10/27/12: 1:10PM PST

Played a bit of this tonight. Will post more about it in the morning.

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10/28/12: 11:40AM PST

Now Playing: Assassin's Creed III (2012)

 

Assassin's Creed III is an Action-Open World, Adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal, Gameloft & Griptonite Games and published by Ubisoft.

 

Got this one for the 360. Been waiting for this one since this years E3 event.

 

Brief Story Concept:

Just as how the other Assassin's Creed titles had revolved around historical events and figures (incorporated with the concept of a private war between the Assassins and the Knights Templar), Assassin's Creed III's main plot will transpire during the events of the American Revolution (Continental-America, 1760s to 1790s approx). Historical figures such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin will play a role in the game's story and in an Exclusive Mission only available on the PlayStation 3, the infamous Benedict Arnold, will also be involved with the plot. Events such as the Boston Tea Party, the Bunker Hill Battle and the Boston Massacre will be found in the game. Sure, there are probably plenty more of these historical events and figures involved in the story, but haven't gotten too far to tell which of these will be included just yet.

 

Prelude: (I promise that I won't spoil anything)

You begin the story in an opera-house as an English assassin named Haytham Kenway. You are assigned to assassinate and retrieve an artifact from your target. After spotting your target using the Assassin's Eagle-vision feature, you will quickly, but quietly make your way up to his booth by climbing walls and jumping from support beam to support beam. When you finally get to him, you confront him and then you kill him. Haytham then reaches for his target's corpse and retrieves what appears to be some kind of pendant (an item that will play an important role later on). During this mission, a young boy sees Haytham killing the target. Haytham does not kill the child; but, instead approaches the boy and instructs him not to say a word. Haytham makes his way out of the booth and on his way out, two woman are making their way into the booth where the corpse sits. A scream from the women erupts, causing chaos within the opera-house. You must then hastily make your way out of the uproarious building and into a carriage to make your escape.

 

It is soon discovered that the pendant that Haytham had retrieved may serve as some sort of key to a vault in the Americas. None of these characters know what's inside the vault; however, they do intend to find out.

 

Haytham soon boards a ship and sets sail to America. A few month out to sea and the captain asks for your help. He is afraid that a few of the crew members are forming a mutiny. Another set of days pass and your ship is compromised by an enemy ship. Warning shots are fired... your boat manages to lose the enemy ship in a storm. Without giving away too much detail, you soon discover that only one of the crew members, was involved in trying to get the ship seized by the enemy.

 

You finally make your way to Boston's harbor where the real story begins...

 

In Assassin's Creed III, players will now take on the role of a new protagonist named Connor Kenway, a member of the Mohawk tribe who fashions the white hood and hidden blade, seeking justice in the name of his people and against "those of tyranny." Connor will be facing off against several foes, this including ferocious animals, armed soldiers as well as against members of the Knights Templar.

 

Setting:

The game will take place in several locations including New York, Boston, Philadelphia as well as the newly added wilderness map (referred to as the Frontier). The Frontier is a massive map. One can expect the Frontier to be much larger than the Rome map in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. If you are to pre-order this game at a Game Stop franchise, you will be offered the Mayan Temple map along with some other goodies (This downloadable content is exclusive only at Game Stop). There are portions of the game that will take place on board a ship. The boat ride from Europe to America was an interesting change of scenery from the game's predecessors. The previous games only had small row boats.

 

Functions:

During the boat venture, you will be introduced to the new combating system while getting familiar with the jumping and climbing mechanics. The running, jumping and climbing system feel the same. You are still required to hold the Right Trigger to sprint. The A button is still used to jump or leap from ledge to ledge. Holding up or down on the left analog stick will still allow you climb higher or lower whereas holding left or right on the left analog will permit the player to shimmy sideways.

 

In Assassin's Creed III, your character is a lot more agile than Ezio in Assassin's Creed Revelations, thus making it easier to get around and to climb buildings, objects, and trees. A new mechanic allowing the player to take shortcuts by running through houses had been added to the game. The game features new areas called "Stalking-Zones" (areas of tall grass that will allow the player to hide and stalk as you evade or stealthily close-in on your targets).

 

Assassin's Creed III now has a dynamic weather system that will change accordingly to the seasons. The change in weather will effect game play difficulty (ex. snowy weather will make it difficult to run through the frontier). Definitely, a great addition to the series.

 

The combat system had been changed. Earlier in the year, It was rumored that the developers had rebuilt the fighting system. The Left Trigger is no longer needed to lock onto certain foes as you take on multiple enemies at a time and the "X" button no longer serve the purpose of attacking and countering. Some would say that this new combat system feels similar to that of Sleeping Dogs or even Batman Arkham City. Characters will flash red prior to an attack in Sleeping Dogs and white-lines appear over an enemy's head prior to attack in the Batman Arkham Series. In the past titles, players had to rely on the simple motion of their enemies. Assassin's Creed III now displays a red icon when an enemy is about to strike with a melee attack and the camera does slow down when they are about to open fire.

 

On the 360, the "B" or "A" buttons will counter or parry attacks. You would then proceed with an attack using the "X" button. This making it a bit easier to take on multiple enemies at once. The new fighting system does result in flashier moves for the player.

 

Items and DLC Items:

New weapons had been added to the Assassin's arsenal. Weapons such as the Tomahawk, muskets, bow and arrow and the really neat item, the rope-dart can now be used to your advantage to complete your missions.

 

You are offered other (exclusive) weapons by pre-ordering this title at certain stores:

 

Game Stop will offer an exclusive Captain Kid sword, Target will offer a Scottish Flintlock, Best Buy will offer Obwandiyag's War Club, Amazon will offer a boarding axe and Walmart will offer a Flintlock Musket.

 

It's a shame that a player can't get all of these in one purchase. Received my copy earlier; so in consequence, I had received none of them.

 

All in all, I don't have any DLCs; but, I'm not butt-hurt about it. The game is still fun! Really looking forward to playing more of this title.

 

Assassin's Creed III will be released on Tuesday October 30th, 2012. Reserve yours today.