Yes I took my sweet time writing this review up, but I have been busy with Comic Con, Game of Thrones, and having a baby; not to mention watching Brazilian fart porn. Any who.. Unity has been dissed by the the same people who praised it before it even hit the shelves. But why, what is the problem? Is it the random textures vanishing into thin air? Is it the fact that it is a bit different from the rest? Or is it maybe because you can’t execute people using a double sided dildo? Well lets break it down.
Audio and Video
Putting aside all the glitches and bugs, this game’s visuals are stunning in every single way. The environments are detailed, the dynamic lighting is great, and the characters look fantastic. In the initial days of launch, the game was filled with glitches and bugs, but in all honesty, it really didn’t bug me (pun intended). Yes they did result in some frustration at times, but the improved game play more than made up for it, in my opinion. Sound-wise, as always, I encountered several hiccups, in the form of missing speech, and mismatched sound effects. Other than that, the sound was exactly as you’d expect from a Ubisoft title.
Gameplay
The user interface has been overhauled, and both the combat and the free running have been tweaked. This must be the first Assassin’s Creed title, extremely focused on the stealth. The combat feels harder, and simply pushing through entire crowds of enemies is impossible. The A.I. has also been improved, and soldiers will not give up easily when you try and vanish. Free running has now been split in up and down, allowing you to descend in a controlled manner, unlike randomly jumping from buildings.
Free running still has the frustrating issue of getting stuck to stuff, or interacting with the wrong object, but all in all the development team seems to be going in the right direction. The RPG element of the game has been improved, giving the title a different dynamic, and a vaster perspective. Loading screens have been reduced in number, although there is still room for improvement. Again, the pre-patch glitches and bugs effected the ultimate performance of the game, but the patches released post launch seem to have fixed the major issues.
Personal Experience
I rarely enjoy main stream titles on a yearly time table, but I have to say that I really enjoyed the new direction the Assassin’s Creed team are taking. Yes the game is flawed, but what do you expect when the team is under massive pressure, and are not given enough time to tweak and polish the title?
Both the stealth and the combat feel great, and the character is finally likable. In my opinion this is the best title in the series, and is a simple stepping stone in what’s to expect from series’ future.