In this, the fifth chapter of the Assassin's Creed franchise, the setting moves across the ocean to North America and focuses on a brand new hero, Connor, an American Indian. While the character and the environment will be new to fans of the franchise, Ubisoft has created an engaging journey into the American Indian culture against the backdrop of one of the most tumultuous times in its history: the American Revolution.
The story, once again, focuses on the series protagonist, Desmond, who enters a machine called the 'Animus' to relive the lives of his assassin ancestors. Through accessing their memories, Desmond tries to fulfil his destiny of fighting the evil Templars, and ultimately, saving the world.
The story now moves to the Native American, Connor, as he attempts to find the location of an ancient technology that will help Desmond save the world. Connor's journey takes place in the late 1700s, in Boston and New York, at the start of the American Revolution. While he has enemies on both sides, Connor finds himself on the side of the rebels doing everything he can to protect his people and culture. The story and dialogue are well written, with an incredible amount of effort put into historical accuracy of the American Indian culture.
Each chapter of the story focuses on Connor as he stalks and then kills a high-profile Templar target with the aim of getting closer to the truth. In between these story missions, Connor can recruit new assassins to his cause, chase down collectables, build up his homestead, and even partake in naval battles.
The game provides a sense of freedom and ability to explore a massive open-world environment. The one criticism I have is that once Connor is engaged in a mission, the game is quite limiting and places very tight boundaries on the objective. Straying too far immediately ends the game.
Gameplay remains largely the same. The strength of the game lies in the parkour style movement and combat, which has been improved significantly from the previous game. Connor can easily scale large buildings and leap seamlessly between rooftops. In combat, baddies attack one at a time and are easily dispatched using a parry-and-counter combat style. While there are new weapons, including an axe and more guns, those familiar with controls from the previous game should pick this up easily.
The multiplayer has also been slightly improved. Wolf Pack, a co-operative mode, requires a team of assassins to work together to kill targeted NPCs. Also, the traditional Assassinate mode asks the player to search for and stalk another online player in a crowd, while also being stalked. The game is incredibly tense and very enjoyable. It also unlocks a separate Animus story and is definitely worth the time.
Overall, this game plays and feels like a typical Assassin's Creed title. The story is deeply engaging and the change in environment and main character keeps the story feeling fresh. Finally, refinements and additions to the gameplay are just enough to keep fans interested. It is a worthy successor to the franchise.
Share