Assassin's Creed 'Unite' Trailer • Codec Moments

You remember that thing you did a while back? You know, that Assassin’s Creed website affair? Where you designed your own French Revolution ~~ponce~~ assassin? I didn’t, until I got reminded by the new trailer that has released today. I’ve avoided a lot of the coverage and build up to Assassin’s Creed Unity because I’ve grown steadily out of love with the whole franchise despite Black Flag actually being pretty good. It hasn’t really innovated in the single player for a while outside sailing a ship (which was strangely therapeutic); the meta story around present day is convoluted and confusing; and yearly iterations don’t excite me at all, especially when this year has two coming. So why have I chosen to put something up about the Xbox One/PC/PS4 game?

Simple – I was going to rip it to shreds in the most scathing manner I could find that would fit with the pompousness of the French aristocracy. “Mon dieu!” I’d cry, “This is just Italy with a Paris revêtement, like Constantinople was in Revelations. Haven’t they got any originalité?!“. You’d be in awe of the lack of knowledge, insight and punning. Then I watched the interactive trailer (you’ll need a PC/Mac):

http://assassinscreed.com/unite-trailer

How good does that look?! I’m impressed, and there’s no /sarcasm here. I’m actually glad I’ve avoided watching and reading about Assassin’s Creed Unity over the last few months, and that I took the time with the trailer to view it all properly. There’s some clever stuff in there – pausing to pick up on external video clips that show the in game environments; picking out the assassin’s people designed in the summer (and getting a credit for the creators); and whilst it’s got a terrible name, the gigapan is very, very nice. There’s something to be said for innovative marketing here, and Ubisoft are doing all the right things with this and Far Cry 4. Plus, there are 15 secrets to find to encourage you to go back again and again.

For the first time since Brotherhood I’m looking forward to a new Assassin’s Creed game, and it’ll be one I’m picking up come the 14th November. The only thing I’m not too keen on is the fact they’re already advertising the Dead Kings DLC… that just feels like it should come on the disc. Let’s hope it’s like the last game and a worthy add-on.