Assassin's Creed III

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Assassin's Creed III went on sale in North America on the 30th of October 2012 with a secret that its own advertising kept from players. Every promotion showed Connor, a half-Mohawk Assassin. The game itself, however, opened with Haytham Kenway, a British Templar. Only the development team knew in advance that players would begin as the man Connor would later fight. This was the fifth major game in Ubisoft's series, and it arrived first on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A Wii U version and a Windows version followed in November 2012. Who was Haytham, and why did he matter so much to the son who opposed him? What did a hero from the present day have to do with the American Revolution? Which parts of Mohawk life did the developers change after expert advice? And did a project this ambitious earn its place in the publisher's history?

  1617184357

• 2. Father and Son

  ›

  In 1754, Haytham Kenway kills a patron at the Royal Opera House to steal a key. His Order believes the key opens an ancient temple, so he sails to the American Colonies and gathers allies for the search. There he meets Kaniehti:io, a Mohawk woman, and falls in love with her. She asks for his help in eliminating Edward Braddock, a former comrade of Haytham who leads attacks against the Mohawk people. After Braddock dies, she takes Haytham to the Grand Temple, but the key proves useless there. Haytham then formally inducts Charles Lee into his Order, which is revealed to be the Templar Order.

  Their son, Ratonhnhaké:ton, loses his mother in 1760, when an attack strikes their village. He assumes that Charles Lee ordered it. In 1769, the village elder tells him that his tribe has a duty to protect the Temple. The elder also gives him a Crystal Ball that lets Juno speak to him. Juno leads him to Achilles Davenport, a retired Assassin whose Brotherhood collapsed years earlier. Achilles reluctantly agrees to train him and suggests a new name, Connor, so the young man can move more freely through the colonies.

  Connor's war on the Templars brings him face to face with his father after he has assassinated most of Haytham's allies. The two work together to eliminate a rogue Templar. Later, Haytham learns of George Washington's plan to displace indigenous peoples suspected of backing the Loyalists, including Connor's tribe. He also reveals that Washington ordered the attack that killed Kaniehti:io. Connor angrily breaks with both men. Back in his village, he learns that Lee recruited Mohawk warriors to turn back the Patriots sent to eradicate them. To avert a conflict, Connor is forced to kill his childhood friend Kanen'tó:kon.

  After the Battle of Monmouth, Washington disgraces Charles Lee for trying to sabotage its outcome, and Lee takes refuge in Fort George. Connor still hopes to work with Haytham toward peace and freedom. Haytham, though, insists that the nation must be controlled, with Lee replacing Washington. The two confront each other inside the fort, and Connor reluctantly kills his father. He later tracks down and assassinates Lee, and he keeps the key Haytham had given him. Returning to his village, he finds it abandoned, with only the Crystal Ball left behind. Juno tells him to hide the key, and he buries it in the grave of Connor Davenport, the son of Achilles.

  An epilogue set in 1783 ends Connor's journey on a bitter note. The Colonial Templars are gone and the Revolution has succeeded, yet he feels he failed to protect his people, who are still oppressed. He resolves to keep fighting for a better future. The key he left in that grave would wait for a descendant living in the twenty-first century.

  2228575432

• 3. Desmond's Deadline

  ›

  On the 21st of December 2012, a solar flare is due to strike the Earth, and the game's modern-day hero, Desmond Miles, has until then to prevent disaster. Desmond is the series protagonist, and he uses a machine called the Animus to relive the memories of his ancestors. At the start, he, his father William, Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane find the Grand Temple in a cave in New York. They open it using an Apple of Eden. As the voice of Juno begins to reach him, Desmond enters the Animus to deal with his dissociative fugue. Her influence sends him into the memories of Haytham Kenway.

  Nolan North voices Desmond, and John de Lancie plays his estranged father. The modern-day segments are expanded significantly compared with earlier games, and they consist of short missions that advance the narrative. Locations include a skyscraper in Manhattan, a stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, and Abstergo's facility in Rome, Italy. Abstergo Industries is a corporate conglomerate that serves as a front for the modern Templar Order. Its head scientist, Warren Vidic, sends a Templar named Daniel Cross to hunt Desmond.

  While Desmond collects the batteries needed to activate the Temple, William is captured trying to recover the final one. Desmond storms Abstergo's headquarters in Rome, kills Cross and Vidic, and rescues his father. The two reconcile.

  Inside the Temple's inner chambers, Juno tells Desmond that he can save the world, but only at the cost of his own life. Minerva appears and opposes the plan. Both women belong to the First Civilization, also called Those Who Came Before, a race wiped out by the same kind of catastrophe. Minerva explains that the plan will free Juno, who was sealed in the Temple to stop her from conquering humanity. Juno replies that, if the flare strikes, Desmond will be revered as a god after his death, and his legacy will be manipulated to control later generations. Desmond chooses to sacrifice himself so that humanity gets the chance to fight Juno. A closing voiceover then sends the player to find pivot points across the virtual Colonial America. Once they are collected, it announces a connection to the cloud.

  Patrice Désilets, the series' former creative director, said that Assassin's Creed had always been planned as a trilogy. In that early plan, Desmond and a character named Lucy would take down Abstergo in the days before the flare. The world would end, but the pair would escape on a spaceship to restart humanity elsewhere, like Adam and Eve. Lucy's name came from the fossilized remains of Lucy, believed to be one of the first hominini. After the success of Assassin's Creed II and several spinoffs, Désilets and creative director Alex Hutchinson changed course. They closed Desmond's story but avoided a cataclysm, so that more games could follow.

  In October 2011, Alexandre Amacio, creative director of Assassin's Creed: Revelations, announced that the next installment would arrive before December 2012. He added that he would not be the one directing it.

  2238394054

• 4. Frontier and Sea

  ›

  Three main areas make up the world of Assassin's Creed III. They are Boston, New York City and a large wilderness called the Frontier. About one-third of the story takes place on that Frontier, which includes forest, cliffs, rivers, Connor's village and the settlements of Lexington and Concord. Philadelphia can be visited once, and naval missions reach the Caribbean and the Eastern Seaboard. Weather and seasons shape play. Snowfall, for example, can reduce visibility for the player and for enemies, which helps stealth. Wild animals such as deer, wolves and bears can be hunted for meat or marrow. The quality of the kill sets the price, so players are rewarded for hunting silently with traps and bait.

  Free running was simplified, so Connor can run up trees, mountains and cliffs more fluidly. Close combat now lets him dual-wield weapons and take down several opponents at once, and the lock-on mechanic is gone. His arsenal includes muskets, swords, pistols, the tomahawk, a bow and arrow, the Rope Dart and the Assassins' Hidden Blades. The Rope Dart can pull foes toward him or hang them from above. Human shields protect him from firing lines. Medicine is no longer needed, because health recovers by itself. Stealth was revamped too, with tall grass and trees as hiding places and the ability to blend between any two people.

  The Davenport Homestead, Connor's adoptive home, anchors the game's economy. Carpenters, tailors and others displaced by the war may visit it. When Connor helps them, they settle there, and he can craft items, trade with them and send goods to the cities by caravan. As the settlers form relationships, a small community grows.

  Six recruits is the limit on the Assassins that Connor can enlist through optional Liberation missions, a reworked version of the system from Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Each recruit has a distinct personality and backstory, and each can start riots, escort Connor or set up an ambush. Other side missions include collecting the lost pages of Benjamin Franklin's Almanac and investigating frontiersman rumors of UFOs and Sasquatches. In the peg-leg missions, Connor follows the legend of Captain Kidd's treasure. Bowls, Checkers, Fanorona and Nine men's morris appear as minigames for the first time in the series.

  Naval combat is new to the series. Connor captains a brig called the Aquila, which he can upgrade with better weapons and hull armor. Wind direction, storms, high waves and rocks all affect steering. Broadsides cover both flanks, swivel guns damage smaller ships that can then be boarded for treasure, and chain shots can bring down the masts of larger vessels. The Aquila appears only in a few main story missions and a series of side missions.

  Ubisoft Annecy developed the online multiplayer. Its cooperative mode, Wolfpack, sends one to four players through 25 stages to kill certain characters within a time limit. Domination is a team mode in which players capture and defend areas of the map. Ubisoft announced that the multiplayer servers would close on the 1st of September 2022, a date later delayed to the 1st of October 2022.

  89101120

• 5. Mohawk Voices

  ›

  Teiowí:sonte Thomas Deer, from the Kanien'kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center, became Ubisoft's main adviser on Mohawk culture. The game was one of the first major releases to feature Mohawk people prominently. Deer advised on clothes, music and other details of the portrayal. Scalping, originally intended as a game mechanic, was removed after he told the developers that the Mohawk people shown in the game never practiced it. Deer and the Mohawk language teacher Akwiratékha Martin helped the actor Noah Watts learn Kanien'kéha, the Mohawk language, to voice Ratonhnhaké:ton. Martin said that Ubisoft let him change dialogue that did not sound properly Kanien'kéha or that he found inappropriate. Residents of the Kahnawà:ke Mohawk community near Montreal also contributed voices and music.

  In Mohawk culture, each person's name is unique and sacred and is never given to someone else. For that reason, the community's decision to let Ubisoft use the Kahnawà:ke name Ratonhnhaké:ton for Connor was a significant honor. Out of respect and gratitude, Ubisoft has not trademarked it. One planned cutscene showed Connor's village wearing ceremonial masks. Deer asked for it to be removed, because the masks belong to a very private part of Mohawk spirituality. He later called the finished game a phenomenal achievement for his people.

  Not every observer was satisfied. Players and critics gave the depiction of Native Americans a mixed reception. Some noted that Connor is exposed to stereotypes such as the noble savage. His tomahawk appears in every cutscene and is used with extreme lethality, which some read as casting Native Americans as primitive beside better-armed white characters. The game was also criticized for leaning on pity over the burning of Connor's village while having him help only white characters.

  586059732

• 6. Building the Machine

  ›

  Work on Assassin's Creed III began in January 2010, right after Assassin's Creed II, with a senior team of Ubisoft developers. It took two and a half years, the longest cycle since the first game. More than 300 people worked in Montreal, alongside teams in Quebec City, France, Singapore and Ukraine. When Ubisoft revealed Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood in 2010, some fans wondered whether it was the third game. The developers said it was not, and that the third installment would not star a pre-existing character. Jean-François Boivin of Ubisoft added that each numbered title would introduce a new lead character and setting.

  On the 8th of November 2011, Ubisoft chief executive Yves Guillemot confirmed on an earnings call that a major Assassin's Creed game would arrive in 2012. He later told MCV that annual installments were needed to satisfy demand, and he predicted the biggest entry yet. In February 2012, Ubisoft confirmed the existence of the game and its North American date of the 30th of October 2012. Guillemot said the publisher was investing more heavily in it than in any other title in the series.

  Leaks had already begun in January 2012, when a supposed inside source claimed the game would be set during the American Revolution. On the 29th of February 2012, a Best Buy employee sent Kotaku a promotional image and word that a full reveal was imminent. The series' Facebook page, meanwhile, showed a snowy, bleak cover photo, and Game Informer appeared ready to confirm details on its site. Ubisoft released the box art on the 1st of March 2012, which confirmed the setting. Screenshots leaked on the 2nd of March, and the cinematic trailer followed on the 5th of March 2012.

  Ubisoft called the project the most ambitious in its history, with twice the production capacity of any earlier title. Its new engine, AnvilNext, promised improved visuals, character models and artificial intelligence, along with battlefields full of fighters. Ubisoft also said it was aiming to make the game look next-generation on the consoles of the day.

  Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption surprised the team. It came out midway through development, and it already included hunting and a giant frontier, both features planned for this sequel. Lead writer Corey May said Ubisoft then tried to take that formula in new directions. Writer Matt Turner described the similarities as a convergence of minds. Alex Hutchinson explained that the team avoided a female protagonist because the American Revolution setting was not a strong match for one.

  The score came from Lorne Balfe, a Scottish composer who had co-composed Revelations with the series' longtime composer Jesper Kyd. It was the first soundtrack in the main series without Kyd. The soundtrack was released as a digital download on the 30th of October 2012.

  On the 14th of November 2012, Ubisoft promised that the Windows version would launch with fewer bugs than the console versions. A large patch was prepared for all platforms to address around one hundred identified problems. They ranged from unstable environments and faulty characters to console crashes and sound synchronization. Ubisoft also recommended playing the Windows version with a controller. Hutchinson said the studio loved PC but would not invest hugely in keyboard and mouse setups.

  3142454852

• 7. Editions and Add-Ons

  ›

  Tony Key, Ubisoft's senior vice president of sales and marketing, said the game would get the biggest marketing commitment in the company's history. Pre-order bonuses depended on where a player ordered. GameStop offered the mission Lost Mayan Ruins and the Sawtooth Sword, Best Buy offered Ghost of War and the Pontiac's War Club, and Amazon offered a SteelBook case. The SteelBook artwork came from the comic artist Alex Ross.

  On the 26th of March 2012, Ubisoft announced three collectors' editions for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australia. They were the Freedom, Join Or Die and Special editions. The Freedom Edition included a 24 cm figurine of Connor and George Washington's notebook, among other items. On the 1st of June 2012, the UbiWorkshop Edition followed, with five rare prints and a new graphic novel titled Assassin's Creed: Subject 4. A PlayStation 3 bundle appeared on release day, along with four exclusive missions called The Benedict Arnold Missions. Turner said that some scenes use the actual words spoken at West Point, taken from the court proceedings afterward.

  Trouble struck on the 14th of November 2012, when thieves reportedly drove off with a truck carrying the entire Windows launch shipment for Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Ubisoft said launch plans would not change, because copies could come from elsewhere. Buyers of the Join Or Die edition were hit hardest, because it allegedly could not be re-manufactured. Ubisoft blacklisted the stolen serial numbers so they could not authenticate online. Ubisoft Australia made ten very limited editions, and eight were auctioned between the 30th of November and the 17th of December 2012 to benefit the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation.

  On the 3rd of October 2012, Ubisoft revealed a Season Pass and the first major story add-on, The Tyranny of King Washington. In its alternative history, a United Kingdom of America emerges after Washington seizes an Apple of Eden and, corrupted by its power, names himself king. Connor must overthrow him. The three episodes arrived as The Infamy on the 19th of February 2013, The Betrayal on the 19th of March and The Redemption on the 23rd of April. The Hidden Secrets Pack reached Season Pass holders on the 4th of December 2012. The Battle Hardened Pack, with the Governor, Highlander and Coyote Man characters, was released on the 8th of January 2013. A Washington Edition gathering the add-ons followed on the 20th of June 2013.

  In September 2018, Ubisoft announced a remaster, and it was released on the 29th of March 2019 for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. A Nintendo Switch version followed on the 21st of May 2019, and a Google Stadia release came in 2021. The remaster brought sharper visuals, free-aiming with bows and pistols, a whistle usable from anywhere while hidden and color-blind modes. Multiplayer was removed. Bonus outfits honor later heroes, including Edward Kenway, Shay Patrick Cormac, Arno Dorian, Jacob Frye, Bayek and Alexios. In February 2025, the remaster received official achievements support on Steam.

  7081739599

• 8. Reception and Sales

  ›

  On Metacritic, the PlayStation 3 version scored 85 out of 100, the Xbox 360 version 84, the Wii U version 85 and the Windows version 80. Game Informer gave the game 9.5 out of 10 and warned that most players would spend six hours grasping its size and ambition. IGN and GameSpot both gave 8.5 out of 10. Critics praised the story, the setting and especially the naval missions. PC Gamer scored it 72 out of 100, calling the mission design terrible and saying that homesteading distracted from the central story. Official Xbox Magazine criticized pacing problems that dragged the campaign into busy-work.

  Connor drew a mixed response. Joel Gregory of PSM3 called him relentlessly strait-laced and humourless, and the German outlet GamePro faulted his lack of development. Haytham, by contrast, was well received. PC Gamer's Chris Thursten suggested that the writers liked Haytham more than their ostensible lead. Looking back in 2019, Hutchinson called the surprise protagonist an effective way to draw players in, and noted that Haytham is the first playable Templar in the series. He conceded that Haytham's arc ran too long because there was no time for extensive testing, which caused some backlash. The character remains a fan favorite, and GamesRadar+ called the switch bold. Adrian Hough, who voiced Haytham, was nominated for a BAFTA Games Award at the 9th British Academy Games Awards.

  In June 2012, Ubisoft Montreal faced mounting accusations of anti-British prejudice after trailers and box art showed Redcoats being killed. One site called the live-action July 4 trailer American nationalism. May defended the developers, and the publisher eventually chose not to sell the Limited Edition in the UK or Europe. After release, critics judged the depiction balanced. Official Xbox Magazine UK praised a more mature moral tone. Kotaku's reviewer wrote that the marketing had suggested interactive jingoism, but that the developers were the ones being accurate.

  In March 2012, within three weeks of pre-orders opening, the game had passed Brotherhood's total U.S. pre-orders and drawn more than ten times what Revelations had in a comparable period. By the 25th of October 2012, it was the most pre-ordered game in Ubisoft's history. It topped the UK charts in its first week and ranked as the third biggest UK launch of 2012, behind Call of Duty: Black Ops II and FIFA 13. Ubisoft reported more than 3.5 million units in the first week. It announced 7 million copies on the 12th of December 2012, and 12 million on the 7th of February 2013, almost 70 percent ahead of Revelations at the same stage.

  The 2012 Spike Video Game Awards nominated the game in six categories, including Game of the Year and Character of the Year for Connor. Game Revolution named it its Game of the Year 2012, and the D.I.C.E. Awards honored its animation. Four Game Developers Choice Awards nominations followed, including Best Narrative and Game of the Year.

  Corey May said the ending left sequels plenty of room to play. Julien Laferrière, an associate producer, said more Connor games depended on how players reacted to him. His comparison was that three games were made with Ezio because people loved Ezio. On the 28th of February 2013, Ubisoft revealed Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag instead. It follows Edward Kenway, the father of Haytham and grandfather of Connor, through the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean.

  545728425