The first details on Assassin's Creed Unity's DLC have been leaked. A sign at GameStop reveals that gamers who pre-order Unity will get an exclusive mission.
The sign (via Reddit) says that the mission is called "Chemical Revolution." The accompanying art shows protagonist Arno standing next to a scientist hold a flask of green, smoking goo.
Fans believe that the scientist in question is Antoine Lavoisier. The French nobleman is considered the "Father of Chemistry." His accomplishments including naming oxygen and hydrogen as well as writing the first list of elements. The work of Lavoisier and his contemporaries in the 18th century were called the "Chemical Revolution" because of how dramatically they changed that field.
Lavoisier met a tragic end during the French Revolution. As a prominent noble and tax collector, he was an easy target for radicals. He was put on trial for robbing the treasury of France and adulterating the nation's tobacco, among other dubious crimes. He was sentenced to death and guillotined in May 1794.
It's easy to imagine how Lavoisier could fit into Assassin's Creed Unity. Maybe he uses his scientific knowledge to help Arno get new equipment, just as Leonardo da Vinci helped Ezio in Assassin's Creed 2. Perhaps Unity will also chronicle the events leading up to his death as well.
I'm not really thrilled to hear that some of Unity's gameplay content will be locked behind a pre-order. I'm not the slightest bit surprised, though. Publishers are going to do whatever they can to ensure day-one sales for the game.
The strategy seems to be working for Ubisoft. The various pre-order incentives for Watch Dogs led the game to set a one-day sales record for the company. These strong sales were in spite of review scores that were a notch below what Assassin's Creed received. The embargo preventing reviews from being published until launch day probably helped on that front.
Tempting as a bonus mission might be, there's zero reason to pre-order now. So much of the game is still unknown. It's better to wait until Ubisoft shows off some gameplay footage. For example, Ubisoft says they're going to show off the game's "innovations" at E3 next week. I'd hold off even longer than that, though. You can wait until right before the game's fall launch and pre-order to get the exact same benefits that you'd get for pre-ordering now.
Assassin's Creed Unity is in development for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. It's the first game in the main series to bypass the Xbox 360 and PS3. Ubisoft is reportedly releasing a separate game for PS3 and 360 called Assassin's Creed Comet.
