Assassin's Creed III

"On this land, I am torn. Part of me wants to fight and repel all outsiders. The other part of me is the outsider. In the name of liberty, I will fight the enemy regardless of their allegiance. While men of courage write history of this day, the future of our land depends on those who are truly free."

- Connor Kenway, Assassin's Creed III Gameplay Trailer.

Assassin's Creed III is an upcoming game developed by Ubisoft. It is the fifth main title in the Assassin's Creed series, and is a direct sequel to Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Ubisoft has claimed that the game will be bigger than its previous installments, and will complete the story of Desmond Miles.

The game will be set between 1753 and 1783, and will focus on a new ancestor, Connor Kenway, who fought during the American Revolution.

Assassin's Creed III will be released on October 30 for the Xbox 360 and PS3 (October 31 in Europe), while the PC version will be released on November 20 for the United States and November 23 for the UK. The game will also be a launch title for the Wii U in North America.

Development
With the game in development since January 2010, by its release date, Ubisoft will have worked on the title for almost three years. In a statement made by Yves Guillemot, he shared that "what we have seen is just fabulous."

Despite the many possibilities for a new setting, according to creative director Alex Hutchinson, the team settled on the American Revolution "once we realized you could meet Washington, sail a boat, leap from tree to tree in the middle of winter and hunt wildlife".

The game runs on a new version of the Anvil game engine called AnvilNext, which improves environmental effects. There will also be seasonal changes; the landscape is warm and open in the summer, but is covered in snow during winter, which subsequently affects gameplay.

In winter, thick snow will cause people to move more slowly and stumble about in the drifts, and lakes and rivers will freeze over, allowing Connor to access new areas. Although the seasons will change in line with specific memories, fog and rain will change naturally.

Another technical aspect of the engine is that it can depict up to two thousand troops engaged in battle, in contrast to previous games' one hundred, along with detailed close-ups.

Navigation
Exploration will be based around a large countryside area known as the Frontier, which is one and a half times larger than Rome in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and not as empty as the Kingdom in Assassin's Creed, as one third of the quests and gameplay content are in the Frontier. The cities of Boston and New York may also be explored, and will have new details and ambiance.

Since there will be a lot more travel included within the game, the fast travel mechanic is making a return which now allows you to fast travel from anywhere in the game as opposed to previous games. A whole new system of unlocking fast travel has been implemented, which is integrated into the natural game progress.

More varied methods of movement have been added as well, including climbing trees, cliffs, and other natural elements, leaping over wagons, or sliding under obstacles. Other freerunning elements also have Connor jumping through windows, to trees, and then onto rooftops. The zipline feature also makes a return.

Combat


Players can dual wield weapons, while fighting and stealth have been completely overhauled with new features, such as "double-counters," "multiple takedowns," and chain kills. Connor will go into battle with a wide variety of weapons at his disposal, including the knife, tomahawk, flintlock pistols, rope dart, bow and arrow, and hidden blades.

Context sensitive actions, such as using enemies as human shields, will also be included. The target locking system has been removed and replaced by automated enemy selection, effectively changing the combat dynamics. In addition, assassinations can now be performed with weapons other than the Hidden Blades, most notably the tomahawk and bayonet.

The combat system has been greatly improved, as there are thousands of new animations, few of which are carried over from previous installments. Simple defense and counter-attacks become more difficult, and combat is now focused on putting the player on the offensive, with attacks based on both speed and momentum.

The Counter system has been completely revamped. As the developers wanted to create more strategy and options, they created new reactions based on button taps. To counter, the Circle (PlayStation 3) or B button (XBox 360) would be pressed, followed by a press of a secondary button, each having its own reaction.
 * Pressing the Square button (PlayStation 3) or the X button (XBox 360) allows Connor to kill his target.
 * Pressing the Circle (PlayStation 3) or B button (XBox 360) will simply throw the enemy to the ground.
 * Pressing the Triangle (PlayStation 3) or the Y button (XBox 360) will allow Connor to use his secondary weapon.
 * Pressing the X Button (PlayStation 3) or the A button (XBox 360) will stun Connor's enemy.

With those combinations, the developers were able to create combos and enemies to resist different types of counters. To get a kill spree going, the user will need to press an appropriate button for each enemy archetype.

Memories
Desmond will use the new Animus 3.0, and will find himself reliving "significant events". 100% synchronization in memories returns, though synchronization will be treated more like experience in an RPG leveling system, except with a finite amount available.

Activities completed within missions have their own value. The more synchronized Desmond become, the more the sync bar is filled, which can also be increased through replaying missions. Checkpoints will also be introduced to mission replay, meaning that entire memories need not have to be replayed in order to achieve the 100% synchronization requirement.

Other
Economy in the game will be different, as Connor can now hunt animals, and sell the resources gathered from them. The quality of the kill also increases the value of the resource. Along with this, a new property system will be implemented. This new property system will be known as the Homestead, in which Connor will live in a manor, along with surrounding land, and will also be able to invite other people to stay at the manor. Here, the inhabitants will be given a second chance following the events of the war, and will bring in income through trade and crafting. Following this, the Homestead will expand along with every resident that inhabits the area.

The regenerative health system similar to the type featured in Assassin's Creed will return. In order to regain his health, Connor must escape from combat and rest.

There will also be puzzles similar to the Glyphs, but they will not be given by Subject 16.

Platforming missions, like the Assassin Tombs or Lairs of Romulus, are making a return, though it is unconfirmed in what way they will be implemented. As stated by Corey May, "People like those. We like those. It's not something we'd remove."

Multiplayer
Ubisoft Annecy, who developed the multiplayer components for Brotherhood and Revelations, has been tasked with bringing multiplayer back with this installment, though they are staying tight-lipped about it and its features.

So far, there will be a co-operative mode named Wolf Pack, where 2 to 4 players have to kill NPCs during a time limit, possessing 25 sequences. There is also the addition of Domination, a team mode, where Abstergo recruits will need to capture areas of the virtual map they are on, before protecting them from the opposite team.

Characters
So far, 13 Animi Avatars have been announced for Assassin's Creed III's multiplayer.
 * Carpenter
 * Commander
 * Huntsman
 * Independent
 * Lady Maverick
 * Mountebank
 * Night Stalker
 * Pioneer
 * Preacher
 * Redcoat
 * Robber
 * Shadow
 * Sharpshooter

Locations
Accompanying the Animi Avatars, eight locations are currently known for multiplayer.
 * Animus Core
 * Boston North End
 * Boston Harbor
 * Fort Wolcott
 * Iceberg
 * New York Brewery
 * Northwest Passage
 * Virginian Plantation

Marketing
Following the official reveal, Ubisoft announced incentives for gamers who pre-ordered Assassin's Creed III from Amazon, GameStop, or BestBuy, in the form of a free steelbook casing that featured artwork by renowned comic book artist.

For newcomers to the series, the Assassin's Creed Double Edition was released on the PlayStation Network, which brought together Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed II in a virtual compilation box.

Assassin's Creed III will also have four missions exclusive to the PS3, which will be available for download on the game's launch date. The storyline will be based around Benedict Arnold, a Continental Army general who later defected to the British Army.

With Assassin's Creed III: Liberation set to be released for the alongside Assassin's Creed III, linking the two titles will unlock Connor's tomahawk for the Assassin Aveline de Grandpré to use.

At the 2012 Tokyo Game Show, Sony also announced that the 500 gigabyte bundle of the its new, slimmer PS3 would be available with Assassin's Creed III.

The Xbox version of the game will come in a two-disc set. The first disc will contain the singleplayer gameplay, while the second disc will be required for multiplayer.

Criticisms
Initially, the pre-release media for Assassin's Creed III came under heavy criticism by some fans and critics for its portrayal of Loyalist Redcoats. This was mainly because, in every trailer and image released since the reveal in March 2012, the victims of the game's protagonist Connor Kenway were almost exclusively of British allegiance; leading some to suggest that the game would be an America versus Britain story.

This claim was repeatedly contested by the game's developers, with lead writer Matt Turner denying it would be an "America Ra Ra" story, and that there were members of the Templar Order on both sides of the conflict. Despite these assurances, criticisms for the decidedly one-sided portrayal of Loyalists continued. Following the criticism, Ubisoft released an AnvilNext trailer on 2 August 2012, in which Connor was depicted killing several Continental soldiers as well as Loyalist Redcoats.

Editions
Ubisoft has announced several collector's editions of Assassin's Creed III; with three available in Europe and Australia, one available worldwide, and two available for North and Latin America.

Freedom Edition= Join Or Die Edition=
 * A retail copy of Assassin's Creed III.
 * A steel book case, with cover art drawn by award-winning comic artist Alex Ross.
 * A collector's box.
 * A 24 centimeter high quality figurine of Connor.
 * An exclusive lithograph.
 * George Washington's notebook.
 * An additional Animi Avatar, the Sharpshooter.
 * Two exclusive single player missions, Lost Mayan Ruins and Ghost of War.
 * A retail copy of Assassin's Creed III.
 * A collector's box.
 * Connor Kenway's medallion.
 * George Washington's notebook.
 * An exclusive single player mission, Ghost of War.
 * An additional Animi Avatar, the Sharpshooter.

Special Edition=
 * A retail copy of Assassin's Creed III.
 * Special packaging.
 * An exclusive single player mission, A Dangerous Secret.

UbiWorkshop Edition=
 * A retail copy of Assassin's Creed III.
 * Assassin's Creed: Subject Four.
 * Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia Second Edition.

Digital Deluxe Edition=
 * A retail copy of Assassin's Creed III.
 * George Washington's notebook. (PDF file)
 * Three single-player missions.
 * The Captain of the Aquila's uniform and traditional Colonial Assassin outfit.
 * Two additional Animi Avatars, the Sharpshooter and Redcoat.
 * Best of audio tracks collection from previous Assassin's Creed games.

Limited Edition=
 * A retail copy of Assassin's Creed III.
 * George Washington's notebook.
 * A statue of Connor, with tomahawk and Hidden Blade.
 * Assassin's Creed-inspired colonial flag.
 * A metal belt buckle.

Gallery
Concept art=