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Platform 360, PS3, Win, Wii U Publisher Ubisoft Developer Ubisoft Montreal Release Date 10/30/2012

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8.0

Assassin's Creed 3 review: imperfect union

By Arthur Gies on Oct 30, 2012 10.30.12

Assassin's Creed 3 is once again split between the present and the past. Series anchor and modern Assassin Desmond Miles dives into the Animus again to find what he and his companions hope is the key to saving the world from a massive solar event. The secret to its location and purpose lay with Desmond's ancestor Ratohnhaké:ton, who finds a new name to accompany his Assassin destiny: Connor. Assassin's Creed 3 follows Connor's quest to unravel a Templar conspiracy against the unfolding American Revolution. 18th-century America lends itself better to the Assassin's Creed universe than I expected. The monumental architecture of Jerusalem or Rome is absent, but the streets of New York and Boston offer enough verticality and large structures to feel familiar to veterans of...

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Former Assassin's Creed developers bringing Tiny Brains to next-gen platforms

By Jenna Pitcher on May 23, 2013 05.23.13

Montreal-based Spearhead Games co-op action puzzler, Tiny Brains, is coming to next-gen consoles, the studio announced today. In Tiny Brains, players have to escape a mad scientist's puzzles as one of four lab rodents: Create has the ability to create objects; Vortex can bring objects to it; Force can push objects away; and Teleport can do what its name implies. The development team consists of the game designer on Assassin's Creed 2 and Dead Space 3, Malik Boukhira, former design director of Assassin's Creed 3, Simon Darveau, and the development director of Army of Two, Atul Mehra. "Our results from PAX East were really gratifying," Darveau said in a statement. "Every single person who played our demo ranked Tiny Brains as ‘fun' or ‘extremely fun,' and we had a blast seeing the...

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GDC Europe adds design talks on Assassin's Creed 3, storytelling, next-gen consoles

By Alexa Ray Corriea on May 22, 2013 05.22.13

The 2013 European Game Developers Conference has added a new round of talks to its panel lineup, including design talks on storytelling and Assassin's Creed 3 as well as discussions of the next console generation, according to a post on the conference website. Ubisoft Montreal's Steven Masters will discuss how the studio worked on Assassin's Creed 3 for three years in the Design Track's keynote, "Designing Assassin's Creed 3." The company hosted a similar panel at GDC 2013, "Three Years of Collaboration on Assassin's Creed 3," but its GDC Europe panel will delve deeper into how the company built the title's core gameplay. Epic Games level designer James Brown will explore whether or not a game's story can co-exist with a player's "organic" experience, or the story they build as they...

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Ubisoft announces 18 percent increase in annual sales driven by Assassin's Creed and Far Cry

By Dave Tach on May 15, 2013 05.15.13

Ubisoft's annual sales rose 18 percent and its operating income increased by 79 percent, driven in part by strong sales of games in the Assassin's Creed and Far Cry franchises, according to the company's financial report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013. The report highlights "revenue generated from games for core gamers," which was up 60 percent year-over-year. Ubisoft called out Assassin's Creed 3, which sold more than 12.5 million units, and Far Cry 3, which sold more than 6 million units, as driving the increase. Revenue from casual games shrunk 32 percent year-over-year, though Just Dance 4 sold 8.5 million units. "Online/digital" sales were up 86 percent year-over-year and accounted for 11.7 percent of total sales. Ubisoft expects that the first quarter 2013-2014...

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Xbox Live Gold free in the UK this weekend

By Emily Gera on Apr 30, 2013 04.30.13

Xbox Live Gold will be free this weekend for users across the U.K., Xbox U.K. officials announced today. The event is slated to begin a 12 p.m. BST on May 3 until 23:59 p.m. BST on May 5. This will unlock multiplayer functionality on games over the weekend for those who are not already Xbox Live Gold members. A number of offers are also scheduled to run alongside the upcoming free weekend, including double XP events for Gears of War: Judgment, Assassin's Creed 3 and Far Cry 3. Netflix and Lovefilm subscribers will also be able to access the service through their Xbox.

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Assassin's Creed 3 design director joins 22Cans for Godus

By Dave Tach on Apr 26, 2013 04.26.13

Jamie Stowe, previously a design director at Ubisoft Singapore, has joined 22Cans as the independent studio's technical designer, according to his LinkedIn profile. Stowe was the level design director for Assassin's Creed 3's naval and Captain Kidd missions and also worked on Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands while at Ubisoft. Prior to joining Ubisoft, he designed single and multiplayer levels for Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising at Codemasters. "Jamie joins 22cans at a very exciting time and takes the role of technical designer on the current Kickstarter funded project Godus," 22Cans' head of production Jemma Harris told Develop Online, who reported on Stowe's new position earlier today. Godus, the spiritual successor to 22Cans founder Peter Molyneux's Populous, is...

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Xbox Live Gold free weekend hits US, Canada, Latin America and Japan on Apr. 19

By Michael McWhertor on Apr 18, 2013 04.18.13

Xbox 360 owners in the United States, Canada, Latin America and Japan will be able to enjoy the online services Xbox Live Gold membership offers for free this weekend, according to an Xbox.com announcement. Beginning Friday, April 19 at 7 a.m. PT, Xbox Live will be unlocked, granting Silver-level members access to online multiplayer and services like Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu Plus and more. The free weekend comes to a close on Monday, April 22 at 10 a.m. PT. In addition to the free Gold weekend, a handful of games will be holding double XP promotions: Far Cry 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Assassin's Creed 3. A Shift key for Borderlands 2 will also offer three Golden Keys that will provide "rare and powerful loot" as part of the promotion. Microsoft held similar free weekends for E...

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Assassin's Creed 3's cross-studio work 'holds the keys to next generation development'

By Megan Farokhmanesh on Mar 28, 2013 03.28.13

Assassin's Creed 3 was a collaborative process that spanned four different studios, Ubisoft developers revealed today during a GDC panel. Ubisoft Quebec game director Marc-Alexis Cote, Ubisoft creative director Alex Hutchinson, Ubisoft game director Damien Kieken, Ubisoft Montreal senior producer Francois Pelland and Ubisoft Singapore senior producer Hugues Ricour outlined their strategy at "Three Years of Collaboration on Assassin's Creed 3." The game was divvied up between the Montreal, Singapore, Annecy and Quebec studios. While Montreal was responsible for the game's core design and main missions, Singapore worked on the game's naval battles. Annecy was tasked with multiplayer, while Quebec "tried to create the sense of the American Dream," Hutchinson said. Breaking the game's...

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Assassin’s Creed 3 is a marriage of narrative and mission design

By Megan Farokhmanesh on Mar 25, 2013 03.25.13

Assassin's Creed 3 blends narrative writing and mission design in equal and cooperative parts to create its final product, according to a recent panel at GDC. Level design director Philippe Bergeron and consultant and scriptwriter Corey May spoke about the combination during "Balancing Act: Narrative and Mission Design in Assassin's Creed 3." The game undergoes several different stages, beginning with basic conception. After details on the era, protagonist and location have been decided, the game goes through several "blueprint" steps. While May begins writing key scenes that take place in the "white room" segments of he game, the mission designers also begin their work. Shortly after, the two elements team up to begin molding the game into a cohesive unit. This match up is so...

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The Tyranny of King Washington gave Assassin's Creed 3 devs the chance to explore, 'go crazy'

By Megan Farokhmanesh on Mar 03, 2013 03.03.13

Assassin's Creed 3's episodic downloadable content, The Tyranny of King Washington, was "a blast" for the developers to work on, DLC mission director Hugo Giard told Kotaku. The creators of Assassin's Creed have spoken before about their efforts to stay rooted in reality, even when it's uncomfortable, by backing up truth up with facts. The Tyranny of King Washington, however, completely shatters that pattern. The DLC is set in an alternate reality where George Washington opts for kingship, rather than presidency. According to Giard, this break allowed the team to get more creative with their work. "Once we jumped in there, I mean, as storytellers and as mission designers we were free to come up with any ideas that we wanted to," Giard said. "We could explore, you know, we could go...

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Voting open online for the Game Developers Choice Award

By Dave Tach on Feb 19, 2013 02.19.13

The virtual ballet box is open for the Game Developers Choice Audience Award and accepting nominations today through 5 p.m. ET March 1, according to the official website. Voters need to select a game from a list provided and enter an email address, from which you'll be prompted to confirm your vote. The list of nominated games includes: Assassin's Creed 3 Borderlands 2 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Dishonored Dust: An Elysian Tail Far Cry 3 Fez FTL: Faster Than Light Gravity Rush Halo 4 Hero Academy Hotline Miami Journey Kid Icarus: Uprising Mark of the Ninja Mass Effect 3 PlanetSide 2 The Room Sound Shapes Spelunky Spec Ops: The Line Trials Evolution The Unfinished Swan Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward The Walking Dead XCOM: Enemy Unknown ZombiU In late...

Assassin's Creed 3 Releases
North America
  • Xbox 360
    • Released 10/30/2012
    • Publisher Ubisoft
    • Developer Ubisoft Montreal
    • Score 8
  • PlayStation 3
    • Released 10/30/2012
    • Publisher Ubisoft
    • Developer Ubisoft Montreal
  • Windows
    • Released 11/20/2012
    • Publisher Ubisoft
    • Developer Ubisoft Montreal
  • Wii U
    • Released 11/18/2012
    • Publisher Ubisoft
    • Developer Ubisoft Montreal
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