Assassin's Creed Unity review: Is Ubisoft's French Revolution-set game actually any good after its launch went so wrong?

The saying goes that all publicity is good publicity but that surely can't be true in this case for publisher and developer Ubisoft, which has taken a real hammering before and after the release of this seventh main game in its alternate-history time-travelling adventure series.

First, the run-up to Unity's launch was mired in controversy, most notably around the lack of playable female characters.

Then the game was released in a botched state, dogged by glitches which left many players angry.

The French company has apologised for the technical issues, and made a goodwill gesture of free downloadable content (or another game in some cases) to make up for the disappointment.

It’s also been busy patching the game to address the myriad of problems, which of course shouldn’t have existed in the first place.

The debacle that was the launch has caused a major distraction, like a smoke bomb going off in 18th-century Paris where Unity takes place, but now the cloud is clearing the discussion can move on from how badly the game works to how good a game it actually is.

So after all the brouhaha, is Unity a magnifique ooh la la sort of game, or is it just a bit merde?

What’s it all about?

As is the Assassin’s Creed way, Unity is an action-adventure game taking place in an open-world setting during a significant point in history.

Free-running and stealth are the two main trademarks of the series and both feature heavily again. So, there is a lot of climbing up (or going through) buildings and jumping across rooftops as well as sneaking around trying to stay out of the sight of enemies.

Around two dozen main missions progress the story, involving objectives such as infiltrating restricted areas, spying and assassinating targets. Outside of these the player is able to explore at leisure, carrying out a multitude of other quests and tasks.

As ever, the plot is multi-layered, so the player of the game is also a player of sorts within the game – someone in the present day who can use computer software to access ‘genetic memories’ and experience segments of past lives through a virtual reality simulator.

The long battle between the ancient secret societies of the Assassins and Templars is a key theme as always, providing a link between the modern-day and historical events which unfold.

This time the person whose shoes the player-as-a-player is walking in is Arno Dorian, a roguish young Frenchman living in 1789 on the eve of the revolution.

When Arno was a child his Assassin father was killed and his was adopted by a Templar family. Later when he’s an adult Arno’s surrogate father is also murdered, with Arno being unintentionally partly to blame. Arno sets out on a path of revenge and redemption, leading to him joining the Assassins brotherhood and his story intertwining with events surrounding the bloody upheaval in Paris. Romeo and Juliet-style doomed romance is woven in too, with Arno’s love interest being Elise, the daughter of his adoptive father and member of the rival Templar order.

What's good and bad?

Setting: This is the only place to start because the depiction of revolution-era Paris is absolutely stunning.

There are mesmerising views to be had from up high, where the true sprawling scale of the city is revealed. On the ground is no less impressive, with the dense labyrinthine vastness of Unity's playground there to be explored.

There is great attention to detail on architecture, superb lighting and a restrained colour palette which gives Paris a gloomy hue befitting of events.

This is one of the best looking and largest locations seen in a game, and also possibly the most populated. The streets are absolutely teeming with people. I don't think I've seen such density and intensity to crowds in an open-world game before. Paris is chaotic and unstable, but above all else it's very much alive.

It's a shame some of the immersion is lost due to the lack of authentic accents. There is a lot of French chatter among the throngs but all the main speaking characters talk in English dialects. Ubisoft has explained this away as an "artistic choice" but I say it's a poor choice.

Things to do: There is an endless supply of things to do, and it rarely feels like tedious busywork. Unlocking treasure chests, solving murders, cracking riddles, hunting for collectible rosettes and renovating buildings to earn extra income are just a small sample of the activities. The map looks like a Tube network full of stops where things to do and interesting encounters can be found.

Unity is an easy game to get lost in. One night I spent around two hours just wandering the fascinating streets picking up random crowd events such as tackling thieves to keep myself occupied.

The multi-stage story missions are generally pretty good and test the full range of assassin skills. Unsurprisingly, the best bits are the assassinations which require a target to be bumped off within a heavily guarded area. These complex missions are liberating in terms of how much freedom they allow, with each one having a variety of solutions which become apparent through patience and observation. You can go in all gung-ho but there is a greater chance of success and more satisfaction to be found through careful planning and a stealthy approach, such as by stealing a set of keys and sneaking into Notre Dame through a side door.

Customisation: Modification to your main character’s appearance and abilities runs much deeper than before. The in-game currencies can be used to buy items such as armour, weapons, boosts and new skills, meaning everybody’s Arno will be a little bit different which adds a nice personal touch to the game.

The dark side of the increased customisation is the introduction of optional micro-transactions which allow real money to be used for purchasing gear. These ‘micro’-transactions actually rise to a jaw-dropping £69.99, which is more than people will have paid for the game in the first place. You’d have to be very gullible or stupid to pay such hideous amounts for in-game items but it’s still scandalous Ubisoft has included them.

Characters and story: I found Arno to be a mostly likable but generally insipid character. I was never really inspired by him and at no stage really became emotionally attached, despite being able to customise so much of his costume and equipment. Other characters such as Arno’s mentor Bellec and his love interest Elise are more interesting.

I had a similar lack of connection with the humdrum story of vengeance and honour. Surely not every story in games has to start with the loved one of a main character being killed?

It was hard to care very much about what was going on. Playing through the story was more a case of wanting to progress than caring about what was going to happen next.

Controls: Combat has been reworked so it requires constant use of all the attack, dodge and parry movements. It’s more complex and challenging than before, with some great animations and bloody kills, but still never feels as free-flowing and exciting as previous Batman Arkham games which properly nailed the mechanics of fighting multiple adversaries. Generally combat is best avoided because as soon as you attract more than a couple of challengers it’s highly likely you’re going to come off worse.

Some changes have also been made to the cover and stealth systems, such as a button which puts Arno into a crouch and allows him to sliver along more quietly, but they are still quite simplistic.

A new parkour system makes it easier to clamber up and down buildings, but the free-running movements are still a little awkward and I’ve found myself getting stuck a good few times.

Multiplayer: Competitive play isn’t present in Unity but in its place is a series of co-op missions. These are divided between heists and assassinations for between two and four players, all of which require a good amount of collaboration and communication.

I know a lot of people will find these to be great fun, though I’ve avoided them as I much prefer playing games solo rather than teaming up with others. I like how Assassin’s Creed’s focus remains mostly on single-player, although the new co-op bits hint at a more shared-world Destiny-style future.

Persistent problems? I think by the time I got to the game most of the worst problems, such as characters missing their faces or floating in the air, had been ironed out. The biggest problem I saw was some choppy, jittery screens in places. In the last week or so when I’ve gone back in I haven’t personally seen any major technical issues.

Final verdict

In its apology email for all the technical problems Ubisoft talks about multiple innovations and how Unity is an evolution of the franchise’s core pillars. These statements may be true but they do slightly overplay how far the series has come.

The nagging feeling I’ve had while playing it is that Unity is very much ‘just another’ Assassin’s Creed game and doesn’t show all that much next-gen advancement in real terms from last year’s Black Flag entry.

There’s a case for Ubisoft to perhaps give the franchise a year or two off rather than sticking to an annual release plan. The best adventure series, such as Uncharted and Grand Theft Auto, are the ones where developers take their time to really craft each new edition to make sure it’s as good as it can possibly be.

All this said, there are still a lot of things to admire about Unity during many enjoyable, engrossing hours spent as a deadly assassin. The way Paris looks and the size of the crowds on its streets are amazing.

If it is just another instalment it’s still a decent one and there’s plenty to get stuck into – just don’t expect a revolution.

7 out of 10

Out now for PS4, Xbox One and PC. PS4 version played for review.