The lights are on
Many gamers are still hammering away at the second installment of Ubisoft’s time-hopping epic. However, we thought we’d take a look ahead and explore our most sought after features and experiences for the next installment – Assassin’s Creed III. The third major installment has yet to be announced, but it doesn’t take a Piece of Eden to augur the future and see that a sequel is inevitable. Perhaps it goes without saying, but discussions on this subject will inherently veer into SPOILER territory. You’ve been warned.
Multiple ProtagonistsDesmond has wandered the streets of Jerusalem as Altaïr, and faced the wrath of the Templar in Renaissance Italy, but he’s going to need to spread his wings to figure out a way to save the world in the third installment. What’s the solution? Multiple ancestors in one game. As Desmond’s abilities grow and he acquires a deeper understanding of his ancestral background, it’d be great to explore multiple characters – each of whom holds another piece of the puzzle. One ancestor should definitely be a part of the Mayan civilization that acts as a cornerstone to the threat facing the world – the Mayan calendar predicts an end to the world in 2012, and the Assassin’s Creed universe seems on track to meet that deadline. We need to find out more from the ancient Mayans themselves. There are a bunch of other cultures that would be exciting to experience before the story is resolved. The first game hints at a lost undersea civilization called Yona Guni, near Japan. The second game includes nods to numerous assassins across the world whose tombs lay across Italy – from the killer of Genghis Khan to the female assassin who supposedly murdered Cleopatra. We’d love to see the assassins themselves in these and other hinted at cultures, but even more we’d love to see Ubisoft Montreal depict some of these amazing historical locations. In addition, AC III needs some followthrough on both Altaïr and Ezio. What else happens to these popular heroes in the years after their big adventures? We got a glimpse of Altaïr in the most recent game, but we’d love to see more of both characters in the third installment.And for folks who have completed “The Truth” – how cool would it be to have a sequence that stretches all the way back to one of the two characters presented in that final cinematic?Finally, no matter what ancestors we get to explore, it’s essential that the third game finally give us some significant time to play as Desmond. Powered up by the memories of his ancestors, it’s time for Desmond to become the super assassin he was destined to be and take down Abstergo once and for all.
Polished CombatWe’ve really enjoyed the combat in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement. The addition of more varied weapons in the second installment was a major plus, but the uses and strengths of those different weapon types need to be better emphasized for us to care about the distinctions. In addition, Assassin’s Creed III should only include weapons that are genuinely useable throughout the game – how many people regularly used the gun after the one mission in which you’re required to use it in AC II? Assassin’s Creed III should move away from its focus on defensive countering within combat. Counter kills are a great feature in the game, but they lose some of their oomph when they become the primary way to take down enemies. More and better offensive strategies for your assassin would be welcome – ways to get past enemy defenses or trick them into dropping their guard.
Assassin’s Creed III also needs to have more capable combat AI. We love how some enemies in the franchise are smart enough to race across rooftops in pursuit of you, but get them in combat, and they fall back on the same tired strategies again and again. In Assassin’s Creed II, enemies who were fighting one of your allies completely ignored you, making it easy to assassinate them one by one just by walking calmly amidst the battle. These guys need to get smarter and fight back with the intelligence and savvy of Templars about to take over the world.
Email the author Matt Miller, or follow on Game Informer.
First!
Second!!
@Hellion @Daraku -A plague upon both your houses.
As far as the game, I say leave it at 2. It should have been left at 1, along with many games before it. I'm a fan of new titles, not rehashed titles.
third!!!
Fifth!!
fail
@ antonymity
It's impossible to "leave it at 2". There are still so many unanswered questions and extremely loose ends that need to be tied up to satisfy gamers everywhere.
Stupid idea. Assassins Creed has its roots in the the big three monotheistic religions (Christianity,Islam and Judaism). Besides Desmond has already gone through his "training", I would bet that the next game takes place in present day.
For the record, I still use the pistol.
@crazymad117
FAIL
agreed, but there is something else, it would be nice if the side missions somehow tied to the main plot. This might help with the loose ends getting tied up at the end.
Ghetto Star Fresh is right. The third game should be strictly in the present time. It has come so far through time with the first two that, to do any more in the past, it would simply have to go backwards, which doesn't seem like it would be conducive to the storyline. Other than that, kick some butt, Ubisoft! I'm behind you, no matter what!
I gotta say, the suggestion of mutliple characters does sound intriguing. But one problem with giving a player so many characters is that they could become detatched. The characters mean nothing. Now I know Altair was a big monolith, statue of a person with enough personality to fill a teacup, but I think that they did better with Ezio. If there was perhaps a character who connected all the optional characters suggested, it might be fun, perhaps a hint found in the readings?
i heard there will be multiplayer... all i ask is that the mp is done well.
Great list! All of my original thoughts are in the first two sections: 1-More Desmond! I read that people don't like the interludes with him because they break up play, but he IS the story. I'd like to see more of him, not less.
2-Refine the combat. I like the basis of the combat system, but its too easy and falls right back to basics. Like this article states, there is no emphasis on the difference in weapons and there's really no reason to concentrate on other weapons when disarming/countering is nearly always the best resort.
3-Covert assassinations. I thought I just remembered the first game wrong until I read this article. Everything in AC2 seems so public. Aren't assassins supposed to work in the shadows?
4-I like the ideas of a Mayan character and the Yona Guni. If you went with a stronger Desmond storyline, these characters could be the interlude sections and allow you to jump between more eras.
if they use melee weapons in ac3 instead of ugns like they do in real life i will cry...
The idea of doing multiple characters reminds me of Eternal Darkness from the Gamecube days. They all gave you a piece of the puzzle and answers to it, leading up to the big present day battle. If they were able to pull something off like that I am all in for it the third game. The last two though have been very short and the third installment would be have to be much longer than Ubisoft's previous installments which I am all for because I beat the last two in under two weeks of 2 to 3 hours of play everyday or so. Making the game longer is definitely going to happen for the ideas brought up in the article and for them to even answer all the questions they have left us they would have to make it longer. Ubisoft has already come out and say this series was a trilogy so this game has a lot of questions to answer and a lot to live up to being the last of the series.
I hope because of the series though, they expand it into books and whatever else they come up with like series such as Halo, Gears of War, etc. have done.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, but the idea of a sort of steampunk England during the time of Jack the Ripper sounds awesome to me. Either playing as maybe a former lady of the night turned assassin or just a man with a top hat and monocle who hides a blade inside his cane would be the greatest thing to me.
Oh yeah AC 3 and these ideas im gonna buy this if its like that