Why Assassin’s Creed III’s New Setting is So Exciting

By now you’ve heard the news of Assassin’s Creed III being set in Colonial America during the Revolutionary War. It was leaked this week, then leaked some more, then confirmed, then leaked even more. Despite this being the fifth console AC game and the 10th game overall, Ubisoft going with the name Assassin’s Creed III is appropriate. The overarching story starring Desmond Miles is where the continuity lies and where the core of the high sci-fi story shines. This being the third historical period visited, AC III just makes sense.

The first AC game promised alot. Without openly saying it, the game announced itself as a franchise that was willing to take risks with plot, setting, characters and gameplay. Desmond, was the star of the first game and Altiar was just his avatar into the world of 12th century Jerusalem. The second entry, wherein Desmond’s new avatar Ezio was in 15th century Italy, only confirmed Ubisoft’s intent to take risks.

Two games, two different settings and characters. While Desmond’s story was still the most important peice, Ezio’s adventure turned into a story with legs of its own. The quality of the writing and setting of AC II is what turned the series away from its risk taking roots. Instead of Ezio simply being an avatar for Desmond, he became the star. With this new star, an incredibly endearing one, Ubisoft decided to exploit his popularity and turn Assassin’s Creed into a highly coveted annual series. This lead to both Brotherhood and Revelations.

Brotherhood, seemed like an innocent multiplayer focused departure that could have just been a stop-gap measure before the proper Assassin’s Creed III. Unfortunately, Brotherhood only further entrenched Ezio as the star, and added deep game mechanics that would roll over into Revelations. What came from this was a dependency on the characters and settings established in Assassin’s Creed II. When someone thinks of an Assassin’s Creed game they think of Italy, they think Ezio, they think of Leonardo Davinci, they don’t think of Desmond and Abstergo…at least not first.

Sure, Desmond is still a big part of the Assassin’s Creed II trilogy (it just sounds weird saying that), but the player’s interaction with him is scaled back and the overarching Abstergo story line is all but put on hold in service of the rich Ezio adventure. The Ezio story is almost a series within a series. Its great but it doesn’t stand up to the ideas set in motion by the first Assassin’s Creed.

The “third entry”, set to be released this October, had alot of speculation surrounding it. Everything from The French Revolution, to Feudal Japan, to World War II, to present day were being thrown around as possible destinations for the third setting.

The American Revolution is hands down the right time and setting to exploit, for several reasons. There’s mountains of history to mine, most of which, Americans have at least a passing knowledge of. There’s plenty of cities to explore, and historical figures with which to interact. The Native American decent of the protagonist carries its own set of personal struggles. The Free Masons can be leveraged in the ongoing Assassin/Templar battle, and Ben Franklin could even be your idea man (like Davinci was in AC II).

Most importantly, there is nothing Americans love more than America. Simple things like “America! Fuck Yeah!” come to mind when talking about American ideals. All other rumored settings (outside of present day) were steps sideways at best. Colonial America actually feels like a bigger game, a bigger event, a more important story, the grandiose feelings here are palpable. When I think about the direction they have chosen I picture Dick Vitale yelling (because that’s all he really does)”You think you like Assassin’s Creed, in Italy? Well we’re taking that shit to America Baby!!!!!!” Queue the “Brostep” because Assassin’s Creed III should be the game that we’ve been waiting on.

If its successful, AC III will reestablish Desmond as the primary protagonist, remind everyone that the franchise has balls and reinvigorate what has become a somewhat stale brand. Now, its all about execution. The pieces are in place, if AC III is great, like AC II and Brotherhood were, the added familiarity of the content could resonate across gaming more than the previous 5-10 games. With this announcement, Assassin’s Creed III, went from just being on the release calendar, to being one of my most anticipated games of the year.