Image via Ubisoft
Assassin’s Creed Unity is one of the most interesting entries in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, especially when looking at reception to it at launch compared to today. However, one thing is clear: Assassin’s Creed Unity set a true standard for movement in video games.
With smooth and flashy parkour and great stealth, Assassin’s Creed Unity truly understood how to perfect one of the most beloved parts of any Assassin’s Creed game. In fact, even the next Assassin’s Creed game, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, is bringing movement and parkour back from Unity.
Introduction
Assassin’s Cred: Unity earned a decent amount of hype when it was announced way back around 2014. The game was meant to be a smash hit and earn its place as a new title on the brand new, next-gen Xbox One and PS4 at the time.
However, when the game released, it was slammed by lots of negative reviews. Ubisoft then went and changed the formula of the entire franchise.
This has served them well though. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is Ubisoft’s biggest launch for an Assassin’s Creed title ever.
However, while the new entries are absolutely fantastic, I think that the stealth and parkour in Unity are simply unmatched.
I finished through both the main campaign and the DLC not too long ago and I found that the game was great for many reasons. Now, Unity suffered from a buggy launch that was arguably the worst until Cyberpunk 2077 came along. However, after some years, the game has largely been fixed and is now very much playable as a title.
Stealth and Parkour Galore
You can really fulfill some cool stealth and parkour moments because of the design of Unity’s movement style. There are plenty of ways to hide from enemies and the hidden blade animations are just downright cool.
The customization of the outfits allows for different stealth stats to give an easier playthrough. Plus, custom outfits is more personalized!
There are also plenty of upgrades you can make to your actual stealth and combat mechanics, which allow for you to increase your stealth in the game.
One of the things that makes Unity such a fun game is the fact that it takes place in Paris back during the French Revolution. Having a city-scape allows for many parkour opportunities. It is safe to say that Unity had some wonderful parkour as well, adding onto the great movement it provided.
The animations were fluid and flowed very nicely along the buildings. There are some limitations as to what can and cannot be climbed, but that really adds more onto the immersion of Assassin’s Creed Unity.
One of the Best in Assassinations
Assassinating in this game was simply great, with so many ways to eliminate targets using the phantom blade and getting up close and personal. You can take on several guards at once by throwing smoke grenades and incapacitating your enemy. This allows for many assassinations to take place and can allow for you to slip away with ease.
Arno’s movement is also fast and allows for a better catering to escaping enemies if you’re outnumbered well. There are plenty of spots to hide and because of the city-scape, it’s significantly easier to scale buildings to escape.
There are also plenty of long-range weapons and amazing weapons like the guillotine guns (unlocked in the Dead Kings DLC) that allow for powerful punches at a decent distance.
Also, if you play your cards right and get some very powerful weapons, you’ll find that it’s much easier to combat lots of enemies no matter what their strength is. Since it’s not terribly difficult to level-up in Unity (just play a good amount of the side missions), you can take on a lot of powerful enemies.
Hopes for the Future of AC
Now, when it comes to the new AC titles, I am generally a fan. I own all of them and can’t get enough of a single one. Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla are all fairly decent games, though I do prefer Origins to Valhalla.
I feel like the new titles lack in allowing for more room to assassinate in comparison to the older ones. For example, Assassin’s Creed III had some very amazing double-blade assassinations that really allowed for some high-action combat. It was also easier to fight with the hidden blades as well. I think that adding more of that charm with the hidden blade would definitely only add to the games.
In any case, I think that Unity is definitely worth a play if you never got a chance to. Its graphics and look still hold up and look excellent to this day. It’s amazing just how nice the game looks. I’ve played it on my Series X and PC, and it looks and plays fantastic on both.
And it can be definitively said that Assassin’s Creed Unity truly set a standard for movement in the world of video games.
With Mirage coming out in 2023, Ubisoft is supposedly going back to the roots of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. We have yet to see what that means; however, it sounds like we could be getting a game that is true to what Assassin’s Creed has always been about.
If you want to play Assassin’s Creed Unity but didn’t get a chance to, you can buy it below:
Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
