By now, Assassin’s Creed fans have already watched the teaser trailer for the next game in the franchise called “Assassin’s Creed V: Unity. Set in France during the reign of terror, the trailer shows the as yet unnamed Assassin standing on the roof, overlooking an execution in front of the Notre Dame cathedral, ending the months of speculation as to where the next AC game will be set.
For a recap of the different locales that have been rumored as possible settings are Feudal Japan, Ancient Egypt (two of the usual contenders), Russia, and Victorian England. Feudal Japan has been stricken off the list by Ubisoft producer Jade Raymond herself, and there was supposed “leak” saying that the next setting would be England.
Then BOOM! Images of an Assassin running around in iconic spots in France were leaked. Then Ubisoft made it official by releasing the teaser trailer. What’s more, reports say that there will be two AC games that will be released this year, Unity (the one with the teaser) on the PS4 and XBoxOne, and Comet for the PS3 and XBox 360.
In a previous post, I talked about the need to change the gameplay. Not reboot the franchise, just overhaul the gameplay. I mean, free-running is fine, but maybe they can allow gamers to be really creative in completing their missions or running for their lives. But in the few screenshots shown of Unity, it seems that Ubisoft has decided to stick to their tried and true formula of scenic spots, wall-climbing, and most likely, free-running.
Not trying to pre-judge here, but as exciting as doing parkour over Revolutionary France is, it would be sad if it were just more of the same. But anyway, I still believe that given their apparent decision to “stick to the formula”, Revolutionary France is the best setting for the next game. Why? Because France offers scenic locales reminiscent of Assassin’s Creed II that is conducive to free-running. What is more, the franchise has been through a Revolutionary setting in AC3. with the French Revolution happening just years after the British got the boot from their former colonies.
I guess let’s just wait until we get more screenshots and maybe even a proper trailer and demo.