5. Synchronization rebooted: Synchronization now offers more ways to complete a mission and more reasons to replay missions. Each mission has an amount of synchronization points that can be earn and used towards gaining new artifacts and objects to customize Connor. There will also be optional objectives that will keep gamers coming back.
4. Forts: Much like the Borgia towers of the previous Assassin's Creed games, Connor can take down Templar controlled fort by completing three objectives. The fort then becomes a fast travel point and reduces the cost of taxes. The destruction of the forts also decreases the influence of the Templars in that area. The fort can only be taken over after Connor completes three task, kill the captain, destroy the weapons and ammunition and remove the fort's flag.
3. Naval warfare: Assassin's Creed III will let gamers take to the seas of the eastern seaboard and engage in naval battles like the Battle of the Chesapeake. According to the game's site, "Connor will battle his enemies not only on land, but also on the high seas aboard his stalwart vessel, the Aquila." The game will also feature hidden chest that have trinkets. These trinkets can be given to a man named Pegleg who lives in your Homestead. He gives Connor letters about the famous pirate "The Captain Kidd" for these aforementioned trinkets. These letters reveal the location of islands in the Atlantic Ocean where treasure and adventures can be found.
2. Homestead: Assassin's Creed III has a feature called the Homestead that will act like the Monteriggioni villa in Assassin's Creed II. The Homestead will be a central hub for protagonist Connor. Gamers will be able to upgrade the area and complete missions that will get NPCs to settle in the town. The developers also made sure that the NPC will not just sit around the homestead doing nothing. According to an interview with OXM, Assassin's Creed 3 producer Alex Hutchinson, the NPCs will have around eight activities each that they will do.
"My favorite thing about the Homestead is that in a city, you're anonymous, you blend into the crowds," Hutchinson told OXM. "But at home, everyone knows your name," he continued, "They don't know you're an assassin, obviously, but they live their lives, going to the tavern - assuming you've attracted the Innkeeper. It becomes a beautiful video game train set. But we're aware that we're a trading game, and that's close to German board games."
1. Hunting Club: Assassin's Creed III's wilderness provides gamer with an opportunity to hunt the unsettle land of colonial America. Tracking bears and wolves with a bow and arrow through the frontier sounds like a game on its own. In an interview with AusGamers, Assassin's Creed 3 producer Alex Hutchinson said, "To us, animals are the 'crowd' of the wilderness. Players can obviously hunt the animals, but we really want people to immerse themselves in the tracking and trapping elements of interacting with animals."
"We want people to see some species just by navigating the world, but many others will require the player to use tactics and strategy to find and kill them," Hutchinson told AusGamers. "In a sense, we want players to assassinate animals more than just shoot them: this will result in different quality skins and other objects which can be sold but also used to satisfy side-quests in the game."
If player take Connor on the hunt a lot the game will take notice and send someone to ask Connor to join a hunting club. Where players can gain access to a previously inaccessible area of the map. Joining the club also gains players access to new side-challenges and rewards.
Remember Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed III releases on Oct. 30 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A PC release will follow on Nov. 20, while a Wii U version will be available at the consoles launch on Nov. 18.
Interested in what historical events and figures were left out the game? Check out another interview with scriptwriter Matt Turner about what was left on the cutting room floor here. Check out the great images from Assassin's Creed III's multiplayer mode in our slideshow here.
Check out our story on how Assassin's Creed III's protagonist Connor could be getting two more games here and watch the trailer revealing his story here. Have you seen the AC3 weapons trailer? Check it out here. Read about the planned George Washington DLC here. Read about the exclusive content coming to the PlayStation 3 version here.