This is gonna be long, but hopefully it will be insightful. I will keep the review part at the top, and the more discussion part below.

I recommend this game highly. In fact, out of all the Assassin's Creed games this is the best one, with AC II maybe edging it out. The improved parkour controls, tougher and more punishing combat, incredibly beautiful and fleshed out world of Paris, and (♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ finally) stealth mechanics make this game the diamond in the rough of the AC series. If you like Assassin's creed you should definitely play this, and even if you don't love AC, but you like stealth/action games, you should pick this up.

A lot of people have and will disagree with what I just said. To be fair, this game had a rough launch with plenty of bugs. But since then, Ubisoft has improved the game quality immensely and it currently plays without any of the bugs that plagued it at the start. However, I think the main reason people don't like it is because it is very different from previous entries in the series. And thus my unpopular opinion that this is the AC game that Ubisoft should have been making from the start.

The over-arching storyline of AC is that you are an ASSASSIN, you know, killing things from the shadows, hiding in plain sight. Yet almost every element of gameplay worked against that. In every game, barring the first one maybe, you played a character who was a walking arsenal, capable of single-handedly slaughtering the entire garrison of a city. Combat was easy and there were no stealth mechanics to speak of, so the best strategy by far was to just murder everyone in your path and forget stealth. If you tried to be stealthy you were basically punished by the game. The idea that you were an assassin, and not an unkillable demigod of war and death, was laughable.

Each game had certain strengths and weaknesses, but generally the negatives outweighed the fun of the games. Until finally, despite its own flaws, they created AC Unity, which is the most fun you will have in an AC game because you actually feel like an assassin. The first game, plus the Ezio trilogy, really nailed the setting. The world was fun to explore and the cities were perfect for running around and pulling off awesome moves. But like I said the combat was waaaaaayyyyyyy too easy. AC 3 had slightly harder combat plus some really cool combat animations (I appreciated the attempt at innovation) but the setting of colonial america did not work well for the gameplay. Black Flag had the same problem. And I know people love that game, but I think that it can only be enjoyed as a pirate simulator. (And even with that, it's not as fun as people say. It gets repetitive quick.) The combat was easy, you saw all the cool animations within 2 hours of gameplay, and setting was also not good for being a parkour assassin.

With AC Unity they combined all the positives that the previous games had and left out the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ stuff. Paris is a huge open world that makes for the perfect playground to be a parkour assassin. I have never looked so cool sprinting across the rooftops and pulling off awesome assassinations. The city is alive and full of people. You feel like one person in this huge world, overhearing parts of conversations and witnessing others go about their lives during this tumultuous period. With the addition of a simple up and down mechanic, as opposed to "one button does all" for parkour, the game opens up a whole new level of movement. It takes a little getting used too, but once you master it you have far more control over your character. Plus you can pull off moves and routes that wouldn't have been possible in previous games. With the addition of cover and crouch mechanics you can sneak around enemies and finally be the invisible killer you always hoped to be in this series. I can't believe it took them this long to add those in. And finally combat is challenging and unforgiving. In the beginning, you are still able to dispatch enemies pretty easily, and throughout the game 1v1 is no problem. But if you get surrounded, you are ♥♥♥♥♥♥. Enemies do not politely hang back like they did in the past while you dispatch their comrades. You will get attacked from 3 sides at once, enemies will shoot you while you try and fight someone else, and you will face groups of enemeis who will reck your ♥♥♥♥. You are not all-powerful anymore and you must be smart if you want to win.

I will mention that this game is not perfect. Sometimes the character doesn't move the way you want him too, sometimes small little glitches happen (but it's nothing more than slightly bothersome to look at), and the story is not amazing. But this is probably the best AC game in the series.

Forget what people said about this game when it released. Those criticisms are not relevant anymore. What exists now is a polished amalgamation of all the good elements of past AC games without the bloat and easiness. Buy this game and give it the love it deserves.

This is gonna be long, but hopefully it will be insightful. I will keep the review part at the top, and the more discussion part below. I recommend this game highly. In fact, out of all the Assassin's Creed games this is the best one, with AC II maybe edging it out. The improved parkour controls, tougher and more punishing combat, incredibly beautiful and fleshed out world of Paris, and (fucking finally) stealth mechanics make this game the diamond in the rough of the AC series. If you like Assassin's creed you should definitely play this, and even if you don't love AC, but you like stealth/action games, you should pick this up. A lot of people have and will disagree with what I just said. To be fair, this game had a rough launch with plenty of bugs. But since then, Ubisoft has improved the game quality immensely and it currently plays without any of the bugs that plagued it at the start. However, I think the main reason people don't like it is because it is very different from previous entries in the series. And thus my unpopular opinion that this is the AC game that Ubisoft should have been making from the start. The over-arching storyline of AC is that you are an ASSASSIN, you know, killing things from the shadows, hiding in plain sight. Yet almost every element of gameplay worked against that. In every game, barring the first one maybe, you played a character who was a walking arsenal, capable of single-handedly slaughtering the entire garrison of a city. Combat was easy and there were no stealth mechanics to speak of, so the best strategy by far was to just murder everyone in your path and forget stealth. If you tried to be stealthy you were basically punished by the game. The idea that you were an assassin, and not an unkillable demigod of war and death, was laughable. Each game had certain strengths and weaknesses, but generally the negatives outweighed the fun of the games. Until finally, despite its own flaws, they created AC Unity, which is the most fun you will have in an AC game because you actually feel like an assassin. The first game, plus the Ezio trilogy, really nailed the setting. The world was fun to explore and the cities were perfect for running around and pulling off awesome moves. But like I said the combat was waaaaaayyyyyyy too easy. AC 3 had slightly harder combat plus some really cool combat animations (I appreciated the attempt at innovation) but the setting of colonial america did not work well for the gameplay. Black Flag had the same problem. And I know people love that game, but I think that it can only be enjoyed as a pirate simulator. (And even with that, it's not as fun as people say. It gets repetitive quick.) The combat was easy, you saw all the cool animations within 2 hours of gameplay, and setting was also not good for being a parkour assassin. With AC Unity they combined all the positives that the previous games had and left out the shitty stuff. Paris is a huge open world that makes for the perfect playground to be a parkour assassin. I have never looked so cool sprinting across the rooftops and pulling off awesome assassinations. The city is alive and full of people. You feel like one person in this huge world, overhearing parts of conversations and witnessing others go about their lives during this tumultuous period. With the addition of a simple up and down mechanic, as opposed to "one button does all" for parkour, the game opens up a whole new level of movement. It takes a little getting used too, but once you master it you have far more control over your character. Plus you can pull off moves and routes that wouldn't have been possible in previous games. With the addition of cover and crouch mechanics you can sneak around enemies and finally be the invisible killer you always hoped to be in this series. I can't believe it took them this long to add those in. And finally combat is challenging and unforgiving. In the beginning, you are still able to dispatch enemies pretty easily, and throughout the game 1v1 is no problem. But if you get surrounded, you are fucked. Enemies do not politely hang back like they did in the past while you dispatch their comrades. You will get attacked from 3 sides at once, enemies will shoot you while you try and fight someone else, and you will face groups of enemeis who will reck your shit. You are not all-powerful anymore and you must be smart if you want to win. I will mention that this game is not perfect. Sometimes the character doesn't move the way you want him too, sometimes small little glitches happen (but it's nothing more than slightly bothersome to look at), and the story is not amazing. But this is probably the best AC game in the series. Forget what people said about this game when it released. Those criticisms are not relevant anymore. What exists now is a polished amalgamation of all the good elements of past AC games without the bloat and easiness. Buy this game and give it the love it deserves.