Where should I start with this game? Assassin’s Creed: Unity is another entry into one of Ubisoft’s biggest and most well-known franchises, and it disappoints in a way none of the others have. It was touted as the biggest game to date, and while the size of the world might have been (I’m sure comparisons have already been made), much of this new entry falls flat when compared to their work on past titles. It’s plagued with problems that go far beyond bugs and glitches, and I fear for the franchise as a result.

Let’s start with the story. I found myself playing as, well, a player for one of Abstergo’s Helix systems, the culmination of the game design discussed in Black Flag. In the middle of a play-session, my animus is hacked by the Assassins, who offer to show me the truth via the story of a man name Arno Dorian. This was a good setup, or so I thought at the time. Ubisoft had already done the faceless protagonist in Black Flag, and that still ended up being fairly entertaining. At any rate, my job was to scour Arno’s memories for a body, specifically of a character known as a Sage, before Abstergo and the Templars could find it. As I delved into Arno’s story on behalf of my new friends, I began to notice the nagging problems that would plague the story through to the end. In a nutshell, Arno’s father is killed, and he is taken in by the De La Serre’s, Francois and his young daughter, Elise. They become his family in a brief storytelling segment before Francois is also brutally murdered. This pushes Arno down the path of the Assassins, as is expected for a title in this franchise. However, this presents the first problem with the story: the player is given no reason to care about either father figure. The time you spend with them is not used effectively, and as such, it seems like their deaths were just part of a checklist. I felt no personal motivation to avenge them. Now, this is where the comparisons to Ezio Auditore begin; his story was made far more compelling because the player actually spent time with his family before everything went to hell. With Arno, I never felt particularly invested in his story, and his lack of real, raw emotion in those times where it was warranted didn’t help. Perhaps the most insulting thing about this whole story is that it was all pointless, and as a gamer, I don’t like feeling like my actions were useless. That Sage you were tasked to find before the Templars could? You found him, but his bones are decayed and useless to anyone. It basically amounts to a big “well, now nobody gets it” deal, and I was left feeling empty because my actions and reason for playing were meaningless. That’s why I lament Desmond’s absence in the title of this review; despite that he wasn’t well-received, he served as an important anchor for the story. He was the reason we were exploring the memories of Altair, of Ezio, of Connor. He gave us something to strive toward. This game felt hollow because it lacked that element.

I will say that Unity did indeed improve on the gameplay, as promised. The parkour and movement has been altered enough that it feels more fluid than in the past, although I did still find myself unable to easily drop from a ledge if I wanted. The most interesting change, though, comes with the combat. It’s been overhauled in such a way that it actually presents a challenge again, and it’s very satisfying when you finally master it. The only issue I had was the sheer amount of guns the enemies seemed to possess and the precise (read: perfect) aim that they seemed to have at all times. It added further challenge, to be sure, but it was more of the frustrating variety. Enemies should not be able to hit me with unerring accuracy when I’m racing through a crowd of civilians fifty feet ahead of them. Apart from that little issue, I had an immense amount of fun with both the combat and the parkour this go around. Ubisoft didn’t disappoint.

Assassin’s Creed: Unity certainly looks the part as a next-gen title. The character models are far more detailed, and the sheer amount of NPCs Ubisoft can stick in a crowd is phenomenal. I’ve read many reports as far as serious bugs and glitches, but my only issues consisted of a few framerate drops in areas of high NPC concentration and some lag in multiplayer. On my Xbox One, the game ran smoothly and efficiently, for the most part, so I am unable to comment on the full extent of some of these technical issues.

What really grabbed my attention when it came to this game was the two to four player co-op mode that was shown off at E3 2014, and this is another area where I feel Ubisoft delivered a solid, fun experience. One of my other gripes with the story was how little it actually delved into the French Revolution, and fortunately, the co-op mode satisfied some of that. I got to see figures like Georges Danton, Robespierre, and Theroigne de Mericourt take center stage for these missions, and it scratched my history itch in a way that the main campaign failed to do. Apart from a few laggy sessions and glitches, I was able to take part in these missions with my fellow assassins quite regularly and enjoyed it every time.

Now, before I give the final score, there are three more aspects that I need to cover, and I think they deserve a section unto themselves: Rift missions, partner services, and microtransactions. The Rift missions are an interesting concept: take the player into past and future timelines of the same area and have them play missions there. Unfortunately, I think this was ultimately a poor addition to the game in practice because it did the one thing you should never do in a video game: kill the player’s immersion. Obviously, this can happen in any game for a multitude of reasons, but the Rift missions seem designed to do it. When I am playing as Arno in the French Revolution, the last thing I want to do is get dragged somewhere that has no bearing on the story, either in or outside of the Animus. At least when we had sequences with Desmond, we knew they would lead to something. Every time the game forcibly pulled me into a Rift, I just wanted to get out as quickly as possible so that I could get back to the French Revolution. If Ubisoft wants us to play in a World War II setting, just make that into a game; don’t infringe upon the existing one for a moment that takes us out of the actual story. As for the second thing I mentioned, Ubisoft has always had weird, restrictive DRM policies that center around their partner service, UPlay, but this game seemed to take the connectivity aspect to an entirely new level of restrictiveness. It all began when I found a golden chest, which was a color I hadn’t encountered yet (white signified a normal chest, while red meant it had a lock that needed to be picked). I eagerly pressed the ‘B’ button to open it before receiving a message that told me I needed to link my account to something called AC: Initiates and level up before I could get at what was inside. Being a busy gamer, I didn’t have time for anything of the sort; unfortunately, that was only the beginning. Not only are there two or three different types of chest that require something outside of the game, but most of the best pieces of armor are locked until you link up with a group of friends in a “club” and beat other clubs in a competition. I could understand if it were a certain set specific to the clubs; that isn’t unheard of. Instead, different pieces from different sets would be locked behind this restriction, making it impossible for solo players to get the best gear. This direction that Ubisoft seems to be taking is troubling, as it alienates the parts of the player base that just want to play alone or are unable to do things related to multiplayer. It is a shift that I hope doesn’t catch on within Ubisoft or with any other developer, as it locks content until players do something outside of the base game. It’s just poor design. For the final issue, I believe that I am entitled to a “What the hell, Ubisoft?” In this iteration of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Ubisoft has implemented a secondary currency, in addition to the livres, that the player can buy gear and weapons with called Helix credits. This currency can be used to “hack” items and essentially get them for less effort. For example, a sword that is 125 thousand livres can be hacked with 1000 Helix credits. Simple enough. Except that these Helix credits cost real money to purchase, and packs run as much as $99.99! This kind of thing might be acceptable in mobile games, but in a $60, AAA title, this is unacceptable. We already paid full price. Why are we being offered “deals” that might cost as much as almost double what we actually paid for the game?! I’ve heard the excuses. No, you aren’t forced to buy them, and yes, they aren’t exactly advertised. However, both excuses miss the point. Microtransactions like this have no business being in a full-priced game—period—and the fact that I had to process that Ubisoft actually did something like this has not given me hope for the franchise. It is unacceptable, and if they cannot understand the problem this presents, then I don’t think I can buy any more of their products.

Final Score – 5.0: As a longtime fan of this series, writing this review and going through everything wrong with this entry is saddening. What could have been an exciting new entry into a series well-known for its storytelling was plagued with microtransactions, a lackluster story, and content locked behind outside apps and websites. I find myself wishing for the days when I was jumping from rooftop to rooftop in Renaissance Italy with Ezio, and, yes, I miss Desmond, as well. He was the anchor that kept both stories going and gave the series purpose. Now, it just feels like Ubisoft is cashing in on their biggest cow, and I can’t stand to watch it happen. The only things that save this game are the gameplay overhauls and the fantastic co-op experience. Apart from that, this entry in the series is not worth the purchase price. If you’re a longtime fan of the series, wait until it goes on sale. If you aren’t, don’t bother with it. It doesn’t have enough to hold someone who isn’t already invested.

That does it for this review. As always, be sure to follow The Immersion Junkie on Twitter for news and updates!