Assassin’s Creed Rogue was originally released alongside Assassin’s Creed Unity in 2014. It was the last AC title Ubisoft developed for the PS3/Xbox 360 platforms, while Unity marked the start of their next-gen AC titles. Now, three years later, Ubisoft decided to port the game over to PS4 and Xbox One.
Rogue takes place during the events of Assassin’s Creed III and IV. You play as Shay Cormac, a young recruit of the Assassin Order whose potential is offset by his lack of respect towards his mentors and elders. Although he questions them most of the time, he follows orders given to him as he believes he’s doing the right thing as a member of the Assassins. But this comes to an end when he discovers something about the Order, making him abandon his friends and eventually join the Templars. Shay then tries his best to fix everything the Assassins have destroyed.
The twist of AC Rogue is obviously that you get to play as a Templar instead of an Assassin. While the concept is neat, the execution is lackluster and makes it obvious that Ubisoft wanted to garner attention with the premise instead of telling an actual intriguing story. I won’t spoil what makes Shay abandon the Assassins, but let’s just say the Assassins do something that they normally would never do. In fact, the Assassins in AC Rogue behave more like Templars than the Templars do themselves. It’s never easy to make someone sympathize with a villain, but rewriting characters and lore to do that is not a satisfying solution. I should also note that after Shay switches sides, the story immediately drops in quality and doesn’t do anything to further develop Shay’s character. I hope that Ubisoft will eventually make another AC game in which you play as a Templar, but knowing them they’ll probably keep portraying the Templars as cartoony villains that are pure evil.
Improved Black Flag
The gameplay of Rogue is best described as a more refined Black Flag, the pirate-themed Assassin’s Creed title that released in 2013. You sail across the oceans to hunt assassination targets and artifacts while upgrading your equipment and ship to become stronger. Targets can either be killed by hunting them on land or by searching their ship and engage in naval warfare with them. Like Black Flag, the naval warfare is the strongest aspect of Rogue. You start by destroying small schooners and eventually equip your ship with so much firepower that you can take on legendary Man o’ Wars. Every battle against a ship is engaging and never gets old, especially if you try to take enemy ships over instead of destroying them. Be warned though, because in Rogue it’s also possible for the enemy to board your ship.
Although the sea battles are the most fun part of Rogue, the gameplay on land has also been a bit improved when compared to Black Flag. The free-running and stealth mechanics are the same, but Shay has several tools that are new to the series. He carries an air rifle that silently shoots sleeping darts and can poison enemies. Sleeping darts have been implemented in earlier AC titles, but Shay’s gun comes with a new upgrade. His gun can be equipped with a grenade launcher that can hit multiple enemies at the same time. So, if you came across a gate with several guards, you can shoot one grenade to put them all to sleep instead of picking them off one by one. This makes the gameplay easier, but more fluid and certainly helps in escaping large groups of enemies.
Another addition Rogue has is the stalker system, which previously was only implemented in AC Revelations. Since Shay is a traitor to the Assassins, he’s hunted by them throughout the game. In some areas, there are hidden stalkers that you can’t easily spot and attack Shay when he walks past them. To find them, you can listen to their whispers or use the compass that fills up the closer you get to them. The stalkers aren’t that threatening when they’re alone, but in a group, they can be deadly. This system mixes up the gameplay in a positive way since instead of the hunter you can also be the hunted. The rest of the gameplay is the same as Black Flag, so if you liked playing that game, you’ll probably like this one.
Good port
But what about the port itself? Well, I’ve played the PS4 version and I must say that Ubisoft has done a good job. The resolution has been upscaled to 1080p (4K on PS4 Pro and Xbox One X) and graphics are improved with better environmental rendering, shadow resolutions and a steady framerate. The game also runs significantly better in terms of bugs and glitches. I’ve encountered almost no issues during my time playing Rogue, with the exception of some NPCs walking through each other. The remaster also includes all the DLC, but they’re not anything noteworthy. They give some outfits, weapons and two bonus missions that include an additional fort raid and a quest that rewards you with a new set of armor.
Conclusion
Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered is simply the definitive experience to play Rogue if you haven’t before. While Black Flag has a better story, Rogue is better at everything else. If you’re an AC fan and haven’t played Rogue, now is the perfect time to start.
