E3 2014: Assassin's Creed Unity Cinematic Trailer And Gameplay Demos Confirm Four-Player Co-op

As expected, Assassin's Creed Unity was a major part of Ubisoft's E3 presence. The first cinematic trailer and gameplay trailers for the open-world game highlight a very special aspect of the game: four-player co-op.

The cinematic trailer takes place in Paris on July 14th, 1789. This was the day of the one of the first conflicts of the French Revolution. A mob of commoners stormed the Bastille, a fortress and jail in the middle of Paris. The trailer shows us an alternate version of these events.

In the trailer, the mob is assisted by four Assassins. One of them is Arno, the main character of the game. While the mob charges the Bastille, the Assassins leap and climb over the walls. They then drop the drawbridge so that the crowd can access the fort.

Once inside the fort, the Assassins then make swift work of the soldiers garrisoned there. The best moment is when they use a smoke bomb and then pick off a group of confused troops one by one. Once the military forces have been decimated, they slip away just as the crowd arrives.

Of course, the French Revolution is far from over. There's much more bloodshed after that time. The Assassin's Creed Unity gameplay video, set in 1793, shows how the new order established by the revolutionaries turns out to be just as perverse as the one they overthrew.

This period is known as the Reign of Terror. The King, Arno says, has been "murdered by men just as vile." Executions are a regular occurrence as the new government attempts to assert control and punish their political enemies. Arno says there are a "thousand terrors" he means to cure throughout Paris.

Arno's mission in this gameplay trailer is to assassinate Captain Xavier. After scuffling with some soldiers in the street, he sneaks into Xavier's base of operations. He interrogates an underling to learn that the captain is presiding over executions in the public square.

In a scene reminiscent of the trailer for the first Assassin's Creed, Arno heads to the execution to kill his prey. He climbs to a ledge above the guillotine platform and then pounces, driving his wrist blade into Captain Xavier.

Xavier's comrades converge on the Assassin. It's okay, though, because Arno's got company. Three other Assassins, each with a colored icon over their head, walk up. The trailer ends before we can see these four players engage in some co-op, though.

Fortunately, Ubisoft revealed another gameplay video today that focuses on co-op. The video, shown during Microsoft's E3 press conference, follows four players as they infiltrate a Marquis' home and slay him. It's currently unclear whether these co-op segments are standalone missions or part of the normal campaign right now. Either way, it's an interesting addition to the long-running series.

Assassin's Creed Unity will launch this fall on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.