Assassin’s Creed III Preview

Assassin’s Creed III has been getting lots of exposure lately this week, due to having pictures leaked. But now loads of new information is popping up all over the place. So I decided to put what we know so far on the game, and some pretty pictures …

Reports of Assassin’s Creed III would take place during the American Revolution surfaced following a supposed “inside source” at Ubisoft claimed that in January 2012. On February 29, 2012, an upcoming promotional image of the game was sent to Kotaku by a Best Buy employee, along with information from the retailer that a full reveal was imminent. The leaked promotional image led to a general consensus that the game is set in North America during the American Revolution, and at least in part, a snowy setting. Around the same time, Ubisoft mentioned “a major announcement from Assassin’s Creed” was “only days away” via the series’ official Facebook. The page’s cover photo also depicted a snowy and bleak setting. Further GameInformer appeared ready to confirm the fresh details via an advertising banner posted on its site. Images show the new assassin standing next to American revolutionary leader George Washington.

Following the reports, Ubisoft released Assassin’s Creed III’s official box art on March 1, 2012, which confirms the game’s American Revolution setting. The company said it will announce “all the details” at 5pm on March 5th. Additionally, Game Informer revealed its latest cover feature which includes more artwork of the game’s new main character. On March 2, several screenshots were leaked ahead of Ubisoft’s official reveal, and the first gameplay details emerged via Game Informer.

Now that is out of the way into the juicy parts …

The hero is named Connor/Ratohnhake:ton (pronounced Ra-doon-ha-gay-doo). He’s half English and half Mohawk Indian. You will experience Connor’s childhood on the frontier. The Mohawk clash with white colonists who burn their village down, causing Connor to dedicate his life to confronting tyranny and injustice. The overall story is still centered around the Assassins versus the Templars and Connor’s journey.

The game is set between the years 1753-1783 around  Boston and New York. You’ll meet George Washington — one of the game’s main characters — as well as Ben Franklin, who is apparently not a “convenient inventor” like da Vinci in past Assassin’s Creed games.  Another main character is the mysterious Charles Lee. We don’t know anything about him at all.

A lot of the actual gameplay centers on The Frontier, a huge area of wilderness. When in the frontier, you’ll meet up with all kinds of gameplay elements, including hunting and pelt gathering and villages, Colonial and Native American alike. The wilderness traversal plays a big part in the gameplay in the Frontier. You use trees, cliffs, ledges, and more to set up kills and combat. And of course you have a hidden knife blade so don’t ask!

Combat:

• The tomahawk and knife are a “constant presence” in battle. They let you do double counters and multiple takedowns, as well as chain kills.

• There’s no more target locking. Counter/defense are the same button to prevent defensive turtling.

• You can use human shields and other context sensitive moves.

• There are lots of secondary attacks like the one shot pistol on the Y button.

• There’s a new dynamic camera to track the action and make it look as cinematic as possible.

• There is a new sprinting system also, so you can hold the button to instantly turn around and start fleeing from combat. They also let you kill people while still moving so you can keep chasing a target.

I will of course be playing this game when it comes out.

But deep down I’m still waiting for this one

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Gavin Jedionston