After a lovely little leak two days ago, Ubisoft formally announced Assassin's Creed: Unity earlier today with a brief trailer. While telling, it still leaves a lot of information to be desired, but thanks to proper symbolism (the guillotine, the tricolore banners) it's fairly apparent that Unity takes place around the time of the French Revolution, either right in the middle of it, or leading up to it.
Given as much, it's only logical to go back in in time some 200 years and take a look at the events and key figures of the era, in an attempt to see who, what, and where is more than likely to pop up in Unity. Everyone knows names like Napoleon or Marie Antoinette, and they'll more than likely be included in some fashion (especially the short in stature Emperor, but we'll get to that in time), but there was a lot more than just that, and with Creed games spanning years, if not decades, there's a lot of possibilities. That makes for a lot to sift through, so, in the interest of not utterly bombarding you with a tome of historical information, we're going to break it down in parts.
This being history and all, we might as well start from the beginning...
Two specific events are credited with opening the French Revolution: the Tennis Court Oath and the resultant formation of the National Assembly. While historically significant, it's not exactly sexy for a video game about stealth executions and throat slitting with hidden blades. Let's jump ahead a bit to The Storming of the Bastille, the flashpoint of the French Revolution.
At the time, the Bastille was a prison, and while it only held a handful of inmates, it was still a stronghold and represented the hated French monarchy. Days leading up to the event saw the rise of a "bourgeois militia" which had recently gathered arms. On July 14, 1789, a crowd of almost 1,000 gathered outside of the Bastille. Negotiations were attempted, and stories differ as to what caused it, but a skirmish broke out. By the days end, almost 100 had been killed, including (eventually) the Bastille's governor and commander - Bernard René Jourdan marquis de Launay.
In the grand scheme of history, Launay was nothing but a gnat on the windshield. Born in the Bastille in 1740 as the son of a Bastille governor, he spent the majority of his live in Paris. He succeeded his father as governor in 1776 at the age of 36, and the next 13 years would be just as uneventful as his previous three decades. When the insurrection approached the Bastille, Launay refused to surrendur, despite being completely outnumbered by an armed crowd. Attempts at negotiations between Launay and two insurrection delegates were made, but as the conversation drew out, the crowd grew impatient. When the group broke the chains of the Bastille's drawbridge, a garrison opened fire. The crowd took this as an attack from Launay, and begin the titular storming. Launay managed to survive the ensuing attack, but was ultimately captured.
In the hands of the crowd, an angry Launay was alleged to have yelled, "Enough! Let me die!" and kicked a nearby cook right in the "boules." Seeing the apparent invitation, the crowd obliged Launay and began beating, stabbing, lynching, and shooting him. Once he was dead, Launay's head was sawn off and placed atop a pike, and carried through the city streets. The Revolution had officially begun.
The Assassin's Creed series certainly has its share of violence, but its never been too graphic. While a severed head atop a pointed stick might be pushing it a bit as far as Ubisoft standards go, it's something the developer will have to get used to for picking a historical event that's represented by the guillotine.
Check back for more potential possibilities for what Assassin's Creed: Unity could offer.
