Our Protagonist
Arno Victor Dorian, our protagonist, is a peasant from Versailles and of mixed French-Austrian descent. He is the son of an Assassin, and was taken in by a Templar shortly after the death of his father. Surprisingly, instead of trying to turn Arno into a Templar, his foster father kept him away from the conflict and let him lead an ordinary life, allowing him to decide his own fate.
The Setting
"The game takes place in the massive and multi-layered city of Paris. It is composed of seven districts, but they’re more than just districts. They are cities within the city, with different atmospheres, unique visuals and original gameplay themes. The district you are playing in will directly impact the theme and tone of missions and side content."
-Ubisoft
Assassin's Creed Unity takes place in Paris during the French Revolution. For the first time in Assassin's Creed history, the city is built on a one-to-one scale, including the Notre Dame. It also features fully built interiors for a multitude of buildings, which can be used for stalking and assassinating missions.
Versailles will also make an appearance early in the game, it is the city Arno grew up in, and it's possible we might get to play the first few memories as a young Arno.
The Story
"Arno and Elise grew up together. As children they were friends, but the friendship matured as they did. Elise and Arno are two sides to the same coin. She is extremely driven, fiercely independent and deeply in love with Arno. Their choices and events around them have brought them to this point but while Arno is on a quest for redemption, Elise is driven by vengeance."
-Ubisoft
Unity is the tale of Arno Victor Dorian and his redemption. After the death of Elise's father, Francois De La Serre, for which Arno somehow felt responsible, he started his journey as an Assassin and rose up the ranks to learn the truth.
Elise :Foe or Friend?
"Elise de la Serre, born in 1770, is a strong-willed and intense new character, affiliated with the Templars. She is the only daughter of François and Julie De La Serre, Elise grew up in a modestly wealthy but incredibly privileged environment. As a member of the aristocracy in the waning days of the Ancient Regime, she had access to the finest tutors, medicine, and food available. After her mother’s death in 1778, Élise spent a great deal of time traveling, including several years of study in Paris. After her father’s death, she seems to vanish from documented history, likely as a result of Revolutionary efforts to purge records of the nobility. As far as her hobbies are concerned, the fiery Templar enjoys acrobatics, fencing, horsemanship, … and manipulation!"
-Ubisoft
Gameplay Improvements
The parkour for Unity has been completely overhauled, mostly due to the introduction of "parkour down" option. Instead of just being able to climb upwards and having to depend on haystacks to be able to get down from somewhere, now players can just climb down from a building if they press the new button. In earlier games, doing the same would have resulted in the character jumping from the building and losing health. Along with this, the parkour has become more seamless and smooth, as well as faster than before.
The combat hasn't been ignored either, and has received a complete upgrade as well. Gone are the days when you could just press the counter button and one-hit KO everyone. Now the enemies are much smarter and require real commitment from the player. Ubisoft has added new mini-bosses as well which require much more time and patience to kill. The updates to combat has been done in hopes to make the player think twice before starting an encounter, and to rather think stealthily instead.
The Phantom Blade & Customization
The Hidden Blade has received an amazing new upgrade this year. Other than being our favourite stabbing weapon, now it has the ability to shoot blades as well! That's right, the hidden blade, or more aptly called the Phantom Blade, can turn into a small crossbow and shoot your enemies from afar.
Along with this, for the first time, players will be able to accumulate skill points and unlock skills and armour for Arno. The customization effects his looks as well, as you can custom fit Arno with your favourite gear and make him "your" ultimate assassin. Unfortunately, Ubisoft has also announced that microtransactions will be making their way to the game, and these upgrades can also be bought using real life money.
"In Assassin’s Creed Unity, players have the opportunity to deeply customize the gear, tools and skills of Arno. We really wanted players to shape their character how they wanted him to be—to have their own unique version of Arno.
Gears are clothing items: we allow you to change Arno’s hood, coat, boots, gloves and belt. We have around 200 individual gears you can wear in-game, which means there is a very high chance your Arno will look truly unique depending on the combination you choose to wear. And this is not just about making your Arno look unique, this is also about the way you
play. Each gear will have gameplay attributes that will contribute to define your playstyle.
Weapons are melee or ranged. We have around 85 weapons in game such as swords, axes, spears, blunt weapons, pistols and long guns. Tools are consumables, such as medicine, bombs or lockpicks. The weapons & tools you pick will truly support your playstyle.
And lastly, skills are abilities you unlock as you progress through the game. Your skills fall within specific categories which again you can balance to support your playstyle."
-Ubisoft
Four Player Co-Op
Co-op is the new big thing this year for Assassin's Creed. For the first time, players will be able to explore Paris and do missions with upto three of their friends online. That doesn't mean you'll stop being Arno though. From each player's prospective, they will be Arno, while their friends will be random assassins. The missions available for co-op will be special "Brotherhood missions", each with a different star rating depending on their difficulty. Ubisoft has also made it clear that you don't necessarily need to use co-op to complete these missions, and all of them are perfectly capable of being soloed.
Mission Structure Changes & Other Info
Unity also features a new mission type, called "black box missions". These missions puts the player in a part of Paris and provides them with an objective. They are free to achieve that objective in any way they see fit. There are no autofail in these missions, unlike the previous iterations of the series, and players can either play this mission guns-blazing or stealthily, depending on their preference.
Another huge change is the omission of multiplayer from Assassin's Creed Unity. Other than co-op, there is no vs multiplayer in the game.
Bonus Wallpapers: