Seven Big Takeaways From the Assassin's Creed 3 Campaign

Bloody affair, that Boston Tea Party. I murdered 15 Redcoats just to get to the two merchant ships carrying crates of villainously taxed tea, and hacked dozens more with my tomahawk as wave after wave of Lobsterbacks attempted to prevent me from flavoring Boston Harbor with the precious leaves. When all of the cargo was finally dumped overboard, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and I celebrated our victory. Colonials 1, Kingdom of Great Britain 0! This is the 'Merican Revolution, Assassin's Creed 3 style. F' yeah! Ubisoft's action-movie spin on the Boston Tea Party was just one my big takeaways from my hands-on with the campaign. Keep on reading and I'll give you six more.

At Home in the Forest

I began my three-hour tour of Assassin's Creed 3 in the year 1773 in the homestead of Davenport, on the coast of present-day Maine. The village acts as Connor's home base, and with a harbor and clipper ship on hand, it was quick and easy to jump on board and sail down (aka teleport) to Boston or New York. Before I checked out the Colonial-era cities, I jaunted through one of the much talked-about forest areas. All around Davenport, I scampered up trees, swung on branches, pulled a few poachers to their hanging death with my handy new rope spear, and just missed taking down a 12-point buck with my bow and arrow. The forest felt alive and ripe for adventure. In past Assassin's Creed games, the areas between cities and towns always felt vacant to me -- those slightly annoying open expanses I had to pass through to get to the good stuff. In AC3, I look forward to going Bear Grylls in the forest -- minus the urine drinking. (Well, maybe a little urine drinking.)



Two if by Sea

While docked ships can serve as instant-teleport taxis, they're also jumping off points for AC3's new seaborne missions. After the debacle that was the promising but ultimately tacked-on tower defense missions in Revelations, I took the helm with cynicism. Moments later, I was escorting a merchant ship through pirate-infested waters, simultaneously navigating the sizable vessel through rock-filled coastal waters and targeting and firing on the enemy as the seas surged. Ubisoft Montreal promised it would deliver a fun new Assassin's Creed experience with its sea missions, and if this one is any indication, I have to say it's delivered.

Once I got the hang of the tank-like steering with one analog stick, aiming cannons with the other controls (only console versions were available for my preview), I not only felt confident as captain, I actually felt a bit too powerful. I was able to obliterate pirate ships with ease and guide the merchant ship to safety while taking minimal damage. Then I was tasked with taking out a coastal fortress packed with defensive cannons as enemy ships swarmed. Let's just say I look forward to trying that particular naval warfare mission again.



Boston, You're My Home

First thing I did when I arrived in Colonial Boston was run to the digital version of the North End and scamper to the top of Christ Church (aka the Old North Church of "one if by land" legend). It was right where it should be. I've lived in New England my whole life, including a couple years in an apartment right around the corner from the landmark church, and I marveled at the time-machine-like experience Ubisoft managed to create, transforming the neighborhood I knew so well in such an authentic way. Ubi says it's a one-third-scale version of Boston based on historical documents, and it's an impressive recreation.

Assassin's Creed 3 also does a terrific job capturing the tone of Boston in 1773. Put it in historical context, this is after the Stamp Act of 1765 that forced the colonists to pay a hefty tax on printed materials despite the fact they were not granted any representatives in the British House of Commons. (Hence "No taxation without representation!") It's also not long after Crispus Attucks became the first person killed by British soldiers in the Boston Massacre in 1770. There was a huge British military presence in Boston, colonists were seriously pissed off, and tensions were high. Walking the narrow cobblestone streets as Connor, I felt that tension in overheard heated conversations and whispers of fighting back.



Fingers Crossed for a Real PC Version

While I marveled at being able to walk from Faneuil Hall to The Green Dragon Tavern and to the North End based on my own real-life knowledge of Boston, I didn't marvel at the visuals themselves. Playing the Xbox 360 version, I was instantly aware of what a step down console visuals are compared to PC. I was disappointed when I climbed to the North Church's steeple and performed the classic Assassin's Creed sync and discovered short draw distances covered up with the oldest trick in the book: mist and fog. With its lush forests, explosive naval battles, and densely populated cities, the PC version of Assassin's Creed 3 could be a stunning visual experience. Here's to hoping it gets the high-resolution textures, and enhanced lighting, shadows, and draw distances it deserves. (Note: those pretty trailers you've seen up to this point are from the PC version of AC3. Seems Ubisoft is well aware which is best looking version, as well.)


Connor is a Ninja Tank

While the intuitive core attack and counter controls remain, Ubisoft has layered on a dual-wielding weapon system and a host of new animations to make combat in AC3 more brutal than ever. The developers recently described Connor as a "ninja-tank with a wolverine inside," and when I took on my first Redcoat patrol, I learned why. Outnumbered five to one, I planned on making a quick kill with my Assassin's blade before making my parkour escape. But the first kill was quickly chained into a second kill, and before I knew it, I was tomahawk-chopping my fifth enemy (that tomahawk is one mean weapon, btw). More patrols came scurrying in on all sides, including one that lined up for a musket volley. No problem -- that's what the new bullet-shield move is for. I grabbed the nearest Redcoat, held him in front of me, and watched a flurry of musket balls explode into his chest. Ouch. Casting the meat shield aside, I pounced on the soldiers who were scrambling to reload. Ring up three more Redcoats.

It's a big improvement on combat, but I noted there's still too much of the "I'll wait until you're done killing my friends" behavior from enemies, and if you're the type who enjoys sneaking, surveying, planning, and executing attacks Batman-style, combat in the cities -- and there is a ton of it -- might not be for you. Thankfully, there's plenty of the sneaky stuff to do in the forests.



Cold Blooded Missions

After wiping the gore from my tomahawk, I got back on the main questline trail by meeting up with Samuel Adams in the Green Dragon for my first Boston-based missions. Excited by the prospect of taking part in the revolution I've learned so much about and battling for freeee-dom, I was surprised and disappointed by the tasks I was assigned: kill tax collectors, kill East India Trading Company smugglers, destroy all tea! I was hoping to infiltrate British strongholds for info or to take out a target. Sigh. Alrighty then, let's do this.

It turns out Boston is downright infested with Templars, who are working with the Brits to collect taxes for the King. It was my job to, well, kill 'em all. Might seem odd to say about a game where you play as a killer, but it felt slightly sociopathic. Whether the many tax collectors and tea smugglers throughout Boston are supposed to be working for the Templars or not, they come out in the bad guy wash as thieves. Was murdering them (I killed more than 20 during my short time in Boston) really the appropriate response? Maybe it's my personal ties to the area, the more recent-history timeline, or Ubisoft's stellar recreation of the city I know so well, but as remorselessly as I've killed countless aliens, monsters, Nazis, and more in my lengthy gaming history, I felt downright cold-blooded chopping tax collectors like cord wood in the streets of Boston. Here's to hoping the overall storyline sets them up as enemies worthy of my blade instead of IRS agents on the wrong side of a looming war.



I obviously didn't feel too bad about it, though, because after my three hours of play time I walked away impressed by Assassin's Creed 3. Ubisoft is definitely playing fast and loose with history here -- more so, it feels, than it has in the previous Assassin's Creed games. Connor is no mere historical participant like Altair and Ezio, he is the spearhead of liberty whose actions directly shape major historical events. I suspect that will rub some players the wrong way. In the end though it's a minor criticism -- hey, it's an action game. Assassin's Creed 3 is huge, with a ton of stuff to do, and it appears Ubisoft is adding a healthy coating of polish to it all. We'll find out when AC3 hits PC on November 23. Got any questions? I'll do my best to answer them in the comments section below.