Assassin's Creed Rogue

The imperative to cash in on Black Flag is transparent, but as it turns out a location swap works wonders for igniting the hooded pirate in you again.

Those who yearn for a return to Black Flag's sandbox will take comfort knowing this is "more of the same," as the clichéd review expression goes. But, Rogue's systems do nothing to move Assassin's Creed forward, leaving it fittingly stuck in the past like the last-generation consoles it graces. Anyone who expects more will be disappointed. Anyone who just wants another open-world adventure replete with sailing, exploration, and killing might find comfort in its familiar ways.

Assassin's Creed Rogue can be just as enthralling as its predecessors, but it sometimes feels dated and inconsequential.

With a story hampered by familiar mechanics, 'Assassin's Creed Rogue' is a worthwhile adventure for only the most devoted of fans.

Classic gameplay that will please fans of stealth, but the worst story in the series. It's focus on the Templars could have been great but there's no attempt to humanize them.

Here's a comparison for Assassin's Creed fans: Rogue is basically the Revelations of the Assassin's Creed III era, and that's okay!

In plundering Assassin's Creed: Black Flag practically wholesale, Rogue proves to be a double-edged sword. As much as Rogue succeeds in servicing those who were disappointed that Unity eschewed Black Flag's naval shenanigans, the game also serves as a timely reminder just how little the franchise has evolved in recent years, in spite of its relatively novel take on the series' narrative.

Assassin's Creed Rogue is a mediocre-to-decent, open-ended, third-person action game, which many times feels as if the typical Assassin's Creed gameplay has crossed paths with Sid Meier's Pirates! However, it's impossible to overlook an abundance of flaws that are the result of a rushed production, and the fact that this is, in many ways, a reselling of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

In the end, Assassin's Creed Rogue feels like a multi-colored blanket stitched together by years of older materials. It will still keep you warm for the night, but the mismatched patterns and holes in the fabric may leave you wanting to trade up for a fresh new blanket that still carries the same comfort.

There I go again, swinging back the other way! The problem is this. I am a little upset at endless Ubisoft FIFA-esque annual updates that, also like FIFA, are very slight variations on a theme. But these games will never be wholly beige and uninteresting, because they're built on a tried and tested way of making you have fun. Sailing the seven seas with a crew of salty sea dogs, taking on a pair of angry French frigates is just fun. Sneaking through the bushes at a governors' soiree, then sneakily shooting one of his guards with a berserk dart and watching him slaughter all of his erstwhile comrades - that's always good for a giggle. You can feel the swagger when you first buy the captain's uniform and cut a dashing figure through the streets of the colonies. The weaving of historical fact and off-the-wall videogame fiction is engrossing and superbly crafted. So what that it's basically a game you've already played? That doesn't stop it being fun.