Assassin's Creed III (DAZ's experience)
[Front-paged. AC3 game mechanics spoilers below the fold. No story spoilers. -stabguy]
I will avoid spoilers.
I got Assassin's Creed III early due to certain connections in the gaming world and more than the usual sum of money.
This means I can tell you all about certain non-story things (not allowed to tell you about story).
Combat:
There is no block button.
Fighting feels like the Batman: Arkham games.
Instead of Counter, you have something called Parry Stance. You press either O or B to get into Parry Stance, it only lasts a second or two before you go back to Fight Stance. So it's effectively a counter but you can't turtle anymore.
Before an enemy attacks you, a symbol above their head will flash. This is similar to the lighting up animation above enemies' heads in the Arkham games, then you tap your counter button. Tougher enemies will not show this symbol and you actually have to use your eyes and pay attention.
Even harder enemies cannot be counter killed, but the game allows you to try, which means if you do, you will perform the counter animation, they'll catch your counter and you will take damage equivalent to 1/10th of your health bar. For these, you either have to Secondary, Disarm, or Throw Counter them. I'll explain what those are soon.
The hardest enemies cannot be countered AT ALL. They will flash Gold before they attack and this means they will do one of two things; shoot you with bullets which hurt A LOT, or attack you with a heavy weapon which you can't parry.
If a firing line forms and you're about to get shot, run near a close by Melee enemy and tap the Legs button to Human Shield them. It takes some getting used to but you'll get it eventually.
If an enemy flashes Gold and they have a heavy weapon that you see them winding up, tapping the Parry Stance button will make Connor (or Desmond) roll behind them, then you can continue a Combo with repeated taps of the Weapon Hand button.
The way the Parry and Counter Systems work is the following;
Tapping O or B to Parry an enemy will make the game go into Slow Motion for one second. During this one second, the next button you press (of the four Puppeteering buttons) will determine what kind of Counter you do. If you just Parry the enemy but do not Counter, this is the equivalent of a Block and they just don't damage you.
Square or X will Kill. (Cannot do on Jagers or Grenadiers [Brutes])
Triangle or Y will use your Equipped Tool on them (can be anything from Rope Darts, Pistols, Bow, Trip Mine etc.)
Circle or B will Throw them away from you.
X or A will Disarm them and/or Stun them if they have no weapon in their hands (or in general with weaker enemies).
Double Counters work when two enemies are shown attacking you at the same time. Tapping the Parry Button will auto-counter both of them in a spectacular animation that, quite honestly I love seeing every time.
You will die in combat. Or maybe I just suck, but I've been playing these games pretty hardcore since AC1 and I was always complaining they're too easy. This one has the POTENTIAL to be brutally hard if you WANT it to be. (See the section, Difficulty and Full Synch)
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Navigation and Free Running/Parkour:
The animations are godly and actually look like parkour.
Holding down the High Profile button will perform Safe Freerunning automatically. What Safe Freerunning does is, it allows Connor (or Desmond.. Or Haytham heehee) to auto parkour over obstacles, similar to previous games. The big difference is that you will only perform Safe Jumps. Which means, things that are guaranteed to land or grab onto something in the direction you press the left stick. If you want to jump off of the thing you're on, you have to tap the Legs Button.
This system prevents you from accidentally jumping off of things when you don't want to, while allowing more skilled players to go through environments taking risks. For example, running at a house that is too far to jump to while you're on a rooftop will not jump to it. However, you can still tap the Legs Button to manually jump to it, then hold Empty Hand in mid-air to catch a window ledge on the side of the house. The game would otherwise only jump to the rooftop.
Tree Running is fluid and amazing. It doesn't feel broken at all and I actually got a rush of exhilaration while I did it. The last time I ever got this same feeling in a video game was Assassin's Creed 1, when I climbed buildings for the first time. The safe Free Running system was created specifically for Tree Running, to make sure we don't fall off every two inches.
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Stealth, Social or Otherwise:
Social Stealth remains largely the same as in other games. Get into a group and you'll blend. Sit on a bench, get in a hay bale, etc.
However, you can do more Metal Gear Solid-esque things for General Stealth. You can lean to peek over beside a wall, then tap Empty Hand to Whistle. A guard will be attracted to your position, where you can do a Lethal (Hidden Blade equipped) or Non Lethal (Fists equipped) takedown. Unless a guard is looking DIRECTLY at you when you do this, you won't attract attention. It's treated as just a bit less stealthy than a Low Profile assassination.
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Assassinations:
Assassinations can be more or less scripted depending on how you want to play the game (See Difficulty and Full Synch). Going for no Full Synch at all, hell you can do pretty much whatever you want. I don't know how many targets there are yet, (that go into Memory Corridor) but so far I've knocked down 3. I'm only on Sequence 6.
The act of Assassinating itself feels so cool, it gave me tingles. In Assassin's Creed 1 to Revelations, Low Profile and High Profile assassinate would make the SHING sound, your character would stab the guy AND STAY THERE FOR LIKE TWO SECONDS. This doesn't happen anymore. The shing sound still triggers but your character keeps moving. To On The Move Assassinate, hold down the Weapon Hand button (this will make your Hidden Blades stay extended, which had no function in previous games but it has one here). Then, with your Blades still extended, continue holding the button and walk towards any number of enemies or guards. The chain of kills will continue until everyone is dead or you have been detected. Don't worry about accidentally killing Civilians, you can't even attack them at all in this game. There are no animations for it or anything.
You can Assassinate and Air Assassinate with any equippable weapon, including but not limited to, Hidden Blades, Fists, Tomahawk, Sword, Musket etc.
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Hunting:
Ahh, hunting. I will say, it's a lesson in patience and it will definitely feel humbling for any Assassin that goes in guns blazing, trying to High Profile everything. Animals will run from you if you even get near them. Well, depends on the animal. The easiest animals to hunt are Aggressive types (Bears, Wolves, Elk [if aggro'd]). The hardest types of animal to hunt are Defensive (Rabbits, Deer, Raccoon, Foxes). You can Assassinate and Air Assassinate any animal.
Killing animals with low damage weapons (Hidden Blade, Fists) will yield less damaged materials than killing them with easy weapons (Guns, Rope Dart).
The harder the hunt is to succeed at, the better the materials given.
Hunting was very hard for me first starting out because you have to be extremely patient. The reward is big though. Gives you lots of money. Which brings me to...
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Economy:
Get ready to feel poor (unless you hunt).
Yes, you can pickpocket (works like a blend of AC1 and AC2 pickpocketing, I'll go into that soon).
You can't buy buildings or renovate anything. The only ways you're going to get money in this game are Chests, Missions, Hunting and the Homestead. The Homestead's Crafting system allows you to craft items, send them with convoys to other cities or places in the Frontier, and make money that way. You will be Taxed, certain missions lower the Taxes on your income. Money doesn't generate passively in this game. You have to actively Craft everything, Hunt everything, go to a store yourself and Sell everything. No more sitting around doing nothing waiting for money to build up.
Shop Quests are kiinda back, but not really. Because they're no longer random. It all comes down to Crafting or Stealing certain items and giving them back to the person that asked for it. All in all they did much better.
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Investigations (AKA To Everyone That Loved AC1)
Eavesdropping, Stealing and Intimidation are back, but altered in such ways that they feel awesome.
Eavesdrops have an Eavesdrop Synch Area. As long as you stay within that circle (you see it rendered within Animus reality) you will eavesdrop on the conversation. When you move out of that circle, you will RAPIDLY lose Eavesdrop Synch. If your Eavesdrop Synch hits 0, you fail.
This is where Static and Mobile Eavesdrop comes in. Static Eavesdrop is what the game starts you off with (to be nice to AC1 players) and then Mobile Eavesdrop is what it brings in later (mixes Eavesdrop and Tail).
Stealing and Pickpocketing work this way;
You walk up to somebody's back and hold down the Loot Button. A Loot circle will begin filling in. Stay behind the person, stay close. If you see them start to be suspicious or see an SSI, let go of the Loot button for a sec. Continue Looting the mobile (or static) target until you take what you want. Good stuff.
Intimidations are just regular beat up events and so far I've only played one but Liberation Missions make you do more (in New York at least).
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Difficulty and Full Synch:
I feel dirty if I don't 100% a game.
This makes life for me a little hard in Assassin's Creed III because some of the Full Synch requirements are downright @#%#(. What's better/worse is that there are multiple ones per mission. What I like about this is that if you want to Full Synch the game, you're in for actually playing GASP, A DIFFICULT Assassin's Creed game. I replayed one of the Sequence 1 missions 27 times. Sequence 1 guys. Sequence 1. Sigh. It was worth it though.
So all TheHiddenBlade challenges we give ourselves like Ghost Run, Kill Him Where He Stands and Eagle Strikes, those kinds of things are (to some extent) packed into Full Synch requirements. Have fun not killing anyone, not getting detected, sabotaging all cannons AND stealing the Tactical Map, all while being slowed down by Deep Snow. Figuring it out is DAMN satisfying though.
What's great about the Checkpoint System is that while playing a mission, you can choose to load from last checkpoint instead of replaying the whole mission. This makes Full Synch easier. (And we need it, trust me.) Now here's the evil part.
Ready?
Every mission has a final, hidden Full Synch requirement, but it's always the same;
Complete all Full Synch requirements in a single playthrough.
This means if you truly want to Full Synch a mission, you can't just complete some optional objectives, replay the mission later and just do the ones you missed. If you want to 100% this game, you have to complete all requirements all in the same playthrough or replay.
Before I mentioned not killing, Fist Kills don't count as Kills. It is possible to go through the entire game not killing anyone at all (knocking them out) except for Bosses and Assassination targets.
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Desmond Miles:
Desmond has two major types of gameplay;
I will say one sentence about each while trying not to reveal too much.
1. I hope you like Zelda games.
2. I hope you don't mind playing Desmond for half an hour each segment (except for the intro and Desmond Sequence 1).
coughDanielCrossispersistentcough
When you get the game, I recommend you talk to Juno as much as possible. That is all. She's great/creepy. I love her.
Ubisoft: "Here, THB. Have this." *hands us AC3*
Hahaha ^_^
Who is Haytham? A quick googling reveals the unlikeliness of us visiting tenth-century Iraq.
Haytham is Connor's father and the first ancestor Desmond must sync with. You only play him for 2 sequences, before a very jarring plot twist is revealed.
That ruins my "Charles-Lee-is-Connor's-father" theory, then.
Charles Lee is someone connected to Connor's father.
Before an enemy attacks you, a symbol above their head will flash. This is similar to the lighting up animation above enemies' heads in the Arkham games, then you tap your counter button. Tougher enemies will not show this symbol and you actually have to use your eyes and pay attention.
Can this be toggled off for all enemies?
The hardest enemies cannot be countered AT ALL. They will flash Gold before they attack and this means they will do one of two things; shoot you with bullets which hurt A LOT, or attack you with a heavy weapon which you can't parry.
Excellent
Assassinations can be more or less scripted depending on how you want to play the game (See Difficulty and Full Synch). Going for no Full Synch at all, hell you can do pretty much whatever you want.
Also excellent.
The act of Assassinating itself feels so cool, it gave me tingles. In Assassin's Creed 1 to Revelations, Low Profile and High Profile assassinate would make the SHING sound, your character would stab the guy AND STAY THERE FOR LIKE TWO SECONDS. This doesn't happen anymore. The shing sound still triggers but your character keeps moving. To On The Move Assassinate, hold down the Weapon Hand button (this will make your Hidden Blades stay extended, which had no function in previous games but it has one here). Then, with your Blades still extended, continue holding the button and walk towards any number of enemies or guards. The chain of kills will continue until everyone is dead or you have been detected. Don't worry about accidentally killing Civilians, you can't even attack them at all in this game. There are no animations for it or anything.
Moving assassinations have all looked great in the trailers... Glad it actually works.
Hunting:
Ahh, hunting. I will say, it's a lesson in patience and it will definitely feel humbling for any Assassin that goes in guns blazing, trying to High Profile everything. Animals will run from you if you even get near them. Well, depends on the animal. The easiest animals to hunt are Aggressive types (Bears, Wolves, Elk [if aggro'd]). The hardest types of animal to hunt are Defensive (Rabbits, Deer, Raccoon, Foxes). You can Assassinate and Air Assassinate any animal.Killing animals with low damage weapons (Hidden Blade, Fists) will yield less damaged materials than killing them with easy weapons (Guns, Rope Dart).
The harder the hunt is to succeed at, the better the materials given.
I'm still pumped.
Economy:
Get ready to feel poor (unless you hunt).
Yes, you can pickpocket (works like a blend of AC1 and AC2 pickpocketing, I'll go into that soon).
You can't buy buildings or renovate anything. The only ways you're going to get money in this game are Chests, Missions, Hunting and the Homestead. The Homestead's Crafting system allows you to craft items, send them with convoys to other cities or places in the Frontier, and make money that way. You will be Taxed, certain missions lower the Taxes on your income. Money doesn't generate passively in this game. You have to actively Craft everything, Hunt everything, go to a store yourself and Sell everything. No more sitting around doing nothing waiting for money to build up.
That is excellent... Needing to actually earn your money instead... I won't mind, as I'll spend weeks (real time) hunting....
Investigations (AKA To Everyone That Loved AC1)Eavesdropping, Stealing and Intimidation are back, but altered in such ways that they feel awesome.
Very cool
Difficulty and Full Synch:
I feel dirty if I don't 100% a game.
This makes life for me a little hard in Assassin's Creed III because some of the Full Synch requirements are downright @#%#(. What's better/worse is that there are multiple ones per mission. What I like about this is that if you want to Full Synch the game, you're in for actually playing GASP, A DIFFICULT Assassin's Creed game. I replayed one of the Sequence 1 missions 27 times. Sequence 1 guys. Sequence 1. Sigh. It was worth it though.What's great about the Checkpoint System is that while playing a mission, you can choose to load from last checkpoint instead of replaying the whole mission. This makes Full Synch easier. (And we need it, trust me.) Now here's the evil part.
Ready?
Every mission has a final, hidden Full Synch requirement, but it's always the same;
Complete all Full Synch requirements in a single playthrough.
This means if you truly want to Full Synch a mission, you can't just complete some optional objectives, replay the mission later and just do the ones you missed. If you want to 100% this game, you have to complete all requirements all in the same playthrough or replay.
All of that sounds great. Love the idea of checkpoints mid-mission. Question on the hidden full synch... Can you use the checkpoints, or do you have to start at the beginning of the missions for those?
When you get the game, I recommend you talk to Juno as much as possible. That is all. She's great/creepy. I love her.
I love talking to characters... so that shouldn't be a problem.
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Nice to see you back, DAZ. It is now apparent what you've been doing recently. 
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
I'm not sure if you can toggle the Counter Alert for all enemies, I haven't been into the HUD menu even once. I'll check it out tonight and report back.
For 100% Synch, you need to start at the beginning of a mission.
Thanks 2xMcStab, I have indeed been gone for a while 
I hope you can toggle it off... I mean, they spent so long capturing and coding beautiful animations... i don't want flashes of colors ruining the aesthetics!
Thanks for checking!
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Not a problem. And it's not so much a flash of color as it is a triangle above the enemy's head appearing. Either red or gold (I likely misworded it before.)
Haytham is Connor's father and the first ancestor Desmond must sync with. You only play him for 2 sequences, before a very jarring plot twist is revealed.
Might wanna put a spoiler tag on this. I know we'll see it when we first play the game, but...meh.
DarkAlphabetZoup wrote:
Haytham is Connor's father and the first ancestor Desmond must sync with. You only play him for 2 sequences, before a very jarring plot twist is revealed.Might wanna put a spoiler tag on this. I know we'll see it when we first play the game, but...meh.
Could just put *** SPOILERS *** in the title... cover everything.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Be still, my beating boner...
Wow your description makes it very unique compared to Assassin's Creed II. One day I'll have my hands on this.
Can you tell us how the Naval combat is? Easy to get into or annoying and repetitive missions?
What about the music?
Can you skip cutscenes without having to go to the freakin' Main menu all the time?
Are there any clipping?
How long does it take for Connor to open chests and loot people?
Does the music live up to ACII? Did it capture Native American/European folk culture?
I liked combat in the Arkham games so i'm excited to see how that system plays in AC3. One question though, do you have to press the 'Parry' button multiple times to simultaneously counter multiple attackers?
The non-lethal takedown is i think my favorite new addition, i'll no doubt be using that a lot during my first playthrough. A TRUE Assassin only kills those who are necessary.
Hot damn, this makes me excited. Seeing as how I'm a gigantic fan of building of my bankroll and getting 100% sync on every mission before moving on, it looks like Ubisoft said, "Game on."
Duck, I plan on you to help with the hunting. I'll give my input on how best to make money (must be growing up in a Jewish neighborhood that puts it in me) so hopefully I can help the rest of you get supplies you need as quickly as possible.
Thanks for the info, DAZ! Just what I was looking for to hold me over. 
Glad you're enjoying the game, that makes me want it even more.
What Asaic said. To Vesferatu, that was funny and I'm glad someone said it @ Lisa, AAHAHAA, I bet you that Ubi was thinking about us, knowing Daz would be here either way, THANKS ALOT Dark Alphabet Zoup!
PS: Sooooo Pumped! I really like the economy system, sounds great! One thing I may or may not like is the "can't hurt civilians" addition. I know, I know "Altair or ezio did not kill civilians" but the option was there, if done once or twice All in all, a very small and un-weighted comlaint. The game looks/sounds like the best one yet! I want my sawtooth sword already too, looks like swords are basically a thing of the past, save for generals. I want to Air Assassinate with the Sawtooth 
DAZ, any word on the DLC yet? I've heard that Microsoft is releasing an option where you can get a year's worth of any DLC made available for the game. I am really excited about the add-on where George Washington becomes king of the US and rules it as a monarchy.
One thing I may or may not like is the "can't hurt civilians" addition. I know, I know "Altair or ezio did not kill civilians" but the option was there, if done once or twice
I'm with you, TND... Maybe it's Ubisoft's way of getting around us killing targets we're not supposed to kill (ie, Rodrigo)... Make them Civilians in the coding and don't let Conner kill civilians... I'm not convinced that Ubi has saved any targets from the THB braintrust, though.
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Naval combat is fluid and great. The ship takes up most of the screen which takes some getting used to. You can climb on your ship, like its mast and stuff. You can also use its cannons and swivel guns. Swivel Guns are controlled by the left side of the Shoulder Buttons, Cannons are controlled by the right shoulder buttons. You hold it down to charge, and depending on where your camera is facing, they will fire in that direction when you release.
Swivel Guns are accurate but not powerful, good for one shotting small boats.
Cannons are powerful but not so accurate, you need them to kill Forts, large frigates or gunships.
The music is amazing, at least when you start playing as Connor. Native flair really adds to the atmosphere and I love it. For the rest of the game, in cities, the music is still great, so far it hasn't been as epic as ACII but epic moments happen more often and feel more.. I don't know, better?
Skipping cutscenes is done by holding O or B. No more pause menu.
Connor loots chests instantly, no load animations. Unless it's locked. Then you have to pick the lock by using both sticks and the high profile button.
It did capture Native American culture. Failing to skin a kill three times in a row will Desynch you.
Parry doesn't need to be pressed multiple times, just once but you have to time it right. Non Lethal Takedowns take much longer, they're better to do behind a wall or within a hiding spot (tall grass is the best hiding spot in the game btw).
My only complaint is the desynching from not skinning a kill. Does it load your last checkpoint if you just leave them there?
My only complaint is the desynching from not skinning a kill. Does it load your last checkpoint if you just leave them there?
Native Americans did not kill for fun and sport alone, but for utility.
The animals are the crowds of the Frontier.
Altair and Ezio desync after willy nilly killing 3 civilians, so why shouldn't you desync after willy nilly killing 3 animals?
“Force has no place where there is need of skill." Herodotus
Skinning an animal takes 1 second, even less if you choose to skip the cutscene. In addition, the materials you get from them are worth a LOT of money. There is literally no reason not to do it. In missions where you have to kill animals while chasing someone, the desynch parameter is removed to make those missions not terrible.
Okay, DAZ made me more comfortable with that explanation. I was worried about a mission problem with that.
How does the unarmed air assassination work? Is it an actual kill move, and if so, what is it? A neck twist?
Here's a scene of an unarmed air assassination.
Seems you smash them down with your fists?
That link doesn't work for me. If it's that 'first 22 minutes' video, I can't watch it because its country-restricted.
That link doesn't work for me. If it's that 'first 22 minutes' video, I can't watch it because its country-restricted.
God-diggity-doodle. I tried!
Ubisoft, I like now to make exquisite love to you. We can honeymoon in Japan, eat a 5 course meal composed nothing but the finest sushi, then make passionate love on a bed covered in roses and by candlelight.
Yes, it's this good.
Despite Desmond's face looking like someone bludgeoned him within an inch of his life, I find everything to be a vast improvement. No more flashes of Animus lines popping up everywhere whenever you pause the game or watch a cutscene. No more excessive long loading times. It's all been condensed into static flicks across the screen. I also love how Desmond's section been condensed. No more contemplation about Lucy's death. Very few words are actually spoken. Hell, W just straps his own son into the Animus when he fainted. He should get a gold metal for that.
The highlight of this video begins with the tutorial mission. Quite necessary since the button schemes have been tweaked a bit. But the best part has to begin in the opening mission. Although linear (expected since it's the 1st memory), it's one of the best assassinations I've seen in a long time. Quite so since that's how you do it! You stick you blade, you take his effects, and you walk away while telling a kid to be quite. And is it just me, or does he bear an uncanny resemblance to that kid in ACB that got his mom taken?
Wow thanks for the detailed post DAZ, greatly appreciated. I havent been excited to get a video game for a long time until now.
God-diggity-doodle. I tried!
And I appreciate it.
I was able to find the video through another source. The unarmed air assassination animation is kinda...ambiguous. Not sure how something like that is a guaranteed kill. Oh well. 
Can u dye clothes,And is their armor?
Believe me. A 190 man pouncing on you and driving your skull onto concrete is enough to incapacitate him for a while, if not kill him entirely.
There is no Armor in this game. You will start and end with the same amount of health.
Health regens outside of combat, there is no Heals or Medicine in combat.
There are dyes, in a sense. They're called Outfits and you can re-equip them from any Store once you've bought them once. They change the colors of your robes. Each has a description so you know what you're getting. There are also unique costumes like Captain Kidd's robes, Prison Outfit, Achilles' Robes etc.
Unarmed Air Assassinates will not kill someone, I think it leaves them squirming around. Not sure though. For animals, yes, it kills them. I could be wrong on this, will test tomorrow.
Something worries me though;
I don't think I'll be able to 100% this game because certain things that SHOULD be appearing on my map (Liberation Missions) are not. Thus, I can't even get full Assassin recruits..
I HOPE and am PRAYING with all my might that this will get resolved when I finish the Storyline (things get unlocked, etc.)
If not, I hope Ubisoft patches it. With New York, I was able to 100% all of it by Eagle Sensing blindly until I found the events. With Boston, they're just not even there, but I saw them before, they should be. Strange. I'll play around and see what happens.
I'm at 85% Total Synch; 14000/17000 Synch Points
Believe me. A 190 man pouncing on you and driving your skull onto concrete is enough to incapacitate him for a while, if not kill him entirely.
You sound like you have some practical experience performing this move...
Hey Vesfer, can I treat her after your Japan-Honeymoon? I think we're soon to experience the next Piece of Excellence in Ubi's "Gem Series". At least at this point they always will be to me. 6 Days and counting!!
Well, lets just say that I've made some enemies. Enemies that need to be eliminated...
And ThroatNDagger, you can take Ubisoft out after they come to their senses and make Splinter Cell back to its glory. I still have a reservation in Paris for WATCH_DOGS.
Are there any telescopes?
Are there smoke bombs?
How're weapons selected?
Can you lower your hood?
Hyperblending/Superblending?
Can this be toggled off for all enemies?
I'm wondering the same thing.
The Counter Alert is under Social Status Indicator in the HUD options. If you turn off all SSI's, I believe it should work.
Are there any telescopes?
Are there smoke bombs?
How're weapons selected?
Can you lower your hood?
Hyperblending/Superblending?
There is a telescope/spyglass. It's not a selectable item, Connor uses it in cutscenes (in order to use it, you have to climb to a high point and Interact).
There are Smoke Bombs. You can carry a maximum of three. You can buy them from a store or get some of your Homestead citizens to craft them for you if they're leveled high enough.
Weapons are selected by holding R2 or Right Bumper. Left Stick selects your equipped Weapon. Right Stick selects your equipped Tool. Tools are things like Bow, Rope Dart, Pistol, Bait, Snare, Wallet, Horse Whistle etc.
By having a Weapon or Tool highlighted, you can press DPad directions to hotkey them to that direction.
Now that I talked about R2 and Right Bumper, L2 and Left Bumper open your Assassin menu. From here, the right stick selects actions; Assassinate, Riot, Covert Escort, Snipe, Ambush and a few more I haven't gotten yet. Pressing Square or X in this menu will open your Recruit Assignment menu.
Similar to Brotherhood and Revelations, you can send Assassins on missions. In this game, they cannot die because they are all story characters, but they will be injured and 'recuperate' for a certain amount of minutes, depending on how long the contract lasted.
You can take over areas like in Revelations, and trying to do contracts in an area surrounded by Assassin-controlled zones will increase Success Rate. So you have a reason to complete contract locations.
Your hood is lowered automatically when you are in the entire Homestead map.
I don't think there's a way to lower it anywhere else.
Similarly, Desmond's hood is up by default in missions, when he's at the Grand Temple (his home base area) his hood is down.
Now that I talked about Desmond a little, I'd like to also say how his gameplay works differently than Connor's.
Desmond has never had a HUD. He still doesn't. But now, Desmond needs to blend. But he doesn't have a HUD.. So you ask, "How do you know if someone's looking at you, if you don't have SSI?" Rebecca is always on comms with you, so if a guard is watching you, she'll say something like "Desmond, HIDE!" You have to listen to audio cues.
Desmond can die in Assassin's Creed III. Your screen will start flashing red when your health is low. Instead of being Desynchronized, the game zooms out to a UAV monitoring him, loads a little bit, then zooms back in to allow you to restart your mission/checkpoint.
I haven't actually tried any Hyper or Superblending but I'll try soon and document it under my soon-to-be-created topic; AC3 Exploits/Bugs/Tricks. I have more to say about that particular subject.
Since you listed the PS3 commands first, I'm going to assume that's the console you play on. Any idea how much hard drive space this thing will gobble up? I'm a 360 guy and have a new 250GB hard drive on the way, so I'll be fine, but I'm more interested to see just how big the game is.
Also, are there separate discs for single and multiplayer?
On 360, I have heard that there are separate discs but I can't be sure because I'm not a 360 player.
The PS3 version all comes on one disc.
I don't think the game is terribly big. It's near the same-ish size as previous ACs and not much install time.
Keep in mind, this is coming from a guy who couldn't believe he was holding the box in his hands, who was so excited that he couldn't wait. So, I wouldn't say install time is very big either ;P
I'll have to get back to you with actual Required Size (it says on the back of the box) so I'll do that.
As for how big the game is content wise;
I 100%ed Revelations in a day or two.
I have played Assassin's Creed III for 4 days now and I still haven't completed the story, nor have I completed all Side Missions. Only 85% right now. So it is much longer than AC:R. It's also longer than ACII.
On 360, I have heard that there are separate discs but I can't be sure because I'm not a 360 player.
The PS3 version all comes on one disc.I don't think the game is terribly big. It's near the same-ish size as previous ACs and not much install time.
Keep in mind, this is coming from a guy who couldn't believe he was holding the box in his hands, who was so excited that he couldn't wait. So, I wouldn't say install time is very big either ;PI'll have to get back to you with actual Required Size (it says on the back of the box) so I'll do that..
Not a problem, was just wondering. The previous ones have all been in the 5-7.5GB range (I believe), so it shouldn't be a gigantic problem.
As for how big the game is content wise;
I 100%ed Revelations in a day or two.
I have played Assassin's Creed III for 4 days now and I still haven't completed the story, nor have I completed all Side Missions. Only 85% right now. So it is much longer than AC:R. It's also longer than ACII..
This one might take me a while, then. I don't have a ton of time to devote to the games on a daily basis (weekend mornings are where I get a ton of the gaming done), so if you've been playing for (presumably) much of four days, it's a gigantic task I (and everyone else) have ahead of myself (us).
I'm looking forward to the full list of glitches/tricks you're able to find.
Should be longer than ACII, if you factor in the 12 sequences, 4 exclusive missions on PS3 (Benedict Arnold's assassination), George Washington's assassination, achieving full synchronization, and Desmond's missions.
Full Synchronization is bonkers in this game. Some of the requirements made me scream "WHAT!?" out loud when I saw them. You'll see what I mean. My brother keeps a counter of how many times I've screamed: "It's ACTUALLY IM-POSSIBLE!" at the screen. I think it's 6 so far.
Protip: It's very, very possible. You just have to be awesome.
Hey DAZ, do you have a link to your YouTube channel? That way we can sub and see if you upload something new.