While, by and large, the Assassin’s Creed Unity story tries to adhere to the French Revolution’s history as best it can, the development team did take some artistic license in a few places. The design of the Notre Dame cathedral, for example, was altered from its genuine historical look to be both more visually interesting and also more engaging while climbing.

According to Caroline Miousse, Senior Level Artist on AC Unity, the design of the Notre Dame back then wasn’t very “sexy.” As she explains, the original spire was made with wood and its design likely wouldn’t have delivered much fun to the players. But since the Cathedral is such a recognizable part of the Parisian skyline, the team didn’t want to eliminate the edifice. Rather, they made some tweaks to its design and in the process played with historical architecture.

The inside of Notre Dame also saw some key changes, specifically to make the location more dynamic from an exploration perspective. As with the outside, Ubisoft wanted players to “play around” while making their way through the Cathedral, but the historically accurate layout would not have fit that goal. So, changes were made yet again.

Ultimately, though, Ubisoft playing around with Notre Dame’s architecture is unlikely to phase most Assassin’s Creed fans. As we mentioned, the series is at its core a piece of entertainment, so any changes that make a game more entertaining are in the best interest of the developer and the player. That being said, it becomes a little trickier situation when talking about iconic buildings like Notre Dame.

We’re just a few hours from the launch of Assassin’s Creed Unity, the first truly current-gen entry in the franchise and excitement appears to be at a fever pitch. And now that Ubisoft has talked about designing it, we bet that one of the first things gamers do is run to Notre Dame.

How do you feel about Ubisoft altering Notre Dame’s design to make it more interesting for gameplay? Do you prefer a more authentic historical experience?

Assassin’s Creed Unity releases November 11, 2014 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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Source: Ubisoft