The PlayStation Blog revealed that one of the PlayStation 3 exclusives for Assassin's Creed III would be about the most infamous traitor in American History, Benedict Arnold.
"Benedict Arnold's secret plot to betray West Point and sabotage the American Revolution earned him the ultimate mark of infamy: a name that will forevermore be synonymous with deceit and treachery," wrote Sony Social Media Manager Sid Shuman. "And the four mission arc surrounding him, exclusive to PS3, deals with this "most reviled turncoat."
He also wrote "The PS3-exclusive four-mission arc begins with a special request from General Washington in exposing a rumored plot to overthrow West Point, a critical link in the defense of the Colonies against Great Britain. Across four missions, Connor will flush out Loyalist spies and work undercover for Benedict Arnold, culminating in a full-blown assault on West Point that Connor must halt at all costs."
The blog entry also has an interview with Assassin's Creed III's scriptwriter Matt Turner, who said the PlayStation 3 exclusive DLC will be a realistic take on the historical event than the alternate history take of The Tyranny of King Washington DLC.
"It's definitely not like King Washington, Turner told the blog. "We have some scenes that have the actual words spoken by key players in the events at West Point, according to the records from the court proceedings following what happened. On the other side of things, we needed to inject it with some gameplay so there are some liberties in terms of the action. But who was there, what they did, and what happened to them is as precise as the history books would allow."
Turner also says that the inclusion of Arnold's betrayal matched the story the game's developers were trying to tell.
"Benedict Arnold is a name that transcended the Revolution and became a synonym for the word 'traitor'. Given some of the themes in the main story thread, it flowed really well with some of the later beats... but I won't be specific as they are spoilers! It was also a great opportunity for us to tell a story that people know but don't really know, you know?"
The inclusion of Benedict Arnold's betrayal comes as a surprise, because Turner said in a recent interview with Gamesradar that there was "no room for it."
"Certain battles we would've liked to have done, like the Battles of Saratoga, for example," Turner told the video game site. "It was a big turning point for the Patriots, and you'd get to see Benedict Arnold in that battle before he turned into a traitor. It wasn't even a technical thing, it was just a matter of the gameplay and where the story was going, and there was no room for it."
But Turner didn't really lie, as Arnold's storyline is an expansion that will be exclusive to the PlayStation 3. 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 and tell everybody what you think of them on our comment section. 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.
What do you think about the mission being a PS3 exclusive? Comment and watch the Benedict Arnold Trailer below...
