Assassin's Creed 3

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official announcement on Monday

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confidently declares that they will be releasing the “biggest to date” instalment of Assassin’s Creed this year. This year’s offering is already popularly believed to come out carrying the title Assassin’s Creed 3. There are still no speculations, or announcements for that matter, of what the subtitle will be.

Guillemot, during an interview for a magazine, hushes the idea that Assassin’s Creed is becoming increasingly diluted with every instalment that is released. He says that they are releasing the series instalments to “satisfy the demand” of the players. Guillemot is referring to the expectations that there will be more instalments coming out because Assassin’s Creed “is an incredible franchise”. The Ubisoft CEO says that they are happy with the franchise’s sustained success. One proof is that Assassin’s Creed – Revelations is making the Top Ten for the whole year in the US. The demand is undeniable given this information. So, Guillemot believes that the best way to respond to this is to develop instalments regularly and to create versions for more platforms so that the fans’ needs are satisfied. He believes that this strategy will also help them gain more players.

Then, he makes that confident announcement that the next Assassin’s Creed will be Ubisoft’s best yet. Well, it has already been confirmed that Ubisoft is planning on releasing a new title from the franchise this year. There will be a new character, according to the development team.

http://www.gamebandits.com/news/assassins-creed-3-ubisoft-promises-franchises-best-installment-release-for-2012-32161/

Release Date: October 30, 2012

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For years now we've enjoyed the adventures of Ezio Auditore as he makes his way through the Italian Renaissance and Ottoman-controlled Constantinople. That story is over. Ever since the conclusion of Assassin's Creed II, a senior team of Ubisoft developers has been secretly toiling away on what comes next. That team aimed high, with plans to examine and rethink every element of the franchise from the ground up, build something new, and take a full three year development cycle to do it.

The game that emerged is Assassin's Creed III. Set in the latter half of the 18th century, we'll see the war between the Templars and the Assassins escalate as it crosses over to the New World of America, and witness firsthand the events of the American Revolution. Caught in the conflict is a daring new hero in the Assassin's Creed franchise. We have the full story of this new hero and the striking game in which he stars, along with exclusive screens and art from the project, all packed into a massive 13-page cover story.

To whet your appetite, take a look at an early glimpse of the new game. Our cover image gives you the first hints of what to expect. Who is this new protagonist? What is his importance to the larger history-spanning story of the franchise? Let the speculation begin.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/03/01/april-cover-revealed-assassin-39-s-creed-iii.aspx

[madmunkie]

Duplicate thread bro

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Everything we know so far, From April Issue of Game Informer.

-Want it to be a jumping on point for new players without losing touch with what longtime fans cherish most.
-New hero called Connor/Ratohnhake:ton (pronounced Ra-doon-ha-gay-doo). He has an English father and Native American mother.
-More details about the protagonist/scenarios: You will experience Conner's childhood on the American frontier as he is raised by the Mohawk. The Mohawk eventually clash with white colonists who burn their village down, causing Connor to dedicate his life to confront tyranny and injustice.
-A new traversal approach that has players leaping and climbing trees and mountain cliffs.
-Uses a new version of the Anvil engine that can "depict thousands of troops engaged in bloody battle" along with highly detailed face close-ups. They later imply that if they used version numbers, they would be like going from Anvil 1.0 -> Anvil 2.0 or something of that nature.
-Judging by the images, the faces really are quite good.
-Combat is focused on putting you on the offensive and based on speed/momentum.
-The main character has thousands of new and unique animations (no carry over from other titles) to support the new combat system.
-Character details:
-George Washington: Interacting with Washington is one of the core relationships of the game.
-Benjamin Franklin: He's not a convenient inventor a la Da Vinci.
-Charles Lee: His role is a mystery.
-The game is set between the years 1753-1783 and is centered around the cities of Boston and New York.
-"It's not just going to a historical building now; it's going to a historical event."
-Event examples: "You will see the great fire of New York. You will visit Valley Forge as a location that is currently occupied by Washington's forces. You will visit these places in the moment that they were important, and hopefully, experience the reason why we know where they are today. That's the goal."
-Connor is in the heart of major battles, and they can now have a couple thousand guys on screen, whereas before it was capped at about 100.
-The overall story is still centered around the Assassins versus the Templars and Connor's journey.
-Not all the Colonists will be cast as good people, and not all the British will be cast as evil oppressors. They're trying to focus on how both the Assassins and Templars viewpoints exist in a gray morality as the Templars really believe they're saving the world.
-The French and Native Americans will also feature in the game, as was probably really obvious.
-The modern day stuff relates to that location in New York at the end of Revelations.
-There will be all sorts of wilderness in the game referred to as the Frontier.
-The map of the Frontier is 1.5 times bigger than the entire map of Brotherhood.
-The Frontier is not empty like in Assassin's Creed 1, but features a third of the game's missions and gameplay content.
-You can hunt animals for resources, and how you kill them effects your reward. A one hit kill on a bear gets you a much more valuable pelt than stabbing it eight times.
-The wilderness traversal plays a big part in the gameplay in the Frontier, allowing you to use trees, cliffs, ledges, and more to set up kills and combat.
-Connor does have a hidden blade.
-The world changes as time passes, so a field where a battle happened in one year may just be a series of empty encampments a few months later.
-The entire world will change with seasons, so the cities and the wilderness will all exist in both Summer and Winter settings.
-In the winter, soldiers will move slowly and stumble about in the snow, and lakes and rivers will freeze over allowing you new terrain to work with. This gives Connor an extra advantage since he can still use the trees and wilderness pretty effectively during this time of year.
-There are all sorts of clubs and groups who want you to join and give you quests. These are separate from the mission system. These clubs will contact you based on what you do in the game. For example, hunting a lot will get you an invitation to the hunting society.
-There will be a goods based economy, a new property system, and more Desmond stuff.
-There's going to be some new puzzle thing like the first person Tetris.
-There's a new Animus database known as Animus 3.0.
-They're not unveiling anything about the multiplayer yet.
-There will be more platforming levels.
-Full synchronization returns, but with major tweaks. Missions have checkpoints, You also get significant rewards for doing these tasks instead of a 100%. "Imagine a leveling system in an RPG, except there's a finite amount of XP to find. The more in-sync you get, the more you fill your sync bar. Within each mission, each activity you complete has a value". You can replay everything to increase your score.
-They imply there is something resembling the Brotherhood system of picking up fellow assassins.
-Aligned groups are gone, but something new is replacing them in regards to factions. They don't say what.
-There's a new notoriety system that is more hidden and doesn't penalize you for exploring risky areas.
-The game has fast travel because the game has more traveling.
-Don't expect more tower defense.
-You can upgrade Connor's gear and costume as the game goes on in an attempt to make it feel more authentic.
-The cities have a lot more subtle detail now in terms of ambient things that happen.
-You can now leap over wagons or slide under obstacles, including navigating over and around moving objects. The free running stuff also has you jumping through windows to trees and then on top of church roofs. Basically, expect the free running stuff, but more fluid and presumably generally closer to the ground.
-Connor enters battle with two weapons. The game uses the same controls in and out of battle.
-The tomahawk and knife are a "constant presence" in battle. They also let you do double counters and multiple takedowns, and you can chain kills.
-There's no more target locking, it just automatically detects your target. Counter/defense are the same button to prevent turtling.
-You can use human shields and other context sensitive moves.
-They want you to constantly move in battle.
-There are lots of secondary attacks like the one shot pistol on the Y button.
-There's a new dynamic camera to track the action and make it look as cinematic as possible.
-There is a new sprinting system also, so you can hold the button to instantly turn around and start fleeing from combat. They also let you kill people while still moving so you can keep chasing a target. They kind of imply you can even leap off of them after you kill them, though I'm not sure if that makes you faster or just doesn't impede your movement.
-They really, really, really want you to constantly move. I mean like they say this every four sentences. Not just in battle, but in every section of the game.
-They also try to keep you more in control of the combat than ever before.
-Game Informer really loves their animation system.
-There are around 2.5 hours of character scenes in the game that are fully acted and recorded. They mean this in Naughty Dog style where they have the actors being mocaped while performing on a set that resembles the scene in the game.
-They're aiming for accuracy by having historical dialog consultants and actual Native American actors.
-This game has the longest development cycle since AC1, and has twice the production capacity (in terms of work hours) and budget of Revelations.
-They want the game to feel like AC3.5, and the game will have its first version complete in just a few more weeks, at which point they're going to spend the rest of their time refining it.

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Duplicate thread bro

actually you're the one that created a duplacted thread

Mods/admin please merge the two topics.

[madmunkie]

Duplicate thread bro

actually you're the one that created a duplacted thread

Mods/admin please merge the two topics.

oops, didn't see urs before... my bad

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Long before a game like Assassin’s Creed III can be played on a screen with a controller, the world of that game must be visualized. Strong concept art guides the vision of a project, informing the graphical style, locations, characters, and tone of the whole experience.

During our visit to AC III developer Ubisoft Montreal, we saw a wealth of evocative images from the project. We’ve drawn out some of the coolest pieces of concept art from what we saw to help illustrate some of the game’s most compelling locations, events, and characters.

For each of the images below, you may click on the picture for a larger version. Then, read the description below each image to learn more about what that piece of art illustrates about the larger game.

Enjoy your illustrated tour of the world of Assassin’s Creed III.[/quote]



Boston

Colonial-era Boston is one of two major cities open to full exploration in Assassin’s Creed III. Boston was one of the largest cities in the colonies during the latter half of the 1700s.  Numerous historical events occurred in or nearby to Boston during the period, including the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Siege of Boston, and even the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and his fellow colonial patriots. Expect to witness some major changes to the city over the course of the full game.


City Life

This interior view of Boston offers a potent vision of the potential for city gameplay in Assassin’s Creed III. Tall brick homes, steepled churches, and docked ships offer a wide variety of climbing opportunities. Life on the streets is also dramatically more varied and lively than in previous installments of the Assassin’s Creed series. While the new game offers plenty of new gameplay experiences out in the wilds, the core excitement of free running through a teeming city remains intact; we witnessed a demo with new hero Connor weaving amid wagons and merchant stalls – and even through building windows – to evade a pursuing squad of British soldiers.



New York

This image shows the aftermath of the Great Fire of New York, a catastrophic event in 1776 that left around a quarter of the city in ruins. To this day, it remains unclear whether the fire was accidental or if it was purposeful arson to hamper the occupying British forces within the city.

In previous installments of Assassin’s Creed, the history enthusiast could delight in visiting particular places. In Assassin’s Creed III, the focus has been shifted to experiencing particular events, like the fire. You’ll see a location before a major event, during, and after it has occurred. When you’re done, you’ll understand why we remember events like the New York fire in the historical record.



Battlefields

Assassin’s Creed III is set between 1753 and 1783, so it should come as no surprise that the battles of the American Revolution will figure prominently in the game. Rather than shy away from the technical challenges of these conflagrations, Ubisoft Montreal has embraced these battles as major events through which the player will move and act. Rather than playing just another soldier in a vast conflict, Connor will often have a separate goal during a major battle, but will still be in the thick of the conflict as he is forced to deal with whizzing bullets and devastating cannon balls. We witnessed one of these battles in an in-game demo, and can attest to the powerful experience of seeing hundreds of troops facing off against one another.



The Frontier

Assassin’s Creed III will allow players fully explore a huge wilderness setting – the vast open world of what is today called the northeastern United States. Tree and mountain climbing assures that even the most distant peaks and vistas can be reached. More importantly, the Frontier is not an empty wasteland with nothing to do; a full third of the game’s missions and gameplay occur in this vast space. We’ll have lots more to share about the Frontier in a dedicated feature later this month.



Seasons

Every location in Assassin’s Creed III can be explored in both the winter and the summer. More than a cosmetic effect, gameplay, NPC character actions, and enemy behavior will all be different depending on the season. Even bodies of water will freeze over to offer different running paths. Connor is uniquely suited for and trained in movement through harsh wilderness settings; he will often appear like a predator hunting down prey bogged down in the snow and ice.



A Lifetime

Not unlike the many years we spent with Ezio Auditore in Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed III depicts multiple decades of a single protagonist’s life. This image reveals Connor as a boy. Players will spend a portion of the game playing as young Connor in the Mohawk village in which he was raised. It’s only later that he’ll set out into the wider world and don the garb of the Assassins.



Benjamin Franklin

Ben Franklin is one of a large number of characters in the game who are based on actual historical figures of the period. Because Assassin’s Creed III is set more recently than other games in the series, the writers at Ubisoft have a more robust historical record to pull from when shaping characters for the game. Oftentimes, they know where a particular person was down to the hour on important dates.

Contrary to what might be your first guess, Franklin will not take over the role vacated by Leonardo da Vinci as the dedicated inventor working to provide handy gadgets to the game’s hero. Instead, Franklin’s presence in the game will veer closer to his involvement in the trying political situation of the time.



George Washington

In a game that will include major battles of the American Revolution, it should come as no surprise that George Washington will play a major role. In an attempt to stay as true as possible to the historical record, Washington will be presented as the stalwart but sometimes indecisive commander that is revealed in numerous letters and journals of the time. Connor has regular interaction with Washington during the game, but it remains unclear exactly how the two characters come to know one another.



Charles Lee

Charles Lee might be a lesser known name to some, but he played a significant role in the American Revolution. Many politicians of the time believed that Charles Lee would have been a better choice to lead the American army than Washington, but Lee demanded money for the job, and was unwilling to give up his British lands. Historically, during the war, Lee was captured by the British, and may even have shared secrets with the British during his capture. In the AC fiction, will Lee be painted as a misunderstood hero, a conniving villain, or something else entirely? We’ll all have to wait and see.

Check back throughout the coming week for more features and details about Assassin’s Creed III. To see all the articles and interviews we’ve released so far, visit gameinformer.com/ac3 or click on the banner below.

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Power or Oppression. Control or Freedom. Liberty or Death. These recurring themes dominate the worlds and mythos of Assassin’s Creed, and are the very same ones that served to guide a splinter group of Ubisoft’s creative talent looking to come up with a brand new concept for the franchise.

Flash back to December of 2010. The location is Paris, Ubisoft HQ. A concept video is played to internal senior staff. Boston, 1775. New York, 1776. Mohawk Village, 1779. The outcome of that meeting, is now of course, history. Assassin’s Creed III was officially born, and the first steps could be taken towards development of the next numbered instalment. An intensive research period follows, especially with this being the first game to full explore the Revolutionary War time period. A strong and clear creative vision would be required to accurately portray such a significant period in both American, and world history. As part of the presentation we got shown by IP Director Tommy Francois, the vast majority of Assassin’s Creed III will be grounded in historical fact. Characters such as George Washington, Charles Lee, Benjamin Franklin and even General Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (who served as a major-general in the Continental Army under Washington) will reprise their historical roles, while allowing Ubisoft to tell a story that fits within the Assassin’s Creed Universe.

It is immediately apparent that the size and scope of this game is unlike anything Ubisoft have attempted before with eight of its studios across the world have been working simultaneously on the project and a production capacity double the size of all previous Ezio titles combined. We were shown the previously secret Target Gameplay Footage (TGF); a video only seen by internal teams up until that point. The aim of the TGF was to focus the creativity of those that would be working on Assassin’s Creed III, as well as serve as a handy reference point upon completion of the game. It also gave us the chance to see some early design and gameplay changes that had been made in the 2 years that AC III had been under wraps.

Scalping enemies was originally a planned feature, but this was taken out after research showed that Mojave Indians never actually scalped their victims. The other major change was to a weapon originally known as the ChainBlade. We were informed that the teams felt this to be heading down too much of a fantasy route, so it was replaced with a new weapon called the Rope Dart, which allows Connor to retain some long range capabilities, all the while grounding the weapon in some realism (the Chinese made extensive use of Rope Darts well before the time of the Revolutionary War)

From an Animation standpoint, the TGF showed the first glimpses of the new direction Ubisoft were looking ahead to with AC III. The power of the AnvilNext engine meant that seasonal changes could finally be fully realised in the game. Snowfall affects both movement speed and effort, and Connor himself has a more brutal, predatory style to his animations, which Ubisoft state has all been made specifically for this game. There is also a brand new approach to traversal now, with Connor apparently able to climb “anything you can see” that is within the bounds of the memory. This immediately opens up numerous new possibilities for tracking, stalking and dispatching targets, both human and animal. Our hero will find himself at odds with all manner of foes, be they soldiers, elk or even bears. We were treated to a spectacular bear assassination as part of the presentation. Pelt, fur and other resources can now be hunted too, with the quality of the bounty being determined by the quality of the animal kill.

The new Anvil tech also means that Connor can now traverse both over and under terrain and the environment around him. Other improvements include grander vistas and considerably larger maps. The fully explorable Frontier region alone is described as being 1.5 times the size of Brotherhood’s Rome, with the cities of Boston and New York receiving similar treatment. With this comes more populated cities and the need for improved NPC behaviour and AI. We got to see Boston in the Summer of 1775 bustling with life; traders, newspaper boys, redcoats, street cleaners, everyone had a sense of purpose and went about their tasks without hesitation. Familiar NPCs waved and greeted Connor with a smile. Random events presented themselves, such as a thief stealing and making off with an apple from a market trader and all of this was enhanced by the brand new visual style presented in Assassin’s Creed III. Dubbed Animus 3.0, Tommy informed us that this was the first fully realised 3D set of environments that have ever appeared in an Assassin’s Creed game. Everything from the Out of Memory Bounds projection right down to the waypoint markers within the Animus simulation.

Much of the fan focus will be on the new ancestral protagonist, Connor Kenway (native name Ratohnhaké:ton) who joined the Assassin Order in 1770. As opposed to Altair, whose motivation was duty to the Creed, or Ezio whose passion was initially motivated by vengeance, Connor is described as being driven by justice, inspiring those around him to fight for freedom. Despite watching white colonists burn his village down while still a child, Connor will likely aid both sides of the Revolutionary War in his quest for justice, and his ultimate fight against the Templars. His Native American heritage is well represented in his appearance and his weapons.

Alongside the already mentioned Rope Dart, Connor will utilise Dual Pistols, a bow and arrows, his signature Tomahawk and the iconic Assassin Hidden Blade. His natural gifts, heightened by Assassin training means that he is an excellent tracker, and possesses a smooth, but brutal fighting style. In one sequence, the Assassin impales a soldier from a tree vantage point, drops down and uses the unfortunate victim as a human shield while his comrades open fire. Given their long reloading times, Connor dumps the body and circles round them, dispatching them with relative ease using counters and chaining kills. Unlike his predecessors, Connor has a few unique tricks up his sleeve. Ubisoft have added a brand new game mechanic known as Stalker Zones, which allow Connor to automatically use foliage as a hiding spot when stealth is of the essence. From these zones, he can initiate an unbroken chain of kills in a fluid path towards his target. He is also able to make leaps of faith into moving blend groups now. During the demo, we were treated to William Prescott’s famous “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes” speech at Bunker Hill. Tasked with assassinating a British general on the other side of the vast battlefield, Connor is now able to take cover using the environment (in this case boulders) to avoid the volleys of cannonball  and musket fire that dominate the scene.

Many might worry about the scale of Ubisoft’s ambition with Assassin’s Creed III, fearing they may have reached too far., but we were reassured that the quality of the upcoming game was paramount to the teams. The 10 minute demo we got to witness was what Tommy called the “first playable” build, essentially an Alpha. Bar a few minor issues, that build looks ready to play right now. And this is their ace card; having a high quality build ready to play more than 6 months prior to release allows them time to actually polish and refine game elements, something Tommy admits they hadn’t had since Assassin’s Creed II. First impressions have left us suitably impressed and excited for more, with this looking like a fantastic jump in point for new fans, and the true sequel that the hardcore crowd have longed for. Probably the biggest worry though lies with the Desmond arc of the overall story. His fight against the modern day Templars still rages on, with the events of Revelations setting up a possible climactic showdown as plot elements come together. How much screen time Desmond will get with the introduction of a new ancestor has yet to be addressed. There are still remain many questions to be answered but one thing is for certain, his story arc ends with AC III, set in the final months of 2012 to coincide with the game’s release.

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Today Ubisoft officially announced three collector’s editions for Assassin’s Creed III, available exclusively in EMEA territories for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Not far off the previous edition mock ups (here and here)spotted over the weekend huh? Anyway, take a look below.

The Freedom Edition

The Freedom Edition includes the following:

-      Assassin’s Creed III retail game

-      A 24-cm high-quality figurine of Connor

-      A steelbook case art drawn by awards-winning comic artist Alex Ross

-      George Washington’s notebook revealing all the truth & secrets about the Assassins and the Templars during the American Revolution.

-      One exclusive Lithograph

-      2 in-game Single Player Missions:

o    Lost Mayan Ruins: Connor’s mission leads him in an old Mayan pyramid, full of mysteries and revelations. Players will be able to unlock Captain Kidd’s fabled cutlass, a deadly, brutal and beautiful piece of steel

o    Ghost of War: The tide of the Revolution turns into the Templars favor. Defeat your enemies and  unlock The Pontiac’s War Club, a powerful Native American weapon.

-      1 in-game Multiplayer Package:

o    The Sharpshooter package: Unleash the Sharpshooter fury in multiplayer with 1 new character, the Sharpshooter, 1 Relic, 1 Emblem, 1 special Picture and the Title of “The Jester”.

 

The Join or Die Edition

The Join or Die Edition includes the following:

-      Assassin’s Creed III retail game

-      The medallion of the Assassins with its high-quality curd ladle

-      George Washington’s notebook revealing all the truth & secrets about the Assassins and the Templars during the American Revolution.

-      1 in-game Single Player Mission:

o    Ghost of War: The tide of the Revolution turns into the Templars favor. Defeat your enemies and  unlock The Pontiac’s War Club, a powerful Native American weapon.

-      1 in-game Multiplayer Package:

o    The Sharpshooter package: Unleash the Sharpshooter fury in multiplayer with 1 new character, the Sharpshooter, 1 Relic, 1 Emblem, 1 special Picture and the Title of “The Jester”.

 

The Special Edition

The Special Edition features a special packaging, the retail copy of the game and an exclusive single player mission:

o    A Dangerous Secret: Fight against a secret that could jeopardize the funding of the revolution. In case of success, you’ll be rewarded with an exclusive weapon: a Flintlock Musket.

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[TheApprentice]

Great informative posts there Mobscene.

I read this article this morning on Kotaku:
http://kotaku.com/5896386/50-things-about-assassins-creed-iii-that-you-should-know

...which probably summaries all of the above posts.

Excitement level is through the roof for this game now.

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[Berzerk]

Oui Papa yo.

this on my must haves for this year.

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[Arcmanov]

Wasn't really checking for this until I saw the gameplay.....

Ubisoft....?  Oh my dear Ubisoft...you WILL be getting my money for this, AND Far Cry 3, AND Watch_Dogs, AND Splinter Cell: Blacklist.


WAAAYYYY!!!  Ubisoft bring the PAIN this year boy.  WT-actual-F!!?

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[TheApprentice]

That ship battle gameplay is so much win eh.
I was so mind blown when they revealed that part of the game.

AC3 HURRY UP AND TAKE MEH MONEY!