Five Things We’d Like To See With Assassin’s Creed 3

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is a perfect example of a great game getting better. After the dismal original, Assassin’s Creed 2 stepped up to the plate and knocked one out of the park. So great was the success of Assassin’s Creed 2 that many were surprised by the announcement of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, a move many felt would make for a weaker gamer.

To the surprise of everyone, not only was Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood good, it was fantastic. Taking nearly every element of its predecessors and making them better, Brotherhood was one of the best games of 2010, pseudosequel be damned. Unfortunately, it has got AC fans biting at the bit for more in the franchise, with many asking for the next proper title, Assassin’s Creed 3.

We are major fans of the franchise here at GameZone, and after some time dwelling on “what could be,” we’ve picked out five areas that Assassin’s Creed 3 needs to improve to keep this franchise on the right track.

Set it in a New Era
This one is practically a given, as we all know that the Renaissance era is played out. Ezio is now a beloved character, full of interesting and compelling characteristics, but after two games, the guy feels tired. While Brotherhood is an outstanding game, it is with good reason that Ubisoft didn’t title Assassins’ Creed: Brotherhood “Assassin’s Creed 3.” From the very beginning, Ubisoft has made it clear that each numbered Assassin’s Creed game would take place in a different period of history.

This has been one of the most charming elements of the series. Seeing how the writers are able to take a time period thematically alien to the rest of the series and making it match is a strength that no other videogame series can match. They’d be crazy to not exploit it. Now, it would probably be a little silly to try and tell Ubisoft what eras they should go to next. Much speculation has pointed toward Revolution-era France, Victorian England, Shogun Japan, and even ancient Egypt, however Ubisoft could easily surprise everyone, much like how they did with the Renaissance Italy of AC: 2. Heck, maybe even make the new lead female and non-white. Mix things up, Ubisoft.

No matter what, the new era needs to fit the parkour-esque climbing of the franchise. It needs to easily use the hidden blade and stealth weapons, and it needs to smartly utilize the multiplayer mode. There are plenty of things Ubisoft can do, and a new era is just the beginning.

Address Desmond
There are some major issues with Desmond. The direct descendent of both Ezio and Altair, Desmond has all of their abilities innately inside him. Across the three games, we’ve been hinted at his true nature, but for the most part he’s been a vessel in which Ubisoft is able to go to different areas. While this has served the company well, the character of Desmond is bland and boring, lacking a very compelling reason to be around.

Ubisoft just needs to make some strides in the contemporary storyline taking place in 2012. The end of Brotherhood made some substantial story jumps, but Assassin’s Creed 3 will need to spend some substantial time explaining exactly what in the world happened. Additionally, the characters of Shaun, Rebecca and Lucy need to be expanded upon, as they serve little to bring richness to the story. Lucy holds some major promise, and any modern elements in Assassin’s Creed 3 would be wise to answer some questions right away. A good solution would be to allow the player to actually complete some missions as Desmond. Brotherhood started this, with some free-running moments in Brotherhood, but these lacked the oomph of the Italian moments. Make the Desmond moments substantial, and let them actually mean something to the broader storyline.

Build on Multiplayer
Ubisoft hit it out of the park with the multiplayer mode of Brotherhood. By building on the idea of assassinating other players, Ubisoft built a game mode that rewards thoughtful ganking of other players. Rewarding players for slowly and thoughtfully making kills, this is one multiplayer experience that undulates between thrilling chases and subtly kills. Sure, maybe things like lock on could be tightened up, but all in all multiplayer in Brotherhood is a fantastic start to hopefully a new genre of stealth multiplayer games.

Even better, Ubisoft has been on the ball with content, incorporating new modes to keep the game fresh in free DLC. However, the game shines the most when it works in modes that are specific to the Assassin’s Creed franchise. With any new Assassin’s Creed game, more content, more characters, and more modes should certainly be included. Also, Ubisoft needs to be careful to not kill what works. Anyone who has spent much time with the multiplayer modes in early Splinter Cell games, only to see those modes dropped in later titles know that Ubisoft is not afraid to drop support of a game mode when it’s just picking up.

One area that the multiplayer could go is in a co-operative direction. Instead of players just going at each other, incorporation of secondary assassins in the single player game. Imagine more than just a single ancestor of Desmond running around, but a whole squad of assassin’s making sure justice is served. Another option would be to tear a page out of GTA IV and make the whole world of Assassin’s Creed 3 open, and let players run around together. Offer multiplayer races, chases, assassination races, and stealth missions built specifically around multiplayer, and Assassin’s Creed 3 would be golden.

Multiplayer would also be a good opportunity for Ubisoft to play around with new locations. For example, Ubisoft unlocked an area in multiplayer, Mont Saint-Michel of France, and this is an area that has never been in the Assassin’s Creed world before. Multiplayer levels can be much more playful and original than the realms of the single player, allowing players to visit and see regions in a certain time period that may not be able to be incorporated in the single player. Ultimately, no matter where Ubisoft goes with the franchise, they’ve set up an incredibly compelling multiplayer mode that only deserves even more attention.

Build on the Conspiracy Theory Puzzles
One area of the game that many overlook are the secret Clusters hidden around the worlds of the animus. Left behind by Subject 16, these incredibly difficult logic and picture puzzles not only broke up the gameplay of the series, it also allowed the writers to go crazy with their most outlandish story ideas.

Incorporating contemporary events (Brotherhood even referenced Miley Cyrus, Sarah Palin and the Deep Water Horizon oil spill), these puzzles made scathing implications on current politicians, judges, and media moguls as high level Templar members, warping and twisting technology to keep the masses underfoot. Sure, it all required plenty of time spent on a Assassin’s Creed Wikia page to even begin to understand and tease apart, but they prove to be very satisfying. Unlike other games, these conspiracy puzzles actually reward players for knowledge of real-world history and current events. Being a well read human being is an advantage here.

What Ubisoft needs to to bring these elements forward. Right now, players have to specifically search for these elements. Should Ubisoft make their conspiracies more overt, or make the conspiracies even more rewarding, more and more players could see what is really one of the most progressive and scathing bits of political commentary in videogames. Something like that should not be hidden, and if it causes players to show some interest in real-world events, rock on.

Make the Assassin’s Guild More Useful
One of the best elements introduced in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is the addition of the Assassin Guild. Up to twelve Roman citizens could be incorporated into Ezio’s guild, and they served two major purposes. One, they could be sent away on unseen missions to other parts of the world, and second, they could be called in to assist Ezio take down some baddies. Both prove very satisfying.

First, it would be nice if Ubisoft built on the missions that the assassins would go upon. While the text descriptions are nice, they don’t really do much except level up the assassins. If there were a mini-game, or if sending out assassins on specific missions offered them specific rewards, there would be an even stronger incentive to fulfill those side-missions. Also, bringing some personality to the assassins, or making them even more customizable would be appreciated, and knowing exactly which assassin you can call at any time would be very interesting.

An even better usage of the assassin’s would be to allow other players to join in as one of these secondary assassins. Imagine leaping around the roof tops of some city, chased by soldiers, only to be saved by a friend. Incorporating cooperative play into the single player would be a fantastic step in the right direction for the franchise. Like I said before, bringing multiplayer into the single-player could offer plenty of new gameplay modes.

Making Building and Buying Worthwhile
Introduced in Assassin’s Creed 2, players were able to invest into Ezio’s hometown of Monteriggioni and Rome in Brotherhood. By investing in new buildings, artwork and more, players were able to earn plenty of cash to buy better and nicer weapons. Of course, it wasn’t a perfect system. After a certain point, players will be earning so much money that the only thing they can spend it on is…more buildings. It’s a cycle that doesn’t really stop, and the weakness is that money ultimately becomes useless. Besides, the best equipment and items are all earned for free anyways, so while buying buildings is enjoyable, there really isn’t much of a point to it.

We can see that Ubisoft is starting to refine this idea with Brotherhood. Certain buildings included thieve, courtesan and mercenary guilds, which have a physical impact on the land by bringing more of those NPCs into the area. What constitutes a purchase, however, needs to be expanded upon. Players need more of an incentive to purchase real world locations. For example, the purchase of the Colloseum results in almost zero benefits. Maybe the future Assassin’s Creed star can purchase property, and place his own object there, such as a new store or landmark type. Or, maybe they can buy a gambling den and earn minigames to play in the off hours of the game. Perhaps there will be farming mechanics, or horse racing, or something, anything to make the building purchases more worthwhile. There is a lot that Ubisoft can do with these facets of the game and make them more impactful by the end.