Assassin’s Creed Rogue (review)

Posted By Puching Zhang in Features, Gaming, Reviews

BreakingModern – Everybody who’s familiar with the video game series Assassin’s Creed knows the Templar Order creed: “Uphold the principles of our order and all that for which we stand. Never share our secrets nor divulge the true nature of our work. May the father of understanding guide you.”

And now, with Assassin’s Creed Rogue, the seventh installment of the popular series, players get an opportunity to be a Templar. Spoiler alert: It’s good to be bad!

In terms of storyline, Assassin’s Creed Rogue bridges the gap between the timelines of Assassin’s Creed III and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. The gameplay, too, harkens back to the mechanics found in Black Flag, the series’ iteration from 2013.

The storyline itself takes place during the Seven Years’ War in the American theater of battle. The Templars are backing the British and the Assassins are backing the allied forces of France and Spain. I was happy to see Adéwalé, first seen in Black Flag, make a welcome return.

The storyline mainly acts as the prequel to Assassin’s Creed III, with Achilles playing a primary role. Assassin’s Creed Rogue sets up Achilles’ story as a younger man and provides us with a rich backstory.

Despite the return of Adéwalé and the ensuing history of Achilles, the main character this time is Shay Cormac, an Assassin who is disillusioned with the Order and defects to the Templars. This makes an interesting story, but it isn’t very surprising given the way the series has progressed in recent years.

What the storyline does really well is show that the Assassins aren’t as morally perfect as they were painted early on. I think this was a good decision by the game maker, Ubisoft. It gives the storyline complexity and makes it more interesting. Instead of painting the main conflict in black and white terms (as some other games do), Rogue uses a wider palette with 50 shades of gray. And if you’re curious, no, I’m not making a reference to a particular adult-fantasy novel!

As mentioned earlier, the gameplay and engine is largely a repeat from Black Flag. While I was slightly disappointed that the game makers didn’t add anything substantial to Rogue, it also means the user interface is easier to pick up than Assassin’s Creed Unity (Ubisoft’s other new installment).

Don’t get me wrong, though. There are some awesome fights and cool naval battles in Rogue. You even get another cool flagship in this game, the Morrigan. And there are a few new things to get excited about – like the opportunity to play half the game as a member of the Templar Order.

Also, with the return to the American frontier setting, the mechanics of hunting returns to Assassin’s Creed Rogue — this time expanding toward the Arctic. I loved hunting in Assassin’s Creed III and the addition of new lands and new animals in Rogue increases the fun (and mayhem).

Overall, Assassin’s Creed Rogue deserves an 8/10. The storyline is great because it does away with the good Assassins/bad Templars trope and really focuses on the fact that both sides are human and make mistakes. While the gameplay is largely a repeat from Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, it is by no means bad, and retains the same mechanics that made Black Flag a smashing success. Assassin’s Creed Rogue can be purchased for all platforms on Amazon.

For BMod, I’m Puching Zhang.

All Screenshots: Puching Zhang