Assassin's Creed exclusive: Inside Unity's setting, parkour, size, co-op & more

Assassin's Creed exclusive: Inside Unity's setting, parkour, size, co-op & more

Sipping delicious wine, $50, touring monstrous cathedrals, $20, slurping hot French Soup, $8, a brand-new assassin and seeing the Eiffel Tower, priceless.

Assassin's Creed has come to Paris, and we are ready to paint our masterpieces of death in the name of the French Revolution. Okay, so that's a little dark and we'll go ahead and pull back the drama meter a bit, but still, it's very exciting to know this year's Assassin's Creed Unity is heading back to land-dominated gameplay.

The last two iterations have split the land gameplay up quite a bit with enjoyable, entertaining naval gameplay, but it's time for the series to get back to its roots. Assassin's Creed is a game best fit for the shores and in Unity; players will be doing no sailing.

Assassin's Creed Unity stars the newest protagonist Arno Victor Dorian, who is a French-Austrian assassin taking the fight to the oppressive Great Britain. Set in the monstrous city of Paris, France, players will assume the role of Arno and will at times be able to join friends online for a little co-op action.

In Ubisoft's version of Paris, you will find no Les Misérables and the same goes for Russell Crowe. Paris will be a city that feels more alive than any other game before it, or at least that's what initial impressions tell us about the game. Fans who are wondering, Ubisoft has not given an update on where the present day storyline lies and whether or not it will continue the first-person plot from Black Flag.

This will be the first Assassin's Creed installment without a competitive multiplayer mode since Assassin's Creed II. Fans have clamored for co-op for years and as Ubisoft always does a fine job of listening to its fans, the company obliged.

Size Matters

The size and scope of an open-world has always been at the forefront of any Assassin's Creed game. Assassin's Creed Unity is no different and in fact, it will boast one of the most enormous cities we've journeyed to yet. 

After already taking us to worlds such as the Caribbean, Boston, New York, Constantinople, Rome and many other cities, Assassin's Creed Unity brings us back to Europe. Paris will be the setting for this new Assassin's Creed game and it will bring with it more than just size that's far and wide. 

"In previous Assassin’s Creeds, we created Rome and a bunch of other cities. They were a bit cheated in terms of scale. Paris and its monuments are really on a 1:1 scale because you’ll be able to go inside [of buildings] seamlessly with no loading.

"The actual size of Paris is larger than all of the landmass in Black Flag. The Notre Dame is three or four times the size of the Coliseum. [Assassin’s Creed Unity] is really on a massive scale, and you notice it right away," Phord-Toy said. 

Traveling to different locations within the same game has been a strong theme of the past few Assassin's Creedgames. Assassin's Creed III took us to various parts of the East Coast, while Black Flag took us to different regions in the Caribbean. 

Assassin's Creed Unity will mostly take place within Paris, but Phord-Toy did say players would be able to leave the city by traveling to "the Palace of Versailles, which is outside of Paris." 

Scale and size are two strong points of emphasis for Ubisoft and they are really focused on making players feel like they should when they're climbing up a cathedral in Paris. 

"You’ll be climbing these buildings and [notice] you feel so small, but then you also feel extremely powerful [at the same time]. [Paris] just feels like it extends forever," Phord-Toy said.