I am a loyal fan of Assassin’s Creed, and revisiting the story of Shay Patrick Cormac is the best thing to come with this remastered version. For me, his story is one of the best in the series with a gameplay that leaves you locked on for weeks to months. Now, the visuals are better, more beautiful and without the bugs that have plagued me during its first release.
Platform Reviewed: PS4
Platforms Available: Xbox One, PS4
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Sofia, Kiev, and Pune
Release Date: March 20, 2018
MSRP: $59.99
This review is based on a review code provided by Ubisoft.
If you’re new to Rogue’s story, here’s an easy rundown:
Shay Cormac after a disagreement with the Assassins due to their acquisitions of the pieces of Eden and the destruction of Haiti and Lisbon because of it, he decides to go “rogue,” and joins the Templars to stop his former friends and masters. As Shay, you travel around the world in your vessel, the Morrigan, as you aid your new Templar brothers and the English soldiers taking part in the Seven Year War. His story takes place before Assassin’s Creed III and after Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag and therefore gives you a glimpse of Haythem Kenway’s life.
Traveling through your ship is similar to the gameplay of Assassin’s Creed: Blackflag, wherein you can raid other enemy ships (with excellent naval fights), hunt in land and sea and acquire treasure in uncharted islands. With the world being as vast, it leaves plenty of room for exploration, and the activities available occupies much of your time. The stunning visual environment puts you straight to what it may have been like in the Colonies and gives you more to see than exploring in other games set during this time.
There are also collectibles scattered all over islands and besides following an amazing story, I’ve put much of my time in gathering everything.
An additional activity as a Templar is intercepting Assassin messages. Shay protects the target while searching and killing the Assassins.
What attracts me to Shay’s story, however, is how it veers away from the traditional setting of playing with the Assassin Brotherhood. It gives you an insight into the politics and ideologies of both the Templars and the Assassins. It allows the player to see things objectively during a period where actions cannot always speak for one’s thoughts. Shay represents a person that’s strong in his belief and values and will turn his back to a group that destroys this. But he also represents a person unable to see the larger side of a spectrum.
In this Remastered version of Rogue, although not much of the activities have changed and yes, in some parts, it looks exactly as how it did — but the game now runs smoothly to adapt to its wide environment. The visuals are more beautiful and stunning without the large amounts of bugs that had made the game only tolerable in the past.
There are some angles that do not adjust appropriately that makes it dizzying, an example is trying to open a chest as the camera spins and spins until finally opened — but, hey, it doesn’t happen that often.
However, I cannot recommend this to those who have played Rogue before — again, nothing major has changed in either story or gameplay. This is for those who have not experienced Shay Cormac’s story or for those who would want to get a glimpse of a time before Connor’s story (Assassin’s Creed III). It may be for someone who is curious to see and play as a Templar instead of an Assassin.
The visual changes are something that one can’t be noticed unless he/she has played it in the past, so purchasing it again in its remastered does nothing except gains your appreciation for the environment.
