Disclaimer
In this review, I'm going to be bringing up a few other games from the series. I may be comparing aspects from those games to this one, but I will not be judging this game based on the other aspects. This game will be reviewed based on the plot elements, characterization, gameplay and how well it worked, level design and missions, and all the secrets and side quests which is basically what you get and how fun it is to work on the side things outside the plot. Thanks for reading and may the father of understanding guide you.
WARNING there will probably be spoilers WARNING
So the plot is you are an assassin named Shay Cormac. "Assassin?" I hear you say. Yes, he is an assassin, if you didn't know that, you weren't paying attention, he begins as an assassin and is working for a few people he doesn't trust including his mentor Achilles who just lost his family to disease. If that name rings a bell, Achilles is an important figure in Assassin's Creed III as he is the mentor to Conner. He sends Shay on a few missions, including a mission that ends up leveling an entire city. Shay tells Achilles about the issues, but the grand master of the assassins pays it no mind, forcing Shay to steal the box which has a map of all of these artifacts. Shay escapes but injured and is taken in by the templars some of which Shay was plotting to kill. He befriends them and when he realizes the smugglers and gangs of New York his former friends have allied themselves with are torturing the people of New York and have been shutting down businesses, Shay decides the assassins need to be stopped. Shay works more with the templar order and eventually comes to heads with his former best friend Liam all while working with Haytham Kenway, the father of Conner from Assassin's Creed III. This story fills in the gaps between playing as Haytham and playing as Conner if you couldn't tell. There are also a few missions in Paris Shay has which connects Shay to the beginning of Assassin's Creed Unity.
Meanwhile in the present, you are another computer worker similar to Assassin's Creed IV but I feel you are a different person. The new heads in charge are looking through Shay's memories for unknown reasons, but there is a virus in the memories which you accidentally trigger. You end up working to clean up the mess made as well as finish Shay's memories in an effort to show the assassins that all they crave is order when pressed into a corner. You also learn a lot more about the background, that the military guy who took over captured William Miles during the third game, and that he is looking through many assassins who turned templar, not just Shay, though Shay is who he ultimately chose, all in an effort to panic the last of the assassin resistance which you learn isn't doing well.
Shay's story is really interesting, and if you were a fan of the plot from Assassin's Creed III this fills all those lingering holes you may have asked, like why is Achilles using a cane, or what happened to all the assassins in the first place. While the past story is interesting though rather short, the plot of the present story is lacking in creativity, as it seems silly that the assassins would be so worried about Shay's story getting out to the public. It is lacking but the background and connections to once again Assassin's Creed III this time present to present was still rather impressive, though you needed to do the side quests to get this background sadly. Luckily there isn't much to the story in the present, and the plot in the past is easily good enough to carry the game rather well. The only issue is that the assassins freaking out about Shay's memories is just... such a bad ending to the present...
So yes there are a few returning characters from Assassin's Creed III in this game, obviously Haytham Kenway returns and is about as good as a character as possible, but I'm ahead of myself. Shay Cormac is a good person, if you've never played this game, he is truly a decent person in the game from front to back. He is only doing what he feels he must to help people, either stopping earthquakes caused by the assassins or stopping the gangs of New York from harming people through intimidation or poison. While it is true Shay becomes more cold and dark as the story progresses, he is still a decent person even towards the end in Paris but by then he is far more loyal to the ideals of the templars too. The assassins working under Achilles have honestly lost their way which isn't too shocking to hear, this story shows that while the templars can be corrupted like the Borgia, the assassins are not free of this either. Haytham however is also pretty dark so Shay is indeed taking the lesser of two evils for the people of the Americas. Achilles does learn a lot from the experience, and while new players won't be disappointed with the characters, veteran assassins will be happy and said to hear more of Achilles and Ade from both Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed IV (especially fans of the DLC for the later). You also get to see more from some of the templars in Assassin's Creed III as well as some cool new faces. While not focused too much, the characters from the present are pretty decent as well, and you get to know all of them.
This game plays a lot like Assassin's Creed IV with a few of the bugs ironed out. From Shay's fighting style which uses a sword and a parry knife to the naval combat. Instead of a blow gun however, Shay gets an air rifle with darts which works so much better and gives you far more range which is great. Shay may only get two pistols, but he also gets a grenade launcher which can shoot shrapnel rounds as well as poison that has similar effects to the two poison darts but with a larger range meaning you can hit several guards at once which is actually really fun. Shay also uses Ade's fire crackers but in dart form making them hilarious when stuck to a guard. Also Shay's boat has a fire trail instead of explosive barrels, which is better for sure, but I personally rarely used it. The only serious hiccups I had was wondering in the North Atlantic, but this only happened once through my playthrough and I no longer had issues rebooting my system. In the present the only thing you do differently from Assassin's Creed IV is hacking which is a simpler and rather easy minigame. All and all the game plays really well, similar to Assassin's Creed IV but with a few bugs ironed out and enough new toys to keep older players interested, while it explains enough for newer players to enjoy the experience assuming they like this kind of game. While naval combat works well here, if you dislike the naval battles in assassin games then this would be the biggest issue here, but this game has more land based play then Black Flag did. Also fighting assassins is at times intense with a unique locating system and their attacks being powerful if they catch you off guard.
One of the complaints I had with Assassin's Creed IV is that the small beach areas you had to stop at for side quests were a bit boring. Rogue makes every location rather unique, and even the small areas you stop at for a few collection side quests feel unique and new which is awesome. One of the small beaches, with only two or three minor things on it has a British soldier and a French soldier holding hands while they died on that small shore which is a cool touch since this takes place during a war between the two. The layout of the three different locations is awesome, you have the North Atlantic which is a cold place to explore shipwrecks, caves, and a few trading posts littered with forts and harpooning options and a lot more trade ships similar to Black Flag, but more ice and snow and more unique locations. The River Valley has more towns and land exploration similar to Assassin's Creed III and the frontier, as well as more focus towards hunting and a bit more sailing. Then there is New York which is far better designed then from III and is reminiscent of Rome from Brotherhood this time around. The missions are all pretty decent and fair as well, the only issue here would be the number of actual story missions, which is rather small but...
...The amount of side quests is pretty impressive. You can find viking sword pieces which eventually unlocks viking armor and the viking sword. You have letters which further details the lore which again relates to both this game and Assassin's Creed III tying up loose ends. There are maps and buried treasures once again, but this time instead of finding money and blueprints, you are only finding artifacts which allow you to unlock a crusader costume. There are totem puzzles that lead to unlocking a native american designed armor. Buying property and gaining money from it is a side quest that returns from Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Revelations, but this time you need the supplies you steal from ships as well as money, but those supplies also go to your ship like in Black Flag, and hunting and crafting are returning as well as harpooning in the North Atlantic map. Treasure chests holding loot and blueprints are back, forts to battle on the oceans returns from Black Flag found in the North Atlantic, and bases that you need to defeat return from Brotherhood found in New York, and you end up doing both in the River Valley. Hunting challenges return from Assassin's Creed III, fort raiding is back but it mixes the forts from Assassin's Creed III with the plantation raiding from Black Flag. You can also steal from supply camps of the French out on the frontier but there is notably less loot. You can hear an interesting tale if you find all the cave paintings, and you can gain a new outfit and new decor for your ship if you defeat all the legendary ships, this time there are four battles and the last one you will face is insane and certainly a challenge that may not be worth the struggle in the end, though the challenge is somewhat fair. Computer hacking returns, but you are actually restoring computers for more information and lore which is worth it because the stuff you collect is better then the overall story in the present. The only side quests I disliked are the random battles you can happen upon because the British apparently suck at fighting and can't hold their own for long enough for you to actually save them, and 100% sync missions which are back and just as pointless as ever, only unlocking a few cheats connected to the typical Abstergo challenges. Still, a lot of fun to be had here.
Assassin's Creed Rogue is probably an overlooked game, as the year it came out the first next generation Assassin's Creed game also came out, and Unity had issues at the start of its life that hurt the franchise as a whole. Still, Assassin's Creed Rogue is enjoyable game, the only real issues I've had with the game is that the main campaign is rather short, a few side quests annoyed me, and that the plot in the present makes little sense in the grand scheme. Other then those issues, this game brings the best from Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag, so if you liked characters from the latter two, side quests from all three, locations of III, and the gameplay of Black Flag you are set, other then you are a templar. If you hate the templars this game may not be for you, if you just don't care for naval combat this game won't be for you (but you may enjoy it more then Black Flag as there is more to do on land here).
This game overall is a great experience, the side quests are awesome and while the rewards aren't much more then different skins that do little, they are still cool looking. The plot in the past is really solid, and the gameplay is familiar with improvements, but unique enough to stand on its own as well. There are people who don't care for the naval part that Assassin's Creed took in Black Flag, and more then likely this game won't be for them either no matter how well the boat sections play, and that is okay, but to everyone else, I'd say give this game a try. While fighting assassin's isn't too terribly challenging, it is still a fun and sometimes intense experience. If you like the plot elements and characters from Assassin's Creed III you will want to hear more about them here, though if you are a huge fan of Ade you may want to shy away because his story ends in this game. Still, give this game a shot if you were a fan of the building buying from Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.