All of our Assassin’s targets ”are real people,” and drop at the ”right place at the right time.” The battle of Bunker Hill is a great example because of weather, topography and casualty records.
Outside of using a time machine to visit the era, Assassin’s Creed III offers history buffs the best option to ‘visit’ the American Revolution as we interact with it as Connor.
”We are very conscious of the historical accuracy of the game and all of Connor’s main targets are real people, and they died in the right place at the right time,” Matt Turner said in an interview. ”Obviously not always in the right conditions – it’s not like all the guys got stabbed in the face – but outside of that, the historical record of the revolution is vast and deep.
“So we were able to be quite precise to the things that we were telling.”
Ubisoft has confirmed that the game’s engine supports huge numbers of characters on screen to support the large battles that took place between colonial and British forces. We even get to take to the high seas and engage in naval warfare as we steer a ship and give the orders to fire on enemy vessels. Accuracy is critical to the team.
”…for instance, the battle of Bunker Hill: we knew the weather, we knew the amount on each side; how many guys died – the casualties – the topography and with all of that together, we can actually recreate that battle. And it’s the closest thing to being there outside of having a time-machine, which doesn’t exist yet as far as I’m aware.”
”So we do a little creative stuff with the assassin, but the actual events; everything that’s around him, is as real as we can make it,” explained the lead writer. Our Assassin, Connor, is half-English and half-Native American. Another thing they wanted to do was give the player more freedom, or ‘agency’ as they describe it.
”We want to really give the player agency. We wanted them to get out there and take Connor and express themselves through him, and that was by redesigning his combat system; by making it a fresh, new one with more options. He’s a dual-wielder so he can manage groups better,” said Turner.
”We wanted to have contextual things like that, so he’s more aware of the surroundings. And that’s with keeping with his character. He’s a very conscious being; his aura. He knows where everything is at all times and we wanted that to come through even in simple things like killing that guy with the pitchfork or other contextual kills we have.”
”They were just part of building him as a character and having all those mechanics and the narrative fit well. Everything he does expresses who he is, and I think people are going to have fun getting to know him.”
Check out the full interview between Matt Turner and AusGamers. See the video below for a developer walkthrough of some frontier exploration, hunting and fighting the British.
Assassin’s Creed 3 releases on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC October 30th in the US, 31st in Europe.
