AC Unity vs. Rogue

In 2014 Ubisoft pulled off the unthinkable.  Instead of releasing one Assassin's Creed game as they normally do, they released two: Assassin's Creed: Unity for PC and current generation consoles, and Assassin's Creed: Rogue for last generation consoles.  Why?  Well, they didn't want to upset part of the gaming world by only releasing Unity.  Ubisoft wanted to appease the last generation owners by creating a totally separate game/story.  And having the choice of two games is awesome, but what if you only have money or time for one?  Which game do you buy?  Which pixelated adventure do you ignore your family to play?  Well, it all comes down to your taste in story, graphics, and gameplay. 

GLITCHES AND FRAME RATES:

From the beginning Unity had frame rate issues, missing faces, people folding on the ground like laundry, and the occasional skywalk, but if you held out this long, you'll be pleasantly surprised to know most of that has been taken care of—at least on consoles.  It's sorry to say, but you'll get a better gaming experience on Xbox or Playstation as the PC version still has some issues.  Rogue also has a patch as soon as you boot it up, but the game is running on the old AC engine and most of the kinks and problems have already been worked out in the past.  So if you're looking for the more stable of the two games, then Rogue is your answer. 

"Man, I've gotta stop these long nights.  Elise will be pissed if she finds out I picked up 

another venereal disease...AND lost my assassin robe."

GAMEPLAY:

Gamers everywhere love it when you're about three feet from stabbing your target in the eye and instead, your assassin decides to take a header off the current building and shatter every bone in his body as he de-syncs.  Those are always the funniest, most aggravating experiences when playing through an AC game.  And you'll be happy to know they still exist in both 2014 games.  You'll have better luck as Shay (from Rogue) though, as he can take extreme falls with a roll.  Arno (from Unity) on the other hand will die from about two stories up if you choose not to upgrade his rolling technique. 

Now, when you sit down to play an AC game are you excited about being a pirate or an assassin?  Would you rather drink and be merry, while firing cannon balls at the enemy in Rogue?  Or would you rather sneak behind furniture and stab people in the kidney in Unity?  On top of that, Unity has you trapped on one huge land mass (Paris), creeping behind bushes and methodically planning your next assassination, while Rogue has you traveling between smaller land masses, taking over gang headquarters, and fighting killer whales.  If you want slower, stealthier gameplay with the ability to crouch anywhere, then you want Unity.  If you're looking to fire grenades, have numerous chase missions and put endless sea battles under your belt, then Rogue is your cup of tea.  And sorry gamer, you can't have both (unless you buy both).

"No need to worry madame, a person's right leg almost always sticks straight up after they've 

been stabbed."

ASSASSIN OPTIONS:

Of course both assassin games give you the ability to climb towers (Shay a little faster than Arno), kill with hidden blades, make your enemies go berserk, smoke bomb for the win, and air assassinate with ease.  But it seems Shay (Rogue) has an edge on toys just by going through the main storyline.  He gets grenades that put his enemies to sleep, make them go berserk, or completely blow them up.  He can also use rope darts to hang enemies from a tree, has the ability to kill from haystacks or carts (missing from Unity), and can also move dead bodies (also missing from Unity).  Arno on the other hand, comes complete with just your basic assassin gear, plus poison gas and stun grenades, but almost all of his skills must be earned through assassin points.  So if you don't complete a ton of side quests, along with the main quest to gain assassin points, your Arno will be lacking in quite a few departments.  But it's okay, because Arno sure does look good going all parkour up and down a building.  Speaking of looking good…

"Holy crap, what is wrong with some of these people's faces?  And where the hell are all 

the children?  Is no one making whoopee anymore?"

GRAPHICS:

If you’re looking for an almost complete layout of 1700's Paris with building exteriors and interiors that are rendered gorgeously, then Unity is your game.  It seems the developers left out cats this time around, and there are no children anywhere, but crowds have grown immense.  Sure, you'll get the occasional NPC floating in the air or driving an imaginary go-cart, but that's what happens when you add so many moving NPC's to a game.  There are also some of the blandest and ugly faces roaming the crowd, but the quest-giving NPC's are fairly normal looking and almost have their lips synced with the audio.  As for Rogue...time has not been kind to poor Shay.  Sadly, the game doesn't have graphics like last-generation GTA 5 or The Last of Us.  The shadows don't work.  The light bouncing off of faces (including Shay's) makes skin color look blown-out and Shay's animations are stiffer than Robocop.  But he can steer a ship like nobody's business, while Arno can barely swim.

MULTIPLAYER:

This one is easy.  If you want the ability to run round with three friends in an attempt at stealth, then Unity has you covered.  Rogue has…well…no multiplayer whatsoever.  It's a solo adventure for a lonely pirate.  But don't feel like you’re missing out on too much when playing Rogue, because the ability to run around with friends only works when online is working.  And Ubisoft isn't the most reliable developer when it comes to online anything.

"Is there...something on my face?"

CONCLUSION:

So the choice is yours, fellow gamer.  Is it a last-generation-graphics pirate's life for you, complete with many, many (too frigging many) chase missions, and tons of sea battles and ship upgrading that's required to move the story forward?  Or would you rather be content with taking it slow and sneaking in and out of buildings to stalk your prey inside a pretty Paris with a giant glitchy NPC crowd?  Maybe you'll choose both?  If you do, there's a story link between the games, which is an added Easter Egg for the faithful Assassin's Creed fans.  Either way, any and all AC lovers will be pleased with either of the two games.  Just don't forget to download all those patches or you're probably going to have a bad time.