Assassin’s Creed III

On sale October 30th, 2012. Pre-order today for exclusive content!

Assassin’s Creed III, which is set to release in a few weeks (October 30th, 2012), is the newest in the AC series. Although, it won’t be quite the same. There is a new main character taking Ezio’s place and his name is Connor. Not only that, it’s in a whole different time period. No more ancient Rome, say hello to the American Colonies circa 1775 in the midst of the American Revolution.

Now, when I first heard about the new game and how much it would be changed I thought, wow this is going to suck. How can you replace the epic Ezio Auditore De Firenze with this new “Connor”, change the whole story, and expect me to like it? That makes it a completely different game. I was already so into all of the old characters and what was going on in the plot. You can’t just take that all and throw it away!

Well, NEWS FLASH! They didn’t. When I received my copy of GameInformer and read the Assassin’s Creed III article I was blown away. The game promises that although it’s in a different place and time, it all stems from the same original Brotherhood. The plot might be different and feature a new main character but it all comes back to being an assassin who seeks justice! After you get over the obvious changes you will see that the game still has everything you loved about it, only BETTER.

A young Connor, the main character in AC3.

Connor Kenway (pictured at the right), whose tribal name is Ratohnhake:ton (pronounced Ra-doon-ha-gay-doo’), is son to a Native American mother and a British father. He is called into action when his Mohawk village is burned down. His half-blood heritage has him walking the line between fighting for his people who are being driven from their land, and participating in a war between the American colonies and the British. Historical figures such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Charles Lee are confirmed by Ubisoft to be supporting characters in the game. Many REAL historical events that happened at the time will be occurring in this installment, all for you to experience!

• FOR CONNOR’S STORY: THE OFFICIAL TRAILER CLICK HERE !

Wondering About Desmond’s Side of the Story?

Assassin’s Creed fans will recognize the man pictured to the left as Desmond Miles and you might be questioning whether he will appear in the game. Well… Not only is he appearing in it, he will be STARRING in AC3! Assassin’s Creed III lead writer, Matt Turner, says the game will feature more Desmond than any previous entry in the series. He won’t be in a coma any longer, and he’ll be using the Animus 3.0 to access Connor’s life and memories. Also, Desmond and the Assassin Order will be trying to stop Abstergo from launching a satellite that will end the world. That’s right, you will be playing the game and trying to stop DOOMSDAY while the predicted real life doomsday in December is also right around the corner!

Now Let’s Talk Gameplay:

After 3 years of working on a new software engine Ubisoft came out with AnvilNext, specifically for AC3. The two and a half hours of cutscenes in the game were done by actors, dressed in spandex, with cameras strapped to them. All this for great animation, facial expressions, and movements. They basically made a movie. The team also made it possible to see thousands on non-player characters at once, witnessing, and even taking part in, the intense battles of the past. The weather, seasons, and time in the game are all constantly changing as well. The river even freezes over during the winter months and can be walked on for faster travel. The engine comes complete with an expanded stealth and combat system.

• FOR THE ANVILNEXT TRAILER CLICK HERE !

Connor is just as good as Ezio in the parkour department, swinging from branch to branch effortlessly.

In AC3 Connor has some intense terrain to travel through and fight in. He could be in the wilderness of the frontier, the chaos of the cities, and even the vastness of waters. In combat he needs to be capable of working in all types of surroundings, and he does a great job of it. When on the ground, Connor is stealthy and low, like a predator stalking prey. From above he can leap from tree to tree (shown in the picture to the left) with as much agility as a parkour pro.

• FOR A FRONTIER WALKTHROUGH VIDEO CLICK HERE 

Conner with his bow and arrow: A silent and deadly long-range weapon.

Possessing skills that he acquired from hunting in the dense forest that surrounded his home, Connor is no stranger to combat. Coupled with the training he receives from his assassin sensei while he is becoming a part of the Brotherhood, the man is a force to be reckoned with. If Connor can’t handle something with his hands then he has a deadly set of weapons that he carries with him. They consist of the dual pistols, bow and arrow (pictured on the left), tomahawk, hidden blade, musket, rope dart, and sawtooth sword (sword only comes with a pre-order of the game). His weapons allow him to be deadly from close, medium, and long-range.

“We want you to be a predator in the wilderness. We want this notion of you in the trees being invisible while a Red Coat patrol meanders in the snow below you and you’re picking them off one by one. That notion that in the frontier, in the wilderness, your enemies are ill at ease. But your character is very comfortable. This is his playground.” -Alex Hutchinson, the creative director of Assassin’s Creed 3.

• FOR A VIDEO OF CONNOR’S WEAPONS AND TACTICS CLICK HERE 
• FOR A BOSTON GAMEPLAY DEMO CLICK HERE 

The map in AC3 is more than 1.5x bigger than the map of Rome in AC Brotherhood (which is huge), and the possibilities are endless! Choose to play through the main campaign missions and you’ll only be done with ONE THIRD of the game! The other two-thirds are made up of side quests, side missions, clubs, and all sorts of things you can do! Certain actions such as trekking through the wilderness and hunting for animals in the forest could get you invited into special clubs and guilds. After hunting animals you can sell the fur and meat, although the quality of your kill does come into play. Your reward will be greater for clean kills with a knife, while sloppy shooting with a gun will earn you less for leaving bullet holes. The detail in this game is definitely impressive and coming from someone who was skeptical about the new Assassin’s Creed at first, I can officially say that I think this is going to be one of the greatest games ever!

• FOR THE EPIC AC3 COMMERCIAL/TRAILER CLICK HERE !