The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

I don't know about you, Joey, but I'm kind of getting the arthritic stepdad vibe.

I was thinking the same after watching a few of those, especially the "Catching a Thief" video. But the rest are either naval ship battles, free roam, or the very beginnings to missions, so we don't know that for sure.

Might it be because there pretty much IS an arthritic stepdad in the second video?

Homestead stuff IS supposed to be more like doing chores and stuff. It's side content.

I...don't...care!

I want more outfits! Gimme, Ubisoft! GIMME!

Solid Snake. I could see them doing that. They probably have more outfits in the game. Just because there's only one in Uplay doesn't mean that's all we'll get.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_William_Johnson,_1st_Baronet This man is one of the Templars we kill in the game; the description of his death and its rough timeframe match what we saw in the 13 IGN videos. As a Canadian, I really hope we see his brother-in-law Joseph Brant.

Uplay has always only had one outfit, right? So this is normal.

I should comment that I'm actually really excited for the homestead. It seems like a tangible mark of the good that the Assassins are doing, and a far more interesting hub than the Villa and Masyaf. Not that I didn't like the Villa and Masyaf, but there wasn't much variation in either scenery or content, there.

In ACB, Uplay offered 3 outfits.

- Ezio's Noble Attire
- Armor of Altair
- Robes of Altair

And just what is the homestead anyway?

It's a separate map (not part of the Frontier) that contains the Davenport Homestead, which presumably belongs to Connor under an assumed name. There he keeps his hood down, and can populate his homestead with shops after doing favors for people.

Keeps his hood UP you mean! ;P

I don't think that Conner personally owned or established it, it seems more like the Assassin's base, established before he joined the order, which he builds and maintains.
I like that you can recruit the different people from other cities as well, that's neat.

I...don't...get it! D:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYE2WN3Y74g

short video of Connor getting attacked by a pack of wolves...one at a time.
he counters them via a Quicktime Event

i hate Quicktime Events

I'm iffy about the QTEs. It kind of breaks away from the way we've been combating in all the other games. Why can't we just counter at the correct time like we do with guards?

Thank you, God of War. Thank you for showing the gaming industry that you don't need a compelling story, character development, or a deep and complex battle system. No, all you need is gore, button mashing, and gratuitous shots of women's breasts.

I'd like it really if we get to play Connor without his hoodie. It'd be really refreshing playing as someone where you can see the back of their head.

And as for the OTE, I wouldn't be mad it if was forced upon me. If a wolf approaches me, then I'm just gonna shoot it with my pistol - there: problem solved. I hope that the player won't be forced to stand in one place whenever a wold approaches you. That will just break gameplay flow.

Perhaps they would be the equivalent of the Centi gang from ACB.

Why do you think it would only be Native Americans that supply Connor?

Counters are basically QTEs. And it's quite obvious why there is no normal combat for animals: they would have to completely revamp the combat system to account for each specific animal. And having an actual combat system where you're whacking a bear would be very difficult to make look good. The QTEs are basically counters, and they allow them to animate a somewhat realistic way for Conner to take out a bear at close range. And you only have to do them if you get spotted by the animal.

I don't think it's a problem at all. At least it's not arbitrary button presses, at least from what we've seen. It's the normal counter button and then a specific button for the finishing move (Just like in normal combat, where you counter, then time slows and you choose what move you want to do)

Not like God of War at all.

As for natives having shops... um, his outfit is very obviously not native-made, so why are we surprised that he has access to different versions and dyes of it? He's with the Assassins, not just the natives. They have ways of getting what they want. He might use a go-between to buy things, have his own personal tailor on his homestead, or simply know some shops who will serve natives. It's not s if trade between natives and colonists was non-existent or natives were prohibited from being around white europeans...

Every counter in games like this are "quick time events" because you have to react in a quick time. But you're not really thinking about them as what they are as "QTEs". Those are pressing random button prompts in a cinematic format. There's no reason to change the entire combat system. Have each animal move in their own way, but counter in the same fashion that you would with a guard. QTEs are just too flashy for Assassin's Creed. So yes, it's like the God of War QTEs in that it originates from that game. And it's not really necessary for the game. They could have easily made it simpler. You would only think of defending yourself when in any situation like that. That's one simple thought. Why would you have to guess which button to press if there's already a counter attack button? They tried too hard to innovate that into the game, I think. It's not necessary.

I'm just wondering if the QTE will be forced upon players. I'd rather just shoot them with my gun than wait for them to charge at me.

QTEs are in all the games in the AC franchise.

You have QTE for spotting glitches in AC1. Hell, there is a QTE to give Leonardo a hug in AC2. To take out Ceasare Borgia in ACB, etc.

I wonder what happens if you DON'T press the buttons for Conner though. I know you can "miss" these things in the other games by not pressing the buttons. The action just doesn't occur. But it's not a case of dodging vs being mauled by a bear.

Spotting glitches is during the cutscenes. You can walk around a bit, but still, that's just a mildly interactive cutscene. You're not actually playing. You're watching a scene.

If I look up cutscene in Wikipedia, it says "[...] is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay[...]"

QTE is limiting the control, as do kill chains. Limiting the control, enhancing the cinematics. So that people don't have to play. They can just passively consume the experience.

the glitches didn't really feel like a QTE, though, cause they didn't present them as one.

and i felt that the hug button was stupid too

I'm somewhat confused about QTEs being too flashy for Assassin's Creed. Since AC1 there have been tons of flashy kill moves and iconic things like viewpoints and leaps of faith. I don't think you're understanding how different combat would have to be to make it make sense and be the customary AC "Kind of realistic" if you were fighting animals. With normal combat your every attack would have to be animated differently for each animal, and the idea of wailing on a bear and doing "damage" to it just isn't very assassin's creed, or remotely plausible if you're not Kratos.

You counter at the right moment, then choose if you want to kill or simply dodge the animal. The differences from normal combat are simply that you can't move your character during it. For the majority of AC combat you're not moving the left stick at all.

Ves, no, it is not forced on you. You can take it out normally with assassinate or ranged weapons unless it spots you.

al-Assass, QTEs are bringing interactivity to a cutscene, making something that would normally be passive interactive.. Kill chains do not limit control, since you can choose not to use them. And the ease and method of executing them seems to be different from past AC games.

I don't really understand why you guys are so down on interactive cutscenes and limited player input to do amazing things. That's been a hallmark of AC since day 1. Run at a wall to climb it. Press a single button to stealth kill. Press two buttons at once at the right time to counter-kill. Press one button and then another to break a block and then attack.

Each of these inputs requires minimal effort on the player's part, and allows them to "passively consume" the pretty kill.

I think QTE have to do more with allowing certain control and player choice during a cinematic movement. It also connects the gameplay aspects with the cinematic ones.

It also makes fighting animals failable and, motivates you to approach them stealthily so you don't get caught up in a QTE.

So let's use QTEs as a punishment if we're not stealthy enough. How about that? That way we can avoid them as much as possible. I'm sure they're fun to do, but still, I think they could have taken that out.

it's literally the same two button presses you would use in normal combat.
I should stop saying this because I don't want to bug people or overstate my opinion, but I have just never considered AC to be a very input intensive game, and so this isn't really an issue at all for me. You still need to time the button presses, and that's the only way that combat ever really required skill in the first place. It's not as if you're totally locked in one place while waiting for them, as we saw in the e3 frontier demo (the wolves) you can move and presumably get more in their face.

I would imagine that if you attack in melee you simply instigate a different animation or type of combo.
It's integrated enough into the fighting that it's not really a pure QTE as we normally see them. The game doesn't guide you to jump and run all over the place through button presses. You simply trigger an animation prior to actually countering. That's the only real difference, mechanically.

Agreed. What else are you going to do to a bear charging you other than dodge-->attack?

not sure if this has been posted yet. if so, sorry...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blQtMlLwUN4

Definitely largest amount of gameplay I've seen so far. Thanks Cheese.

It appeared to be all the little videos in the last article stitched together with someone telling you what it's all for.

There's actually some new stuff in there as well.

Some new (Sept 24) gameplay of Liberation >> http://www.gamerlive.tv/article/assassins-creed-iii-liberation-ps-vita-n...

Best info from the video: Aveline visits Chichen Itza in Mexico. Couple this with the knowledge of Conner going to Mayan ruins and there is still hope (for those that want it) of story overlap, and this seems the most likely place.

But, by far, the coolest thing in the video was the use of a ranged weapon (poison dart, I think) from within a hiding spot (essentially a hay bale). That opens the door to completely silent assassinations.

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/09/26/making-assassins-creed-iii-part-2

it looks like you no longer just hold and counter all day. You now hit to counter then have to choose what to do with that counter... throw the person, shoot the person, stab the person, etc. Enemy classes can get around certain kinds of counter-kill moves, so you will have to figure out which enemies you can kill which way. Otherwise your kill-streak is dead. Should add a new layer to the combat system that will make it fun and more realistic.

Wait...so...

When an enemy is in the phrase of attacking you, you can counter...then, you can either disarm, push, stun, or kill him?

Okay - Ubisoft has to be on one of these forums. It's as if...as if combat has more strategy in it!

I think those big redcoats with the skirt and axe are the equivalent of the armored thugs in Batman: Arkham City. You can't just kill him automatically - you need to stun him.

Now I'm on the verge of preordering this game. Keep it up!

Yeah, I'm officially going dark.

It's like the heavy attack counter in AC1, where you could choose to grab, break his legs or just slash him to death. Thanks for the info.

Calvar: see you in a bit!

Sorry Calvar. Would have put it in spoiler tags had I known it would spoil things. I usually put plot things in spoilers, but not gameplay.

In another video, they also state that we know longer have to hold down the high profile trigger for free-running... all this to get rid of what they call the "assassin claw," cramping from holding down one button the whole game.

Another thing I noticed is in the calling of recruits it's like a weapon select wheel... you can have them do different things, which is cool.

Can't comment on the Batman games, haven't played them.

I think of those enemies as Papal Guards / Janissaries.

Wait, why is Calvar going dark? What's spoilery?

Low-quality AC3 Desmond picture: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb2l1cOdh41qjsbzro1_500.png

Description:

"I’m a little bewildered that this hadn’t been posted anywhere yet!

In the last few days, a new ACIII demo (Wolcott Fort) has premiered at a few gaming events around the world. It is a Connor demo, but for a few seconds before it starts you get Desmond on the loading screen. While I could only find this rather low quality screencap, I was at EuroGamer Expo today and played the demo on a very large HD TV.

His face looked like a blend between Brotherhood and Revelations. The main reason his face was so different in Rev was because they were using a new facial model engine, but in ACIII his face didn’t look odd at all. Like Brotherhood’s, but more detailed. (He also looked pretty tired.) His outfit was a bit different too; the jacket looked the same, but it’s open and has toggles? His Brotherhood jacket doesn’t have toggles but okay. His shirt was black with some text on rather than grey with an eagle.

The ACIII developer session also had some mentions; Desmond will share some animations with Connor, but will mostly have his own set. They’re apparently a lot flashier and they “never let Assassins have spins in their moveset, but Desmond does.” (pfft haha) Someone also asked if Lucy or Clay would be mentioned in the game, and Alex Hutchinson said there will be a lot of references and fan service to both previous character and to the comics, “almost too much”."

MOOOOOOOM!! Joey double posted again!

9 mins of gameplay is spoilery, there have been previews of far too much going up recently. I might as well go before things get too crazy.

I did? O_o

9 minutes of clips that show beginnings of missions/minor side missions from a 30 hour game isn't spoilery. If anything was a spoiler, they wouldn't show it.

There is one thing I haven't seen that I would like to be in the game. Because we haven't seen it, I'm sure it won't be. I wonder if Conner can use the rope dart as a makeshift grapling hook to reach higher than a leap when scaling walls/trees? I bet the answer's no. However, if you had a heavy object at the end of a rope, wouldn't you try to use it for climbing purposes?

Another think we haven't seen... any Conner swordplay. He's only ever using the tomahawk, knife and rope dart in close combat. I know they want the tomahawk to be iconic, and it will be, but it's all we've seen. And I think it's funny.

If one completes the Mayan Mission that's availiable in several pre-order additions of ACIII, then they'll be able to use Captain Kidd's Sawtooth sword. Similar to the Dagger of Brutus and Vlad Tempe's sword, it comes with unique kill animations, and I'm really looking forward that.

As for the rope-dark, I don't think it will serve as a replacement for the hookblade. It'd be kinda weird using it to swing across the branches like Tarzan. He's an assassin, not a half man/ape.

And that brings me to one of the biggest questions I been thinking of for a while? Who is the better combatant? Who is the better free-runner? Altair, Ezio, or Connor?

I just saw an off-to-the-side gameplay video of a VERY linear mission. Similar to the Assassin Tombs from AC2. Apparently they're keeping the horrible penalty of completely desynchronizing if you're seen. Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-KM_QHQng8

It's 15 minutes long with a slow start and horrible player at the helm. So skip through whenever you get annoyed. It'll happen often.

@Joey when I say spoilers, I don't just mean story. Gameplay and mission setups are spoilers IMO.

About the linear thing and insta-fail stealth, I really don't have a problem with instafail if it's used in the right places, and the linear platforming stuff was never all that bad.

Definitely not watching that video though.

About the hookblade being used for climbing, they specifically said that they didn't want it feeling too fantasy, or like a grappling hook. It's a rope dart. You don't climb with a dart. It's meant to impale, not grip.

I know, I suspected it might be like that too, but it seems like it probably isn't, and if it is it's not used a lot. Aveline in Liberation has a whip that she can use to swing though.