Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation (HD)

Overview

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation stars a female assassin by the name of Aveline de Grandpré who is of French & African heritage. The story takes place during 1765 and 1780 in the period between the end of the French and Indian war up to the middle of the American Revolution. The game will feature multiplayer "tailored specifically to the Vita experience."

The game can be linked with the Playstation 3 version of Assassin's Creed III to unlock new and exclusive content. Exclusive content will include the tomahawk of Connor Kenway, the protagonist of Assassin's Creed III, a character skin, a multiplayer character and all ammunition pouches being upgraded.

Although Liberation was labelled as a companion piece to Assassin's Creed III, this was done purely for marketing purposes, and the game is very deliberately written to be completely unrelated to the previous games in the franchise. As such, the player will not be exploring the ancestral memories of Desmond Miles. Instead the game will feature a historical simulation that has been altered by the Templars to make themselves look like the good guys. By identifying and assassinating people who have been added by the Templars, the player can then disrupt the simulation and uncover the true course of events.

HD Version

Almost a year after the game's Vita release, on Sept. 10th 2013, an HD version of the game was announced for digital platforms on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. This version will include 15 new missions tailored specifically to Aveline's three personas (Assassin, Lady, and Slave).

This HD version was also included with Assassin's Creed III Remastered, which was later released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in 2019.

Plot

Aveline de Grandpré is a byproduct of a wealthy French father and a free African slave during the 18th century in New Orleans. At an early age, Aveline was separated from her mother while chasing a chicken and never saw her again, while narrowly escaping a slave auction from which she was rescued by her mentor, escaped slave Agaté. Years later, she is found to be defending herself from a group of guards and returns to her father's Bruce Wayne-esque manor secretly through the second floor to change into more appropriate garb.

Her family is partially responsible for naval trading in the Caribbean and the east coast of America during Revolutionary times between 1765 and 1780, but usually leaves the business in the hands of her friend and ally Gerald Blanc.

Throughout the game, Aveline traverses through the port town of New Orleans, its swampy, alligator-filled Bayou, and the ruins of Chichen Itza to protect the Prophecy Disk and find the identity of "The Company Man" and stop him once and for all.

Gameplay

Liberation's gameplay is very similar to that of the other games in the franchise, placing a light emphasis on stealth and moving through the city unnoticed and accomplishing your task as quickly, and quietly should the player choose to be, as possible. A new addition to the franchise is the use of personas to accomplish certain tasks through charm, brute force, or under the guise of low social standing, among other things.

Personas

Lady

• Con: Restricted movement (no freerunning or sprinting)
• Con: Extremely Limited use of offensive weaponry (primarily restricted to the Assassin hidden blades)
• Pro: Exclusive use of a special parasol dart gun
• Pro: Ability to charm others so they can follow and protect Aveline when the need arises

Assassin

• Pro: Increased health pool from armoured clothing
• Pro: Full range of offensive weaponry, similar to that of a fully upgraded Ezio or Connor
• Con: As a well-armed black woman is considered suspicious in and of itself in the era, the player is always on 'Notoriety level 1' meaning guards will always detect Aveline and investigate when she stays in an area for too long.

Slave

• Pro: Ability to incite riots to provide a distraction
• Pro: Loses guard focus faster than other guises, as slaves are considered 'invisible' to the masses
• Slightly limited range of offensive weaponry, though not nearly as much as the Lady
• Con: Notoriety increases faster than other personas, as a slave acting up stands out more
• Con: Health pool similar to that of the Lady persona

Minigames

Not unlike other big franchise games coming to the PlayStation Vita, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation uses the handheld's numerous touchscreens and its gyroscope to their full advantage by the inclusion of extremely forced-in creative minigames for activities such as:

• Tearing open a letter
• Holding up a piece of paper to a bright light to locate treasure
• Tilting a maze puzzle similar to those in Labyrinth

PS Vita Bundle

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation will be bundled with a PS Vita game system at launch for a limited time. The bundle retails for $249.99 (US) and includes:

• An exclusive white-colored PlayStation Vita
• A copy of Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
• 4 GB memory card

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Winifred Phillips, and released in October 2012 by Ubiosoft Music.

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation - Original Game Soundtrack (Winifred Phillips)