I love Assassin's Creed. I'm a devoted AC fan. I've enjoyed every main entry in the series. I'm so devoted that I admit that I am bias sometimes in the series favor whenever the series is faced with criticism. All of that being said, Assassin's Creed: Rogue is perhaps the worst entry in the series thus far. It takes all of what made ACIV: Black Flag great but doesn't really add anything new or fresh to the formula. The game presents a very intriguing, albeit a very short, story. Finally, the game has many technical issues that hinder the overall experience and make ACIII's performance flawless by comparison. Overall, it is a fun entry in the series, but the game has some serious issues.
Quick note before continuing, I played this before AC: Unity. I have yet to play it, but will soon.
Story - 8.0: In overall context, the story of Rogue is perhaps the best in the series. In this game, we experience the Assassin v Templar conflict from the perspective of a Templar, Shay Patrick Cormac. What makes it have more of an impact is how experience Shay transform from an Assassin to a Templar. It is a dark story, but not as dark as you might have expected. Shay is the most interesting protagonist to date with more moral conflict than ever before. He isn't as charming or as daring as Ezio or Edward Kenway, but he's struggle in deciding right from wrong makes him a very relatable character. You find yourself wandering at times what is right or wrong. You feel as Shay does, which is very good. The game has a wide cast of characters, all of whom are good in their own way. The characters are, more or less, relatable in their own way. Some of the acting for the characters could be much better, but nothing bad enough to detract you from the experience. The downside to the story is how it casts the Assassins as the villains. When I say this, I'm not against the decision to have the assassins be antagonists, but I'm against how it was presented. Without spoiling it, there is something that the assassins do that kills a lot of innocents. Not once do they properly explain why. For fans of the series, such as myself, this alienates us. Not once is there any evidence in all 6 games prior to explain why they'd be okay with this. I'm okay with what happened, but they need to explain why so that the fans can really think about it and possibly question the assassin's creed. The other downside to the story is how short it is. The main story is literally half the length of the other assassin's creed games. This shortened story feels like wasted potential. As a result, the game doesn't really provide a full satisfying conclusion to the American Trilogy. The modern day story of the game is actually better than I expected. Although not much really happens, it introduces a new dark character who seems like could be a very promising antagonist in the future. At the same time, it introduces a very annoying character. The back story that comes from hacking in this game is much more interesting and more cohesive than Black Flag. I skipped much of that material in Black Flag because I thought it was boring and tedious to sift through all of that disjointed back story. But I really enjoyed listening to all of the information this time. It all worked together in a well done cohesive manner that intrigued me greatly. It makes me wander what will come next in the modern story line especially with the game's ending. Hopefully, they will use it well in the future.
Gameplay - 6.5: More of the same. Everything about this game feels exactly like Black Flag. Black Flag was a great game, but I didn't want to play another version of Black Flag. I wanted to play something new. It feels like a very large DLC to Black Flag. One could say that AC: Brotherhood had the same problem, but I disagree. Brotherhood introduced enough new content and mechanics, such as the new fighting system, assassin recruitment, renovations, and multiplayer, that it felt fresh. Rogue offers almost nothing new. Besides a couple of new weapons, the air rifle and grenade launcher, the only new addition is enemy stalkers. Being hunted by assassins is a very strange and sometimes suspenseful feeling. It forces you to be careful and not simply run around blindly chasing your target. You have the freedom to do that, but I know from personal experience that you will be killed many times with that approach. Besides this addition, nothing is new. Everything else is simply building upon what already exists. Naval combat feels exactly the same as Black Flag. Black Flag took the naval from ACIII and expanded it in a very large way. Rogue adds a couple of new weapons, which are fun but no enough to make it feel fresh. The game's largest issue, however, is the glitches. There are so many of them! These aren't simple small visual annoyances; they directly interfere with gameplay. Too often climbing doesn't work or you climb the wrong object. These have been problems in the past, but in Rogue they are worse than ever. Too often was I killed because of a climbing glitch, or because the game wouldn't let me use a human shield against a gunman, or I failed a mission because it wouldn't kill my target when I pressed the button. There are too many glitches! ACIII's glitches were slight hiccups that pulled you out of the experience, but Rogue's glitches run far deeper. As a result, this game feels very rushed or half finished. When everything works, the game feels like an AC game. But too often, it doesn't work. Too often there are buildings or rocks that you should be able to climb. Looking at it, there is no reason why you shouldn't, but you can't. The game puts up invisible walls preventing you from climbing. The world of Rogue is huge with plenty of activities to perform. Too bad then that none of them are new. The open sea feels and looks the same as Black Flag, except for the North Atlantic with icebergs and snow covered wastelands. The city of New York is the same as ACIII except with part of the city not burned down by a fire. The city is more fun to explore than in ACIII, but the fact that there is no new city, makes Rogue feel very lazy. There are some story missions that are great fun, however. There are a couple of missions that stand out as the best in the series. One set piece in particular is extremely well done and is very impressive. Overall, the gameplay has its fun moments but never offers anything new to lift the game up to greatness.
Graphics/Performance - 8.0: For a last gen game, the graphics looks fantastic. Particularly, snow looks very good with snow storms hindering your sight. Its well done. But again, the game is held back by glitches. There were times where a character was completely invisible during a cutscene. Glitches like this hold back the game.
Verdict - 7.0: I give this score with a heavy heart. As an AC fan, I want all the games to be great and be at least a 8 or 9. But I had to give the game the score I felt it deserved. It is a fun game, one worth playing especially by AC fans. However, I suggest you lower your expectations. This game is half as long as most of the entries, offers little new, and is plagued by gameplay glitches. In the future, I hope Ubisoft only releases one AC a year max. For if nothing else, to ensure that future entries reach the highest quality.