Review: Christian Bowie Looks at the New Assassin’s Creed

A mile long line of people standing outside of Gamestop awaiting the newest edition of one of the most popular video game in the US might have been the result of the new release of Assassin’s Creed IIIat midnight, October 30th.

The game is the fifth installment to the Assassin’s Creedseries, despite it being named the third.  If you have played the other games in the series you know that the main character, Desmond Miles, uses a device called the Animus.  The Animus allows him to relive the past lives of his ancestors, and it takes him to various memorable points in world history.  The game isn’t just a boring history lesson though, it is a game about assassins.

The main goal of this game is to stop the templars from destroying the world on December 12, 2012, the same time that the world is said to be destroyed according to the ancient Mayan calendar.  To do so, Desmond travels back in time to the American Revolution to relive it as his ancestor Connor Kenway.  Kenway is half-Native American, half-European living in the early colonial times of America.

As a kid, Kenway’s village was always terrorized by British colonists, and when he is older, he reaches his breaking point when Europeans completely destroy his village.

Because of this, Kenway’s hate for the Europeans drives him to seek revenge.  In the game, Kenway’s enemies are British redcoats.  He becomes close allies with some iconic American revolutionists such as Ben Franklin, George Washington, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adams.  Kenway also takes part in the Boston Tea Party, and dumps the British tea into the harbor.

According to gameinformer.com, “Assassin’s Creed’s greatest allure has always been melding real history with a conspiracy-laden fiction.”  In previous Assassins Creed games, they have also tried to include something about historical figures, such as Leonardo da Vinci in Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.

This game has made improvements from past Assassin’s Creed games, such as new weapons.  These new weapons include a native american tomahawk, dual pistols, a rope dart, a bow and arrow, and a musket. You can also use your famous hidden assassin blade as a dagger.

Other improvements include the multiplayer modes. The series has always been known for its gameplay story, not its multiplayer, but this one looks promising.  It has multiple multiplayer modes, and 7 different maps to explore.

Game producer Ubisoft told creators that this will be the last game about Desmonds tale, but this leads to a possibility of more games about different characters.

Game Informer, a reputable magazine/website, dedicated to all videogames and videogame ratings, rated the game a 9.5 out of 10.

Overall I would highly recommend picking up this game, it is a must have for anyone who has played the previous Assassin’s Creed games.  It is an interesting conclusion to Desmonds tale, and the new improvements to multiplayer will attract more gamers to the multiplayer world of Assassins Creed.  Be sure to look for DLC (downloadable) content for this game online in the future.