Assassin's Creed Rogue

Assassin's Creed Rogue is an action-adventure, stealth game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. The game features three main areas: the North Atlantic, the fictional River Valley (partly inspired by the Hudson Valley), and New York City. The first two include numerous individual locations that can be explored, such as small islands, human settlements, naval forts, and shipwrecks. Like Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, naval exploration and combat are a major component of the gameplay. The Morrigan, the ship that protagonist Shay Cormac captains, has a shallower draft than Edward Kenway's Jackdaw, allowing for river travel,[1][7] and can be equipped with several new weapons, including Puckle guns, oil slicks which can be ignited, and an icebreaker.[8] Additionally, enemy ships can board the Morrigan, and certain icebergs can be destroyed to create waves that damage smaller ships.[8] However, the underwater diving missions featured in Black Flag have been removed as swimming in the North Atlantic causes the player's health to rapidly deplete due to the frigid water, though Shay is able to swim freely in the southerly waters of the River Valley.[9]

For combat, the game introduces an air rifle, similar to the blowpipe from Black Flag, which allows the player to silently take out enemies at a distance. The air rifle can be outfitted with a variety of different projectiles, such as sleeping darts and firecrackers. The player can also use it as a grenade launcher, which fires off shrapnel grenades and other loads.[7] Hand-to-hand combat has been slightly altered, and now enemy attacks can be countered with timing, similar to the Batman: Arkham series of games. Enemy Assassins feature archetypes similar to previous games, using skills that players have been using throughout the series; they can hide in bushes, blend in with crowds, and perform air assassinations against the player.[9] Poison gas can now be used as an environmental weapon, and Shay has a mask that can mitigate its effects. When being stalked by an enemy, Shay's Eagle Vision changes to reflect this, taking elements from the multiplayer feature of previous games in the series that allowed players to track an enemy's position via a radar-like system. Even without using Eagle Vision, the player is warned of the presence of stalkers by the edges of the screen turning red.

The player can upgrade Shay's equipment through a crafting system, which requires animal pelts gained from hunting or fishing. In-game collectibles, such as Templar treasures, Native pillars, and Viking sword fragments, also provide Shay with new outfits and equipment upon finding them. The Morrigan can also be upgraded using resources acquired from raiding ships, warehouses, and camps, allowing it to face off against more powerful ships; the strongest of which are the five Legendary Ships—hidden boss battles located in the North Atlantic, which were also present in Black Flag.

Side missions and activities return, with a number of them based on those of the previous games. Reflecting Shay's role as a Templar, the game introduces a new side mission: Assassin Interception. These mirror the Assassination side missions in previous games, in that Shay, after intercepting a messenger pigeon carrying an assassination contract, must prevent an innocent from being killed by finding and eliminating Assassins hidden nearby. Other side activities are connected to the Seven Years' War and include naval clashes, freeing prisoners of war held aboard enemy ships, and taking over enemy forts and settlements.

Another returning feature from earlier installments is the ability to renovate buildings, which then generate income that is deposited in the bank and must be collected regularly. This system functions similarly to the Borgia towers from Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and the Templar dens from Assassin's Creed: Revelations, as buildings can only be renovated after the area they are located in has been liberated from the Assassins' control. In the game, the Assassins run a gang that has a total of ten hideouts across the three main regions. To clear a hideout, the player must assassinate its gang leader (who can block most of Shay's direct attacks and has an unblockable hidden blade strike), burn the gang's flag, and in some cases kill Templar defectors or rescue captured British soldiers.

In 1752, Shay Patrick Cormac (Steven Piovesan) is a new recruit to the Colonial Brotherhood of Assassins, whose potential is offset by his insubordination. While training with the North Atlantic chapter under the Assassin Mentor Achilles Davenport (Roger Aaron Brown), the Assassin Adéwalé (Tristan D. Lalla) arrives with news that Port-au-Prince was devastated by an earthquake during the search for a Precursor site. Due to his experience captaining ships, Shay is tasked to retrieve a Precursor box and manuscript linked to the temple from the Templars. However, Shay begins to question the Assassins' motives after they refuse to engage in dialogue with the Templars and order Shay to assassinate them simply for being an obstacle, including the terminally ill Lawrence Washington.

In 1754, after assassinating the Templars guarding the box and the manuscript, Shay delivers them to Benjamin Franklin (Rick Jones) for an experiment. Powering the box with electricity, it generates a map that shows the locations of more Precursor temples around the world. Ordered to investigate one such temple in Lisbon, Shay inadvertently triggers an earthquake when he retrieves the Piece of Eden at its center, which disintegrates in his hands. The earthquake destroys Lisbon and kills thousands of people, leaving Shay guilt-ridden. Deducing that Port-au-Prince was destroyed similarly, Shay is horrified to learn that Achilles intends to continue the search for Pieces of Eden and endanger more lives. He steals the manuscript and attempts to escape with it, but is cornered by the Brotherhood. Shay is shot and left for dead before he can destroy the manuscript.

Cast adrift, Shay is found by Colonel George Monro (Graham J. Cuthbertson), who saves him and leaves him in the care of Templar supporters in New York City. After recovering in 1756, Shay cleans out Assassin-allied gangs that are extorting the citizenry, catching Monro's attention, who convinces Shay that he can improve the lives of others. Meeting with Christopher Gist (Richard M. Dumont), Shay retakes his ship, the Morrigan, from the Assassins, and agrees to assist his new allies, despite learning they are Templars. Learning that the Assassins have not given up their search for the Pieces of Eden, Shay hunts them down, becoming a fully fledged member of the Templar Order in the process. After killing Le Chasseur (Chimwemwe Miller), Kesegowaase (Danny Blanco-Hall), Adéwalé, Hope Jensen (Patricia Summersett) and Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye (Marcel Jeannin) over the following years, only two members of the Colonial Brotherhood remain: Achilles and his second-in-command, Liam O'Brien (Julian Casey), once Shay's best friend.

Shay and the Templar Grand Master, Haytham Kenway (Adrian Hough), pursue them to the Arctic, where the Assassins have located another Temple. After eliminating the Assassin expedition, Shay and Haytham enter the Temple to find Liam and Achilles, who have realized that the artifact is a means to stabilize the world, not a weapon to control it. During the confrontation, the artifact is accidentally destroyed, triggering another earthquake. As the four escape, Shay and Liam duel and Liam is fatally injured when the two fall. Shay returns to his ship as Haytham overpowers Achilles. Shay persuades Haytham to spare Achilles, to ensure knowledge of the Temples is not lost, so the Assassins will not pursue them again. Haytham agrees, but cripples Achilles.

Tasked by Haytham to recover the Precursor box from the Assassins, Shay spends the next sixteen years tracking it down, while Templar influence in the colonies is destroyed by the Assassin Connor during the American Revolution. In 1776, with Benjamin Franklin's help, Shay infiltrates the Palace of Versailles in France and kills the Assassin Charles Dorian to obtain the box.

In the modern-day, the player is an unnamed Abstergo Entertainment employee tasked with researching Shay's memories. During their investigation, the player inadvertently trips a hidden memory file that infects the Animus servers. Abstergo is placed in lockdown, and the player must clean the Animus servers by living out Shay's memories. Juhani Otso Berg (Andreas Apergis), a senior Templar, orders the player to upload Shay's memories to the Assassin servers, to weaken their resolve. The Brotherhood responds by cutting off communications. In a mid-credits scene, Berg thanks the player for their help, and gives them a choice: join the Templars, or die. The player's decision is not revealed.

By March 2014, a game code-named "Comet" was revealed to be in development, set for release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[10] By the end of the month, additional reports indicated that "Comet" would be set around 1758 in New York, as well as feature sailing on the Atlantic Ocean. The game would be a direct sequel to Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, and would feature a Templar named Shay as the main protagonist. Haytham Kenway from Assassin's Creed III and Adéwalé from Black Flag would also make appearances.[11]

The game was officially announced on August 5, 2014, following a leak of the title.[12] Game director Martin Capel described the game as the conclusion to the series' "North American saga" and said that it was designed to accommodate specific fan requests, such as taking on the role of a Templar.[1] The game is intended to "fill the gaps" of the story between Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and has "a crucial link" to the events of the previous games.[13] In addition to Ubisoft Sofia's work on the game, contributions are also being made by Ubisoft studios in Singapore, Montreal, Quebec, Chengdu, Milan and Bucharest.[1] Ubisoft also stated that the game was being envisioned without multiplayer components "at this stage", but did not rule out any modes being added after the game launched.[14]

Rogue incorporates the naval battles and exploration which is a core gameplay mechanic for Black Flag. According to writer Susan Patrick, there is a thematic link between Shay and his ship, as Cormac is a Gaelic name that means "raven" and his ship is named after The Morrigan, a goddess from Irish mythology associated with war and fate who often appeared as a raven.[15] The Morrigan is smaller than Black Flag protagonist Edward Kenway’s Jackdaw, allowing it to navigate the rivers and bays in the North Atlantic region which would be inaccessible for a larger vessel. The Morrigan is outfitted with the Puckle gun, described as an "early version of a machine gun" due to its rapid fire capability.

On March 20, 2018, a remastered version of the game was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[16] On December 6, 2019, this remaster was released alongside Black Flag as The Rebel Collection for the Nintendo Switch.[6]

Assassin's Creed Rogue received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[17][18][19][32]

Ray Carsillo from Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game an 8.5/10, praising its interesting lead character, enjoyable story, new weapons introduced, new mission design, which requires players to prevent assassinations instead of carrying out assassinations like in other Assassin's Creed titles, as well as advanced and improved combat mechanics. However, he criticized poor pacing of the story, frequent bugs, lack of replayability and the lack of inclusion of a multiplayer mode. He concluded the review by saying that "Rogue is a far more pleasurable experience than I anticipated. It does just enough to put its own stamp on the franchise while also giving us critical story details in order to tie up loose ends between Assassin's Creed III and IV. It serves as a perfect conclusion to the series' time spent exploring Europe's North American colonies in the 18th century."[23]

Eurogamer drew comparisons between Rogue and Assassin's Creed Revelations—a game which served to resolve storylines from Ezio Auditore's saga as a lead-in to Assassin's Creed III, due to its focus on expanding on characters and storylines introduced in III and Black Flag. Although noting that some settings, weapons, and mechanics had been reused from previous games in the series (such as an expansion of the New York City setting from III, naval combat, renovating buildings to build income, and locating enemies with a radar similar to the former multiplayer mode), the use of Assassins as an enemy was considered to be a "much-needed new [idea] to the series' fighting mechanics" due to their use of tactics that were used by the player themselves in previous games (such as smoke bombs and hiding), and that Rogue felt the most "fresh" whilst exploring its new North Atlantic overworld. However, the story missions themselves and single player campaign overall were criticized for being noticeably shorter than in previous games.[33]

Matt Miller from Game Informer gave the game an 8.25/10. He praised the huge variety of activities, varied environments, and mission types, new additions and well-performed gameplay, despite being too similar to its predecessors. He criticized the repetitive melee combat and the absence of multiplayer mode. He described the game by saying that "Rogue is vast with lots to explore, and while it lacks novelty, it offers a wealth of gameplay and lore to faithful fans."[25] Daniel Bloodworth from GameTrailers gave the game a 7.2/10, praising the return of some old characters in the Assassin's Creed series, stunning scenery and environment, interesting interceptions missions, but criticizing the predictable and dull lead character, poorly-constructed missions in the beginning of the game, disappointing boss battles, as well as numerous bugs. He described the game by saying that "Rogue in many ways feels like an extension of last year's Black Flag, even down to the menus, but there are some tweaks to the formula thanks to your new role as a former assassin, hunting down his old comrades."[28]

Daniel Krupa from IGN gave the game a 6.8/10. He praised the engaging story, the nuanced lead character, atmospheric scenery, but criticized the lack of Templar abilities included, bland encounters with other main characters, uninspired side quests, empty world, as well as the frustrating combat and traversal system, which he stated has shown no improvements. He also criticized the game for not encouraging the player to explore the world.[29] Mark Walton from GameSpot gave the game a 6/10, criticizing the predictable story, unlikeable lead character, lack of interesting missions, as well as being thin on core content. He stated that the game feels like a glorified Black Flag DLC pack and has done nothing to put the franchise forward.[26] Xav de Matos from Joystiq gave the game a 6/10, criticizing the game for not adding anything new to the franchise. He stated that "Assassin's Creed Rogue is essentially a clone of Black Flag's setting and systems. If you can accept rampant copy-and-paste in another full priced entry, you'll more than likely enjoy what Assassin's Creed Rogue has to offer."[30]

In April 2020, Game Informer ranked the game as the ninth best game (out of twelve) in the Assassin's Creed series to date.[34]

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