American Revolution and Grizzly Bears? Lets Do This. The New Assassin’s Creed III Gameplay Trailer Does Not Disappoint

From eliminating Borgia influence in Rome to zip-lining throughout the streets of Constantinople, we now turn to the next chapter of the Assassin’s Creed series that launches us into one of America’s most historic moments. While we have enjoyed carrying out countless assassinations with the hidden blades of Ezio Auditore, we now turn to a new protagonist, Connor Kenway, our new half-English and half-Mohawk hero. Set in Colonial America, this installment will span across 30 years of Connor’s life from 1753 to 1783 and features exceptional new gameplay as many of us have already discovered.

From frontier terrains and tomahawk executions to what we can so far deduce as a battle against grizzly bears, the newly released pre-alpha game footage gives us a promising glimpse of what Ubisoft has to offer this time around.

So let’s observe the trailer a little closer to notice some exciting new features. Connor alone presents us with an entirely new fighting style where we see fast-paced killings from one enemy to the next, a stark comparison to the slowed-down executions in previous gameplays. No doubt the slowed animation was – in the lack of a better word – “cool,” the new game mechanics demonstrate the ideal pace for any assassin [even if it involves rolling through a civilian’s home to attack your next target].

Now lets talk weapons. Connor’s weapon set definitely brings a new combination to the table. We first notice the bow and arrows on Connor’s back, which may at first seem a little traditional since most of the tribes at the time had already swapped to guns. Nevertheless, in the words of ACIII’s Creative Director, Alex Hutchinson, “we also realized that the Mohawks were still using a bow and arrow on horseback for hunting because it was more accurate so we thought it was cool and put that in.” Silent, lethal at long range, with the high possibility of picking off enemies from trees, I say hell yeah keep the bow and arrows.

We have of course noticed the most significant weapon change, namely the addition of a Native American tomahawk. It has been revealed that all of the new combat moves are dual-handed, so Connor will be indeed dual wielding between the tomahawk and knife during the entire game. Combined with my earlier statement of fast-paced killing, this fusion is bound to produce exceptional combat animation. The dual pistols that rest at Connor’s waist also presents us with a new speculation. First off, guns are definitely major league players during the revolution but as far as I have noticed, gunplay has not exactly been smooth throughout the AC series. I can only wonder if Ubisoft will integrate smoother gunmanship abilities or leave the guns’ priority at the same level as the hidden guns in previous installments. Hutchinson further claims that the guns “are not core to gameplay experience” but are still without a doubt powerful and effective at medium range. The hidden blade goes without saying, still persevering its role as the iconic assassin weapon throughout the series.

In a nutshell, the trailer alone illustrates a multitude of surprises that Ubisoft has planned for us. Whether Connor is able to live up to the names of Altair or Ezio Auditore remains to be seen but I think I am right in saying that this is going to be one epic adventure. AC III will be out for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on October 30^th for North America and the 31^st for the PAL region.

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