How the original Assassin’s Creed inspired Assassin’s Creed Unity

Ever since it was first revealed, publisher Ubisoft had mentioned time and time again Assassin’s Creed Unity is a triumphant return to what made the series so great in the beginning, meaning it would resemble the original Assassin’s Creed, all while improving on its foundation. In an interview with IGN, Assassin’s Creed Unity’s creative director Alex Amancio (who was also behind 2011’s Assassin’s Creed Revelations) had explained how this latest entry in the series is inspired by the original Assassin’s Creed.

“The first Assassin’s Creed was designed to provide a tremendous level of exposition for each assassination target. This gave players the opportunity to get to know the​ mark and witness their crimes before the actual deed”, explained Amancio. “We have since strayed from this concept and as a result, targets have become much more forgettable. Assassin’s Creed Unity goes back to the idea of trying to make each and every assassination target an iconic character. In order to achieve this, we began by crafting each assassination target around a strong character archetype. We then crafted the context and theme of the entire sequence that features each of these characters around their chosen archetype. Finally, we conclude each sequence with an ambitious blackbox assassination”.

Just yesterday, Assassin’s Creed Unity’s senior producer Vincent Pontbriand admitted he’s a little concerned about the upcoming fan-reaction with regards to the game’s revamped control scheme. “Yes, to be honest, it is [a concern] for me a little bit”, stated Pontbriand. “It takes a few days; well, maybe I’m exaggerating; it takes a few hours to re-train yourself to force yourself to forget what we call the ‘Assassin’s Claw’ – holding RT and A and pushing forward”. Assassin’s Creed Unity launches on November 11th in North America, November 14th in Europe, and December 4th in Japan, on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.