When Ubisoft published the PC system requirements for the Assassin’s Creed Unity game on their blog, plenty of people were shocked. And it appears those PC requirements will be as controversial as the lack of playable female characters in the game and the fact that the console versions will run at 900p.
Never mind the fact that the game’s installation size comes in at a whopping 50 GB, which is the capacity of a dual-layer Blu-ray disc, it’s the graphics card requirement that really turned heads. You see, the game will require at least a Nvidia GTX 680. Without resorting to techno-babble, you should know that this was the fastest card in the world only 2 years ago, and that it retailed for the hefty sum of $500 (£310).
So it seems this game is for people like the French king Louis XVI, who was dethroned during the Revolution that is depicted in Assassin’s Creed Unity. People whose ego is as big as their wallets, and who can afford the latest and greatest PC hardware. And with all this talk about expensive PC bits, it is not surprising that the hated figure of the PC elitist came to people’s minds.
These are people who game exclusively on PCs and who wouldn’t touch a console with a barge pole. Many build their own PCs and show contempt for console users. They call them “console peasants”, like they belong to an inferior class, while they are members of the “PC master race”. Maybe it’s the sense of power they get from putting together their own rigs that drives them, but in the end their expensive machines will mostly only end up running console ports.
And the truth is that many of the best console games will never be available on PC, such as Red Dead Redemption and Bayonetta 2. Even GTA V will only be released for the PC over a year after the console versions, and also after the next-gen PS4 and Xbox One version.
But still, a game like Assassin’s Creed Unity will sure please the ego-driven PC elitists. While the console versions will run at 900p, the PC version will probably support much higher resolutions, and run at 60 frames per second. And that feeling of exclusivity you get when you are one of the few people in the world with a machine powerful enough to run the PC version of the latest Assassin’s Creed game must be what the PC elitist lives for.
Also those high PC requirements shed new light on Ubisoft’s decision to restrict the console versions to 900p. It seems this was not merely to achieve parity between the PS4 and Xbox One, but due to the fact that this game is so demanding, particularly in the graphics department. After all, Ubisoft released the “Immersive open world activities trailer” which shows 18th century Paris in all its glory – it is truly a sight to behold.
But no matter how beautiful Paris looks in the game, it will still be a major disappointment if Ubisoft cannot improve on the tired Assassin’s Creed gameplay. An innovation jump would be welcome instead of more eye candy – it’s always the same climbing, assassinating and searching for trinkets. The PC elitists will get an opportunity to show off their rigs, that’s for sure – but I for one would be happier if the game felt fresh in the gameplay department, and if the story was on a par with Ezio Auditore’s adventures in Assassin’s Creed II, still the best game in the series.
Note: Those with expensive PCs, a PS4 or an Xbox One will be able to enjoy the beautiful sights of Paris on the game’s release date of November 11, 2014.