Previews// Assassin's Creed 3

It’s almost time to step into the Animus again, and take on a whole new era of Desmond Miles’ ancestry. But we’ve all grown rather attached to Ezio Auditore - the promise of a brand new protagonist in Connor Kenway may have raised a couple of eyebrows.

Well, you needn’t worry. Assassin’s Creed 3 is shaping up to be Ubisoft Montreal’s biggest and most ambitious entry in the series yet - and the change in setting is a key reason why this is the case. The American Revolution in the late 18th Century provides ample opportunity to explore the wilderness of the new frontier, while Connor’s Native American heritage gives him a wide range of skills that makes him the deadliest Assassin in the series.

The weapons he has, for example, build on those seen in Assassin’s Creed 2. The Hidden Blade makes a return for discrete executions, but when caught in the middle of a heated battle Connor will resort to his tomahawk for punishing blows. Close Quarters Combat has been tweaked slightly - weapons feel heavier, animations have been improved and Connor will automatically initiate a combat stance when close to an enemy - so that the impact and timing of your moves make more sense.

Another area where control has been refined is in the standard free-running mode. Previously, you had to be holding a trigger down and a context-sensitive jump button to sprint. Now, you simply need to hold the trigger - this prevents you from accidentally jumping off of high ledges and plummeting to your death. Of course, if you want to do that you can press the button to force Connor off of a cliff.

This change is particularly important, because there are many high drops and chasms in Assassin’s Creed 3. Especially in the open frontier, where mountainous areas are plentiful and trees become the best means of traveling through the wilderness. It’s incredible to see the sheer scale of the open world around you - not just in terms of size, but in the number of interactive objects and environments packed within it.

Connor can climb up trees and move between branches easily by simply free-running and moving the analogue stick towards where you want to go. From there, he can track enemies and animals on the ground with incredible efficiency. Using a new weapon called the rope dart, any passing target within range can be struck and hung up from a tree branch as you jump off and use their weight to guide you gently to the floor.

You won’t just be taking out Templars and British Army soldiers during your adventure, though. While exploring the great outdoors, I took Connor up some rather high cliffs so that I could access the viewpoint at the very peak of the mountain. After unlocking a large area of the map in this way, I spotted a red dot on my radar. Thinking it was a random redcoat, I snuck around only to see a wildcat staring right at me. Before I had time to prepare my weapons, a second wildcat leapt at me from behind. Yeah. These guys fight in packs.

While the gameplay feels pretty fresh when venturing through the frontier, you get a much more familiar Assassin’s Creed feeling when tackling missions in civilised areas, such as Boston. The ‘social stealth’ that ran throughout the entirety of the Ezio Auditore trilogy remains largely intact - walking with crowds keeps you hidden from targets, tearing down Wanted posters and paying off town criers affects your notoriety, and staying incognito is the best way to get around.

But you’ll notice immediately that the way you adhere to these core elements has changed somewhat. This is no Italian town, full of narrow roads and plentiful rooftops. It becomes much more difficult to travel on top of buildings, as streets are incredibly wide and your only means of getting down safely is to use trees, lampposts or haystacks. You’ll find yourself using sneaky tricks on the ground that much more to reach your destination.

Connor is driven to Boston because a part of the land that belongs to his tribe of Native Americans is being sold off without their permission - by some frontiersmen looking to make a quick buck. After meeting with a contact called Sam Adams, Connor is coerced into helping another cause - sabotaging the British Army’s imports of tea. It will help with the revolt against the monarchy, and apparently in helping Adams Connor will get to help his people.

Things go from bad to worse as taxation officers loiter around the streets, harassing townsfolk and ordering them to pay more money in the name of the British Empire. Things get so bad that a revolutionary ends up going on the prowl to fire up a dissenting crowd to start a riot. Connor has to protect him as he storms the streets - and missions like these offer a great deal of variety in the single-player campaign.

Assassin’s Creed 2’s (sort of) village simulation mode in Monteriggioni comes back with a vengeance in this new instalment too. In Assassin’s Creed 3, Connor owns a manor in what becomes the Homestead - a safe haven for a rag-tag band of revolutionaries that will help in the fight against the Templars. You can complete Homestead missions around the frontier to recruit people to your cause and give them a home.

Along with Harbourmaster missions that take you to the open seas, and Peg Leg missions that see Connor hunting the open world for treasure maps, there’s a lot of depth and history to dig up in Assassin’s Creed 3. It looks to be just the breath of fresh air that the series needs too. We’ll find out for sure when the game is released in October.