The horse rider sat at ease. His legs extended his feet pointed down in the stirrups. He guided the animal down the streets of Boston. He stood for a moment and his eyes shifted towards his surrounding soldiers. The men watched him closely with fear in their eyes.
Hidden with the trees obscured by shadows, a figure stealthily studied the horse rider. His eyes are cold and scarcely detectable from underneath his white cowl. He tightens his countenance and his lips contort to express his anger. The blood is draining from his face. He is awaiting his opportunity to strike. It comes and anger flashes in his eyes. He swoops down from the trees and slices the horse riders throat and leaps back into hiding in single motion.
The Assassin's Creed series has done an excellent job merging stealth, action and history into a compelling video game franchise. The latest game in the series, Assassin's Creed III is overflowing with real historical figures from the American Revolution, and locations designed from real Colonial era maps and blue prints. The game's lead writer Corey May said in a recent interview with the L.A. Times, that the uncertainty of details in history provide room for Ubisoft's fictional characters to take form.
"We're all about playing with gaps and spaces and unknowns," said May. "We have this great record of what happened and when it happened and where it happened, but the questions of how and why are actually not so easily explained. We can't say for sure who fired the first shot in the American Revolution to this day."
When the Revolutionary War was announced as the setting for Assassin's Creed III, the fan reaction was not as positive as Ubisoft expected it to be. The game's associate producer Julien Laferrière recently told IGN, "When it was first announced it was in the American Revolution and so on, and people were like, 'The American Revolution? Really?' It's not a moment that's touched very much in video games." But so far reviews of the game are celebrating the setting and praising the game.
According to the L.A. Times article, Assassin's Creed III is the final game in Desmond Miles' narrative. But Ubisoft has said that if Miles' relative Connor is well received he may star in future games.
"We're going to see how players react to the guy [Connor] for sure," Laferrière told Eurogamer in a recent interview. "You'll get to experience portions of his life, you'll see why he becomes an assassin and what his motivations are. The more you know about Connor the more you'll love him, but in the end we'll see what the reception is like."
The game's titular assassin, Connor is the son of a European colonist and a Native American woman from the Kanien'keha:ka people. According to May, the developer approached Connor's Native American heritage carefully in an attempt to be as "respectful as possible."
"There is a long history of, if not cultural insensitivity, at least cultural apathy. I wanted us to be as responsible and respectful as possible," May told the L.A. Times. "He has such a mixed heritage and upbringing and exposure to so many different ideas, so he's quite unique in the world."
The game features many staples of the franchise including the hidden blades and leaps of faith, but according to the article he also shows a greater reverence for life compared to previous assassins in the series. Connor also has a different motivation than Altaïr and Ezio.
"He sees a lot of wrong in the world ... and he finds that there's no one else out there willing to do anything about it," May said. "It definitely makes him a bit of an idealist and in some sense, it makes him a little bit naive, that he thinks that one person can make a difference, but he clings to that belief and remains very firm in his convictions, so I think it makes him endearing in a way that previous assassins haven't been."
May also says that although the game has many historical figures-Paul Revere, George Washington, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin- the game is entertainment and takes several liberties with history.
"We make it very clear to people that while we are inspired by and excited by historical events, we don't pretend to be a documentary," May said. "We fully intend to take liberties.... If anything, we want this to get people excited and to inspire them to go out and actually learn."
Assassin's Creed III officially released on Oct. 30 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game releases for the PC on Nov. 20, while a Wii U version will be available at the consoles launch on Nov. 18.
Are you looking for our Assassin's Creed III review? Unfortunately due to Hurricane Sandy it has been delayed. We should have it up by this weekend. So check back soon.
If you are Interested in learning more about the game and what was left on the cutting room floor click here. Check out the great images from Assassin's Creed III's multiplayer mode in our slideshow here.
Did you know that Assassin's Creed III's protagonist Connor could be getting two more games? read about it 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.
