He who is loved by many animals
Assassin’s Creed 3 is poised to take Ubisoft’s series into totally uncharted territory.
To find out just how different this latest game is, we decided to round-up Ubi’s development team, along with their most outrageous comments, and find out just how far it’s pushing the Assassin’s Creed template.
Here’s a hint – it’s quite far.
The mission structure is far more organic this time
“We wanted people to have opportunities outside of the main story path to interact with animals and other new gameplay, so we’ve built several alternate gameplay loops that encourage the player to explore and then reward them with more gameplay.
“For example, we’ve added various new mission delivery systems like the Hunting Club. If the player hunts a lot, then the game will notice and send a character to meet them, who will basically say, ‘You seem like a good shot with that bow, have you thought of joining the Hunting Club?’
“They will give the player an invitation that will allow them access to a previously inaccessible area of the map where they can gain a bunch of new side challenges and rewards.
“Players can also layer their experience: you can have more than one active mission at a time, and more than one task on your plate, so people will be more in control of how they play their game.
“Add to this the fact that we’re investing more on mission variety and custom mission events than ever before in a story that takes place over 30 years, and you have a vast experience.” Alex Hutchinson, creative director
You’ll be leaving the Animus with clearly defined objectives
“I can’t say in this version you’re going to see more of Desmond than before, but it’s finding that balance; it has to feel like it’s relevant, that you’re doing it for a purpose, I think that’s the trick. It’s not as jarring if you think you’ve come out of the Animus for a reason, as opposed to, ‘Hi, now I’m here, walking around. Now I have to go pee!’ That’s what we’ve been trying to make sure is really clear to the player: the reasons for coming out of the Animus, and making sure the sections of the game in the present are more grounded and motivated.” Matt Turner, lead scriptwriter
You won’t be renovating and rebuilding cities using your hard-earned cash
“We are improving the same cities with the same goal as with the rest of the game – we didn’t just want to add new features, we wanted to take players to entirely new world and show them entirely new styles of gameplay. I can confirm you will not be rebuilding cities, as with Rome or Constantinople, but there is a unique gameplay loops that fulfils some of these needs. Stay tuned.” Alex Hutchinson, creative director
Yep, you have regenerative health
“We rebuilt the combat system from the ground up. Everything from the player strategy to the enemy types to animations and camera implementation is new. Connor’s combat system is based around a two-handed fighting style, so he uses tomahawk and knife, assassin’s blade and knife, or many other combinations.
“The core for us is a redesign of the health system, so that instead of having health units and needing to heal after combat, you now have a regenerating health system – you can escape from combat and rest.
“We also built brand new enemy behaviours and redesigned strategy to push players to use all the different buttons on the controller and all of Connor’s moves from counters, to offensive moves, to tools like pistols and throwing knives.” Alex Hutchinson, creative director
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