Improved Traversal
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room.
The rope launcher is about as divisive an element as we’ve ever seen in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Some bemoan the way it taints the purity of the game, foregoing the chaotic parkour of its predecessors for ease of use and accessibility. In the eyes of others, it alleviated their frustrations, taking one hard look at Big Ben, contemplating climbing it the old-fashioned way, before ultimately deciding ‘screw that’ and rocketing to the top in seconds.
Much like the differences between Jacob and Evie’s play styles, however, the benefit of the rope launcher is that it allows freedom of choice. Those who prefer their Assassins to be more Assassiny can minimize their use of the item, and though it is occasionally necessary due to the map’s immense size and height of its Victorian-era buildings, how much you lean on it is up to you.
Much like actual parkour, bounding across rooftops in Assassin’s Creed can be a clumsy and painful experience, and if you prefer it that way, all the power to you. But it was an issue for many in earlier titles that wasn’t going to go away, and multiple failures to get from A to B could prove too damning for casual players, or those who are trying to get to grips with the game for the first time. Something had to be done about it, and that something ended up being the rope launcher. Whatever your stance is on it, you have to recognize that it solved one of the franchise’s most prominent faults.
