http://kotaku.com/assassins-creed-unity-the-kotaku-review-1657368877

"But then there's optional but questionable stuff like this, a real-money way to obtain the game's optional "hack" currency instead of using the in-game currency you earn by finishing most missions...---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"

So it's a technical mess, the gameplay is a big step back, and now it's full of microtransaction? This is a joke. It also forces you to download the iOS and Android app to open chests in the game. Gross. I was hyped as hell for this, I can't support shit like this though. :(

LOL what the fuck.

It certainly makes me wonder how they could have gone with something like Black Flag, which had all of the pros and none of the cons of shit like this, and then turn it upside down and fuck people with it. I was gonna buy this game, no question about that. But now it's like... why should I? There's a divide between being an uber-fan of Assassin's Creed and someone who's tired of shitty practices that hurt more than help, and this crosses that divide. So I'll pass. Until then, I'm gonna go be a pirate again with Rogue and see my old friends from AC3 and 4 and remember when this game didn't try to fuck you.

"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the alps... and then make them your lead developer". Put that on the back of the box.

HAHAHAHA Holy shit, $99.99 Best value! This is genuinely the worst.

Don't forget you can also buy a hundred different editions for all sorts of crazy prices

You cant open chests with out a fucking APP?! Are you kidding me?! All chests? That is mindblowingly fucked! Honestly that is so gross its not even funny. IMO thats worse then the micro-transactions.

god... this is just disgusting...

This is pretty fucking disgusting.

Canadian Devil in full force.

If you listen to today's Bombcast they discuss this in the beginning around the 15 minute mark. Since at the time of the recording the stores weren't turned on, the prompts in game went to nothing. Jeff sounded like he didn't want to believe that there were real microtransactions in the game, and that hopefully they were just some kind of gag with Ubisoft poking fun at themselves. Brad was positive that they were a real money actual microtranaction thing.

Really though, Ubisoft has talked about there being microtransactions in Unity for some time. I think the problem is that there was no pricing information sent out with review copies, so it left reviewers (like Jeff and Brad) to speculate as to what the hell was going on. It wasn't until today that the pricing structure was released for Helix points via the PlayStation Store blog and other similar outlets. This is pretty gross if you ask me, especially when taken into context with the late lifting of the review embargo for Unity.

The Gamespot review didn't mention microtransactions at all. The review on Eurogamer had about one sentence on the microtransactions, but no real details beyond that they existed.

Well I'll never be buying this game.

@john1912: No, you can open the regular chests. The app stuff is for a few special chests scattered around the game.

Not enough BeachPoints to unlock this comment!

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Each letter in the comment above is $1 to unlock, or $5 per word, or $50 to read the whole comment (BEST VALUE!).

@mb: yeah, the only review that actually addresses it any is kotaku's... this all looks so fucking shady...

FOLLOW THE MONEY

@beachthunder: but wait, if i have the season pass do I get a discount or somethin'?

You guys do realize you don't have to buy ANY of this shit right? I seriously don't get the big deal unless you're progess is truly hindered to sway you into buying it. Some people would rather put in some extra cash and get what they want.

OKAY I was on the fence between this and Dragon Age. Now I think I might get this.

@beachthunder: i spent like a minute tapping on that, you weren't kidding :(

Because you pay full price for a game you shouldn't have to pay microtransactions or use apps to open chests. Simple. And yes, the game is almost always altered in a way to push people into buying things.

I think 2014's Hottest Mess award is locked. I mean, Driveclub was and is still fucked, but man, the sheer audacity of this is nuts. There are two separate collectables that can only be collected by signing up for two separate Ubisoft services, in addition to the game running like hot garbage on all platforms, topped off with an egregious micro-transaction system. This is a great read on this subject.

Also, looks like the gaming Mona Lisa has been updated:

@sackmanjones: I don't care if it's "optional" or not, it's an absolutely disgusting practice that should not be supported, unless you want all 60 bucks AAA titles in the future to have these fucking microtransactions and increasingly more mechanics tailored to "encourage" you to spend even more money in game, that of course not considering the season pass and the dozens of cosmetic DLC they put out.

Stop acting like this is ok.

I find it so frightening that despite the late, late, late embargo, many reviews barely even mention some of the games major problems (technical issues, micro-transactions). Not impressed.

What's the big deal? It doesn't block you from any content and so far I've found making money in the game to go pretty easily. I would get the anger if you were being blocked from content without paying for the micro-transaction but in this case all it is is a shortcut. If you don't want to pay, then don't pay it is that simple. How is this "disgusting"? These aren't preventing you from playing the game, they in fact motivate one to play the game so they can just buy the upgrades with the in-game currency.

With regards to the app, it is just a few chests you are blocked out of and if remember right they are just caches of money. The app is free as well, yeah it has micro-transaction but again they are not necessary.

I feel like people jump way to quickly on games that implement these systems without actually thinking about how they affect the game. Yeah in mobile games were you have to buy "stamina" to play the game, that is fucked up, but where it is just a shortcut how does that effect you as the user if you don't want to pay?

Just to make things clear I am only defending the micro-transactions and the app, the technical issues of the game are unquestionably bad. What you think of the gameplay is subjective.

If you give me $50 I'll tell you the big deal right now.

@theht: They don't block you from any content. I agree that micro-transactions that do prevent the user from gaining access to content are wrong. However in this case they do not do that, they are just shortcuts. To make it even more tame, their isn't even competitive multiplayer that they can be applied to gain an advantage. The entire game is either single player or co-op.

Edit: Didn't see the right now part. I still don't get what the big deal is.

@theht: Fuck that, give me 99.99$ and I'll tell you 3 big deals! !BEST VALUE!

@zella: It's just stupid. What is it there for? The only reason is to make money. How does that help make the game better? ...

Am I engaging in ART or am I engaging in a BUSINESS TRANSACTION THAT NEVER ENDS?

But hey, that's totally fine see because I can discover what the big deals are by myself if I want to!

I appreciate your enthusiasm. We here at I understand that modern gamers want the best value and the best bang for their buck on today's hottest multi-media experiences. That's why I'm pleased to announce that we've reticulated some splines and am/are now offering immediate access to The Big Deal™ for the new low price of $89.99.

But if you act now you can take advantage of our/my special 2.0 Edition Day Zer0 promo-code (SHITS) for 0.67% off your next The Big Deal™ purchase (offer not applicable on first The Big Deal™ purchase).

You'll be hearing from our lawyers.

Its just gross. It taints the game. Would you continue to shop at a store when some douche tries to upsell you every time you go there? Makes you feel kind of dirty, or that they are trying to take advantage of you? Chances are you will go somewhere else just to get away from them.

I think they see through the charade.

Why are people still suprised by this ? All it is is just a natural escalation of what's been going on for years now. This stuff is here to stay no matter how much we disapprove, as it's just a straight up profit deal for the publisher. The only thing that would change it would be if there was a massive dip in sales due to consumer backlash, but that's exactly what they're experimenting with, where the line is between what they can get away with and still keep sales steady.

I think it's important to remember that these are games that are not made for the audience you see on websites like these. Sure, we might be interested in them too, but they are made for mass-market and that's the voice that determines how the games keep developing. To quote Jim Gaffigan "It's McDonalds", it doesn't matter if there's a bunch of people that think it's shit and won't have anything to do with it, as long as there's a much bigger audience that don't give a shit and keep coming back.

Don Mattrick thought that way about the Xbox One once.

@zella: There are a lot of F2P games that doesn't have a pay to play content ,So i rather play those games instead of a payed game which asks for more just because it can .

The problem which most gamers are afraid of is that this practice might (and will) escalate if we support it. Take a look at Forza 4 and GT6 for example, acquiring cars have become more difficult just to push players into buying digital cars with real money !

Publishers from every side are getting too greedy to increase their profits and they are ready to do anything once we start throwing our money at them .

Just wait until the Ubisoft man shows up at your house and forces you to buy them at gunpoint, and he'll make you install Uplay on your PC too!

@humanity: oh that kojima!!

If I don't have a phone or tablet capable of running apps, I'm literally blocked from content. You might say "oh its just in game money", but it's content. On disc content, that I cannot access because I don't have a 3rd party device to install an app on. What if there's a mission that unlocks after you collect all the chests through the app and I can't play it? That's locked content.

Because games should only cater to people with more time than money, amirite?

@jesus_phish: How much of the content is locked compared to how much else you can access? Are 2 hours out of an 8 hour game locked away behind apps. Or is it 15 minutes of a single mission in a 15 hour game?

Yah I agree that it's dumb to lock things away behind some weird app but at the end of the day if you're already getting a ton of content outside of that then whatever. Ubisoft has been pushing this sort of stuff for a while now. The Initiates website is actually pretty neat because it does reward long time fans with cool bonuses. As a person that has played every single AC game I like that I'm rewarded for that by getting some unique skins and all I had to do was go on some site and link my game accounts. It's a weird future where video games are getting connected with apps and such and it's something we'll continue moving closer to.

Because games should make you pay up to $100 extra after paying $60 up front instead of simply making it easier to collect the currency, amirite? Or I don't know...make it a cheat code? Hahaha, but that wouldn't be ripping people off. Silly me!

@humanity: Nope. If we pay the same retail price for the same product we deserve the same content. Just because one person has a tablet or smart phone to download an app doesn't mean they should get extra content, even if that's 10 minutes more or 100 minutes more.

@jesus_phish: In the words of a wise man, you're not wrong, but it's also slowly going to be moving in that direction and nothing will stop it.

The number of people that are accepting of or blowing off this behaviour in this thread is genuinely revolting.

@humanity: That's not how these things work. You can't simply set something like this in motion and expect it to keep going and keep selling. It can stop, it's called voting with your wallet. If you don't like where something is going, you just stop supporting it, and if the people are in the majority in that regard, than the movement will stop. Whether people will continue to throw money at this thing is yet to be determined, but it say "nothing will stop it" is just false.

Disgusting. I wish there was an equivalent to used games on PC where I could legally get a game without giving any money to Ubi.

One more reason to not buy this game.

Are you saying the currency in AC:U is too difficult to collect?

@doctordonkey: Whether it's successful or not is a whole different story. The reality is that more and more games are using app integration to augment gameplay. Now Ubisoft is the first I've seen that tie actual content into it but plenty others have used apps. Destiny has an app that lets you check on news and see your entire character loadout, inventory etc. AC Black Flag had the fleet mini game that earned you exclusive outfits and currency and it wasn't half bad as a small game you play on the toilet either. Also voting with your wallet is a wonderful idea that almost never translates into reality.

This has to stop.

Well that's a damn shame. I mean, I don't think that this is such a big deal ( as long as it's not forcing you into paying extra money), but the amount of fans who were and are disappointed in how the game is going kind of further turns me away. This was probably the only assassins creed game I considered buying in a very long time.

Oh well.