment.

 

[Deleted member 2595]

Ehh, I can't fully remember my thoughts, but it just didn't do it for me. It really felt like the delineation started to happen with that game, I never finished it and it was one of the first AC games I didn't finish. I'll have to go back and try and remember what about it turned me off.

Click to shrink...

Fair. Its personally one of my favourites, but it's mot very on brand. Basically plays more like GTA Victorian London and if you lean into that it's great.

 

[Retromess]

Nothing would make me happier than the next Assassin's Creed game being a true successor to Unity.

Unity has its flaws for damn sure, but the world and gameplay are all amazing. The parkour and combat is the best its ever been (IMO) and Paris feels more true to the sense of scale and realism they tried to make with the first couple games. I would love if the next game ditched the enormous gigantic miles and miles of open world for one dense, living breathing location like Paris.

I'm a big sucker for the game's progression too, Arno doesn't start out an invincible badass like so many other characters in the series do, so as you progress you get better gear, weapons, abilities and so on that make you feel like you're growing along with him.

It's a shame it never really recovered in the eyes of the public after its (admittedly, VERY) buggy launch and lack of story because it has some incredible gameplay and ideas tucked away in there. It's a game I revisit more than any other AC game, if only to run around and explore and have fun in a beautiful version of Paris.

 

[Buttonbasher]

Played it a few months ago on Series X with FPS Boost, and had a really great time. Still waiting for them to FPS Boost Syndicate though...

 

[Rumenapp]

Played it a few months ago on Series X with FPS Boost, and had a really great time. Still waiting for them to FPS Boost Syndicate though...

Click to shrink...

Despite the lower resolution the game is still a looker, specially now at 60fps locked on SX.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Just avoid the combat as unless you know the exploits that make it function like older AC games it's the jankiest part of the experience despite their intention to make it it's own playstyle. Something they didn't succeed with until the RPGs. AC Unity has a lot of notable design contradictions. It's AC hitman at times, but one that makes you think you can play as a tank. Missions can be approached in any way, but you can only assassinate the target with a hidden blade. Mission design is much more open, but part of the reason the game has so many glitches is because the cinematic moments injected into those open missions tend to break. It was the proof of concept that they needed to make the RPG games actually work. Also, it kinda has the worst tutorials out of any AC game.

How come you are a big fan of certain franchise and you miss on one of the main entries?

Unity still to this day have one of the most beautiful interior design of any game:

The game is incredibly gorgeous even after 8 years.

Click to shrink...

I'm reminded of how toxic the consoles wars were at the start of the last generation, specifically as it pertained to resolution for some being the end all be all because people believed that by being 900p this game
-by default looked worse than the last of us remastered
-looked like a mobile game

Gamers were out of their fucking minds and honestly that's why I stayed the hell out of spec discussions as this generation was starting because I really wasn't down for another cavalcade of dumb takes.

 

[dex3108]

Just avoid the combat as unless you know the exploits that make it function like older AC games it's the jankiest part of the experience despite their intention to make it it's own playstyle. Something they didn't succeed with until the RPGs. AC Unity has a lot of notable design contradictions. It's AC hitman at times, but one that makes you think you can play as a tank. Missions can be approached in any way, but you can only assassinate the target with a hidden blade. Mission design is much more open, but part of the reason the game has so many glitches is because the cinematic moments injected into those open missions tend to break. It was the proof of concept that they needed to make the RPG games actually work. Also, it kinda has the worst tutorials out of any AC game.



I'm reminded of how toxic the consoles wars were at the start of the last generation, specifically as it pertained to resolution for some being the end all be all because people believed that by being 900p this game
-by default looked worse than the last of us remastered
-looked like a mobile game

Gamers were out of their fucking minds and honestly that's why I stayed the hell out of spec discussions as this generation was starting because I really wasn't down for another cavalcade of dumb takes.

Click to shrink...

AC3 had best combat in the series. This RPG combat is not attractive to look and it doesn't feel good, especially with leveling system an other RPG nonsense.

 

[Crossing Eden]

AC3 had best combat in the series

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The game where the enemies literally weren't programmed with health and where you couldn't free aim with a bow and arrow or gun ...? Nah.

This RPG combat is not attractive to look and it doesn't feel good

Click to shrink...

Both of these statements are false.

3 had the best presentation when it came to combat but that came with a TON of automation. Again, the enemies literally don't have a health system because it's all based on animation playback. Hell the devs even straight up admitted that the upgrade system didn't actually do anything and that was the major driving force of the in-game economy... 😬

 

[Dremorak]

I enjoyed it more than Syndicate, not sure why.

I liked how it tied really nicely into AC4 and Rogue

 

[Crossing Eden]

Syndicate is also good if you go into it with the expectation that they intentionally wanted to subvert expectations when it came to media set in Victorian London. Hence, the game and it's script are presented moreso like a buddy cop comedy than a super serious AC game.

 

[dex3108]

The game where the enemies literally weren't programmed with health and where you couldn't free aim with a bow and arrow or gun ...? Nah.

Both of these statements are false.

3 had the best presentation when it came to combat but that came with a TON of automation. Again, the enemies literally don't have a health system because it's all based on animation playback. Hell the devs even straight up admitted that the upgrade system didn't actually do anything and that was the major driving force of the in-game economy... 😬

Click to shrink...

And RPG era combat as i said is not either satisfying to do due to way less animation or it does any weight like many other combat system that is based on. When you are done with encounter you want to feel satisfaction and in later parts of the game powerful. In RPG era games you rarely feel that. Especially if enemies are like 2 levels above you, it just becomes chore to fight and you are relying at few effective moves through entire encounter. AC3 did have automated combat but transitions between fighting 1 on 1, taking enemy as shield to protect from guns and then do double or triple counter sequence simply makes you feel powerful and capable fighter. Fighting bare chested enemy for 5 minutes in Odyssey for example is chore.

Just look at this Odyssey fight where you go and stab enemy through chest, neck and you basically just remove 5% of health

 

[Crossing Eden]

And RPG era combat as i said is not either satisfying to do due to way less animation

Click to shrink...

That's incredibly subjective and evidently people prefer being able to play instead of watching?

When you are done with encounter you want to feel satisfaction and in later parts of the game powerful. In RPG era games you rarely feel that.

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The combat of older AC games literally doesn't involve overtime...by the endgame of the last three games you're doing crazy stuff. Hell even by the midgame you're doing crazy stuff.

AC3 did have automated combat but transitions between fighting 1 on 1, taking enemy as shield to protect from guns and then do double or triple counter sequence simply makes you feel powerful and capable fighter.

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Not as powerful as a half ISU wielding a POE. Nor as capable when for instance the projectiles in older AC games felt a metric fuckton more janky than this:


Power isn't something that is only conveyed through animation output from "press A to awesome" style combat. AC would've never survived the last generation if the devs didn't realize that. And "press A to awesome" absolutely defined older AC games because four button presses this:

Pretty animation blending does not inherently make a combat system good. Especially if we're talking about something with more depth than a puddle or even proper motivation to get better at the game. That first sword fight in AC Unity is where the depth peaks, and there's like 30-40 hours of content in the game.

 

[dex3108]

That's incredibly subjective and evidently people prefer being able to play instead of watching?


The combat of older AC games literally doesn't involve overtime...by the endgame of the last three games you're doing crazy stuff. Hell even by the midgame you're doing crazy stuff.


Not as powerful as a half ISU wielding a POE. Nor as capable when for instance the projectiles in older AC games felt a metric fuckton more janky than this:


Power isn't something that is only conveyed through animation output from "press A to awesome" style combat. AC would've never survived the last generation if the devs didn't realize that.

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Stop focusing just on Origins (that had somewhat balanced combat and progression). Level scaling was introduced with Odyssey. And again combat needs to have everything, satisfying mechanics, good animation feedback and good progress. Level scaling alone negates any progress in AC games because mechanically combat is basic at its core, so having more skill gives you very little advantage in combat. Then animation feedback is completely off because you either do nothing with weapon that your character barely lifts or you toss enemy 10 meters by hitting it with a knife. And again there are ridiculous pre-animated sequences where you stab enemy more times than you can count and then you remove like 5% of its health.

So moving to more physically and hit based combat from one that had animation priority on paper sounds great. Issue is that Ubisof didn't managed to make it good in 3 games.