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Is Unity the worst Assassin's Creed?
- Thread starter Shakerovic
- Start date
If you can divorce it from the atrocious console performance, it's a perfectly middling Assassin's Creed. There's really nothing special about it, the protagonist and all other characters are totally forgettable, and it was the second Ubisoft game that year to senselessly kill off the main female character for no reason. Of all the Assassin's Creed games, it's... just one of them. Nothing sticks out.
But it is the game that took me from being a huge fan of the series, playing every game to 100%, to swearing off it and skipping the next game entirely, because that console performance was just so horrendous. They kicked that game out the door in a totally unacceptable state and charged full price for it. Motherfucker dropping below 20FPS and stayed there whenever there was a crowd of people on screen (which was all the time). It just felt so brazen from Ubisoft; sending out their slop unfinished and counting on us hogs to eat it up no matter what.
Best AC tier: 2, 4, Odyssey
Pretty great tier: Brotherhood, Origins
Competent at best tier: Revelations, Unity
Actually bad tier: 1, 3
(Who gives a shit tier: Syndicate, all the spinoffs)
But it is the game that took me from being a huge fan of the series, playing every game to 100%, to swearing off it and skipping the next game entirely, because that console performance was just so horrendous. They kicked that game out the door in a totally unacceptable state and charged full price for it. Motherfucker dropping below 20FPS and stayed there whenever there was a crowd of people on screen (which was all the time). It just felt so brazen from Ubisoft; sending out their slop unfinished and counting on us hogs to eat it up no matter what.
Best AC tier: 2, 4, Odyssey
Pretty great tier: Brotherhood, Origins
Competent at best tier: Revelations, Unity
Actually bad tier: 1, 3
(Who gives a shit tier: Syndicate, all the spinoffs)
Honestly miss the days of building up a town and improving its infrastructure & thus getting better items and more money.
Really wish there would be a game that's deep like that. Like you build a small camp & as the story goes & u get more money you can help to make the camp grow into a small town with your money & building materials.
then that brings in more people & u can install a mayor who handles legislative decisions which effect the town. And you can hire your own sheriff but if the mayor is bad he'll put his own in. You can hire henchmen to do assassinations or collect money from other towns you've bought. If the mayor makes bad choices u can ask him to step down or force him out.
Now I'm just rambling but I love deep stuff like that.
Really wish there would be a game that's deep like that. Like you build a small camp & as the story goes & u get more money you can help to make the camp grow into a small town with your money & building materials.
then that brings in more people & u can install a mayor who handles legislative decisions which effect the town. And you can hire your own sheriff but if the mayor is bad he'll put his own in. You can hire henchmen to do assassinations or collect money from other towns you've bought. If the mayor makes bad choices u can ask him to step down or force him out.
Now I'm just rambling but I love deep stuff like that.
AC3 left such a bad impression that I didn't want to pick up another AC game until 4 years later. That would get my vote over Unity.
Absolutely the right take. I know 2014 was a while ago now, but it's wild how there's 6 pages of people who have fully forgotten what a fucking travesty that game was when it launched. By that metric alone it's the worst AC, let alone how aggressively mediocre the rest of it was if it did work.
For the setting and graphics alone it's not the worst one. It's still the most gorgeous AC game ever made, and one of the best looking open world game to date.
Running through Paris is amazing even without context.
I love this game. The story is cliché as fuck, but it's focused and varied enough. Kept me engaged all the way ...
And I cant honestly say the same about many AC stories. AC games usually have horrible pacing problems, but not here.
It would be on my top 3, imo
Running through Paris is amazing even without context.
I love this game. The story is cliché as fuck, but it's focused and varied enough. Kept me engaged all the way ...
And I cant honestly say the same about many AC stories. AC games usually have horrible pacing problems, but not here.
It would be on my top 3, imo
I've come to greatly appreciate Unity with time, especially with it mostly fixed nowadays. It's the best Assassin game of the series imo, the fact it rewarded killing just your target is something I really wish they'd retry. The world was incredible too.
My favorite is Blackflag though. But Unit might be my number 2, as AC2 and Brotherhood haven't aged super well and Origins led to Odyssey. 3 was my least favorite, the world sucked, Connor was no Ezio (bit harsh I know as he was never supposed to be) and the present day stuff was fucked so badly they've barely touched it since. Edit: Though saying that, at least I finished 3, can't say that for Odyssey.
My favorite is Blackflag though. But Unit might be my number 2, as AC2 and Brotherhood haven't aged super well and Origins led to Odyssey. 3 was my least favorite, the world sucked, Connor was no Ezio (bit harsh I know as he was never supposed to be) and the present day stuff was fucked so badly they've barely touched it since. Edit: Though saying that, at least I finished 3, can't say that for Odyssey.
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So, the first month Uplay + was free... I beat every Assassins Creed but Origins and Odyssey. After beating all of them in about a three week period in succession, I can say with ease that Unity is tied with Revelations for worst.
Technological nightmare, garbage controls, horrible monitezation that impacts game balance and the most wasted potential of any main character I have ever seen in a game. Arno started out promising and human, just ends up another stoic killing machine.
The best part of the game was the setting and ambiance. Too bad the textures look like trash.
Technological nightmare, garbage controls, horrible monitezation that impacts game balance and the most wasted potential of any main character I have ever seen in a game. Arno started out promising and human, just ends up another stoic killing machine.
The best part of the game was the setting and ambiance. Too bad the textures look like trash.
Man, what's with all the black flag hate. That's the true best AC. Unity actually was pretty decent and the co-op was fun.
It depends on how you define AAA, but I think Agents of Mayhem and Dead Rising 4 are significantly worse, no matter what you think about ACIII. (I think ACIII is an okay game, but those two are undeniably worse, and there's a reason why they got shit on critically so much more than ACIII)
It definitely is out of the ones I've played. It's gorgeous at times but the missions and story are generally boring. The storytelling in and motivations behind missions is poorly executed. Couldn't play past mission 6. The collectathon nature of everything in the world was just too much. This and Black Flag are the only AC games I've played this gen. Wondering if it's worthwhile to try Odyssey.
ACIII to me, because it ruined and horribly ended Desmond's story arc. Things didn't get better after since it was a Pirates game; but at least Unity reminded me a bit to ACII, so it wasn't as bad as those (to me).
it (along with Origins) is a whole 'nother thing
you may love it, may hate it. but the past games aren't any/much point of reference (aside from lore i guess)
The worst AC games were the sidescroller mobile games, a betrayal of the open world stealth game if I ever saw one.
Unity is great tbh. It was just buggy at launch and a bit clunky because of the move to a new engine. But the era and the art are some of the best in the series and the story has some great ideas (that it never capitalises on.)
The worst is probably 3, I didn't like Syndicate much either though.
The worst is probably 3, I didn't like Syndicate much either though.
Unity is enjoying a bit of renaissance recently - people rediscovering it now that most of the bugs are fixed and the PC requirements arent considered outrageously high anymore, but perhaps mainly because its probably the best "classic" AC in terms of gameplay. Extremely detailed, dense city environment, massive crowds perfect for social stealth, combined with by far the most deep and best animated parkour system. Plus, its the first AC with proper traditional stealth mechanics like crouching.
All that enveloped in whats arguably still one of the best looking games on the market.
It's a shame that the story is so damn poor. It really lets the presentation down.
But anyway, no. Far from the worst.
All that enveloped in whats arguably still one of the best looking games on the market.
It's a shame that the story is so damn poor. It really lets the presentation down.
But anyway, no. Far from the worst.
I don't get why Unity receives so much hate. I think it's one of the best ones!
I played it well after release though, so it wasn't any buggier than your average open world game.
I played it well after release though, so it wasn't any buggier than your average open world game.
Because at release it was real fucking buggy. Like close to broken. Also it ran shockingly bad, both on PC and consoles, it had a lot of progression fuckery like certain chests were tied to playing a mobile game or something. The game at release was deserving of all the flak it received. I mean, there was a set piece that ran at 5 fps regardless of what platform you played on. It was just that broken. It was one of the first things that got fixed, but I was really shocked that the game shipped like that.
It is always difficult because we don't know the budget of games. I can give it to you, they are probably worst (not played them).
My decision to never buy Ubisoft games at launch keeps serving me well then
I played unity around 9 months or so after it came out and by then all the bugs that people were complaining about and what made famous were not in my play through that I experienced
I cared too much about the overarching modern-day narrative with Desmond and 3's rubbish conclusion gave me great reason to never bother with it again.
Resolving acts of assassination through cutscenes, while shoving in every possible historical moment as an AC gameplay opportunity pretty much cements 3 as the worst of the whole lot.
I wish Ubisoft continued the 'black box' missions Unity first introduced.
Resolving acts of assassination through cutscenes, while shoving in every possible historical moment as an AC gameplay opportunity pretty much cements 3 as the worst of the whole lot.
I wish Ubisoft continued the 'black box' missions Unity first introduced.
I had 0 issues with it when I played it right before Syndicate came out on PS4.
I've never finished the first, I get a few hours in then get bored. After that, 3 was the next worst for me followed by Rogue. Still yet to play Origins or Odyssey, but I'm expecting them to be good from what I've heard.
I've never finished the first, I get a few hours in then get bored. After that, 3 was the next worst for me followed by Rogue. Still yet to play Origins or Odyssey, but I'm expecting them to be good from what I've heard.
Unity was basically their first attempt to do what Origins and Odyssey successfully did.
-Overhaul the core mechanics and upgrade system to emphasize multiple playstyles
-Overhaul mission design to eliminate strict fail states and linear missions in favor of simpler objectives that can be completed in multiple ways
-Create a more systemic world to emphasize player driven storytelling
-Create much more content that fleshes out the world and characters on top of maintaining some longevity and in theory, making every area of the map worth it to explore
Thing is, unlike the sequels, Unity had some design decisions that directly contradicted the above.
-Overhaul the core mechanics and upgrade system to emphasize multiple playstyles-->Combat was still slow, monotonous, and designed to be the path of most resistance even when you had a five star weapon and super large health pool thanks to armor, so they sorta pigeon holed you down pursuing stealth when the intent was multiple defined playstyles
-Overhaul mission design to eliminate strict fail states and linear missions in favor of simpler objectives that can be completed in multiple ways-->This is true to some extent but it only applies to how you reach your targets in main assassination missions as you still had to finish them with the hidden blade, each mission also had a clear hitman inspired linear defined path that was the best way to go in spite of the option to do something like start a fight. It was often more compelling to follow that path instead of choosing your own as the game systems didn't support that amount of nuance
-Create a more systemic world to emphasize player driven storytelling --->The game world, while insanely impressively, was still largely within the trappings of older AC games, with very clearly marked factions, a very small pool of crowd events that popped up, etc. which never felt truly systemic like in the Origins/Odyssey games, so each player had largely the same experience
-Create much more content that fleshes out the world and characters on top of maintaining some longevity and in theory, making every area of the map worth it to explore--->Unity did this part well, with the varied co-op missions, bank heists, murder mysteries, and even character related missions that helped flesh out the cast which was sorely needed since the main plot only went surface level when it came to character motivations outside of Arno and Elise, with no one else getting proper screen time.
As it stands, the other two AC games lack those design contradictions and feel much more coherent as a result on top of the games just feeling way better to play thanks to the simplified control scheme and compelling upgrades.
So all in all Unity is a game with a good premise and clear passion that fell short due to several factors. From the troubled development to some odd design oddities like the extremely limited cover system.
-Overhaul the core mechanics and upgrade system to emphasize multiple playstyles
-Overhaul mission design to eliminate strict fail states and linear missions in favor of simpler objectives that can be completed in multiple ways
-Create a more systemic world to emphasize player driven storytelling
-Create much more content that fleshes out the world and characters on top of maintaining some longevity and in theory, making every area of the map worth it to explore
Thing is, unlike the sequels, Unity had some design decisions that directly contradicted the above.
-Overhaul the core mechanics and upgrade system to emphasize multiple playstyles-->Combat was still slow, monotonous, and designed to be the path of most resistance even when you had a five star weapon and super large health pool thanks to armor, so they sorta pigeon holed you down pursuing stealth when the intent was multiple defined playstyles
-Overhaul mission design to eliminate strict fail states and linear missions in favor of simpler objectives that can be completed in multiple ways-->This is true to some extent but it only applies to how you reach your targets in main assassination missions as you still had to finish them with the hidden blade, each mission also had a clear hitman inspired linear defined path that was the best way to go in spite of the option to do something like start a fight. It was often more compelling to follow that path instead of choosing your own as the game systems didn't support that amount of nuance
-Create a more systemic world to emphasize player driven storytelling --->The game world, while insanely impressively, was still largely within the trappings of older AC games, with very clearly marked factions, a very small pool of crowd events that popped up, etc. which never felt truly systemic like in the Origins/Odyssey games, so each player had largely the same experience
-Create much more content that fleshes out the world and characters on top of maintaining some longevity and in theory, making every area of the map worth it to explore--->Unity did this part well, with the varied co-op missions, bank heists, murder mysteries, and even character related missions that helped flesh out the cast which was sorely needed since the main plot only went surface level when it came to character motivations outside of Arno and Elise, with no one else getting proper screen time.
As it stands, the other two AC games lack those design contradictions and feel much more coherent as a result on top of the games just feeling way better to play thanks to the simplified control scheme and compelling upgrades.
So all in all Unity is a game with a good premise and clear passion that fell short due to several factors. From the troubled development to some odd design oddities like the extremely limited cover system.
This definitely needs to come back and it's not like the new structure of Origins and Odyssey can't accomodate set-piece assassinations with one-off mechanics. It would actually be a way to make stealth gameplay (or stealth builds) more rewarding and in line with the older games. Hell, since it's a black box, you could even allow for unique combat and ranged opportunities should players be so inclined.
I think this is the last one I played to completion. I really enjoyed it, 3 was the worst for me.
They should of started the 2 year gaps with Unity. They had some good ideas in the game, they just needed way more time. For example, the introduction of the blackbox assassination design, the new parkour system and the coop. All of it needed more time to be fleshed out.
I've played them all (not at launch I should mention), and Syndicate was my least favorite. It just felt like a slog and I wasn't a fan of the world or characters. I also had more technical issues with it than I did with Unity, but like I said I didn't play either at launch.
I dont see why so many people hat III, it was one of my favorites. The one I disliked the most was Syndicate and its the only mainline AC game that I didnt finish
I remember enjoying Unity a lot. Loved the layout of Paris and there was a lot of freedom in how you approach missions. Story was pretty forgettable.
AC1 is probably the weakest at this point. Neat proof of concept but it hasn't aged all that well. AC3 is pretty uneven but I'm still pretty fond of that game overall.
Still unsure as to how I feel about the new style of AC. I just started Origins a few weeks ago and while its fine so far I dont think I care for how they decided to lean hard into the RPG elements. The souls-like combat isn't doing much for me either.
AC1 is probably the weakest at this point. Neat proof of concept but it hasn't aged all that well. AC3 is pretty uneven but I'm still pretty fond of that game overall.
Still unsure as to how I feel about the new style of AC. I just started Origins a few weeks ago and while its fine so far I dont think I care for how they decided to lean hard into the RPG elements. The souls-like combat isn't doing much for me either.