There’s no greater stage for video game developers than E3, especially when you’re making a game with Assassin’s Creed in the title. The development teams behind the series at Ubisoft have maintained an annual appointment at the show for a few years now, but this year, the stakes are even higher.
It’s been known for some time that the unveiling of Assassin’s Creed 3 in June would be a call for much fanfare, but the latest video released by the team chronicling ‘The Road to E3′ shows that the men and women behind the game are still feeling the pressure.
The quality of the series is no longer in question, but that isn’t leading to complacency or slacking off at the Montreal studio. Assassin’s Creed 3 is bringing plenty more to the table than another chapter in the life of Ezio Auditore, so the demands for the E3 debut are much higher than previous years. First there’s the formal introduction of new hero Connor Kenway, which for a regular game might be quite a straightforward task. But with the new political and racial issues the game will apparently explore, far more backstory into the mixed-parentage character will be needed.
Dense personal conflicts and inner monologues aren’t exactly what gets fans excited though, so expect gameplay to take a majority of the attention. With new wildlife and natural environments being brought into the series for the first time, a closer look at the hunting and trapping economy may be needed to get those more interested in assassinating priority targets on board. The open-ended and natural landscape worked beautifully in Red Dead Redemption, but the emphasis on wildlife may be the addition that’s hardest to sell.
What fans will no doubt be most impressed with is the combat, now completely redesigned, with all new emphasis on speed and mobility. The developers in the above video place significance in the wealth of brand new animations, which fans received a dose of in the premiere gameplay trailer. We can hope that the gameplay shown in the E3 demo will extend beyond the Revolutionary War battlefield we’ve seen so much of so far, but even an extended look at the high-speed assassinations and that new and improved Hidden Blade would satisfy.
What might be lost in all of the screenshots and tree-running details is the fact that Assassin’s Creed 3 is not merely another annual release in the series. The previous two games may have expanded upon the life of Ezio Auditore, but the team behind AC3 has been working on it over that entire time span. So while the gaming world may expect to see Desmond’s story coming to a close alongside the tale of a Native American, Ubisoft sees this game as nothing less than the launch of a brand new franchise. Given that, it’s not hard to see why this year’s E3 demo could be the biggest yet.
What are you hoping to see from the E3 presentation of Assassin’s Creed 3? A deeper look into the actual plot of the game, more insight into Desmond’s portion of the game, or just some more looks at combat? Whatever the case, we’ll bring you all the news – Assassin’s Creed and otherwise – from E3 2012.
Assassin’s Creed 3 will be released on October 30, 2012 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
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Haha, I love how they fixed everything I had doubts about and how they can actually keep amazing storyline ALONGSIDE every other thing I bicker about, such as Animations and Graphics which they seem to care about a WHOLE deal! I love Ubisoft, these guyz are best video game devs ever, and basically Ubisoft, Naughty Dog, Santa Monica, and Rockstar are like the kings of modern games which are amazing in ALL aspects, not just really good story, but crappy lazy ass animations/graphics or blabablabla, these devs produce the top notch gameplay, story, and visuals in any games you see out there atm. Ah and I’ll just add DICE in here too as Medal of Honor, BC2, and BF3 just blew me away with their quality, might be too restrictive for people campaign wise, but it was brilliant ride for me, specially cenimatically and graphically and audio and immersion in all their campaigns and multiplayer.
Lol idk why my comments always lead to this, but I guess it’s really what I’m passionate about and love when there are actual companies who have the same passion also….I don’t even need to think when writing these comments, my fingers are like in auto-pilot and know exactly what to write xD
Can’t agree more. It really seems like Ubisoft saw ‘Red Dead’ from Rockstar and just said “Oh Yeah?!” We’ll show you how to do mature, serious storytelling about real issues.
I’m fully expecting Ubisoft to hit this one out of the park. GTA V will be interesting to see, along with whatever Ubi has planned for the rest of this series.
Yep, and I, after finally buying Red Dead a few weeks ago, like Red Dead Redemption more than GTA IV, as it has a ton of things to do in the world, where GTA IV would look a bit zombified compared to RDR. And AC3 really does look like a come back at RDR and that’s a VERY GOOD THING since that’d mean pushing the animations, combat, gameplay, interactivity, story and everything else by a mile to try to beat Red Dead’s. Ubi is on-par with Rockstar atm. Oh and I forgot to add Rocksteady on my list of king game devs up there^^^.
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