We are happy to report that Assassin’s Creed 3 was well represented at PAX East 2012. Though a playable demo was not available at the show, there was a movie that showed everyone a little about how the game is going to play. If you enjoy the Assassin’s Creed franchise or you like the American Revolution setting, this game is going to impress you.

Though the story was not revealed, they did mention that you will be playing an assassin named Connor. He is half British and half Native American. The designer also mentioned that targets may appear on either side of the revolutionary war, the video would focus on a British commander. Connor will have lots of new weaponry available to him, though his weapon of choice is the tomahawk. Connor is also a dual wielding character rather than a single handed weapon expert like Ezio Auditore. We were assured that there would be plenty of moments where you would use your hidden blade.

As we sat down to watch the movie, we were greeted by the lead designer. He addressed everyone and narrated the rest of the movie. The first thing you noticed when the game started was the environment. The lust wooded environment looks amazing and was a stark contrast to the previous game’s settings. The team mentioned that improving the graphics in the game was a priority, and it was designed to give off a stronger and more realistic appearance. The trees were given a more natural look, and they no longer look like telephone poles with bark textures. They looked very realistic, and the attention to detail was impressive. They also played with the natural features found around the world to make Connor climb is a more natural way. No longer will you climb straight up and down, as you did in previous games. You’ll have a more fluid and realistic path to the top though it may not always be a linear path. Ubisoft has also improved body position and reactions, so Connor moved better whether he was walking or climbing.

The design team then walked Connor to a large group of colonial soldiers, and we quickly learned that we were on the battlefield during the Battle of Bunker Hill. Connor moved past the large group on soldiers and down the hill to see a large British force in front of him. The detail was amazing but even more impressive was the amount of characters on the screen at once. We were informed that Assassin’s Creed 3 can support up to 2,000 to 2,500 characters on the screen at one time. They said this will give you the feeling of being on a battlefield and it definitely accomplished that.

Connor was working his way from cover to cover across the battlefield dodging bullets and artillery fire. He soon slipped into the forest. Connor moved across the tree tops easily, and we learned about how Connor can now navigate an imperfect path. He would hug trees as he jumped from branch to branch and the motion looked natural and flowed nicely. Connor then sees a scouting party and decides to take action. He using a new weapon to hang one soldier from the branches and drop kills another. This brings us to the next feature which is using human shields. Now that guns playing a large part of the game, adequate protection was needed, and human shields fit the bill nicely. Connor picked up his victim, and the British soldiers hit the corpse, and Connor was unharmed. He soon finished off the rest of the party as they were reloading and found the British camp we’ve been looking for.

The developers mentioned that they wanted people to feel like a predator, and they gave the player an important gameplay element to accomplish that goal. Players can now hide in bushes along buildings and around base camps. As long as you stay crouched in these bushes enemies can not see you. In this case, Connor slipped into the bushes surrounding the base camp and we heard our target talking to his troops. As soon as an opportunity presented itself, Connor bursted out of the bushes and showed off the last new feature which was running assassinations. In Assassin’s Creed 3, you won’t always have the opportunity to get your target alone, but now you can storm a small group while moving towards your target. You won’t be able to kill everyone, but you’ll thin the force as you assassinate soldiers towards your target. Connor kills about three soldiers before jumping on a log and taking out our mounted target. This is where the movie ended.

As you can see, there are lots of new features that will both update and advance the Assassin’s Creed storyline. The graphics have been improved, the controls have been updated, and this is shaping up to be the most immersive Assassin’s Creed yet. Whether you started your love of Assassin’s Creed with Altair or you never played an Assassin’s Creed before, you are going to want to play this game. This game has the makings of a top game for 2012 written all over it.

Assassin’s Creed 3 will be available on the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles October 30th. If you pre-order the game now you’ll get access to a limited edition metal case which you’ll want for your collection so act now!

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About The Author

Joe Marchese is the founder / Editor in Chief of New Gamer Nation. He has been a gamer for his whole life but has been focusing on his passion to deliver the industry's new to New Gamer Nation. He is an expert of video game culture and has been featured on Fox News Online. Don't be shy to reach out and let him know what you think!