With Two Paths to Walk This Fall, I Recommend Assassins Play AC Unity Over AC Rogue

We're still in the process of reviewing Assassin's Creed Rogue. Of the Assassin's Creed games released by Ubisoft last week, I've played both Assassin's Creed Rogue and Assassin's Creed Unity. In fact, you can read our review of AC Unity here, but be sure to look out for our critique of AC Rogue soon.

Why?

These two games manage to strike entirely different chords both for video game enthusiasts who've maybe played an AC game in the past and for diehard consumers of the franchise who can't help but devour every narrative thread as it twists between seams of red Templar and white Assassin robes. With such directly opposed ideals present in each side of this conflict, with the franchise driving closer to blurring those lines completely, and with each game presenting largely the same objective for players themselves, you'll be forgiven for losing track of where each story leads you next.

Having played through all of Assassin's Creed Unity and after getting hands-on with Assassin's Creed Rogue for about three hours at a pre-release event, I'm recommending Unity. Here's a slightly technical list as to how these games are different, in case you don't already know:

Assassin's Creed Rogue is available for older video game hardware and PC. You'll need an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 (or comparable computer hardware) to play Rogue.
Assassin's Creed Unity is available for newer video game hardware. Your PC will likely need an upgrade if you haven't changed anything inside its case in the past year. New console technology in Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles will do just fine rendering Paris for big screen TVs.
Assassin's Creed Rogue gives players control over a Templar for the first time and asks them to hunt down Assassins on the Eastern seaboard where familiar locales like New York and expansive water systems continue the naval and traversal gameplay balance struck by Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag.
Assassin's Creed Unity sets players down in Paris, exclusively, for a narrative more akin to where the series started. There are secret communications from Assassins working to bring down Abstergo entertainment and you'll run up against historical figures as always.

In truth, many gamers will find the same thing in either Rogue or Unity. I say this in the sense that both games task you with exploring open environments, killing targets, and historical responsibility spanning every objective.

It doesn't really matter that you're slaying dozens of guards on your way to a particularly bloodied historical figure, so long as you don't touch the gorgeous art lining scores of Parisian interiors in Unity. Further, at least in Rogue it holds that your recognition of American figures anytime before Assassin's Creed III's revolutionary war doesn't matter all that much so long as you can grasp the now console-spanning series narrative.

Here's how I can best quantify my own personal reactions to each game, based solely on the initial preview events I had either at conventions or at Ubisoft's offices:

I first played Assassin's Creed Unity in a strictly multiplayer setting with an Ubisoft developer who helped us both make it through a mission by calling out enemies and objectives as we progressed. This gave me the sense that Unity's team-based gameplay will inevitably reach for more gameplay hours, if that's how you judge the software you buy in this medium.
I first played Assassin's Creed Rogue at Ubisoft's offices with dedicated single-player stations for writers to barrel through two or three hours of story missions and naval exploration. My first and most memorable reaction at this event was to a mid-game spoiler.

That should tell you instantly whether or not you'll want to play either of these games. It should say to potential Assassin's Creed fans or even stalwart franchise supporters that one game is for them and the other can wait for a price drop. If you're into the Assassins and Templar story, you'll want to buy Rogue. If you would rather work with fellow gamers, you'll want to buy Unity.

I think you should buy Unity, particularly if you've been with the series for a while or if you've got a new-generation console to play on. Here are a few words from our review of Assassin's Creed Unity that may just push you to my side: