Assassin's Creed III Liberation

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[Flawless]

Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

Kotaku Impressions

What happened next was a surprise, though. The action paused, the color faded, and icons lit up over the remaining soldiers. My demonstrator then tagged the soldiers using the Vita's touch screen, and Aveline automatically wiped them out, one at a time.

This power, called a "chain kill," isn't some one-time-only superpower; it's something players can do whenever they want, and is designed to let players who don't want to deal with long swordfights bypass them.

Of course, it's optional, so if you want a more challenging experience, you can forgo the chain kills. Interestingly enough, the chain kills seem to have been added because the core combat has (actually!) been made more difficult. Ubisoft giveth, and Ubisoft taketh away.

The added difficulty comes because there's no longer a perpetual block button—players can't just hold down the button and then mash the "counter" button to do an instakill. Instead, you have to feint and draw opponents out, then perform counters while remaining vulnerable to attack. I didn't have a chance to play the game, but as I watched my demonstrator get his *** kicked by some spanish guards, it became clear that he was unable to do the old Assassin's Creed block-parry two-step.

A few other things I noticed about the game:

• Liberation has a dedicated jump button, the X button. The right trigger runs, but doesn't automatically jump at ledges—instead, you have to press X to jump. That's a big change from a series that typically hasn't had a real jump button.

• I watched a sequence similar to more recent console games' horse and buggy chase sequences; the demonstrator tapped the touch screen to increase the horses' speed and held his finger down to make them slow down. I'm unsold on how fun this would be, but then, I didn't like those sequences in the console games either.

• The game will have an economy like in the console games, though it will be different and "exclusive to the Vita," whatever that means.

• We have confirmation on the alligators in the bayou sections. There will be alligators. Alligators!

• The top devs did the requisite fact-finding trip to New Orleans, and a lot of the city's famous buildings are looking mighty nice.

• Aveline's animations are totally new, and use the same animation tools as Assassin's Creed III; Aveline has a lot of Connor's moves, including pulling up an enemy as a human shield when faced with gunmen.

• Aveline has a machete, which I didn't see used, and a blow-gun, which I did. While she was in one of the series' ubiquitous haystacks, she fired off a dart that poisoned one guard, luring another over to his location for a good neck-stabbing.

• The characters in the game are all based on real historical figures, with the exception of Aveline herself; she's an amalgamation. If a character in the game dies, they died in real life at the same time.

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Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

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[jmood88]

Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

I really wish that this wasn't a handheld game.

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Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

The Bad Guys Are Making Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. I’m Suddenly Much More Interested (Kotaku)

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, the upcoming portable game in Ubisoft's hit franchise, is being overseen by the core AC team at Ubisoft Montreal. But the identity of the team doing the bulk of the work on the game was a surprise to me, when the game's writer told me today. That didn't surprise me as much as the identity of the game's fake developer.

First, the real developer: it's Ubisoft Sofia, the Bulgarian team that created the much-loved X-Com/Advance-Wars-style 3DS launch game Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars. They're not known for making open-world action games like the Assassin's Creeds, but my eyes-on impressions today of the game's E3 content sure makes it look like they know how to do this.

That's cool, but how about this?

The fake developer of the game is Abstergo Entertainment. This game, Liberation writer Richard Farrese told me with a rhetorical wink, is the commercialized version of the Animus. It is a product of Abstergo Industries. If you know the series, this is an extraordinary concept. The Animus is the name for the device in this series that lets people relive memories of their ancestors (or, if I'm getting the lore of the multiplayer of recent games right, the Animus will let you role-play a life in another era, like a Star Trek holo-deck). I don't think there have been any hints in the series that Abstergo wanted to sell Animus units to the public. And, if they did, considering that they're the bad guys of the modern-day parts of this series, to what end?

The game is set in late 18th-century New Orleans and the surrounding bayou over the course of a dozen years, as the local French rebel against the Spanish rulers of the former Louisiana colony. (There's also at least one side trip to Mexico.) The game's protagonist Aveline is, theoretically, an assassin hero who helps the resistance while taking aim at Templars. She is not an ancestor of Desmond Miles, Farrese told me, making her the first protagonist in the series without a family connection to Assassin's Creed's modern-day main character. Now I'm wondering if she was even a "real" figure in the game's world or a turncoat. After all, why would Abstergo, a company that essentially is a front for the Assassin-hating Templars, create and sell an Animus/game that lets regular people experience the life of an Assassin? Farrese said that was a good question to ask.

The idea of the game as an Abstergo propaganda tool makes Liberation suddenly seem much more interesting. I was not able to play the game. Farrese played it in front of me. So I can't yet say how smoothly it maps to the Vita controls. But it looks lovely and seems to house some clever ideas, such as an optional pause-the-game-and-tap-your-enemies-to-set-up-an-attack-chain combo system and the ability to pickpocket people using the machine's rear touch panel (why, I never!)

We'll have more on the game closer to its October launch. But for now, feel free to wonder: what would Abstergo be up to making a game like this?

[Eman5805]

Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

Set in New Orleans AND a black female assassin? Why'd this have to be on the blasted VITA?

[LionsFanNJ]

Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

I think i may have found the first purchase for the Vita my friend gave to me. Been stuck trying to really find something i want.

[Haval93]

Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

I want to pre-order the bundle, but it seems that Sony removed the memory card that comes with the bundle. Did they give any reason why? It was announced at E3 that it would come with the White Vita, Liberation, and a four gig card in the bundle. All retailers I have looked at have no mention of the memory card.

[42]

Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

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[Flawless]

Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

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Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

Hands on at gamescom: Assassin’s Creed III Liberation for PS Vita

Here at gamescom 2012, Ubisoft finally granted hands-on access to its newest assassin, Aveline, star of Assassin’s Creed III Liberation. In this video, story writer Richard Farrese walks us through some of the new features found in PS Vita’s first entry in the series.

Liberation takes full advantage of the new Assassin’s Creed III game engine and its simplified control scheme. Gone are the days of leaning on the shoulder button and playing defense during encounters. Press Square for melee attacks, hold and release Triangle to aim and fire ranged weapons, Circle counters, X is used for block-breakers and other moves. It’s a bit of an adjustment to begin thinking offense first in an Assassin’s Creed game, but ultimately it’s likely to be seen as an improvement.

Ubisoft is taking advantage of PS Vita’s touchscreen in logical ways: tapping the screen brings up a split weapon wheel where you can select melee weapons (machete, hidden blades) on the left and ranged weapons (blowgun, whip) on the right. Of note: with the whip equipped, Aveline improves her parkour abilities, latching onto structures much as Ezio used the hook blade in Assassin’s Creed Revelations. You may have seen a shot in the gamescom trailer showing Aveline paddling a canoe using the rear touch panel, though that’s entirely optional.

If you’ve watched any videos for Liberation, you’ve likely seen the “Chain Kill” system in action. Reminiscent of Fallout 3’s VATS mechanic, a tap of the Right button on the D-pad pauses the game and allows you to select enemies to target for cinematic insta-kills. While the number of enemies you can target will grow as the campaign progresses, don’t think you’re going to Chain Kill your way through the game. At best, it’s likely to tilt overwhelming odds slightly more in your favor, much as Ezio could call in his assassin buddies from time to time in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Revelations.

After trying out these features in a bayou setting, a Ubisoft staffer took the reins to show off Liberation’s “Persona” feature. No, you’re not evoking parts of your psyche to attack evil creatures. Rather, this system refers to Aveline’s ability to get the job done by blending in with the denizens of old New Orleans. Or not.
We were shown three ways to dispatch a well-guarded, high value target. The first — Assassin mode — follows the traditional Assassin’s Creed formula: Sneak or fight your way to the target, execute a flashy takedown, and get the hell out of there with guards in pursuit.

Next, we reset the mission and changed into the “Lady Persona.” Decked out in a fancy dress and feathered hat, high society Aveline can’t run, climb, or battle assassin-style. Rather, the Lady engages in “social stealth,” relying on bribery, feminine charms, and the hidden blade to accomplish the task completely undetected.

Splitting the difference is the “Servant Persona.” Posing as a member of the working class, Aveline can infiltrate pretty much anywhere, get the job done, then take to the rooftops to escape. Just don’t get into a protracted battle in this persona – in the demo we watched, the lightly-armored Servant fell in just two blows.
We were told that while you’ll occasionally be forced to tackle a mission in a particular persona, for much of the game Aveline will assume the guise of your choosing.

I was able to squeeze a few story tidbits out of our demonstrator. Series mainstay Desmond is not the one in control of Aveline via the Animus. Rather, the tale is being played out as a part of a Templar-controlled Abstergo project. Assassin’s Creed III Liberation is, however, related to the PS3’s Assassin’s Creed III, which takes place during the same American Revolution time period. Aveline will encounter ACIII protagonist Connor during the course of Liberation, perhaps swapping weapons with him (I saw his trademark tomahawk in the menus). Fittingly, both titles arrive on the same day, this October 30th.

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So pumped for this!

[LionsFanNJ]

Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

This is going to get so much playtime on my Vita. CANT WAIT

[Eman5805]

Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

All that Town vid did was remind me how awesome Mass Effect 2's music was.

[dickey1331]

Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

Cant wait for this game. Looks great!

[Jemmie]

Re: Assassin's Creed III Liberation

A few monts ago I went and bought 1 and 2 on the cheap since I was bored. I could not get into the 1st one after a couple days.

It was just the same thing over and over... kill a few guys then kill the main guy. It was kind of like Need for speed hot pursuit but on foot haha