Assassin's Creed Unity: Dead Kings

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 9
  3. Negative: 1 out of 9
  1. Push Square
    Jan 19, 2015
    40
    The bleak backdrop of Franciade sums up this miserable outing, as you engage in dreary underground missions built around the most rudimentary of brazier-based puzzles.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 115 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 115
  2. Mixed: 52 out of 115
  3. Negative: 22 out of 115
  1. nnevill
    Dec 16, 2020
    8
    This DLC is sort of unnecessary but considering it's free it's not that bad.
  2. MacReady82
    Apr 13, 2015
    9
    My favourite part of Unity and I think better than the main story! Reintroduces the tomb raiding element of Assassin's Creed which is missingMy favourite part of Unity and I think better than the main story! Reintroduces the tomb raiding element of Assassin's Creed which is missing from the main game. I loved this.… Full Review »
  3. EzioA88
    Feb 26, 2015
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. Assassin's Creed: Unity became notorious last year due to the fact that it released in a fairly haphazard state. While I didn't have any real troubles with the game, disappearing faces, coop connection troubles and framerate slow downs were common when the game came out. Five patches later and it's almost completely stable. Many were annoyed at these troubles and felt betrayed, especially after previous disappointments from Ubisoft like the Watch Dogs graphical scale down. Dead Kings is a bit of an apology letter to the fans. Teased before the game released, it was part of a $40 season pass that also included a bunch of add on missions and a side scrolling game. Dead Kings would have been about $15 or so if it was released separately in a normal fashion, but instead Ubisoft have made it free and scrapped the season pass while doing so.

    Dead Kings is actually a fairly worthwhile add on pack and the super low price of zero dollars should make it essential for those who have been craving more Unity. It introduces some nice new innovations, comes with a bucketload of gear and has about 6 hours of playtime to it if you plan on 100%ing the pack. But while most of it is very nice, the story is where you realise how the DLC came to be free...

    Set after the events of Unity, the six mission Sequence 13 follows Arno as he overcomes a specific event through drinking and fight. When an old friend comes knocking, he is tasked with searching for a mysterious artifact that holds mystical secrets. In the new town of Franciade, danger is at an all time high and its catacombs are crawling with deadly things. The quest soon becomes complicated, as a militia group searches for the device, a betrayal occurs and a kid sidekick even comes along to help out Arno. The 3 hour story is fairly imaginative and at many times it feels like the fifth Indiana Jones movie, just with a touch of Creed. The thing is it's all to short to fit in these bunch of plot points. A whole game could have been made out of this concept, with all the points receiving their due time. Instead, there really is only time to address one key part and it feels fairly rushed when you are whisked through all these problems. The ending mission itself is well designed and calls to mind past Creeds, but the quick montage of wrapping up all of the plot points is handled clumsily- it almost feels like Ubisoft decided to stop working on this DLC, as soon as it was announced as being free and just quickly put a cap on everything. In truth though, this is the only thing I didn't like about this add on.

    Gameplay wise you'll spend most of your time within the new catacomb environments. You are given a refillable lantern and are tasked with solving some puzzles. They're mostly simple, but I like this idea of navigating the darkness. Stealth is also given a greater focus with a brand new enemy faction. There are hundreds of new enemies below ground and they're part of a function called the Raiders. Most of the raiders are easy to kill, but they overwhelm you with their large numbers. You can quickly eliminate them though by finding and assassinating their leader. This need to search for a large enemy without getting spotted is tense and Eagle Vision is given even greater focus. Of course, you can always whip out one of the new Guillotine Guns and just blow up a bunch of foes with a well placed mortar shot. The axe on the head deals a lot of damage and the brutal new animations make your kills more rewarding. It's in stark contrast with the stealth focus and it feels like it belongs in Gears of War, but what the hell? It's an axe that shoots grenades. Who'll say no?

    The new open world of Franciade is well designed and there are some nice vistas. The great amount of fog covering the landscapes always gives it an eery feeling though and the catacombs are dark, dank and dangerous. The amount of detail within the environments is still amazing, even if there are noticeably less interiors. The amount of activities available is also impressive. New Outpost missions task you with killing leaders in Restricted areas and as is expected, they make this feel more like Far Cry. There are also some new Paris Stories and Murder Mysteries which are more worthwhile and there are greater rewards, including cooler new weapons and costumes. There are also tonnes of collectibles, along with two new coop missions- one of which is amazing and the other which is horribly boring.

    Dead Kings may come with a bland and confusing campaign, but its cool new gameplay mechanics, side missions and setting make it worth a download in many ways. So the real question is, would this have been worth buying if it was at its full price? Definitely. Pick it up straight away and enjoy more Unity with a lot more polish to it as well.    … Full Review »
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