Last week, Ubisoft invited us to get some hands-on time with Assassin’s Creed: Unity, and in addition to previewing the game, we were able to spend some quality time with the devs.
In our E3 preview of Unity, we were only able to get a demo walkthrough. This time around, we’ll focus more on the time we spent with the game (which was well over 3 hours) and our takeaways once the preview event was over. Devs from Ubisoft Montreal, Paris, and Toronto were on hand to discuss the story, the single player, co-op, the companion app and the new gameplay mechanics in Assassin’s Creed: Unity.
Let’s get caught up
So we’re all aware of the Assassin’s Creed story: Assassin’s vs Templars; after all, the franchise has sold over 73 million copies and took us on a journey through history while doing so. Assassin’s Creed: Unity takes place during the French Revolution and most of the story focuses on Arno Dorian, who is our main protagonist in the game. The child of an Assassin, Arno will face some serious inner turmoil as he was adopted by a high-ranking Templar family after the death of his father. As the game progresses, Arno’s story is weaved into that of the French Revolution, and Ubisoft uses several different game modes to unravel the conspiracy behind the bloody revolution.
[blockquote cite=”Lesley Phord-Toy, Producer”]”We wanted to treat the French Revolution with as much authenticity as possible. It’s the painting in the backdrop.”[/blockquote]
Assassin’s Creed: Unity focuses on three main gameplay pillars: navigation, stealth and combat. The game is built to be a systematic sandbox with a completely seamless experience seen in not only between traversing the world (a transition we were introduced to in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag), but also between single player and co-op.
A rich and complex narrative sews the fabric of the game together with the refreshed parkour, combat and detailed customization options. We’ll get into all of this within the next few paragraphs, but first we’ll focus on the setting of the game: Paris, à la French Revolution.
The City of Paris
[blockquote cite=”Alexandre Amancio, Creative Director”]”This is the biggest city we’ve ever done; 1 out of every 4 buildings are explorable. Without a doubt this is the most complex Assassin’s Creed game to date.”[/blockquote]
The City of Love is far from love–or peace for that matter–in Assassin’s Creed: Unity. With revolution breaking out, the city is tearing itself apart. That is the backdrop of our story.
All the buildings in Assassin’s Creed: Unity have been recreated at an almost 1:1 scale, and this fact alone has an overwhelming impact on the entire game. The scale of the buildings played a key role in the development of the improved parkour system. This subsequently made upwards, downwards and even diagonal mobility possible and more precise.
We were so enamored by the sheer scale of the city, we spent more time exploring than we probably should have. Traversing seamlessly from the vast underground system, through the streets and rooftops and into some of the most magnificent landmarks in the game – such as the Notre Dame. The Notre Dame took Ubisoft upwards of about a year to build, and players will face a mini puzzle-like challenge as they try to make their way to the top. Inside, the Notre Dame is as breathtaking as you’d imagine, and at a 1:1 scale we expected nothing less.
Oh, and did we mention that Paris is huge? No? The city of Paris in Assassin’s Creed: Unity is larger than the combined land masses of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and will feature 7 distinct districts. A quarter of all buildings in the game will also be exploitable, allowing players to do more than just duck and cover inside buildings as in previous games.
The city is also alive; though not with the sounds of music, but with those of revolution! Paris is completely dynamic, with random events (fights, riots, beheading, etc) occurring at completely random moments, and especially during the latter points of the game. As you progress through the story, you’ll notice Paris change from a somewhat peaceful city to complete chaos as Parisians take matters into their own hands.
To help players make their way around the vast world, the game map has been redone, and is now in complete 3D. Amancio told us that one of the biggest tips he could give is to “unfog the map.” That is, to synchronize the viewpoints in the game. He mentioned that not every activity is revealed upon synchronization (a first in the series); this is to encourage players to explore the world and carve their own unique paths.
The combat
[blockquote right=”pull-right” cite=”Alexandre Amancio, Creative Director”]Combat is much more difficult and should really be used as a last resort.[/blockquote]
The combat in Assassin’s Creed: Unity has changed exponentially. When we took to the streets of Paris, we anticipated large hordes of soldiers we’d be able to take down with well-timed counters and swift combos. As it turns out, we were dead wrong.
In Assassin’s Creed: Unity, emphasis is finally, placed on the Assassin part. You are a lethal, invisible warrior; the Angel of Death leaping down from rooftops and pouncing on your prey, and therefore stealth and cover is non negotiable. You either play with a great deal of finesse or become a victim of the various enemies in the game.
At first, we found the combat to be tough due to the absence of the dodging system. Parrying with near perfect precision, while performing swift attacks helped us carve our way through large groups of enemies with just enough health left to strategically retreat and form a more decisive approach. With the button-mashing counter system gone, combat now relies heavily on the aforementioned parry system, though sometimes your best bet is just to take the sleuth approach rather than attempting to take on the more aggressive AI.
Combat has evolved into four specializations: stealth, ranged, melee and health. Each of these specializations can be improved and mastered. The emphasis on combat has been placed on customization, allowing players to play the game how they want. Stealth focuses on blending in, using disguises, double assassinations, while ranged focuses on your gun, distractions such as throwing money and the phantom blade.
With melee you’ll be able to improve both long and one-handed swords as well as your heavy weapons. Finally, health allows you to focus on healing abilities and improving damage resistance.
Last-known position is a new addition to the Assassin’s Creed: Unity. The Splinter Cell-like mechanic that places an outline of your character in the last place the enemy saw you allows you to potentially ambush your curious foes. All of these improvements, we’re told, are to enhance the experience of playing a Master Assassin.
The co-op experience
[blockquote cite=”Alexandre Amancio, Creative Director”]”We wanted to create a completely seamless multiplayer experience. Co-op [as opposed to competitive] gameplay fit better with the story we’re trying to tell in Assassin’s Creed: Unity.”[/blockquote]
For the first time in franchise history, four player co-op has been integrated into an Assassin’s Creed game. We spent a great deal of time in Assassin’s Creed: Unity‘s two co-op modes: a two player story-based mode and a four player heist-based one.
The former places two players in full on missions that require teamwork in order to achieve a goal, complete with cinematic cutscenes. As we played alongside a developer, we immediately fell into our natural role – hacking and slashing, while the dev laid smoke bomb cover and distractions for us. Playing through this particular mode sent chills down our spine.Ubisoft may very well have accomplished arguably the biggest task they set out to do.
The two player co-op mode in Assassin’s Creed: Unity provided an experience like no other. Everything from the gear customization to the teamwork mechanics were on point and delivered one of the most satisfying co-op experiences we’ve played to date. This expands even more with heist missions, where four players must work together to steal a piece of history.
As far as why there’s no inclusion of competitive gameplay, Amancio insists that co-op simply “fit better,” and that a complimentary game mode was key to the seamlessness; having different player archetypes compliment each other as opposed to fighting to assassinate one another.
Ubisoft clearly intends the co-op experience in Assassin’s Creed: Unity to hinge not only on the balance of player types, but gear as well. In Online mode, everyone is playing as Arno. However, the difference lies in the unique loadouts, which give off an RPG-esque feel.
Our honest-to-God hope for the Assassin’s Creed: Unity co-op experience is that micro-transactions play no part in that, because the notion of competition will most likely rear its head as friends compete with each other in order to buy the coolest gear.
No more Animus?
[blockquote cite=”Alexandre Amancio, Creative Director”]”The whole present-day experience has changed, and the animus has evolved.”[/blockquote]
As we continue to chat with Amancio, we brought up the fact that the Animus section in previous games were almost chore-like, as we often found ourselves longing to get out of the present day scenes and back into the world of the Assassin’s.
Ubisoft heard that a lot. With a smile, Alexandre noted that the team has redesigned the entire present-day experienced and that the Animus has evolved into something called the Helix.
Long gone is the Animus Virtual Training Program, which, alongside with the “white room” where assassinations occurred as well as the present day “flashbacks” has been replaced by the ominous-sounding Helix.
He didn’t go into much detail about the Helix, but we’re told that it is an ambitious idea aimed to break the fourth wall and make the player the main protagonist. This sounds like an interesting way to immerse players even more into the expansive Assassin’s Creed world so long as it’s far removed from the Animus experience in previous Assassin’s Creed games.
What else is new?
[blockquote cite=”Lesley Phord-Toy, Producer”]”We used side quests to tell the parts of the story we couldn’t fit into the main storyline.”[/blockquote]
It’s no secret (or at least it shouldn’t be) that the Assassin’s Creed franchise is now on a yearly release schedule, and from a public perception standpoint, Ubisoft has their work cut out for them convincing people that each year’s game is not just a regurgitated iteration of the former. So with that in mind, we attended the preview event with a bit of skepticism, all of which was dispelled within the first few minutes of the preview. Ubisoft has managed to create a franchise that feels fresh every year, and that in and of itself is a great accomplishment
One of the biggest changes in Assassin’s Creed: Unity is actually a shift from a reliance on narrative, to a reliance on player progression. What’s the one thing you can count on all Assassin’s Creed games to have? A great, well thought-out story, of course with the underlying Assassin’s vs Templars subplot. In Assassin’s Creed: Unity, players are given a great story, along with the tools to forge their own path through the game world.
As we mentioned earlier, the parkour system has also changed in Assassin’s Creed: Unity; it’s no longer about accessibility but planning out your next few steps. The new system is flexible: you can climb diagonally, and as introduced in Black Flag, downward traversal is also a means of getting around. We’ve been told there is a learning curve, and it’s actually possible to master parkour in Assassin’s Creed: Unity. We saw this play out as we progressed in the game, putting together parkour “combos” so-to-speak, which were fluid and very satisfying to accomplish.
[blockquote right=”pull-right”]”All missions in the game are based on history.”[/blockquote]
Completing missions in Assassin’s Creed: Unity takes planning and skill, as the most direct looking option is often times the most impossible. However, by doing some recon, you unlock mission opportunities that allow you to take advantage of certain weaknesses, or expose defensive flaws that could help make the mission a little easier. Side missions are now more than just secondary quests; sure they’re still optional, but completing these will unlock interesting stories and at times missions opportunities. For example, throughout the game players will be able to complete murder mysteries where they can accuse any character they like. These murder mysteries are ironically conducted by Eugène François Vidocq, the father of modern criminology.
Unlike in previous Assassin’s Creed games, Eagle Vision is finite and now has a cool down timer. Also the companion app has seen an overhaul, with the interactive 3D map and the exclusive ability to unlock certain chests or read up on codex entries when you’re away from the game.
What we learned
[blockquote right=”pull-right” cite=”Alexandre Amancio, Creative Director”]”Take the game at your own pace.”[/blockquote]Assassin’s Creed: Unity is going to be an absolutely massive video game, made even more so by the different game modes. The new improvements help make Assasin’s Creed: Unity one of the most ambitious titles to be published by Ubisoft. We had a blast playing the game, and hope you guys pick it up next month (November 11th).
