Assasins Creed 3 E3 Frontier Gameplay Commentary

[Thagarr]

I just ran across this Youtube video showing some gamplay footage and a bit more of the AC3 story line. I must say, the game does look very impressive, unfortunately there isn't any naval action in this one. The commentary is provided by creative director, Alex Hutchinson.

 

[harrydoodah]

This game looks fantastically dynamic. I am more than looking forward to the incredible naval game-play. After spending a good 1-2 hours of watching interviews with the game producers and creators, I have come to a good sturdy conclusion that naval game-play is completely free roam, and is not locked on to particular missions.

One particular interview said they have completely mapped out the whole of the Caribbean for a handsome float about when ever you like. Also both main cities are Boston and New York, which hold ports. My conclusion, is that these ports are the interface between land game-play and naval for a switch over at your disposal. Also I watched some great live action videos showing how Connor can navigate around the ship including climbing the rigging, going below deck Etc.

Another interesting aspect is the grapple and boarding. No boarding game-play has been released on film, but it was mentioned that the fight is dynamic such as the fighting on that video ^. I guess you can only conclude this will allow you to steal treasures from the enemy ship. However I don't think you can hijack the ship, which would be incredible, but I believe Connor remains on his ship, The "Aquila" for the entire game.

Talking of which, last bit of information, one interview leaked how you can upgrade your ship. For all I know at the moment this includes your ships plating (Like copper), amount of cannons, and cannon-fire (Chain-shot, Grape.. Etc.), Crew members (Bosun, first-mate).

To conclude I'm ENTIRELY looking forward to this game! And maybe, just maybe the shock and excitement of users who are so interested in this brand new naval game-play on the Assassins Creed sequel, might just entice larger mainstream developers to bring out a massive game reflecting exactly what we've seen here. God bless ye scurvy dawgs!

 

[Thagarr]

Thanks for the info mate, much appreciated! I haven't had a lot of free time to look stuff up lately. The free roam stuff sounds fantastic, and I am really looking forward to actually seeing some boarding sequences!

I really hope you are correct mate, and the big developers get a clue. In the first E3 video showing the naval combat, at the end, that eruption of applause from the crowd is hopefully that is something that a lot of game developers noticed as well. I can think of very few reactions to gameplay footage that were that enthusiastic.

 

[harrydoodah]

Ahh your welcome! Indeed, the applause was quite exciting. The release of the naval game-play concept completely threw all the audience at E3, and because of that, AC3 was rated amongst the top of all the games in the whole event. Now if that doesn't open a keen eye of a sudden need for pirate games and RPG style sailing, then I have no clue what will! But to say at the least, I'm sure many many more gamers have built a new love for this style of game after that unexpected surprise. Maybe the industry might use that to their advantage!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I do like the sound of that, harrydoodah! Sounds like pretty much the sort of gameplay I'd like to see worked into a pirate RPG. Too bad you won't be able to sail different ships, but I suppose with the level of interaction between the player and the ship, that would be a LOT more work and outside the scope of intent for that particular game.

The best hope we've got is that they either allow substantial modding to their game or see the interest in that aspect of the game and build on their work to create a proper seafaring game at a later time. They've got the makings of a great game and the applause on the video, as well as the comment section on YouTube indicate that there IS interest in that. If combined with exciting movie-like scenes, I suspect there would even be interest from younger audiences.