‘Assassin’s Creed 3′ Trailer Shows Off Naval Warfare

Gamescom 2012 is already proving fruitful, with Ubisoft today unveiling a more detailed – and far more dramatic – trailer focused on the naval warfare portion of Assassin’s Creed 3. The newest cinematic video (with glimpses of gameplay inter-spliced) shows Connor taking his tomahawk topside in the naval battle for American independence.

Exactly how the Caribbean story line fits into the larger plot is still shrouded in mystery, but there’s no denying the fact that it will be adding something new to the usual Assassin’s Creed gameplay.

The high seas addition to the series first wowed the world when it was first revealed via gameplay footage at E3 2012, and the momentum is only building. The newest trailer certainly confirms that the developers have big plans for the new mechanics and environment, but the trailer still leaves us with many of the same questions.

First and foremost, exactly how much time and energy is actually being put into this portion of Assassin’s Creed 3.  With so much time already devoted to a rousing political epic taking place during The War of Independence, doubts that AC3‘s sea-quests will reach the heights implied by George Washington’s included quote are valid. One need look no farther than Da Vinci’s flying machine, or prototype rocket launcher – both prominently featured in marketing, only to amount to little more than a few minutes of actual gameplay.

Some naval warfare is certainly better than nothing, even if the missions constitute a minor role in the much larger campaign. Ubisoft has explained just how realistic and physics-driven the water and winds will be thanks to the new AnvilNext Engine, so hopefully that refinement is a sign of substantial gameplay. If nothing else, it should be the most polished pirate experience released this year.

The trailer itself isn’t going to be coming as a shock or unpleasant surprise to AC fans, featuring what look to be cinematic flourishes mixed with familiar traversal and hand-to-hand combat. Mines, raging fires and, of course, cannons all promise some elements of randomization or unique battles, but for now we’ll keep our expectations a bit guarded. The developers may be taking inspiration from other randomly-populated open world games, but to expect a similar level of emergent gameplay in all aspects of the game is asking quite a lot.

What are your hopes for the naval warfare featured in Assassin’s Creed 3? Are you hoping the developers have something truly spectacular in store, or is this along the same lines as previously hyped features or mechanics?

We’ll see how well assassins do on water when Assassin’s Creed 3 is released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on October 30, 2012. A PC release is scheduled for November 20, with a Wii U version also announced.

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