5 Reasons: Assassins Creed 3

Here are 5 reasons to be excited about Ubisoft's latest addition to their smash-hit franchise:

1)  A new protagonist -  One of the strengths of the Assassins Creed franchise is strong and likeable main characters, and their evolution. From Altair, a young, naive and somewhat arrogant assassin, we saw by AC: Revelations that he became a wise father and master of the assassins. What drove his character forward was betrayal and a search for the truth. In Ezio, we again saw a young man develop into a master assassin who's motivation this time was revenge for the death of his family.

     The new protagonist Connor is part Mohawk or native American and part British. From what has been spoken about him, his trigger for becoming an assassin is when his tribe's village is destroyed. Connor's main motivation is justice leading him to become embroiled in the American Revolutionary war, meeting the likes of George Washington and Ben Franklin along the way. The Creative Director of Assassins Creed 3, Alex Hutchinson has described him as "one of those people that has an inbuilt sense of right and wrong." While I think Ezio was a fantastic character I understand some fans eagerness for a fresh assassin after three games following Ezio's pursuits. Connor provides this and should allow a new point for new fans to jump on when the game releases.

2)  A new setting -  Ubisoft have taken a bold move in largely moving the latest game into new territory, namely the Frontier. The wilderness presents an opportunity for Connor to hunt wild animals such as bears and wolves for their pelts, but also contains significant perils. While scrambling across rooftops will still exist in cities like Boston, Connor's agility allows him to climb trees and manoeuvre his way across the Frontier from the branches. This is perhaps one of the most impressive additions to the franchise. Ubisoft has also highlighted that seasons will change the environment through the new Anvil game engine, with winter bringing heavy snows making it harder for enemies and Connor to traverse.

 

     This wilderness is reportedly 1.5 times the size of Rome in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, making it the largest map in the franchise to date. Whether or not this wilderness will provide enough variety for fans remains a question, but early signs look promising. 

3) New combat system -   In addition to a new protagonist and a new setting, for this instalment a new combat system has been created with an emphasis on fluidity. Connor is an expert in two handed combat wielding a tomahawk and a knife, other weapons include the hidden blade, a pistol, a bow and the new rope dart. Assassinations can now be carried out with other weapons such as the tomahawk and bayonets. Combat has been made more difficult, so that the player is no longer simply waiting to counter-attack as in previous games. The target locking system has been removed and thousands of new animations added, with fewer carried over from previous games.

4) Conclusion of Desmond's story- Ubisoft has stated that AC3 will conclude Desmond's story, and thus far have remained quiet in what part he will have to play in the game. While certainly not the most likeable or interesting character in the series in my opinion, I feel it is important to wrap up his story as we have been following him for four games. The first-person platforming puzzles from AC: Revelations weren't popular with everyone either. However, the team behind AC3 has already stated that they haven't included too many systems from previous games. Could we see Desmond as a fully fledged modern day assassin? I think the main reason many fans don't like Desmond as much is because he never seems to do much and therefore his character seems unnecessary, having him finally do some assassinations may change all that.

5) Improved multiplayer- While not to everyone's taste, the Assassin's Creed multiplayer component is something I quite like, it moves away from traditional multiplayer and puts it's own spin on traditional game modes. Expect new maps and characters. One new mode will be Wolf Pack, a co-op mode in which 2 - 4 players kill NPC's within a time limit, over 25 rounds with each round becoming progressively harder. With new modes and maps still to be announced, this incarnation of Assassin's Creed multiplayer is set to be the best yet.

Assassins Creed 3 - Frontier Gameplay Demo

Here is the first, real glimpse we've seen of the gameplay in Assassins Creed 3, the video shows the wildness of the Frontier, Connor's fresh combat style and also an assassination mission. Enjoy:

Assassins Creed 3 - E3 cinematic

Here is the cinematic trailer for Assassins Creed 3. The trailer emphasises the large scale conflict surroundind the new protagonist Connor and the new fluidity of the combat:

 

Assassins Creed 3 releases on October 30th.