Francophiles will be disappointed to learn that there will be no French accents for major characters in Ubisoft Montreal’s upcoming instalment in the Assassin’s Creed series, Assassin’s Creed Unity. Major characters in the game, which is set in Paris during the French Revolution, will speak with a British rather than French accent. This might come as somewhat of a surprise considering Ubisoft are a French company. Furthermore, characters in the Ezio trilogy of Assassin’s Creed games spoke with an Italian accent.
In a ubiblog post Assassin’s Creed Unity Creative Director explains that “The idea is that the Animus is translating everything into the language you’re playing in,” Amancio explains. “That’s why, since you’re an Anglophone, you’re hearing all the dialogue and cinematics in English. It would really make no sense for there to be a French accent because that would mean that this French character is trying to address you in accented English. Everyone in the game is not trying to speak English for your benefit.” Rather than using American accents, Ubisoft Montreal have decided to use British accents to better evoke the period, something which is done in many films and television programmes.
Players will still have the choice to play the game in French with English subtitles if they want a more authentic experience. Moreover, as Amancio explains the NPCs encountered on the streets of Paris will speak in French: “The only lines that are going to be translated into English are gameplay-related elements that we need to convey to the player… Those parts will be in English. Everything else is in French. You’ll really have the immersion of walking around in Paris and hearing everyone speaking French.”
Therefore, the streets of Paris will have a distinctly French feel, but Assassin’s Creed Unity’s cut scenes will be more like an American or British television programme or film about the French revolution. This could result in the game being less immersive, although on the other hand it may also facilitate better voice acting and storytelling.
