Assassin’s Creed Unity: 5 Things That Would Make It Great

Well the cat’s out of the bag now: the next Assassin’s Creed game is called Assassin’s Creed: Unity and it’s going to take place during the French Revolution. It’ll feature a new assassin named Arno. And that’s really all we know about the next entry in the long-running and yearly series from Ubisoft right now. But it’s never too soon to start making a list of all the things we’d love to see in Unity. There’s no denying that the Assassin’s Creed series has had its ups and downs over the years, but 2013’s Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag was an undisputed high point for the franchise, and has fully reignited my hope in the future of the series.

So what other things do you think that Unity will need in order to stand among the best of the AC canon? Be sure to hit the comments with your suggestions, or else face the wrath of the bloody guillotine!

Interaction with Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, and other French Revolution celebs

There were a lot of big names during the French Revolution and the ensuing “Reign of Terror,” including King Louis XVI, Napoleon Bonaparte, Marie “Let Them Eat Cake” Antoinette, and Maximilien “Crazy Pants” de Robespierre. The Assassin’s Creed series has been pretty good about putting the big historical faces frobt and center in their titles, so I’d love to interact with all of these figures throughout the course of Unity. It would also make sense given the tone of the game series, as most of these people quite literally lost their heads over the events of the French Revolution. We’ve already seen the deadly guillotine blade make an appearance in the debut pre-alpha trailer, and I’d just love to get to use that thing.

An elaborate new gameplay mechanic in place of naval battles

I’ll be honest: I wasn’t really feeling the whole naval battle mechanic when it was largely introduced in Assassin’s Creed 3, but once I got to step foot on the Jackdaw in Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, I was undeniably sold. And it turns out, battling other ships on the high seas was so much fun and so involved that I obsessively upgraded my ship and sang sea shanties at all hours of the night. In fact, the naval battles have become as much of a defining characteristic of the Assassin’s Creed series as perching on the top of the highest viewpoints. But now I think it’s time that the series traded in the elaborate naval gameplay and tried to fill in those gaps with something else entirely, especially given the new context of the French Revolution. Now what that new addition should be? I’m not so sure. But I do think it’d have to be something a little more exciting that high-speed gondola races or croissant tasting competitions.

More of that great open world exploration

One of the best things about Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag was that there were so many different locations to explore that it almost made my head explode. And while Ubisoft has already confirmed that Unity will indeed take place during the French Revolution, that doesn’t mean that historical events couldn’t potentially take us into other parts of Europe during the process. I would love to see this game find that same sweet spot we had in Assassin’s Creed 2, where there were just enough scenery changes to keep things interesting, but with each one being just large enough to really take hold on us as we played. And as long as they follow the example of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag and let us jump right into the action and exploration, as opposed to the 7-hour tutorial of Assassin’s Creed 3, then I think that Unity will be right on track.

Proper handling of the present-day storyline

One of the most defining things about the Assassin’s Creed series was its dual storylines between the historical past and the cyberpunk future. Last year though it was clear that the focus had fully shifted into the past in Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, although the sparse future segments did present a fresh and interesting take over previous entries. But honestly, I think that the series has almost reached a point where it could continue on without these dual storylines. On the other hand, if they’re going to still be in there, then Ubisoft is going to need to start stringing together a more intriguing and complex storyline that’s more akin to Desmond’s initial character arc. Personally, I don’t really have a preference one way or another: as long as Ubisoft either commits to continuing the future storyline with new vigor or just abandons it entirely. But whatever they do, just please no more first-person platforming sections, for the love of Ezio Auditore!

I want to climb the Eiffel Tower at some point

Now before you slap me in the face with a history book, I know what you’re thinking: the French Revolution backdrop of Unity roughly took place between 1789 and 1799, while the Eiffel Tower wasn’t constructed until a full century later in 1889. The Assassin’s Creed series has already been known to feature lengthy time jumps, and of course there’s always the possibility of visiting future Paris at some point. If that’s the case, then I’d better be getting to climb the damn Eiffel Tower, Ubisoft! After all, in a climbing game with a brand new “parkour up” and “parkour down” mechanic, how could we NOT want to climb this notorious architectural bad boy?

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