Assassin's Creed Unity goes free in honour of Notre-Dame
The French reconnection
Notre-Dame cathedral is closed for renovation for the foreseeable future, but Ubisoft are offering everyone the opportunity to appreciate it (and clamber around it) free in Assassin's Creed Unity. From now until next Thursday, April 25th, the game is free to grab and keep forever here. Set in Paris, 1789, it offers a more co-op focused spin on the series, but was plagued by bugs at launch. Credit where due, Ubisoft did well patching it up, so if you skipped it then, you get the best version free now and all it took was a famous landmark burning down. The publisher are also chipping in a half-million Euros for repairs to the building.
Notre-Dame is arguably the centrepiece of the game. So many of its missions take place around or within it, and it makes a great vantage point to survey the city like a French revolutionary Batman. While the version in the game is a little anachronistic (the big spire was added in the 1800s), it is a very detailed recreation otherwise, both internal and external. The building has seen its fair share of damage done and renovations over the ages, but the recent fire will undoubtedly prompt years of restoration, so Unity is your best bet at poking around the cathedral for the moment.
Alec reviewed Assassin's Creed Unity at launch, and while not effusive in his praise, he called it "not a bad jumping on point". It lacks the piratical imagination of AC: Black Flag, and returns to the city after the forests of Assassin's Creed 3 wore thin. For those who started on the series with Origins and Odyssey, it might even be an interesting change of pace, going back to before the series ramped up its RPG elements. Unity is more of a focused stealth-murder adventure, with the option of bringing along up to three pals as you stab your way through Paris's high-walled streets.
Assassin's Creed Unity is free to grab now (and keep forever) until Thursday, April 25th. Snag it here on the Ubisoft Store or via Uplay. Unlike others in the series, there's only one notable bit of DLC, as the season pass was given away free as apology for launch issues. The Secrets Of The Revolution pack adds three more missions (and some equipment) and is on sale for £1.77/€2.10/$2.10 here.