North American game fans (and non-game fans alike) are, no doubt, getting ready for upcoming Fourth of July festivities – and to kick things off Ubisoft is unleashing a wave of new independence-themed Assassin’s Creed 3 info. Starting with the new “Independence” trailer (aka the official Fourth of July trailer) and continuing with a detailed breakdown of the North American Limited Edition, fans of Desmond Miles (and soon Connor Kenway) have a lot to celebrate this week.
Unlike prior Assassin’s Creed titles, the American Revolution backdrop hits a bit closer to home than Ubisoft’s adventures in Italy and the Middle East, stirring up a bit of controversy forcing the developer to assure gamers that, despite the Connor versus the Red Coats storyline, the game isn’t anti-British. What better way to prove the point than to show colonists getting blown to pieces by British soldiers while a young singer performs “Amazing Grace”?
We’re kidding of course; however, while the trailer does drop a few pieces of new footage (such as the naval warfare mission shown at the E3 2012 Sony Conference), the teaser is mostly just a rehash of trailer clips that we’ve already seen – set to John Newton’s iconic 1779 hymn.
As a result, the more intriguing of the pre-Fourth of July reveals is actually the North America Limited Edition that includes, in addition to a standard statue replica, a 24″ by 48″ Assassin-themed colonial American flag and belt buckle. The edition is only available for console players on the Xbox 360 as well as PlayStation 3 and will retail for $119.99:
- Assassin’s Creed III video game.
- Stunning 9.44″ Assassin statue featuring Connor poised to strike with tomahawk and hidden blade.
- Embroidered 28″x48″ Assassin’s Creed-inspired colonial flag.
- 3″x3.25″ sturdy metal belt buckle to proudly proclaim your allegiance to the Assassins.
Check out the Assassin’s Creed 3 box art below and contents below (click to enlarge):
As indicated, console exclusivity means bad news for swag-loving PC gamers – who, instead of the physical Limited Edition, will get a Digital Deluxe Edition (retailing for $64.99) that includes a number of in-game DLC add-ons and other all-digital bonuses:
- Assassin’s Creed III video game.
- George Washington’s notebook revealing the true story of the Assassins and the Templars during the American Revolution.
- Three single-player missions taking players from the high seas to Cozumel Island in search of Captain Kidd’s fabled lost treasure.
- The Captain of the Aquila’s uniform and traditional Colonial Assassin outfit, boarding axe and Scottish flintlock – rumored to have fired “the shot heard round the world” – for use in the single-player campaign.
- Sharpshooter and Redcoat characters for use in multiplayer.
- A collection of the best audio tracks from previous Assassin’s Creed games
That said, we might have some good news as well for PC gamers, since the official press release maintains that Assassin’s Creed 3 will arrive on Windows at the same time as consoles (October 30th) – indicating that rumors of a PC delay might not be true after all.
Despite a steep price, and lack of in-game DLC content, the Assassin’s Creed 3 Limited Edition is pretty slick – so be sure to order yours ahead of time (at GameStop if you want access to exclusive pre-order bonuses).
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Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick.
Assassin’s Creed 3 releases on October 30, 2012, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC with a Wii U launch to follow shortly after.
Source: Ubisoft
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I know which version Andrew Dyce will be buying.
Yah, that belt buckle is going to look sweet on him.
DO WANT!
Why would anyone even consider this rip off edition? The signature edition or special edition at Gamestop has better stuff for free, again, this is just like Revelations and Brotherhood. Europe, the PC and Sony get everything cheap, while North American Xbox players gets stuck with yet another garbage CE. A belt buckle, plastic statue and an American flag for an extra $60? I could get all of these things at Walmart for $10 or just buy Halo 4 with the extra $60. Seeing as Ubisoft has said they intend to annualize AC even after the abject failure of Revelations, AC 3 will mark my exit from the series. I don’t want any unreasonable arguments labeling me as an AC hater for despising Ubisoft’s terrible marketing strategy. Or even anyone lying about what I will be missing out on seeing as A) because I’m in North America I won’t get half off it (or will be charged extra for it) and B) after Revelations AC is hanging from the CoD precipice by a thread already, I might as well get out while it’s still good. Have a nice day.
Sorry for the typos but I am extremely angry and disappointed. This marketing strategy if left unaltered will mark the end of a once great series. And relegate if into the likes of the cheapasses of EA, the nasty thieves of Activision who release “games” with less new content than some dlc’s. I’d say by this point we are in a dark age of gaming until the new consoles get released, not customer wise but quality wise. Developers are too scared (and cheap) to make brand new games abd marketing strategies and thus we will be stuck with the SAME old crap until the 720/PS 4 are released.
I thought the patriotism angle was already a bit too strong in the marketing, so this just makes things worse. Why do we never get to see Connor killing some rebels? The marketing is just continually out of step with everything the developers have been saying. Hopefully it’s not reflective of the actual game.
I WILL be killing rebels, at every opportunity!
So is it true there’s a character named Desmond in this series????
I do know he’s in it. I jut wish we got to play as him once in a while.
Not that one can tell from all these trailers, but I suppose that’s probably your point.
The developers have said that you play as Desmond more in this game than in any previous one, so that’s good to hear, but I wish they’d include him in a trailer.
this article is confusing you guys mention desmond but there isn’t anyhing of him i thought there was his figure like you said!
WTH is this?? Garbage. This is not what I saved my money for, why do we get this garbage instead of the super epic Freedom Edition that Europe gets?? Why can’t I have a Connor poster like the in Freedom Edition instead of the US flag? I’m in Canada and I’d think we would get something other than the US flag o_o. For $60 this is definitely NOT worth it, the EB Games Exclusive DLCS and free upgrade to Signature Edition are much more worth the money comparing the price point of that and these ripoff collector’s editions.