assassin’s creed unity_ 10 incredible rumours that could happen
TRANSCRIPT
Assassin’s Creed Unity: 10
Incredible Rumours That Could
Happen
http://www.gamescdkey.com/news/assassins-creed-unity-10-incredible-
rumours-that-could-happen
Assassin’s Creed has always been a polarising series. Some love the weird amalgamation of history
with sci‐fi elements, the parkour which has amazed us since it debuted in the original game way
back in 2007 and the satisfaction which comes from leaping on an ill‐fated Templar and puncturing
him with the iconic Hidden Blade. Conversely, others find the gameplay repetitive, the trailing
missions infuriating and the narrative convoluted and confusing. 2014 promises to be a pivotal year
for the series in which Ubisoft will endeavour to overcome its polarising perception and broaden
the appeal with some exciting new additions. Expectations are particularly high for Assassin’s
Creed Unity as this will be the first game built from the ground up to run on next‐gen hardware –
excitingly reports released recently suggest that Ubisoft claim to have squeezed every drop
from Sony and Microsoft’s powerful consoles. This is consistent with what we saw at E3 as the
gameplay demos the developer chose to show off are graphically sublime. Ubisoft have already
transported us from Damascus to Renaissance Venice and to the pirate‐infested seas of the
Caribbean; their vision of an 18th century Paris blighted by revolt looks to take the locations
depicted in the series to all new heights. Clearly the addition of co‐operative gameplay wasn’t
enough as rumours are still rampant online over what else could be included in Unity, despite the
release date of October 28th being relatively close. Here are 10 incredible rumours that could
easily happen…
10. The Actual Size Of Paris
At E3 Ubisoft made some claims which were only topped in magnitude by the size of the city in
which Unity takes place. The game’s developers claimed that the historic French capital had been
made on a 1:1 scale and so would obviously be absolutely massive. Further to this claim about the
scale, rumours have emerged that Unity’s Paris could be bigger than the combined island
landmasses of AC IV. Anyone who has spent any time playing Black Flag will know that that would
be one hell of a city. The supposed size of the city combined with the intricate levels of detail it has
been rendered in, and the fact that a large percentage of the buildings can purportedly now be
explored makes Ubisoft’s claims about the sprawling scale of the metropolis quite difficult to
swallow. Of course for all we know it could be a 100% accurate, but until we take control of Arno
and have him jog, vault and swing his way across the city’s diameter we are going to remain
skeptical. The prospect of the city being even near this stupendous size is extremely exciting
anyway.
9. Return Of The Stack
No, not a twist on the 1990s R&B track by Mark Morrison, but rather the return of conveniently
placed haystacks which allowed us to rapidly descend to street level throughout the Assassin’s
Creed series. The addition of the Controlled Descent feature to Unity’s navigation system will
apparently make coming down from the rooftops immeasurably easier. Exciting though this new
feature may be, the E3 demo’s narrator rather ominously stated that “essentially [the player]
doesn’t have to look for a haystack to get to street level anymore”. We’re not sure how to take this
possible‐announcement that the stacks of hay may have been phased out of the game. Granted it
was rather implausible that the many varied cities separated by several centuries were all littered
with well‐located haystacks allowing you to jump from buildings or evade guards, but there can be
no denying that leaping with reckless abandon from the game’s tallest structures before crashing
into the hay is one of the definitive aspects of the series. Of course we are thankful that the
Controlled Descent facility has been implemented but we hope that the option to make the leap
of faith returns.
8. Emergent Gameplay/Narrative
Possessing emergent gameplay and narrative elements is all the rage in the blockbusters of the
contemporary video gaming world and it is certainly something Ubisoft should seek to employ in
Assassin’s Creed Unity. The taste of 18th century Paris we were given in the E3 demo with a large
crowd baying for blood at the sight of a clergyman being dragged from the cathedral suggests that
the environment of Unity will be far more organic than in past titles. The narrator claimed that the
city’s populace will feel far more vibrantly realised than in past games (thanks in no small part to
the overhauled Anvil game engine), going about their business, getting robbed and investigating
“curious events”. It is the reference to these intriguing events which has got many Assassin’s Creed
fans excited and hopeful. In recent times we have seen games like Skyrim and GTA V show just how
effective emergent gameplay elements can be. No longer did the gamer have to go to some clumsy
checkpoint or marker to get their mission. Instead the gameplay unfolded naturally in front of them
and they didn’t have to suspend their disbelief as they rode to Joe Blogg’s Inn to initiate an
encounter with a dragon. We know for a fact that Paris looks gorgeous in Unity so it will be very
interesting if these excellent graphics are complimented by a natural, emergent gameplay style.
The thought of travelling around the French capital and seeing these so‐called curious events
randomly happening before becoming involved ourselves is a very compelling one. We saw in the
E3 demo how Arno can become seamlessly involved in a murder mystery mission after just
encountering some distressed peasants – but we hope that this isn’t just an anomaly and that a
good amount of the game’s missions are initiated in this way.
7. Modern Elements
We already know that memory will play a reduced role in Unity. An announcement which has
rightly got fans excited is that the Adaptive Mission Mechanic means that rather than the player
being given a series of stringent objectives, they will now have a choice of several pathways to
complete the mission. No longer will deviating from an objective cause automatic de‐
sychronisation as this amended mechanic means that players will have far more freedom to act as
they wish in Paris. Rumours abound that Ubisoft will be going a step further than this, significantly
reducing the time spent in the modern world. We saw flashes of this in Black Flag with the lack of
Desmond Miles and many anticipate that this sentiment will be carried over to Unity. Of course we
don’t want to see the modern aspect of the game eliminated entirely. There can be no denying
that it is a crucial tool used to deliver the game’s narrative. However, we expect to be spending far
more time in 18th century Paris with the Animus working overtime.
6. Other Cities
As if Paris weren’t gigantic enough, rumours are circulating online that the player will have the
freedom to explore other French (or possibly even European) cities. The developer hinted that a
young Arno would be shown in the city of Versailles in the Île‐de‐France region – indeed, until the
revolution Versailles was the nation’s de facto capital so it would surely be relevant to Unity’s
narrative. It may seem greedy to speculate over whether there will be other cities to carry out
Arno’s bloody trade in, but we gamers are notoriously difficult to satisfy. The thought of Ubisoft
contrasting the sprawling Paris with the more Mediterranean‐feel of somewhere like Marseilles is
extremely exciting. As we already know, Unity’s Paris is supposed to be massive, so it’s questionable
whether additional cities are entirely necessary. Some might argue that offering just one playable
city is a step‐back however – after all, even the first title in the series had Masyaf, Jerusalem, Acre
and Damascus as fully playable locations.
5. Arno Dorian Without Hood?
At E3 Ubisoft were good enough to show us a decent chunk of Assassin’s Creed Unity. We saw the
beautiful city that is Paris, the way that fights between the citizens and soldiers can erupt at any
minute and how much French loved the guillotine a few hundred years ago. In the several
demonstrations Ubisoft treated us to we really did see a lot. One thing we didn’t see however was
the face of the game’s central protagonist, Arno. We saw plenty of the aspiring assassin but in every
sequence he was clad in his hood – of course this is only prudent for a man in his line of work.
However, it would have been nice to see a glimpse of the man’s face who we will inevitably be
spending tens of hours playing as. One eagle‐eyed fan paused a ‘making of Assassin’s Creed Unity’
video at a point where a snapshot of a man who is very likely to be Arno can be seen. Of course it
is yet to be confirmed but this could quite easily be the face of the man we will be using to slaughter
copious amounts of Templar in the picturesque city.
4. Historical Events
Ever since it was released that the next title in the Assassin’s Creed franchise would be set during
the French Revolution fans have been wildly speculating over which historical people and events
we can expect to encounter in Ubisoft’s game. With only a handful of months left until the game’s
projected launch date and despite E3 having been and gone, these questions have not truly been
answered. The footage we have seen of Unity so far may announce the fact that the game takes
place during the Reign of Terror but speculation and rumours are rife that the action could start up
before the country was rocked by revolution. This would mean that the player could witness and
even be a part of the storming of the Bastille and watch the execution of King Louis XVI. This
historical grounding would not only appeal to history‐buffs but more importantly it would heighten
the stakes of the game’s narrative. Even more intriguingly, rumours abound that we could witness
the rise to power of Napoleon Bonaparte who seized power in France after the revolt. If Ubisoft
had planned to use the turmoil in France to inspire a series of games after Unity, they could
eventually use this Napoleon angle to have an in‐game version of the Battle of Trafalgar in one of
Unity’s sequels, making full use of the naval mechanics introduced in AC III.
3. Moral Ambiguity
In the past the Assassin’s Creed series has suffered from being morally uncomplicated. Everything
has been a little too black and white – the Templars are the bad guys and the Assassins are
unquestionably good. Gaming as a medium has progressed and the consumer now expects a
narrative to have morally grey elements which allow the player to make their own moral
judgements. One of the opening statements in the E3 commented demo is that “a King once ruled
– headstrong and corrupt; now headless and a corpse, murdered by men just as vile”. The fact that
both the beheaded King Louis XVI and the insurgents who start the Reign of Terror are dismissed
as being morally reprehensible is most certainly a good thing. After playing through Assassin’s
Creed III we know that Ubisoft are partial to depicting revolution – they need to acknowledge that
in a revolt both factions are always responsible for countless atrocities. It seems that neither side
is being portrayed in a good light in Unity which is most definitely a step in the right direction. We
hope that this moral greyness extends to the rest of the game, representing a maturing in the
narrative style of the series which will for the first time allow players to make their own judgements.
2. New Cycle And Connor
Though it may seem like only yesterday that we were slaughtering Templars in Jerusalem, the
original Assasin’s Creed is nearly seven years old and the polarising series has lost some momentum
in recent times. It comes as little surprise that the game’s developers are treating Unity as a fresh
start, particularly as this is the series’ first full debut using next‐gen technology from the ground
up. Alex Amancio, Unity’s creative director, talked about how the game will represent the start of
a completely new cycle which will mean new players find it far more approachable:
“It’s a new start, it’s a new narrative start. That is symbolised by a completely new context for the
present day. You’ve seen a little bit of an evolution with Black Flag, [but] we’re not going to do the
same thing. What we’re doing with Unity is really the beginning [of] this new cycle of Assassin’s
Creed games.”
Critics who believe the series has floundered in recent years will be extremely excited at the
prospect of this new direction. However, this announcement seems to scupper one particular
rumour that fans had been hoping to be actualised. Connor – the native American protagonist of
AC III – would’ve been alive while the French Revolution was taking place. The assassin who was
born in the late 1750s was an active catalyst in the American Revolutionary War in the late 18th
century. This crossover would mean that it would be feasible for Connor to make a cameo
appearance in Unity, had the developers not announced that they were starting a new cycle. This
still hasn’t stopped people speculating that the Kanien’kehá:ka Assassin will make an appearance
regardless. After all, the game is called Unity – what better way to convey this than by unifying two
games in the series?
1. A Female Character
Without doubt the most
controversial subject surrounding the next installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise is the
players inability to chose their character’s gender in the game’s much anticipated co‐op mode.
Many had believed that playing as characters other than the the central protagonist would mean
that players would have the freedom to chose their sex. Ubisoft revealed that they had initially
intended for players to chose the gender of their co‐op character but time constraints combined
with the severely increased workload that introducing a female character would bring made it
impossible. However, the animation director of AC III, Jonathan Cooper, rebuked this statement,
stating “In my educated opinion, I would estimate this to be a day or two’s work. Not a replacement
of 8000 animations” continuing that other than the walk/run cycles, most animations are
“androgynous”. This criticism from a former employee certainly makes it seem that Ubisoft are
inexplicably opposed to featuring a female character; clearly some extremely bad publicity that the
game doesn’t need. Jonathan Cooper’s insight about how easy it would be to introduce a female
character has led many to believe that Ubisoft will go back on their word and make a lady‐assassin
available as well. Indeed, it would undo a lot of the bad feeling that is currently being targeted at
Unity. We certainly hope that this rumour about Ubisoft’s change of heart is true. Introducing a
female character would make the game more accessible to women and allow more players to enjoy
the game as they want to.
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