In general people aren’t keen on games released on a yearly basis. It often ensures a franchise becomes stale and repetitive. Throwing creativity and solid design out the window in favour of just getting more games on shelves and ultimately more incoming cash. At least that’s how it comes across to fans sometimes. Well Ubisoft have gone one step further and rather than releasing a multi-format title have released 2 Assassin’s Creed titles for this iteration of the historical epic.
There should, however, be some advantages to a non multi-format release and I often even resent them as often it feels they hold back generations. In theory those playing PS4 and Xbox One versions can rest assured that those versions will work optimally on next gen hardware because they’re only available on those native platforms. Oh wait a sec. The atrocious frame rates that you find on at least the PS4 version of Unity don’t end there?
Rogue basically doesn’t work at points. Frame rate drops are not rare and you will notice. It seems spectacular to me that Ubisoft not only makes two games that don’t require multi-format porting and the issues that brings but also managed to ensure that both have appalling frame rates. You might let Rogue off if it were a port, which I’m glad it isn’t, but it’s not. It looks ok but there’s nothing in Rogue that will excite anyone – especially those who’ve played previous titles, and Black Flag in particular.
Rogue is almost a follow up to Black Flag and shares many similarities with the pirating adventures of Edward Kenway. This time you take to the seas as Shay Patrick Cormac. He’s no Kenway but there is a decent depth to his character and the story that surrounds him is easily good enough to carry the game. Although it is shorter than most AC outings which is disappointing. Shay provides a nice alternate perspective into AC and attempts to show us the Assassins vs Templar story from a different point of view. It works up to a point but essentially the game plays the same and Shay’s story ultimately adds little depth to Assassin’s Creed on the whole. And while there’s some out of Animus stuff to do it’s still an area that I fell is greatly lacking in the franchise. I appreciate that I’m in a minority on that one but I enjoyed the sequences from the present. I thought AC2 and even AC3 had great present day sequences personally but Ubisoft have moved in another direction. I suppose a decent meta-story doesn’t fit well with yearly releases.
Other than the main story the usual assassin’s distractions present themselves. And just like with Unity there’s so much to do it’s almost overwhelming. There are a few new features but most are the core distractions we’re all accustomed to. Shay’s allegiances offer up a few changes too but not enough to really change the game. Many of the tasks offer nothing more than hour after hour of mindlessly playing what is basically the same objective. It’s all too easy to just ignore them and not bother. Rewards are limited so most things will be just for the completionists. Even then there are so many collectables it just becomes a chore.
Naval combat makes a reasonably welcome return. But once again it’s something we’ve seen before. I still enjoyed being a captain but it leaves Rogue feeling even more like a sequel than it already did. In itself that’s not necessarily a problem but a game updated yearly relies on fresh mechanics and gameplay to keep it alive. Rogue doesn’t feel like a proper effort but feels more like a cash in than ever – at least as far as the mechanics go. And given the half sized plot and reused elements there is a certain feeling of DLC to the game.
As usual with AC there’s plenty to do in Rogue. But the more relevant question is likely to be do you want to do it? Sure there are an unbelievable amount of collectables and distractions but it boils down to the same old AC game. The naval elements don’t quite feel tired yet and I still enjoyed commanding a ship but it felt too close to Black Flag. And as a further insult Black Flag was playable on PS4/Xbox One and not last gen hardware so if I want to take control of a ship, given the choice I’ll take Black Flag on PS4/Xbox One.
All the time niggling at the back of my mind was that I was playing a last gen game while Unity sat looking at me from across the room. Without any significant changes and improvements Rogue doesn’t even attempt to move forwards. In fact it specifically looks backwards. But if you want more AC for your PS3/360 the that’s what Rogue will give you. Just don’t expect any surprises or hints of progress or innovation.
great review, thank you