From an American standpoint, the Revolutionary War was about freedom — either stand up and fight or continue to face British oppression. It’s an appropriate setting for the next installment of the Assassin’s Creed series. If you take Assassin’s Creed 2, Brotherhood, and Revelations and line them up chronologically, it’s clear that the series was beginning to show signs of being stagnant. However, Assassin’s Creed 3 may be what franchise fans need to break them free of these all-too-familiar, all-too-mundane sequel-sequels.
Assassin’s Creed 3 shows promise. And it isn’t necessarily about the game’s new setting, as much as it is about having respect for it.
Assassin’s Creed 3 tells the story of Connor, a half-British, half-Native American assassin, who is out to kill templars on both sides of the Revolutionary War. The preview takes us to the Battle at Bunker Hill, where Connor makes his way through the American camp. William Prescott is spotted nearby delivering his famous “do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes” order, effectively setting the mood for the following events (and killings).
Ubisoft’s Alex Hutchinson explains that the player has the choice between taking a stealthy or an action-filled path to the target. Though the preview takes us through the stealthy path of the target, we catch a glimpse of the other path which involved a hill in the distance that’s been lined, from top to bottom and side to side, with red coats. It’s here where the game shows how powerful it is. Crowds of people in previous Assassin’s Creed games maxed out at 200 on-screen characters. Assassin’s Creed 3 will be able to fill a screen with 2,500 characters.
Assassin’s Creed 3 shows most of its potential in this stealth sequence. As Connor makes his way to the forest, it’s clear that the movement is more realistic and melds with the environment better. The fact that assassination missions occur in the middle of historic battles helps highlight this as we see fallen trees act as obstacles that Connor can either jump over or slide under.
The parkour element of Assassin’s Creed also finds itself moving from buildings and leaking over onto treetops. Connor can navigate treetops and grab onto branches above them like monkey bars to get from point A to point B. The natural shape of the trees almost makes you forget that you’re just moving an avatar through a series of branches that have been programmed by game developers. Connor’s movements through the trees seemed organic and smooth.
Combat is also influenced by the time period as you see enemies use basic military tactics that were popular in the era (think firing lines from the last scene of The Patriot). The act of taking out a small group of soldiers is reminiscent of The Predator movies as Connor stalks his enemies from above. A new weapon called the rope dart makes its appearance here as Connor takes out one of the two red coats in front by hurling the dart at his neck. The rope dart effectively makes a pulley system, with Connor and his prey acting as the two opposing masses. As Connor plummets down to the ground, his victim is pulled upwards and left there to hang and finish dying.
While facing a firing line, the player can grab a nearby enemy and use him as a human shield to take that round of gunfire. Since muskets don’t reload quickly, this tactic is used to immediately close in on a group of alerted enemies.
In the final scene of the preview, Connor reaches the enemy camp. We see an emphasis on the assassin’s new sense of mobility here when patches of greenery can now act as stalking zones that allow Connor to crouch and walk through them undetected. Assassinations are also more fluid because you’re now able to run towards a target while killing any obstacle that stands in your way in a few fluid motions. Connor can roll-through leaping assassinations involving unsuspecting human obstables when approaching a target, chaining multiple murders together with ease and speed.
One of the most important things about the franchise has always been about killing multiple people and feeling like a bad ass about it. This hasn’t been compromised; you will feel like a bad ass when paying this game.
Assassin’s Creed 3 seems to break free from the distracting gimmicks that are found in Brotherhood and Revelations. Instead, Assassin’s Creed 3 brings (seemingly) subtle changes to the gameplay that will allow the player to flow through each scenario smoothly. Connor’s actions felt natural. More importantly, his actions had a purpose given the environment and combat situation. This idea of allowing the setting of a game to influence its gameplay may help make Assassin’s Creed 3 a success. If Ubisoft can stick to including more of what I saw at PAX East, without adding distractions like hang-gliding missions and bomb-making, Assassin’s Creed 3 will absolutely be successful.
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