Assassin's Creed Reignites the American Revolution

By Tom and Angela Indykiewicz, Staff Writers On October 30th, Ubisoft released the third (really the fifth) installment of the Assassin’s Creed series. This time, the game takes place in the 18th century, when it’s the dawn of the American Revolution and rebellion will soon happen. History now takes on a more fictional concept as it also works in the ongoing clash between the Assassins and the Templars. Throughout the series, you play in the present as Desmond Miles, a man reliving his ancestor’s lives through a machine called the Animus, which is how he lived through his ancestors. Desmond learns of allusions to the prophetic end of the world in 2012 from a former Animus test subject, Subject 16, as well as from holographic figures of a species pre-dating humanity. Many years ago a massive solar flare nearly wiped out all life and a second threatens to do the same. With the second solar flare fast approaching, it is up to Desmond to use the memories of his ancestors to acquire their knowledge, learn the truth and find the Pieces of Eden to save humanity. Throughout the series, you relive Desmond’s ancestors’ lives as the assassins Altair Ibn L’Ahad (Assassin’s Creed) in the Crusades, Ezio Auditore (Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revelations) in the Italian Renaissance, and now in Assassin’s Creed III, Connor Kenway (his Indian name is Ratohnhaké:ton), a Mohawk Indian ready to take revenge on the British Redcoats for slaughtering his tribe, more specifically his mother. As Connor, you will meet historical figures from the American Revolution, such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Charles Lee, and a lot more. In addition to adding in real events and people during the period, the game developers added in historically accurate environments to play in, such as Colonial Boston and New York, the Freemason’s Tunnels, and the American Frontier. Gameplay has been completely revamped as well; in ACIII, new battle combinations were created along with use of different weapons: muskets, a bow and arrow, dual flintlock pistols, rope darts, and a tomahawk that is shaped like the Assassin symbol along with the trademark hidden blades, which are Connor’s primary weapons. The game also allows you to hunt animals in addition to you hunting enemies so you can sell pelts. Like Assassin Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revelations, you can also keep upgrading an area for more revenue and citizens, which in this game is called the Homestead. Assassin’s Creed also added in a new feature specifically for this game, which is naval warfare, where you control a ship called the Aquila. Not only has the game been changed, but so has the multiplayer portion of it. In the game, now they added in sounds that determine how close you are to a target or how close a pursuer is to you. The closer you are to a target, you hear a faster heartbeat, but the closer a pursuer is to you, then you hear whispering that gets louder and louder based on proximity. There are also a new set of characters to choose from, new maps, new abilities and perks, a third slot for an ability, a new game mode called Domination, where you have to capture territories like in some first person shooter games (examples: Call of Duty, Halo), and they made it so killing and stunning are the same button instead of switching buttons. This game is available now on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Macintosh/Windows computers. Soon, it will be out for the new system coming out soon, the Wii U. Go buy a copy today (I would recommend playing through the series first to understand the full concept of the game).