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macnbc
Dec 13, 2006

brb, time travelin'


Ubisoft decided to take a break from releasing an Assassin's Creed game every year.. this time there's two!

Release Date(s):

Assassin's Creed Unity : November 11 (NA), November 13 (PAL), December 4 (JP)
Assassin's Creed Rogue : November 11 (NA), November 13 (PAL) - PC version due March 10

:siren:uPlay Clubs for AC: Unity:siren:
PC: [SAAC] [LGSA] and [Goon]
PS4: [LLJK] and [GBG0]
Xbox One: Goonassin and [GSSA]

Reviews:
Unity
Eurogamer: 7/10
Joystiq: 2.5/5
Gamespot: 7/10
Polygon: 6.5/10
Destructoid: 7/10

Rogue
GameInformer: 8.25/10
IGN: 6.8/10
Eurogamer: 8/10
Gamespot 6/10



Overview:
Ubisoft doesn't consider Rogue to be their flagship game this year. But it's the one you should play first. Rogue is being released for those fools who haven't gone to the new generation yet, being exclusively released this fall on PS3 and 360. A PC version has been announced for the Spring, and Ubisoft "isn't ready to talk yet" about ports for the new consoles. If you really liked the naval stuff in AC4, then Rogue is for you, since it features more naval combat with enhancements for fighting in the arctic. (Unity, unfortunately, is land-locked.) There is no multiplayer mode or announced DLC for Rogue.
The game also seeks to bridge the stories of AC4 and AC3, as well as setting the stage for AC: Unity, which brings us to...

Plot:
The game takes place during the Seven Years War. You play Shay Patrick Cormac, an exceedingly Irishman who was part of the Assassins before he has an assignment go bad. He then changes sides to the Templars, swearing to seek vengeance by hunting down Assassins. Returning characters from previous games include Haytham Kenway and Achilles Davenport from AC3, and Adéwalé from AC4/Freedom Cry. Locations visited in this game include the North Atlantic ocean, the Appalachian River Valley, Alabama, New York and Quebec.

Gameplay:

Wikipedia posted:

Naval aspects from previous games will return with the player controlling Shay's ship, Morrígan. Morrígan has a shallower draft compared to Edward Kenway's Jackdaw from Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, allowing for river travel. New features include new ship-based weapons such as releasing an oil slick which can then be ignited, Puckle guns, and the ability for enemies to board Morrígan during ship-to-ship combat. The arctic environment also features into naval gameplay. The underwater diving missions featured in Black Flag do not exist in the North Atlantic, as swimming causes the player's health to rapidly deplete due to the frigid water.

For combat, the game introduces an air rifle, which allows the player to silently take out enemies at a distance. The air rifle can be outfitted with a variety of different projectiles, such as firecrackers. The player can also use a grenade launcher, which fires off shrapnel grenades and other loads. Enemy Assassins feature archetypes similar to previous games, using skills that players have been using since the original game; they can hide in bushes, blend in with crowds, and perform air attacks against the player.

Trailers
Cinematic announcement trailer
Arctic naval gameplay walkthrough
River valley land gameplay walkthrough
Story trailer
Launch trailer

Screenshots




"I dreamed a dream of games gone by,
sequels were far apart and worth playing ..." - Polygon Review Comments


Overview:
Unity is the "flagship" game this year, and is being made only for the newer consoles and PC. It has been in development for about 4 years and is being touted as the first total revamp of nearly all game systems since AC2. New features include a new ascend/descend climbing system, dynamic missions, retuned combat, and new crowd AI.

Multiplayer is also different this time around, as the previous competitive multiplayer experience has been removed in favor of a new co-op based mode.

"Assassin's Creed Unity weaponized review embargoes" - Ben Kuchera, Polygon

Plot:
The game takes place during the French Revolution. You play Arno Dorian, a Frenchman who was the son of an Assassin, but was adopted by a Templar family. He also has a love interest named Elise De LaSerre. As is usual, you run into several historical characters over the course of the game, including Marquis de Sade, Napoleon Bonaparte and Maximilien de Robespierre.

"My lack of enthusiasm for the multiplayer is mirrored by my experience with the rest of the game." - Destructoid review

Gameplay:

Wikipedia posted:

Combat for the game was rebuilt, with fencing being used as an inspiration for the new system. In addition to returning weapons from previous games, Assassin's Creed Unity introduces the Phantom Blade. The Phantom Blade uses the mechanics of a crossbow to fire a silent projectile a great distance, while still serving the same role as the Hidden Blade in previous Assassin's Creed games. Navigation for the game was also overhauled. Ubisoft created new "Parkour Up" and "Parkour Down" mechanics to make it easier for the player to scale buildings in either direction. Additionally, Arno learns new parkour moves throughout the game, but the player can also purchase new skills as well. With the updated, larger crowds, new interactions with them are also available. The crowd regularly presents many activities, appearing organically, that the player can choose to engage with at their leisure. Examples include interfering in a fistfight, or chasing down a pickpocket.

For the first time, the series will allow players to customise the character, adopting a skill tree that enables players to assign points earned through gameplay to improve their skills in stealth, mêlée and ranged combat, health and traversal. Players will also be able to customise their weapons, armour and equipment to further complement their individual style of play. They will also have a wider selection of weapons available, including swords, axes, spears, polearms, pistols and incendiary devices.

Assassin's Creed Unity also introduces cooperative multiplayer to the series. Players can enter taverns, which act as social hubs in the game, where you can see if any friends are playing the game at the current time. If they are currently in a mission, they will appear as a "ghost" version of their player, allowing you to approach it to request to join their mission. If accepted, you are transitioned to their game and both of you reset to the most recent checkpoint, and continue on from there. Up to four players can join together in this fashion. The player will take on the role of Arno within their own game, with other players appearing as randomly-generated Assassins. Many missions and activities will be available for cooperative play (which the player can also complete on their own), but there are some story missions that are set aside to be single player only.

The developers would've loved to have included female characters in the new co-op mode, but animating women is like, hard yo.

-Kotaku Review

DLC:
Yes, there is a season pass of course!

There are 2 drops of DLC content planned.
The first, Dead Kings, will take place after Unity's story and will involve Arno exploring the catacombs of Saint Denis.
The second, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China is actually a separate game altogether. It's a 2.5D sidescroller featuring Shao Jun, the Chinese assassin from the Assassin's Creed: Embers animated film.


Update: Ubisoft done hosed up and has cancelled Unity's season pass. Dead Kings will now be available for free to everyone.

"AC Unity is true next-gen. In fact, it is SO next-gen that it isn't even finished yet! I like to be on the cutting edge and I appreciate that Ubisoft is making games that it is still making, even weeks after you've beaten them." - Christian Stella, Amazon.com reviewer

Trailers
Single player commented demo
Co-Op Multiplayer commented demo
CG music video trailer
Story trailer
Launch trailer
"Assassin's Creed Unity uses every ounce of power" from the PS4 and XB1

Screenshots


Skipping Intro Movies
Shockeh came up with a quick guide on skipping the intro clips if you're playing on Steam.

quote:

Go to: ..\Steam\steamapps\common\Assassin's Creed Unity\videos

Rename the following files so that they no longer load: (I just put .bak at the end of each filename, this works fine and lets you revert if you screw up)

UbisoftLogo.bk2
pc_TWIMTBP.bk2

Then go into the sub-directory that corresponds to the language you're playing in (for example /en/ for English) and for the same for these files:

warning_disclaimer.bk2
pc_WarningSaving.bk2

Voila, you'll now launch directly to the 'Press Any Key' splash page. Enjoy!

macnbc fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Feb 5, 2015

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ymgve
Jan 2, 2004


:dukedog:
Offensive Clock
Some new leaked images and a new video:

https://imgur.com/a/HuUt3

https://mega.co.nz/#!BwZxgDYK!PqZQf9dnHRdgGEE2M2N_bMZ0RKkTevwQRw9s-ufn1mAA

J-Spot
May 7, 2002

Only Ubisoft would release three open world games within a span of eight days. I think I'm going to have to hold out for Far Cry 4 and let Unity simmer for a couple of months. Shadows of Mordor has already scratched my itch for that particular style of game.

Tgent
Sep 6, 2011

Those images look blurry as hell. Is that a result of it being 900p?

Narcissus1916
Apr 29, 2013

Even if you just take into account Ubisoft's own sandboxes, its still crazy saturation. Especially considering Far cry 3 and Black Flag were spiritual siblings. And Watch dogs "borrowed" the same structure only a few months ago.

Inept
Jul 8, 2003

The system requirements for Unity for PC are hilarious. I haven't played an AC game in a while, but thought this one might be worth it for the co-op. Then I saw that the minimum GPU for this game is a GTX 680.

I'm sure it'll be a great port.

Super Dude
Jan 23, 2005
Do the Jew

Tgent posted:

Those images look blurry as hell. Is that a result of it being 900p?

I don't know about the images, but the video is only 720p, so there might be some weird compression going on.

ymgve
Jan 2, 2004


:dukedog:
Offensive Clock

Tgent posted:

Those images look blurry as hell. Is that a result of it being 900p?

There's a ton of debate over at NeoGAF about this - they think this is another watch_dogsgate situation where the trailers and previews are much nicer than the real thing. The blurriness might be caused by the upscaling from 900p or it just might be Ubisoft sacrificing texture quality for the scale in the game. Also there's jarring pop-in where NPC models radically switch their look when going from low-res to high-res. Still, could look better at PC.

More leak videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5l6BQiGleU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HQTc0EoHa4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcJuMp5CVd4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWccF10uF5g

Orv
May 4, 2011
I still really don't get what happened in the last year or two. "THEY LIED IN THEIR PRE-RELEASE MEDIA! SALT THEIR FIELDS AND BURN THEIR FAMILIES!" Yeah? They always have.

That said, it does look pretty lovely in those picture, but that last video that was still up looked relatively okay.

macnbc
Dec 13, 2006

brb, time travelin'
To play devil's advocate on those screens: Could it just be bad capture equipment? Or have there been leaks from other sources showing the same thing?

Also anyone know if there's a review embargo in place for Unity and/or Rogue?

I'm still having last-minute indecision on which one to pick up at release, and it would sure help if some reviews started trickling in later this week.

Orv
May 4, 2011
Only mentions of embargos I can find say they lift today (Monday NA), but I don't find anything official.

E: Misread the date on those posts. No idea when review embargos lift.

ghouldaddy07
Jun 23, 2008
Good work on the new thread. I am beyond excited for Unity. Having loved black flag and freedom cry, Rogue should be enjoyable. Ubisoft want all my money.:20bux:

Deakul
Apr 2, 2012

PAM PA RAM

PAM PAM PARAAAAM!

Looks loving beautiful to me.

DLC Inc
Jun 1, 2011

Unity will probably have to work hard at having actually interesting poo poo to do for me to get it. I liked AC2 and AC4 but burnt out on their gameplay style; add the fact that Mordor actually did assassination poo poo better than a game about assassins. That said, game looks beautiful (even with laughable pop in and that barebones map) and I'd love to go back to vertical exploring after the tiny island huts of AC4.

Anyone notice there's zero ambient music in some of the leaked videos? That kind of sucks.

Noirex
May 30, 2006

I'm excited about how most (or every?) building's interior are actually created and so Arno can move in and out of them seamlessly. It's pretty much what I wanted since the first game.

The REAL Goobusters
Apr 25, 2008
So what the gently caress is up with the World War 2 poo poo in this game.

Szmitten
Apr 26, 2008

The REAL Goobusters posted:

So what the gently caress is up with the World War 2 poo poo in this game.

An excuse to make a climbing puzzle out of the Eiffel Tower?

Harlock
Jan 15, 2006

Tap "A" to drink!!!

The REAL Goobusters posted:

So what the gently caress is up with the World War 2 poo poo in this game.
The rumor is something dumb concerning the Animus which leads to The Eiffel Tower, Machine Guns, anachronisms, etc

Feels Villeneuve
Oct 7, 2007

Setter is Better.

The REAL Goobusters posted:

So what the gently caress is up with the World War 2 poo poo in this game.

Is it the stuff that was hinted at in the AC4 metagame or something

Babe Magnet
Jun 2, 2008

I am all for Animus fuckery if it leads to AC6 being balls out future tech vs. WW1 trench warfare vs. gladiators or whatever.

It would finally answer the age-old question of who would win in a fight, Roosevelt or Alexander the Great

macnbc
Dec 13, 2006

brb, time travelin'

Babe Magnet posted:

I am all for Animus fuckery if it leads to AC6 being balls out future tech vs. WW1 trench warfare vs. gladiators or whatever.

It would finally answer the age-old question of who would win in a fight, Roosevelt or Alexander the Great

"Assassin's Creed VI: gently caress it, You Can Ride Dinosaurs Now"

Snuffman
May 21, 2004

Babe Magnet posted:

I am all for Animus fuckery if it leads to AC6 being balls out future tech vs. WW1 trench warfare vs. gladiators or whatever.

Balls out Animus fuckery is what we should have got when Desmond was trapped in the Animus and going crazy from the bleeding effect in AC:Revelations.

Instead: AC: Revelations. Not a bad entry, especially compared to AC3, but definitely not as crazy as it could have been.

ymgve
Jan 2, 2004


:dukedog:
Offensive Clock

Noirex posted:

I'm excited about how most (or every?) building's interior are actually created and so Arno can move in and out of them seamlessly. It's pretty much what I wanted since the first game.

Sadly, it's not most interiors. I think they said you can enter 20% of the buildings in the game. Still much more than other open world games.

macnbc
Dec 13, 2006

brb, time travelin'

ymgve posted:

Sadly, it's not most interiors. I think they said you can enter 20% of the buildings in the game. Still much more than other open world games.

Yeah, the only way I can see them making EVERY building in the whole city able to be entered is if they went to procedural creation, which would inevitably be poo poo.

ymgve
Jan 2, 2004


:dukedog:
Offensive Clock

macnbc posted:

Yeah, the only way I can see them making EVERY building in the whole city able to be entered is if they went to procedural creation, which would inevitably be poo poo.

They are using some procedural techniques in ACU, with hand-tweaking afterwards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGA0WZLp_08&t=304s

Though I really would like to see an open world game where you can enter every room in every building, even though it will be a lot of samey rooms.

Orv
May 4, 2011
I don't know if we've seen the total size of Paris, but if 95% of the game is spent there I assume it's going to be the series first city-sized city, and therefore 20% is probably still significant.

Or it's all bullshit.

Kurtofan
Feb 16, 2011

hon hon hon
:france:

Feels Villeneuve
Oct 7, 2007

Setter is Better.
if it's as good as Rome was in AC:B, then I'm happy

Siivola
Dec 23, 2012

You've set the bar pretty low there, considering Rome was total rear end to try to freerun in. Good thing AC:B had horses. :v:

Kurtofan
Feb 16, 2011

hon hon hon
Man, Pre-Haussman Paris looked like Poop Venice.

Kurtofan fucked around with this message at 00:15 on Nov 4, 2014

Pablo Nergigante
Apr 16, 2002

I think the developers said that for the first time they modeled Paris at a 1:1 scale (at least how big it was in the 18th century). We're also definitely visiting Versailles in the game and if they modeled the palace and grounds 1:1 that's a lot of area to play around in too.

canyoneer
Sep 13, 2005


I only have canyoneyes for you
I'm waiting for the series to do a "Note: Poochie Desmond died on the way back to his home planet" and skip all the stupid animus stuff.

Crappy Jack
Nov 21, 2005

We got some serious shit to discuss.

canyoneer posted:

I'm waiting for the series to do a "Note: Poochie Desmond died on the way back to his home planet" and skip all the stupid animus stuff.

Uh....did you not play AC3 or 4?

Eponymous
Feb 4, 2008

Maybe I just want to be happy, huh?! Maybe I want my life to not be a trainwreck for five GOD DAMN minutes?!

canyoneer posted:

I'm waiting for the series to do a "Note: Poochie Desmond died on the way back to his home planet" and skip all the stupid animus stuff.

Yeah... He totally dies at the end of AC3. In AC4 you find video of Abstergo dudes cutting the heart out of his corpse, so he's probably not coming back. The way they handled AC4, where the animus stuff was relatively short and non-obtrusive, leads me to believe that they're listening to feedback and are using it as more background from now on.

macnbc
Dec 13, 2006

brb, time travelin'
I'll be the "AC Modern Day Storyline defender" again.

I like the modern day stuff. I like how it has an overarching narrative. I liked the Subject 16 puzzles in AC2 and Brotherhood and I liked sneaking around the Abstergo offices hacking poo poo in AC4. It's actually a major reason why I keep coming back each year.

Having said that, I get it's not for everyone. I thought AC4 did it best with keeping the mandatory modern-day stuff to a minimum, but having quite a bit of stuff to find if you wanted to.

But every time I see someone say "I wish they'd just give up on the animus stuff" I think "You can take it from my cold dead hands." :colbert:

Orv
May 4, 2011
Given the context we can probably arrange that. :colbert:

RagnarokAngel
Oct 5, 2006

Black Magic Extraordinaire
Yeah I like the modern stuff as well in terms of providing a framework. I know the fun stuff is in the past but its that modern day framework that lets them have a consistent plot while jumping around to incredibly different time periods and settings.

That said I'm on board with dialing it back so it's optional, because I can totally get how it's jarring to people.

RagnarokAngel fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Nov 4, 2014

MizPiz
May 29, 2013

by Athanatos

macnbc posted:

I'll be the "AC Modern Day Storyline defender" again.

I like the modern day stuff. I like how it has an overarching narrative. I liked the Subject 16 puzzles in AC2 and Brotherhood and I liked sneaking around the Abstergo offices hacking poo poo in AC4. It's actually a major reason why I keep coming back each year.

Having said that, I get it's not for everyone. I thought AC4 did it best with keeping the mandatory modern-day stuff to a minimum, but having quite a bit of stuff to find if you wanted to.

But every time I see someone say "I wish they'd just give up on the animus stuff" I think "You can take it from my cold dead hands." :colbert:

Agreed. I can see why people don't like it and I can definitely think of more than a couple ways it could be better implemented, but the modern stuff is what makes the story actually interesting.

Sally
Jan 9, 2007


Don't post Small Dash!
Holy crap, a Seven Years War Assassin's Creed? Count me in for AC: Rogue.

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ethanol
Jul 13, 2007



I'm still confused how a separate side scroller game counts as dlc :confused:

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