Assassin's Creed Unity is an action-adventure,[2] stealth game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. The game features a historical recreation of Paris in the late 18th-century at a roughly 1:1 scale. The setting is divided into seven major districts—Le Louvre, Île de la Cité, Le Marais, La Bièvre, Les Invalides, Quartier Latin, and Ventre de Paris—and also includes the town of Versailles, located on the outskirts of Paris. The commune of Saint-Denis (renamed Franciade during the French Revolution) is featured as part of the free Dead Kings expansion pack.
While exploring the game's world, players may come across various collectibles, including chests (which contain money and, sometimes, a piece of gear or a unique outfit for Arno), cockades (which unlock new colors to customize Arno's appearance), and artifacts (which reward the player with a new weapon or armor piece after completing an entire set). They can also find and initiate a number of side missions, such as "Paris Stories", which require Arno to assist a character (usually a historical figure) with simple tasks, like assassinating a target or retrieving an item; "Murder Mysteries", during which Arno investigates various murders, collecting clues and interrogating witnesses to determine the culprit (accusing the wrong suspect does not cause the player to fail the investigation, but reduces their final reward); and "Nostradamus Enigmas", a series of cryptic riddles that lead the player to different artifacts, which can be used to unlock a special outfit for Arno.
Assassin's Creed Unity features a crowd system that allows more than 30,000 non-playable characters to appear on-screen simultaneously.[3]
Unity's combat system was greatly refined over previous entries in the series, with fencing being used as an inspiration for the new system. In addition to returning weapons from previous games, Unity introduces the Phantom Blade. The Phantom Blade uses the mechanics of a crossbow to fire a silent projectile at a great distance, while still serving the same role as the Hidden Blade in previous Assassin's Creed games.[4] In-game navigation was also overhauled: new "Free-run up" and "Free-run down" commands were added to make it easier for the player to scale buildings in either direction, allowing players to make controlled ascents and descents at will. Additionally, Arno learns new moves throughout the game, but the player can also purchase new skills as well.[5] With the updated, larger crowds, new interactions with them are also available. The crowd regularly presents many activities, appearing organically, that the player can then choose to engage in at their leisure. Examples include scaring a group of bullies by pulling out a weapon, "settling" a disagreement between two civilians by killing one of them, or chasing down a thief who has just pick pocketed somebody.[6] Completing a set of these crowd events rewards the player with money and, occasionally, a piece of gear.
