After a slew of leaked information and rumors, Ubisoft has officially confirmed the setting and main character to be featured in Assassin’s Creed 3. Thanks to the US magazine, Game Informer we now have a more extensive list of features to be expected in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed 3.

Assassin’s Creed 3 will follow Connor/Ratohnhake:ton (pronounced Ra-doon-ha-gay-doo), a half Native American, half English man who spent his childhood raised around the Mowhawk indians. The AC3 story will take place from 1753 to 1783 and will also include major historical events like the American Revolution. Players will start their experience with Connor, as he is raised by the Mowhawk during the great American frontier.

The Assassin’s Creed 3 World, Lore & Story

Assassin’s Creed 3 will take players to a completely new frontier, the vast American wilderness. Players will likely still see at least one large city included in Assassin’s Creed 3 (New York, Boston or both), with familiar options to bound across rooftops and roam city streets. But now, AC3 will also include trees to climb, mountains to ascend and of course vast terrain to traverse.

Assassin’s Creed 3 will follow Connor as he grows from a simple native child to a full-on templar fighting, assassin. Players will experience Connor’s childhood growing up in a Mowhawk settlement, which is eventually destroyed by white colonists who attack the natives and burn the village down. Connor then dedicates his life to fighting injustice, which properly aligns him with the secret society of assassins.

Apparently George Washington, Charles Lee and Benjamin Franklin will play large roles in the Assassin’s Creed 3 story, with lots of other famous folks appearing at times that are historically accurate. Speaking of historical accuracy, the developers are so intent on producing a realistic and historical experience that they’ve called in help from Native Americans for voice acting, and historical dialogue consultants.

The world of Assassin’s Creed 3 will evolve, changing mostly with seasons like winter and spring, but also with time. For instance, a field where a giant battle occurred earlier in the game may just be an empty clearing rife with abandoned encampments years later. The developers have also made clear that seasons will change the environments and landscape as well, with lakes freezing during the cold climates of winter, and thawing in the warm months of spring and summer. The introduction of seasons into the game will also greatly impact enemy AI, making their movement more sluggish in conditions that include thick snow and cold weather.

Because the American frontier played such a huge role in that era, the developers have also revealed that the American wilderness included in Assassin’s Creed 3 will feature a third of the game’s story missions and extra content. It’s likely that the frontier and wilderness will be used to connect major cities, as seen in previous titles – but in the previous titles the extra wilderness was generally ignored concerning missions and game content, obviously as mentioned above this will not be so in Assassin’s Creed 3.

Connor, and players, will definitely see more action, as the developers have introduced more fluid combat mechanics that employ “thousands of new and unique animations”. Assassin’s Creed 3 will also feature a brand new gameplay engine, that will allow the game to produce thousands of on screen soldiers basically recreating full scale militia battles. Which means not only will Connor be hopping, gliding and gunning his way about the wilderness and cities of the era, he will also be playing a role in some of the largest battles of the American Revolution. Now that sounds like the type of assassin we’ve all been dreaming to play since the birth of the series!

Probably one of the most important aspects of the game’s story will be the more realistic moralities of the world, which are meant to be bundled in a grey area instead of the usual black and white. This means that not all American colonists will be good, and not all British will be bad- it will instead depend on the moral actions of the related individuals. This directly compliments the conflict between the Templars and the Assassins and further strengthens the idea of how they separately view the world around them.

Assassin’s Creed 3 Gameplay Features

Assassin’s Creed 3 will be a greater undertaking than previous titles in the series, simply because of its ambitious premise and setting. It will include a plethora of new combat features and game mechanics that improve those from previous titles, and branch from them completely.

Connor will mainly carry a tomahawk and knife that are completely interchangeable and ready for use on the fly, and the developers have also made clear that he will be able to utilize the infamous hidden blade as well.

Combat in Assassin’s Creed 3 will be faster paced and will be geared more towards creating an offensive experience for the player. In previous installments, combat focus was slightly more defensive thanks to an emphasis on counterattacks. The developers have expressed their desire to change this combat tactic and have tweaked the combat accordingly. Players will also be able to upgrade Connor’s gear and weapons as they progress through the story- making the progression seem even more authentic.

There’s also a completely new movement system in Assassins’ Creed 3 that encourages players to constantly move around the environment. Obviously the introduction of a vast wilderness that forces the assassin and player to use it properly has generated the need for the new movement system. The new movement system will allow players to slide under, move around, or jump over obstacles and free run more fluently. Demos of the game, and the official trailer, have shown Connor, hopping through windows into trees or from trees onto buildings all while experiencing no slowdown in mobility. A newly implemented sprinting system allows players to run from battle instantly, and perform actions while sprinting, such as performing an assassination or kill while on the run.

Returning from previous titles, albeit in a slightly different manner is the option to join clubs or various societies that provide player support. The player will be approached by groups based on how they play the game, and achievements they’ve accomplished – for instance, if a player is constantly hunting and trading there’s a chance they will be approached by the “hunting society”. The developers have stated that alliance factions are gone (courtesans, thieves, etc.), but there will be something replacing their role, however it has yet to be confirmed what that is exactly.

In addition Assassin’s Creed 3 will include frontier animal hunting and resource hunting, a goods based economy and a unique property system. Of course there are plenty of other game improvements and features that have not been covered here, expect to play a completely different type of Assassin’s Creed when the third installment releases.

Assassin’s Creed 3 Release Date

Assassin’s Creed 3 will be released on October 31, 2012 and will be available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the new Wii U.

Chief executive officer for Ubisoft, Yves Guillemot said, “Assassin’s Creed III features the franchise’s most expansive setting so far, along with an exciting new hero and exponentially more gameplay. Whether you’re a longtime fan of Assassin’s Creed or if you’re new to the franchise, you’re going to be blown away by the scale and marvel of Assassin’s Creed III.”

Click Here to Pre-Order Assassin’s Creed 3The cheapest place we found to pre-order Assassin’s Creed 3 is Amazon. Click here to pre-order your copy today… To see first hand some of what we’ve been discussing above, be sure to check out the official Assassin’s Creed 3 reveal trailer after the break.