Assassin's Creed III released in India

The latest entry in Ubisoft’s flagship franchise – Assassin’s Creed III – has finally been released. The game was launched in India last night through two midnight launch events that took place in Game The Shop in Mumbai and Federation of Gamers in Delhi. Ubisoft had released a launch trailer for the game that showed the protagonist – Connor – and his motivations and story in the game.

While some parallels may be drawn with Ezio from Assassin’s Creed II, with both Connor and Ezio essentially joining the Assassin’s order to satisfy their thirst for revenge, but from the trailer, it looks like Connor is more focused on fighting for the greater good – of getting freedom for the land.

The trailer is made completely in-engine with the new Anvil game engine that Ubisoft has developed for the game, and it shows, with the massive amounts of characters on screen and large-scale naval battles. The trailer also shows some of the fluid parkour that Connor is capable of, which includes running through homes and shops to get to the other side of the building faster.

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Assassin’s Creed III is said to be the final chapter in Desmond’s story, as this is the game where he will deal with Abstergo, as well as the impending end-of-the-world scenario that was explained by an ancient race in Assassin’s Creed II. On Connor’s side of things, he will be aiding the freedom fighters and founding fathers of America to achieve freedom for the country from the British rule.

Ubisoft had recently released a trailer that shows what happened ‘previously on’ Assassin’s Creed. The trailer describes the secret war that has been going on for millennia between two groups – the Assassins and the Templar. But, as the stories of the games have progressed, a greater threat has been discovered that is all set to end all life on earth. Of significance in the game’s storyline is the date December 21, 2012. The trailer also reveals information about artifacts known as pieces of Eden. These artifacts are believed to be pieces of technology left over from an ancient race of immense power that was wiped out the last time an apocalypse happened.

The liberation of America has begun

The Assassin’s Creed series deals with a secret war that has lasted millennia between the Assassins and the Templars. The Assassins seek to fight for the free will of people, while the Templars seek to control them. The first game was set during the Holy Crusades in Jerusalem. Protagonist Altaïr ibn-La’Ahad would have to jump from rooftops and sneak into groups of people in order to find and assassinate his targets.

The second game was set during the Renaissance era in Florence. The main protagonist of the II series of games – Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – is Ezio Auditore. The II series of games dealt with the evolution of Ezio as a character, who starts out as a revenge-driven teenager only to become a highly-skilled master of Assassin. Altaïr also makes an appearance in Revelation, showing the aged assassin’s last few days. The secondary protagonist of the series is Desmond Miles, who is accessing his ‘genetic memory’ to live the lives of his Ancestors Altaïr and Ezio so he can get some of their skills through something referred to as the ‘bleeding effect’. This will help Desmond stand up to the Templars in the present time and stop their plans for world domination.

While the game has been released on the consoles, the PC version of the game will see a release on October 26, in typical Ubisoft fashion. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game are available for Rs 2,799, and the PC version is set to cost Rs 999 when it launches. You can read our review of the PlayStation 3 version of the game here.