This year we were given two main entries in the Assassin’s Creed universe – Unity and Rogue. Assassin’s Creed: Rogue comes to us on the previous gen consoles as an interesting way to do development. Some people may look at Ubisoft and blast them for milking this franchise even more than they usually do. However, with the way it worked this time around, the development of Unity didn’t have to suffer from having to work on previous gen consoles like Black Flag. Either way, one developer is stuck working on a previous gen entry; either a port or they can work on their own entry in the series.
Now, let’s dig into Assassin’s Creed: Rogue itself and see if it’s a worthy entry in the series or if it can be filed under the misstep category.
The story picks up post Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and pre Assassin’s Creed III. We find a young Shay Patrick Cormac trying to find his way in the Assassin order as he works alongside Liam O’Brien. Early on we see the return of multiple characters that we’ve met throughout our North American journey in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. The Assassin branch in the States is flourishing under the leadership of Achilles Davenport, who if you remember, was the retired Assassin who trained Connor Kenway in AC3. We are also re-introduced to Adéwalé, who we came to know well in as Edward’s quartermaster in AC4 and his own story in the Freedom Cry DLC.
As we follow Shay through his time with the Assassin’s, he finds the location of a Precursor temple in Lisbon. Achilles dispatches Shay to retrieve the Piece of Eden that is located there. Once Shay comes in contact with it, the city falls to ruins as many of its citizens die in the chaos as Shay barely makes it out alive.
It’s here that Shay becomes furious with what they’ve done to the innocent people and that Achilles still wants to look for these Pieces of Eden even after what happened. Shay just can’t bear to hurt people like that again, and he turns on the Assassins as he’s wounded during his escape. Shay finds himself being cared to by a couple in NYC (who end up being the parents of a fallen Templar). Shay becomes a vigilante as he tries to right the wrongs the gangs are causing. This is when he gains the eye of the Templar order and their futures begin to entwine. Not long after this is when we run into another major character in the AC universe: Haytham Kenway. At this time, Haytham is a Grand Master in the Templar order.
So here we have our first taste of the game’s protagonist belonging to the Templar order. It’s both a blessing and a curse. While it’s very interesting to finally get to see first-hand what’s happening on the other side of the coin, the game doesn’t have a true villain. Shay spends enough time with both sides of the fight that you feel ties to both sides and it feels like an odd battle.
Shay is still a very intriguing character, though. Throughout the entire story you can see him being pulled in both directions as he tries to figure out what is truly the right thing to do. Even after he’s become a Templar, he still questions some of their methods and still shows some compassion to his enemies unlike others would.
The story ends with a nice tie-in to our Unity character, Arno Dorian, but I wont spoil it for anyone.
Let’s dig into some gameplay aspects from Rogue. From the outside looking in, it’s obvious that the gameplay from Black Flag is the core element for Rogue. The ship gameplay returns, just like it was in AC4. You can sail across the different regions of the game and take on French ships as you build up your ship and your fleet.
One of my favorite elements to make its way into Rogue is a new take on the Assassin contracts. In previous games, you could send out Assassins on missions to take out targets. Well, in this game since you’re on the other end, you can intercept those carrier pigeons and you can now try to protect those targets from the incoming Assassins trying to eliminate said person. It’s quite fun and really gets your heart pumping when you can’t find an Assassin as he/she gets closer to their goal.
As soon as you get to NYC, you realize that they’ve implemented some aspects from previous AC games, especially Brotherhood. Not only do renovations return as a way to make some bank, but the Assassin outposts that you can overthrow in NYC are a near carbon copy of the Borgia Towers. It was an aspect I liked from Brotherhood – and even enjoyed here in Rogue – but seems a little out of place in this game’s world.
And that is a perfect segway into my next topic: the world of Assassin’s Creed: Rogue. The gameplay world is split up into three different areas: the North Atlantic, New York City (which is built so much better than it was in AC3) and the American River Valley. All three of these areas are built well and feature some great places to explore. However, since they are split up into separate areas, the world feels a bit small and doesn’t really flow like it did when we had one open world to sail and explore in Black Flag. It’s like going back to AC2 from Brotherhood, where you had a few smaller cities to explore instead of the one large Rome. It’s not something that ruins the game, it’s just a personal preference that it feels a little off because the locales are SO different and aren’t connected.
The hunting and crafting system finds its way into the game again. Interestingly enough, I never felt the need to really upgrade any of my pouches. I just never came across a mission where I felt so overwhelmed because I wasn’t equipped well enough.
Something that I’ve sorely missed from the series since the days of Ezio have been the platforming missions that are quite puzzle-like. The Assassin tombs from AC2 are absolutely my favorite thing from the entire series. They were very difficult but also amazingly fun. While those don’t return, we do get a taste of the platforming up the rafters of a church in this game, and I thoroughly enjoyed that mission.
We’ve talked about gameplay and the world setting. To me it feels like Rogue tries to be a greatest hits of some sort. It doesn’t give that one dynamite location and throws in a bunch of different elements from the series as a whole. This is where the game feels a tad off to me. The lack of focus is more of a hindrance than that true feel of a greatest hits that they were going for.
Now let’s dig into the way the game looks and plays. For a game that released on dated consoles – PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 – it looks pretty good. That being said, if you’re used to the looks of the new-gen games, then Rogue could look a little rough in some areas. The frame rate will dip a tad at times, shadows pop very often and the objects aren’t the smoothest. None of these things are game-breaking at all, although the popping shadows can be an eyesore during cut scenes.
Last, but not least, it wouldn’t be an Assassin’s Creed game without the modern day story. In this game, you are again someone who works for Abstergo who is researching a figure. You come out of the Animus a few times during the game to fix a cyber security breach in the building and be verbally tormented by your female boss. The present day setting takes a back seat in this iteration in the series, but is still present and has some fun easter eggs to find.
Overall, Assassin’s Creed: Rogue is a very interesting game in the series. There are some notable downfalls to the game. The focus one bringing back so many previous characters takes away from the storytelling at times and causes the game to not have a true antagonist. The world can feel a bit disconnected at times due to the separate areas and the inclusion of aspects from numerous former games. But on the plus side, we finally get a look at a protagonist that’s a Templar and it shows us that it’s not a right versus wrong war between the Assassins and Templars, it’s two different points of views. Shay is a very intriguing character who will hold your attention throughout the game and is voiced very well. Lastly, there are plenty of things to do in the game that are fun and interesting outside of the main storyline. It’s not the best game in the series, but it’s far from the worst. If you were a fan of Black Flag and you’re eager to get back to the high seas, then you might want to take a look at this game.
POSITIVES
• Shay is a great character
• Our first taste of a Templar protagonist
• Brings back the great gameplay from Black Flag
NEGATIVES
• No real antagonist
• Tries too hard to be a greatest hits
• Old consoles hold this game back visually
SCORE: 7.0
