Assassin's Creed 3 Catch-All

I just really want an Assassin's Creed in revolutionary Tsarist Russia. Goddam that would be awesome.

Interesting timing. I just happen to be in the middle of watching The Revolution documentary series, which is very good, by the way.

That said, even though I've not been very interested in the AC series (only played the first one for a few hours), I find myself quite interested in AC3, mostly due to the setting. I'll be consumed by Borderlands 2 when this releases, but I may get it during the winter steam sale.

Higgledy wrote:

the tomahawk the character was wielding implied possible Indian ancestry.

(aside from his ancestry now being confirmed) It's not just the tomahawk. He's also wearing snakeskin armbands, and in some of the pictures you can see eagle feathers attached to his bow/clothing.

The tomahawk in the cover art looks so rad.

I have no idea why but I'm less excited for this now.

I'm excited about the new approach to combat. It seems they're emulating the style of the Arkham series, where the character can attack or counter-attack, but never block.

Higgledy wrote:
BlackSabre wrote:

Can't believe no one has mentioned this yet, but, um... everyone has guns. So no sword fighting any more?

I think the guns were inefficient enough in that period to allow for some hand to hand combat. I guess swords weren't used a lot. It could be more bayonets, knives or tomahawks?

You're right, the guns of the time left a lot to be desired. Muskets shot a round ball shot that could veer all over the place, they were most effective when unleashed in massive volleys of fire (which is why you see movies where long lines of soldiers fire at the same time on command.) Rifles were more accurate and powerful, but were still a fairly state of the art technology. Aside from designated sharpshooters(snipers) they were not standard issue at the time.

But more importantly, all these muzzle loading firearms took a long time to reload. It was a multi step process and tricky in the heat of close combat. That's why the bayonet affixed to the musket was so important. Fire once, then run in and stab.

The tomahawk was respected by troops on both sides of the conflict.

Yeah, I'm worried that it'll turn into "The Patriot". The characters portrayed in that film are well-documented enough that there was quite a lot of bad feeling about the whitewash of the goodies and the demonization of the baddies.

It's inevitable that the big power structures will turn out to be Templar-backed, since you won't have much of a game if they're not. I also hope that there'll be Templars and Assassins on both sides. The series has already linked the founding fathers to the Masons, and the Masons to the Templars, but it wouldn't be the first series to retcon details in sequels.

I don't know if a bunch of French Canadians are going to be any nicer to the English than Americans would be, though. The Ezio games codifed the alignments into Medici/Machiavelli = good, Borgia = bad, and I don't see this as being any different. In terms of sales, annoying the British won't hurt them very much, I think. Any pseky adherence to historical fact rather than flag waving jingoism will probably lose more North American sales than they'd gain by not pissing off the English, anyway.

DudleySmith wrote:

I don't know if a bunch of French Canadians are going to be any nicer to the English than Americans would be, though. The Ezio games codifed the alignments into Medici/Machiavelli = good, Borgia = bad, and I don't see this as being any different. In terms of sales, annoying the British won't hurt them very much, I think. Any pseky adherence to historical fact rather than flag waving jingoism will probably lose more North American sales than they'd gain by not pissing off the English, anyway.

I assure you, few Canadians are interested in that kind of jingoism.

4xis.black wrote:
DudleySmith wrote:

I don't know if a bunch of French Canadians are going to be any nicer to the English than Americans would be, though. The Ezio games codifed the alignments into Medici/Machiavelli = good, Borgia = bad, and I don't see this as being any different. In terms of sales, annoying the British won't hurt them very much, I think. Any pseky adherence to historical fact rather than flag waving jingoism will probably lose more North American sales than they'd gain by not pissing off the English, anyway.

I assure you, few Canadians are interested in that kind of jingoism.

It's the "French" bit I was wondering about. And in an anti-English rather than pro-US sense.

Frankly, I'm hoping they get a few licks in on both groups.

4xis.black wrote:

Frankly, I'm hoping they get a few licks in on both groups.

Oh definitely, I don't think anyone's hands were clean.

I trust the AC team to do right by American history. I mean, they made a game where Muslim assassins are the good guys and Christian knights are the bad guys. That says to me they're more interested in telling a story than stoking popular sentiment.

I don't think it's coincidence at all that this game is coming out in a Presidential election year just a few days before the votes are cast. I think there's always a bit of patriotic sentiment in the air during Presidential campaigns, and this game is trying to capitalize on that. I expect a lot of hoorah! Team America! in the presentation. You know, like in that trailer.

I'm really hoping they don't go the whole "Yay, America is so awesome" path. I'd prefer a really good story like I've come to expect with Assassin's Creed.

Also interesting that ozgameshop is preordering on PC for $38. Seems pretty cheap.

LobsterMobster wrote:

I trust the AC team to do right by American history. I mean, they made a game where Muslim assassins are the good guys and Christian knights are the bad guys. That says to me they're more interested in telling a story than stoking popular sentiment.

This. I may not agree with it and any perceived historical accuracy, but I think it will be interesting and engaging.

I wouldn't put too much stock in that banner ad's design. I'm not saying it's not possible. I don't know who does Ubisoft's PR, but banner ads are generally made by very low-end marketing wonks. I know I saw some concept art with that general feel as a prototype box cover not too long ago. Whoever was doing the art probably just took an iconic Revolutionary image and slapped the two together.

Altair was stabbing people of all races and nationalities in AC1, I doubt that this will be any different. The Assassin's Creed series has never really identified any factual group as good or evil. Individuals sure, but not groups. Only the fictional groups, Assassins and Templars, have any sort of moral skew as a whole.

I also haven't seen a single hidden-blade in any of the screenshots or trailers. It'll be a bold move for them to ditch that iconic symbol of the series if that's what they intend.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I don't think it's coincidence at all that this game is coming out in a Presidential election year just a few days before the votes are cast. I think there's always a bit of patriotic sentiment in the air during Presidential campaigns, and this game is trying to capitalize on that. I expect a lot of hoorah! Team America! in the presentation. You know, like in that trailer.

Oh?

http://tubedubber.com/#amAVgQ8ef3g:I...

NSFW (language)

Redwing wrote:

I also haven't seen a single hidden-blade in any of the screenshots or trailers. It'll be a bold move for them to ditch that iconic symbol of the series if that's what they intend.

Yup. I saw this too. I really want some gameplay on this now. I'm still probably going to pre-order once it hits steam, but I am a little nervous. Hopefully it's nothing.

I think any fears that the series will go all Rah-Rah America! are unfounded.

This is the entertainment industry we're talking about here. The only way America gets to be the good guys in a game is if they're literally fighting Nazis. Even the Modern Warfare series, with all it's reputation for "jingoism" can't help but make American actions ambivalent.

Something like 90% of anyone on video game forums and websites would probably self identify as liberals (or call themselves moderates who, mysteriously, always happen to vote for liberals), and liberals tend to not get their noses out of joint when people point out that bad things were done by Americans in the name of America and therefore America is bad. Heck, the guys who made Halo basically said in an interview that the invading aliens represented America in some grand allegory about imperialism, and it's not like Halo lost any sales over that.

Anyway, it's all just so much political baloney, and I wouldn't put too much stock in any statement made by people who wrote a story that said Jesus Christ was a con-man who used alien technology to induce mass hallucinations. It would be like taking a theology course from Dan Brown.

Kind of missing the point there I think. The point is in the AC franchise it's Assassins vs Templars - the entire struggle takes place at a level that supercedes politics. The release video for me was pure OOH-RAH! U! S! A! which seems gratuitously incongruous.

I can say that they totally lost me with this setting. Victorian steam/punkish London, or French Revolution/Napoleonic Paris would've been day one purchases. This... maybe 3 years down the line for $5 off of Steam holidays sale.

MoonDragon wrote:

I can say that they totally lost me with this setting. Victorian steam/punkish London, or French Revolution/Napoleonic Paris would've been day one purchases. This... maybe 3 years down the line for $5 off of Steam holidays sale.

I can respect your opinion and understand where you're coming from. Excuse me for a moment, I need to make a phone call.

...Hello, NSA?

I preordered this at Gamestop yesterday, and they gave me the empty metal box for the special edition of the game as my preorder bonus. Like right then and there. So I have the box on my shelf driving me bonkers.

momgamer wrote:

I preordered this at Gamestop yesterday, and they gave me the empty metal box for the special edition of the game as my preorder bonus. Like right then and there. So I have the box on my shelf driving me bonkers.

Ha! Yeah, saw them on the shelf behind the counter at my local GS yesterday, and I did the full Scooby-Doo double take making sure I was actually seeing a physical case and not one of those pre-order placards.

And for folks concerned about the setting/timing: have you all been paying attention to/playing the last 3 AC games? I mean, the whole plot revolves around a reinterpretation of the whole 2012/Doomsday meme, and the last two games have dropped actual hard evidence that the game would be moving to North America, specifically upstate NY.

http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki...

Spoiler:

Coordinates given to Ezio Auditore and Leonardo da Vinci in the Pythagorean Vault in The Da Vinci Disappearance DLC point near the city of Turin, New York.

MoonDragon wrote:

French Revolution/Napoleonic Paris

This was what I was hoping for. I really don't see how this will be an interesting setting. I want to climb castles not trees.

iaintgotnopants wrote:

I want to climb castles not trees.

I'm thinking the same thing. Guess that means no more climbing insanely huge towers and diving into hay bales.

You do know there are cities in that area, right? Like New York and Philadelphia. I think you'll find your towers. And I don't mind some variation.

Game Informer posted an article yesterday with some concept art and new information about the setting and characters.

IMAGE(http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/ubisoft/assassinscreed3/conceptart/ac3_ca_sp_02_bostonstreet.jpg)