BOSTON - Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed 3 takes the stealth gameplay of the first two historical science fiction games (and their several side games) into the American Revolution, providing another setting for intrigue and murder. After the Crusades and the Renaissance, the Revolution seems to be an ideal setting to play with the game's formula, and in a demonstration here at PAX East 2012, I saw just how Ubisoft plans to do that with Assassin's Creed 3.
Instead of focusing only on cities and strongholds, Assassin's Creed 3 introduces battlefields as sites for assassinations. Clear lines are drawn between the amassing British and American forces, and with up to 2,500 characters rendered on screen at once, the game can give the impression of epic battles while the new assassin, Connor, does his work. Instead of just fighting for the Americans, Connor has to deal with targets in both armies as the manipulative Templars try to shape world events. Because of this, Connor has to navigate between both armies during and after the battles.
Connor is a vastly different character from the previous assassins Altair and Ezio, and his new history reflects the shift in the game's focus. Connor is half English and half Native American, and that duality fits the game's new settings. Boston and New York will serve as the main cities for Assassin's Creed 3, but "the frontier" will also play a major part, at least as much as the cities. The wild forests and battlegrounds of the American Revolution add a new and more natural aspect to gameplay in a series that previously focused on weaving through crowds in large, sprawling cities.
I watched Connor fight through the Battle of Bunker Hill, navigating past the American army and through the battlefield to break past the British lines and assassinate a commander. Dressed in white, he was ignored by the revolutionary army during the battle, making his way past the brush and through trees to reach the British troops. Tree climbing is a new mechanic in Assassin's Creed, and one that seemed as fast and intuitive as the parkour Altair and Ezio used in the previous games. Connor jumped from branch to branch, staying out of sight of the fighting troops below until he finally dropped down in front of a line of five British soldiers.
Since the Revolutionary War is such an active part of the game, tactics and troop behavior are much more focused on military movement instead of the patrolling guards of the previous Assassin's Creed games. Troops form firing lines when attacking each other, and quickly move to attack with bayonets after they take their shots, because of the long reload time of muskets. After the troops missed Connor, he dispatched them quickly with his hatchet and hidden blade, dual-wielding weapons to kill them.
The combat emphasized staying in motion while fighting, and that was an important part of the second fight of the demo. After infiltrating the British camp behind the lines, Connor had to kill a commander amidst his men. Since sneaking up on him silently wasn't an option, Connor rushed him, cutting down several soldiers on the way before attacking the commander with a leaping hatchet. The new combat mechanics let Connor stay in motion while fighting, instead of having to choose between running or stopping to engage the enemy. The demo ended before the killing blow was made.
Assassin's Creed 3 hits the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on Oct. 30.
For more from PAX, see Hands On With Max Payne 3, as well as Hands On and Heads Off With Lollipop Chainsaw, PAX East 2012: Off the Floor, and the slideshow below.
