Assassin’s Creed Rogue Preview – A Sullen Swell
Assassin’s Creed is a franchise of ebbs and flows. Entries alternate between the stilted (AC I and III) and the sublime (the Ezio trilogy and Black Flag), and it has never been a case of Ubisoft simply releasing the same game with an update every year. So why does it feel like that’s what they’re doing with Rogue?
Let’s get one thing right out of the way first. My time with Rogue has revealed one concrete, undeniable fact: Rogue is Black Flag 2. Given that AC IV is my favourite entry so far, that’s not a bad thing at all, but it might be seen as a bit of a kick in the misters for last gen gamers who were hoping for something a little different.
Set between the events of Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed III, Rogue takes place primarily during the Seven Years’ War, and sees Shay Cormac defect from the Assassins camp and join the Templars, hunting down his former brethren before their fanaticism unleashes doom upon the Earth. It should make for an interesting, conflicted character, but like Altair and Connor, Shay comes across – at least from what I’ve seen – as a little bit bland. It’s not helped by an awful Irish accent that’s so bad it’s distracting.
The preview section I played was comprised of two memory sequences taken from various points in the game (namely sequences 3 and 5), and showed off enough of new boy Shay to realise that what he lacks in personality he makes up for in gear. How he doesn’t rattle while he creeps is beyond me.
Added to the arsenal this time round is a primitive grenade launcher (way too much fun) and an air rifle that replaces Edward’s blowpipe. Launching sleep and berserk darts as standard, the air rifle can also shoot firecracker darts that attract enemies and allow you to slip by them. Alongside the iconic wrist blades and rope dart, the new weapons are not only functional but cool, and the ability to draw up your neckerchief as a gas mask when you get bombed keeps you grounded and concentrating during the bigger fights.
Combat still feels a little floaty, which is a flaw of the series as a whole, especially given how on-point similar mechanics are in Batman and the recently released Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. That said, this is an early build with time to tighten up such things, and of course, you really shouldn’t be getting into big fights anyway. Some combat is unavoidable, as the one-on-one “boss fights” return, wherein Shay must slay key characters to advance the story.
More impressive is the free-running, which feels smoother and slicker, and makes getting around easier. From what we’ve seen of New York, the city environments haven’t changed much at all, but out at sea the North Atlantic setting adds glaciers and sheets of ice as new hazards for Shay’s ship, the Morrigan. Sea travel is identical to Black Flag, although the Morrigan has a few new weapons, such as the ability to spill oil behind her, which you can ignite to scorch your pursuers, and a powerful, more controllable ram.
While the second playable sequence focused on a large sea battle that didn’t really showcase anything new, the first sequence was more impressive, leading up to a mission in which Shay is required to blow up a poison distillery with the grenade launcher. While it’s still easier to murder everyone and keep moving, here it made more sense, as it’s hard to quietly blow up three massive vats of toxin. It felt more intense and bombastic than Assassin’s Creed has ever been on land, and made a refreshing change from eavesdropping and chasing people down.
With returning characters such as Haytham Kenway, Adewale and Ben Franklin, Rogue is very much the continuation (and possible conclusion) to what may as well be called the Kenway trilogy. The fact that it’s more Black Flag shouldn’t put anyone off, but it does call into question Rogue’s overall relevance alongside Unity. Still, we’ve only seen a fraction of a game that looks every inch as sprawling and enthralling as its predecessor, and if nothing else, switching sides at least offers a new perspective.
Concerns over the likeability of Shay and his irritating first mate, Gist, are offset by the excitement of returning to Black Flag’s era, even if the Golden Age of Piracy is over and everything is just a little more po-faced. It’s too early to predict which way Assassin’s Creed: Rogue will go, but with a few more weeks of spit and polish, there’s a chance Ubisoft can deliver something with the scope and playability, if perhaps not the impact and freshness, of Black Flag.
