Published on behalf of Pure Play TV, a content Partner of Core Xbox.
Today, we take a look at a review for Assassin’s Creed Unity for Xbox Series X|S. I’ve always been a big fan of Unity, even when it first released in its less-than-ideal condition. To be fair, I played pre-release and I didn’t get anywhere near as many awful bugs that were shared around that time. I was quite fortunate then and I really enjoyed the game, but I did feel bad for those who had to wait for the endless patches to improve their experience.
Assassin’s Creed Unity Video Review Xbox Series X|S (Pure Play TV)
Well, one update has come many years later, and it’s even really an update – it’s just a thing that you can now flip on and off, and it’s 60fps gameplay. Yep, the graphically gorgeous Assassin’s Creed Unity can now be played at 60fps. And you know what? It’s amazing. Of course it is. It’s the original game intact but playable in the fabled 60fps. It looks great in motion, even if the resolution is on the low side, especially when compared to the more recent Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
What is Assassin’s Creed Unity?
But what about the game? If you missed it, you missed out big time, but you can often pick up Unity for just a few dollars, pounds, or euros, and key-reseller websites often have the dirt cheap, so there is no shortage of supply.
AC Unity takes place during the French revolution and it brings the series the closest it ever has to the modern day without putting us in the shoes of any modern-day characters. It’s a great setting and the city of pairs is wonderful. It’s huge, sprawling and while I’ve not been to Paris, it seems to capture the sense of scale really well. Climbing the high points and looking out over the city captures this well.
Unity was the first in the series to really go down the RPG route, and make no mistake, it is, at heart, an RPG, and that means grinding for gear and money and so on. I’m not particularly fond of the direction Assassin’s Creed games have taken with Unity and beyond because it feels like telling a great story has been pushed to the background in favour of giving players a massive map and hundreds of hours of gameplay.
For some, that might be perfect, but I do miss the days where I could sit and play an Assassin’s Creed game over the course of a weekend, like the Ezio games, which I’ll be covering in another video.
Keeping the Assassin’s Creed Vibes Alive
Unity didn’t go the whole hog with its RPG transition, though, and it still felt like a proper AC game, just with a lot of extra stuff that it didn’t really need, as well as missing things it really did need. Like, the ability to pick up enemy weapons, which had been a staple since Assassin’s Creed II, but it was removed so that you would grind for new weapons rather than just nick them off of dead soldiers.
It’s also got one of the most cluttered maps I’ve ever seen in a game. There’s an ungodly amount of stuff to do but I do appreciate it takes place all in one setting, mostly, rather than some of the previous games where you had to go from city to city. The main story can be done from within Paris, albeit for a few short sections that send Arno off elsewhere for no more than an hour.
The Graphics are up to Standard
AC Unity still stands out today as a looker. The resolution may be on the lower end of what we’re used to these days, sure, but there’s no denying that it’s still one of the best, if not the best Assassin’s Creed game when it comes to graphics. The fine granular details on clothing and characters has not been seen since in any entry.
Ubisoft scaled it all back after Unity proved to be a bit too much for the PS4 and Xbox One, and sadly, that ambition hasn’t been realised since. I’m hoping we’ll see a proper show of force with the next Assassin’s Creed game which will surely be a next-gen only game, and I hope to be wowed as I was – and still am – by Unity.
Give this one a play if you can, even if you can’t play it on Series X|S, it’s still a really good game and in my mind, one of the last true Assassin’s Creed games before the series went after The Witcher 3’s lunch
86/100
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Pros of Assassin's Creed Unity
- The 60FPS update doesn't take anything away from the game (see: Far Cry 5's massive resolution drop) and only improves the overall experience
- Still hold up as a great game, even all these years later and against several sequels
- One of the best-looking games from last-gen
Cons of Assassin's Creed Unity
- The first Assassin's Creed game to push the RPG mechanics with mixed results
- Try reading that map without getting a headache