The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

I about had a heart attack when I saw this image on Facebook and realized it wasn't a joke. There is hope for this franchise after all... maybe...

My only question is what cities will they use, considering most colonial American cities weren't exactly the widespread masses we're used to seeing in AC games as of late. Three I can think of that may work are Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Charleston, but further than that it becomes more difficult considering the American Revolution was centered around the Breadbasket Colonies and the South.

I'll say this though, they picked a damn good historical period to go with. The main theme of the first game was redemption. The main theme of the second game was revenge (for a while, anyway). The problem with the last two games was that their stories lacked purpose/direction, which hindered the overall game. With a third story that centers on revolution, a new type of story can be told, one that will certainly have purpose.

Kudos to Ubisoft should they go through with this, just please deliver if you're going to generate this much hype.

Gotta love the comments on there.

Source: Assassin's Creed Facebook

(The PS3 version looks better, I think)

Was hoping for Victorian England but oh well...
No climbing Big Ben for me... :<

I'm sure we'll get Victorian England after the trilogy has ended. A lot of people want that as well as France. I'm sure we'd get it in the next 5 years.

Anyone else notice how the tomahawk is made out of the Assassin symbol design? I thought that was a cool aesthetic.

We better get a mission where we can tar and feather someone to make up for all the flower-picking last game...

I'd also like to see missions regarding The Boston Tea Party and the nighttime invasion of Fort Ticonderoga.

And I know I'm being bold here but I'm gonna say based off of the tomahawks as well as the bow and arrow that our ancestor is Native American and will probably be neutral in this conflict. How did Desmond get a Native American ancestor? Good question...

HOLEY *BEEP* Curse you, Ubi, now I really look forward to playing this. And they better get this right, because no one messes with the USA and gets away with it unscathed. Here's to hoping this was the change we needed from the series. Who knew history could look so cool given the right context.

Who knows, the game might start in Europe and travel to America partway through. Not much of a chance of that, though.

This article has the full Game Informer mag image posted for AC3:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/338061/assassins-creed-3-is-officia...

Yes, I saw that and thought it was really clever. I'm still not fully sold on the idea of the American Revolution but I'll go with it for now.

Maybe you weren't around when we discussed this but all four of Desmond's grandparents are descended from different (i.e. unrelated) Assassins. Ezio is not a descendant of Altaïr and this Native American Ancestor will not descend from either of them. So Desmond got a Native American ancestor the way any other modern American would.

Here's the PC boxart for anyone who want's it, again from Assassin's Creed Facebook.

Due to the longer box, there's a little more of the image displayed on the XBOX 360 box than the PS3 box and then another bit extra on the PC box (at the bottom of the image) - just something I noticed.

They've also added NTSC artwork which, unsurprisingly is exactly the same but with slightly different rating logos (currently absent from the PAL versions) and banners.

Not excited. At all. Brotherhood and Revelations ruined it for me. I haven't played Revelations since the start of the new year and I haven't played Brotherhood in like 6 months and before that it was all multiplayer.

I know how you feel. Ive still made very little headway with Revelations as I just can't get motivated to play it.

The new ancestor looks cool but I'm not a fan of the setting and can't help thinking he just won't be right. I'm trying to keep an open mind and I'll probably preorder once I've seen some gameplay and screenshots but right now I'm just waiting to be engaged and excited.

I think that now we have a more accurate picture of what's been going on at Ubi. Brotherhood and Revelations were made as AC3 was being developed in the background. Hopefully this means that AC3 has been developed to be a mechanically overhauled true sequel, while Brotherhood and Revelations built on the basic engine and framework of AC2. I'm not unhappy with them, both were great and offered a ton of story tidbits and expansion. But the revelation (sorry) that AC3 was being worked on in the background kinda makes the way Ubi has been handling AC make more sense to me.

I'm not going to be as lenient with this as I was with the previous two. This had better blow everything from before out of the water.

This setting is a good start. Colonial america didn't have too many tall structures, so I can only expect the formula of the game to be changed up a lot to fit the less vertical environments. Here's hoping for some wilderness free-roam gameplay. I'm liking the emphasis on snowy weather. This seems to indicate that the story will be contained within a relatively small amount of time (winter) like AC1. Or possibly an emphasis on weather. Either way, I'm entirely sold on the setting/character design. I had a hard time imagining a more modern look that worked with the hood, but this definitely qualifies. The native motifs blended into the soldier's uniform... I love it. Now just show me what else you got up your sleeve, Ubi.

the countdown begins http://assassinscreed.ubi.com/ac/sv-SE/

We should have seen this coming.

Eagles, guys. Eagles.

Eagles = America

Hmm...

*inspects the game cover*

Hmm...

*checks at ACR and ACB, and remembers the atrocious story, terrible character development, and lack of moral ambiguity*

Hmm...

Don't disappoint me.

A tomahawk shaped like the Assassin Insignia, quiver of arrows, killing a British/American soldier, the flag in the background. Beautiful. Also, AC's main site, look:
http://assassinscreed.ubi.com/ac/en-US/

I thought Revelation's story was quite good. And the main villain was definitely ambiguous.

I'm a little worried about the story. All this time, I've been told the Freemasons were Templars. Now it seems like we're working for them. I'm confused.

Also, I'm getting annoyed with everyone calling this new guy a "descendant" of Desmond.

Actually, since the Freemason symbol looks like the Assassin one, we've assumed they're linked. And anyways, Assassins don't fight FOR anyone. If this ancestor is aiding the Revolutionaries, it's because they have a similar goal. No side is the "good" side.

I never said there was a good or bad side. I forgot about the Freemasons symbol theory, but wasn't there something in AC2 or Brotherhood that said they were Templars? Someone help clear this up for me.

By saying neither is good or evil I meant that we may end up taking on people from both sides. In fact I think that's most likely.
It said George washington possessed a POE in AC2, don't remember if it actually said if he used it for evil or anything.

That's what I was thinking. I saw an analysis on IGN about the stuff that's come out the past couple of days and they pointed out how the cover has the Assassin taking down a Redcoat, and there are several almost pro-American imagery on everything (American flag on nearly every piece of art they've shown, the Assassin leading a cavalry of American soldiers, the eagle on the hood [the bald eagle is the US national bird]).

All of that makes it feel very pro-American, when it should give us the vibe of a neutral side to the conflict.

Hopefully we'll be able to take out both Brits and Yanks.

I wonder if we'll see Benedict Arnold...

Judging by the shot of our Assassin standing with George Washy, we'll be affiliated with the revolutionary army. I doubt the actual establishment of a nation is something Assassins take issue against, although I can see some of the atrocities against natives being an opportunity to give us some American targets, as well as infiltrators or sympathizers for the Templars.

As to the flag, I think that's there more to make it immediately obvious what's going on and where the game is set. If they flew a british flag it could technically be set somewhere else.

That particular American flag was only flown in one war.

I don't doubt that the establishment of America will be looked at as a noble goal in the game, and many sympathetic characters will be American. Hopefully the British get a better treatment than they usually do in media about this period.

Something to note: there was a lot of french involvement in this war. So there's Ubisoft's french connection.

Hey, if they keep it up long enough then Ubisoft will adopt it. Imagine how convoluted the dialogue will be:

"What if I told you the human body not only housed an individual's memories, but the memories of his descendants as well?"
"You lack the confidence to step into your descendant's body."
"You've seen it firsthand yourself - a thousand years between you and your descendant."

Throw a few "Creed"s in there to replace Brotherhood and they'll have f*cked the English language right up.

OMYGAWD

Is the tomahawk taking the place of the hidden blade? That seems to be his primary weapon in all the screenshots.

EDIT: Some interesting info about the Native American tribes at the time the game most likely takes place...

The Iroquois, also known as the Haudenosaunee, lived in the Greater New York area during the American Revolution. To be fair, they lived there long before those events as well. Iroquois tribes tried to stay neutral once the Revolutionary War started. Eventually they had to take sides. The Tuscarora and the Oneida sided with the colonists but the Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga and Cayuga stayed loyal to Britain. The Iroquois had previously taken the British side in the French and Indian War several years before. The American Revolution marked the first political split between the six tribes.

Makes me think, if the Assassin is a Native American, that he may be Iroquois.

Trailer premiere + an in-depth look into it after it happens: http://games.ign.com/articles/121/1219799p1.html

I looked up the same article yesterday! My goal was to guess the name of the new Assassin. No luck so far. The six Iroquois tribes had several languages and I haven't found any translations of eagle or bird that would lend themselves to a character's name.

new foto´s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oHPMPBhAFk&feature=g-u&context=G2a2605eF...

Closest I could find:

"Migisi" - Cheyenne name meaning eagle.

Ok, guys. First things first. I call dibs on trying to preassassinate George Washington. Secondly, when they say they've been working on the game for three years it could mean they were working on just the story for some time instead of the gameplay. And thirdly, since it's a game with a whole new ancestor we should expect it not to have the same recycled mechanics from the previous. Hopefully they do away with recruits, or at least limit them. Same goes for kill streaks.

well, he is an indian.
you can't have indians without tomahawks, and scalping, and whatever else kinda stereotypes that i can't think of at the moment.

if you look closer to his wrist you can see a hiddenblade

i found some new some are old most are new. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=WBUSEjr3rRY

nice close up on the Tomahawk.

that thing looks so dumb by the way, that big hole in it isn't really a good thing in combat, just means it is gonna have a weak structure so it can bend or break easier.

did the indians use metal at that time, or was it still stone?

I experienced the biggest seizure ever when i saw that.

I like it, but I'm still waiting for Meiji Revolution Japan.

I'm expecting the hole in the center to be used for ensnaring bayonets in some animations.

Considering that it's made in the Assassin symbol's shape, I'd say that whatever material natives used for their axes at that point has no bearing on what Connor's axe is made out of, since he probably got it from the Assassins. It's metal of some type.

It looks like a pretty sturdy design to me, the curved struts of the symbol look like excellent braces. The space in the center means it's lightweight, and from the screen we saw and the descriptions we've gotten about combat, it will need to be to make the way he swings it around plausible. Not good for chopping trees, but good for use against soldiers and animals, I'd say.

Minimalist, and emphasizing a quick strike. A worthy Assassin weapon, IMO.

To continue on weapons a little. I seen a musket and a bow and arrow. Also looks like we'll only have one hidden blade again since AC1.

I'm kind of a fan of having only one Hidden Blade. Double Assassinations are cool and all, but now it looks like they'll be done using Hidden Blade + Tomahawk OR Hidden Blade + Dagger OR Dagger + Tomahawk etc. etc.

I like it too. Just makes the assassin seem...more bad ass. Not saying ezio wasn't bad ass. But but he had way to many weapons at his disposal.I liked in AC1 that you only had four weapon options. Hidden blade, long sword,dagger,throwing knives . Not saying go back to only four weapons. Just limit the options a bit.

Yeah, and to be honest, if the game was totally realistic it would be nigh impossible to properly pull off a double air assassination. It kinda stretches your suspension of disbelief.

From what we've heard in the article, open conflict is about using your tomahawk and dagger, as well as ranged weapons, so it's possible the hidden blade may once again be almost exclusively a tool for more delicate situations.

I doubt it won't have any role in open combat at all, though.

The hidden blade....one of the most famous video game weapons like ever. I'm sure it will.

In AC1, the hidden blade is a tool of combat. If you've got M4D SK1LLZ, that is.

yeah, but it was always a worse choice than the sword/dagger. you used it to kill guards when they did their "I'm not paying attention" animations. I'm thinking it may be relegated to a role like that.

Judging my the recent trailer, it seems like the Tomahawk might be the new high profile weapon. Interesting.