I can't comment on others but I am playing the final release paid version. You still need an internet connection to play, and there are lots of in-app purchases but they are not necessary to play the game. It just gets you stuff like new costumes more quickly without the grinding. I've played 8 missions so far and I'm enjoying the game. It certainly looks impressive on the iPad Pro. @Warriv pretty much explains it all in the previous comment.
I was exactly thinking about what happened with AC: Pirates! Ubisoft has pulled this before which is what makes me hesitate to smash that buy button... I agree completely about what a great game this could be if it had a truly premium model (no IAP except for possible expansion content ala The Quest, etc...) The iOS port of the NDS Assassin's Creed was actually pretty fun, maybe I'll give that another run too while I wait with my popcorn for the price to drop and the comments sections explodes in frustration ;p *honestly I do hope I'm wrong about this though. I'll keep some hope alive that they learned their lesson from Pirates and actually decided to make this a truly premium game in the final release. I'll also keep hope that will update to make offline play possible (one can dream right?) What I won't do is hold my breathe lol.
If you ignore the first part that activates each mission, you can free roam if you like. The maps are not particularly large though. I wouldn't call it an open world game.
Hey, glad to be of help! All in all, I think this game just needed a bit more love, but it's still worth its asking price, imo. That's quite a blow, I don't know if I'd be able to forgive a company for pulling that one. It's one thing to drop a price, or to make a game free, another is to change something one has paid for into a f2p experience. That shouldn't even be legal, really.
Thanks to all who posted their impressions of the game, especially to Warriv for their in depth review. I was looking forward to the game but not now. The online all the time for a single player game is a no go for me, I live where the net is not reliable. Give me an offline option and you get my money Ubisoft.
Well, they'll probably pull it again but with this game when sales drop. I mean, I'd love to know what was changed in this game from soft launch to now. People complained the soft launch was too F2P, but this looks like it's basically F2P already... But they just slapped a $5 price tag on it to make premium-game-buyers pay upfront for something that F2P players will get for free in a few months. I mean, the amount of content in Pirates is huge and it's free to download and play now. This really looks like the same game/currency setup. So, I'll either pay $5 for a F2P game to play it now or wait to play it later for free and decide how much I'll contribute through IAP.
This is what I feared, and honestly, what I expected from Ubisoft with this title. It's a shame because tip-toeing between f2p/freemium/premium without committing to one model and making the best of it usually makes for a massive flop in sales dooming the title to rapid obscurity. From the feedback I am getting on this my $5 would be infinitely better spent on a truly premium experience like Crashlands or Ys Chronicles II... It's a shame as well because I just payed $17 for FF IX and I would happily pay the same for a fully premium, in depth console quality (gameplay/story wise) AC title from Ubisoft. I know they can do better after their excellent release of the iOS original DeusEx: The Fall... This is exactly why I had dared to dream for AC: Identity after watching the developer commentary featured here a little while ago.. Now it seems this is not actually as "open world" as they made it sound and is more a mission based affair with no free roaming the city like in the console AC entries. I'll wait for a hopefully forthcoming TA review of this, but based on current feedback I won't be buying until after a highly favorable TA review, or it's inevitable post-release price drop at this point. @Ubisoft, you really could be underestimating mobile and shooting yourself in the foot being too timid and shortsighted with your top franchise. A console style experience does not usually mesh well with f2p/freemium mechanics and AC deserves a full console equivalent treatment on iOS after a slew of subpar "mobile" AC entries thus far. Looks like I should just re-download the old AC NDS port that Gameloft did back in the day to scratch my AC itch in the meantime. That one wasn't half bad..
Not sure whats the point of this. If people want real AC game they´ll get it on console or PC. I would rather see some kind of spin off with cards or something.
They should have mention that internet connection is required all time in the description of the game. Im pretty sure they does not want people asking for refunds after they bought it lol.
Actually better than I expected! Graphics are great for a mobile game Controls are good and I like the camera controls and how they are implemented The missions are okay with me and really so far not a true open world game but I can't think of one open world game on mobile that's all that great other than crafting games like minecraft. All in all I will easily get my 5$ worth from this game. If you are a fan of the series you should grab it up. only thing That I would really like to see if more character customizing but again I haven't played it a whole lot so I may find some other stuff later. But that complaint isn't make or break to me.
Lol, Gameloft did the same thing with their Modern Combat 5 too, but then it did not sell well ( expected I guess,lmao ), so they eventually make it f2p with tones of iap in order to earn a few bucks. As you can see, a lot of people here in this forum hesitate to press the purchase button because the same thing happened to AC pirates.
While I do not agree with the full premium price and the IAP and online only requirement I do understand WHy it's online only. All in all its a great Assassins creed experience. The artwork and control system are excellent. I like the mission and progression system. I like the tutorials. The streets are full of people who react when things happen. Climbing and running along rooftops is done perfectly. I've had absolutely no lag or issues on my iPhone 6 running iOS 9.2.1 the game has cloud save and multiple device use via Facebook connect which is fine by me. I do think it's worth the purchase. I would think it would be better for everyone to write them and tell them there should be an offline mode. That's what I'm going to do. Billy
Yeah, as an early adopter of AC: Pirates I definitely felt a little burnt for jumping in early.. I really appreciate your detailed impressions post, especially for your comments regarding the sound quality and graphics assets. It does look visually impressive in the stills, but I am more concerned with the quality of animations and depth of detail in the content. Unity 3D always feels flatter and usually has lower poly counts than Unreal which actually gets accentuated by the HD textures making it less immersive and too glossy. Based on this feedback I'm not really feeling this is the game for me. These shortcomings paired with the online-only gameplay requirement and dual currency elements is enough to keep me from jumping in for the moment. I'll be waiting it out to see whether this heads for the rapid price drop bin, or actually gets some love and repair.. I've still got the "buy-button itch" though so Think I'll finally go drop that $5 on Crashlands just to spend some money on a title that does it all right, and a dev I can easily justify supporting
Thanks for the imps Lord! Would you mind sharing your thoughts on why you believe it is online only? I only ask as you brought it up, and I'm curious to know what the reason is to make it a requirement to play in a single player game (that would also be something they could just undo if there was enough pushback from players.) Thanks! ~Golden
I don't know if this has been fully confirmed yet, but I can confirm that if you have the original version of the app from NZ, you can get the new version for free from the same account.
When you first load the game it says this game requires a persistent online connection. Oh you mean why I say I understand? In a word, piracy. I come from the land of Android. I worked with a lot of developers over there. I did a lot of alpha and beta testing and I cannot tell you how many times games someone worked 8 months on a great game idea and it showed up on a professional pirate site fully cracked after being released for three days. It really hurt. This happened over and over. Or also people would hack the games so their characters were ultra powerful. Especially when the dev had the stats on the device and not on the server side. I don't agree with it. Not by a long shot. I don't have unlimited data. That's why I hate free to play with ads and all that. I always pay to remove ads because of the data issue. But I do get it. Billy
Yeah, online-only for a single-player game is usually a deal breaker, and to be fair, they should announce it first thing in the description. I mean, it's certainly a valid reason for a refund. Still, 5$ is not much to ask for, though I'd rather pay 15-20$ for a full premium experience instead. I certainly recommend Crashlands, that game will be on your device forever, and 5$ is a ridiculous price for the amount of content it offers. Go hit that button!
I've got AC on console but I rarely play my console because I'd much rather game on a mobile device. And we've already had two AC card games: AC Recollection which was a great card/board game that they took off the store, and AC Memories which was like a f2p card collecting mashup. They must have both not done that well, because they aren't on the store anymore. What Ubisoft hasn't done is made a decent fully premium AC title since AC II on mobile. And that game wasn't made well. So, they've just shot made short term games one after the other. And the longest game that has stayed on the store at this point might be Pirates, so that may be why they are modeling this release directly after that one. Huge premium payday upfront, and then ride the f2p IAP months later. And the thing is, Pirates is still well supported and a half-decent game. I just wish they'd stick with one payment model instead of making you think it's one thing when it's really the other. But I will be picking this up when it's free because I won't support the bait and switch.
"Looks like I should just re-download the old AC NDS port that Gameloft did back in the day" Unfortunately that game crashes immediately after start up on iOS 9, on my 6S anyhow. Too bad cuz I remember enjoying it and I wouldn't mind giving it another go.
