Assassins Creed: Unity

Assassin's Creed Unity fails to take advantage of its setting and is riddled with bugs, but it's still an enjoyable (if routine) action...

Developer: Ubisoft Publisher: Ubisoft Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PS4 Version Reviewed: PC By now you've probably heard about the shambolic release of Assassin's Creed Unity, how the game is riddled with bugs and glitches, performs on all platforms about...

A magnificent city full of exciting assassination missions, marred by broken co-op and technical issues.

Assassin's Creed: Unity would already be a mediocre game, but the quality of this PC port brings the series to new lows.

But is it the next-gen Assassin's Creed game we've all been waiting for? Not quite. It's very good, maybe even great in places, but the story's smaller focus has come at the expense of its exquisitely rendered backdrop. The grandness and spectacle that so often graces the finest Assassin's Creeds is sadly sorely lacking here.

This is the most stunning game we’ve played to date on both the Xbox One and PS4. Lighting effects will make you stop and think about the location you’re running through, while the interwoven history will take you on a very different journey.

Assassin’s Creed Unity has made the tragic journey from one of 2014’s most exciting games to perhaps its most disappointing.

Assassin’s Creed Unity leverages the new-generation consoles to add spectacular new sights and successful co-op multiplayer, but in doing so, it’s created some substantial new problems instead of solving the series’ most persistent ones.

Even as I tallied problems, I marveled at the game’s breadth of gameplay and richly realized world. I encourage fans to give Unity a try, and leave your expectations at the door. For both better and worse, Assassin’s Creed is moving in a new direction.

But pay attention to the mission difficulty ratings — many of the more advanced assignments in Assassin's Creed Unity clearly seemed designed for four players, with powerful, deadly enemies arranged to avert stealth approaches for all but the most prepared groups.

Assassin's Creed Unity is the best and worst of Assassin's Creed. It's hard not to appreciate everything that it gets right, and you'll have a good time if you can wrangle some friends for co-op, but it's impossible to ignore where Unity falls tragically short.

As it is, mild improvements in traversal and combat are quickly overwhelmed by the creaking systems onto which they have been grafted. Revolutionary Paris is one of the most beautifully realised environments in a series that has had its fair share of them, but the game you play doesn't really do it justice.