Wed, May 09, 2012 | 01:38 BST
Assassin’s Creed III “not about America ra ra”
The America of Assassin’s Creed III is a very different nation from the one you might have expected to see. For one thing, it’s England.
As part of its dedication to historical accuracy, Ubisoft Montreal is going to keep its distance from the stars-and-stripes patriotism which is often found in media focused on the country’s history.
“The truth of the matter is that America didn’t exist until 1783 and that’s when our game ends,” lead writer Matt Turner told OPM UK.
Prior to this date, the old world viewed America as a colony, and the battles fought there were part of a “civil war on foreign soil”. Protagonist Connor belongs to neither faction of the revolution, instead tackling the Templars, sworn enemies of the assassins, which draws some interesting parallels with the historical role of Native Americans in the war.
“At that point it’s not about American or English; it’s about English and English and that’s something we want to be very clear on,” Turner noted.
“It’s not about America ra ra, it’s about freedom and community and about how people are treated in that kind of a situation. And how they want to find their own identity. I think that’s something that’s universal to anybody.”
Explicitly detailing America’s colonist history may not be the most popular move, at home or elsewhere, but Ubisoft Montreal isn’t afraid to tackle uncomfortable issues – like slavery.
“It’s something we’ve been very aware of. Everybody had slaves at that point; the first groups who rallied around emancipation didn’t come around until 1787,” Turner said.
“That was very much after our game and slavery was maintained in culture. We feel that kind of a subject deserves a certain amount attention because it’s so serious and it needs to be treated with utmost respect. We’re definitely not going to shy away from it in terms of not showing it.”
That said, it’s not the central focus of the game’s narrative.
“We’re going to show what was there and what people did in that time but we want to be careful with how that’s covered and how much of it is there. It’s an important topic. We won’t be afraid to show that it’s there but we’re not going make it the focus of our game,” Turner concluded.
Assassin’s Creed III is due on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in late October, with a Wii U version undated.
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Posted in: Action, Adventure, PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tags: assassin's creed 3, assassin's creed III, matt turner, ubisoft montreal
8 comments
#1
TheWulf
09/05/12, 1:54 am
Pleased to hear that, really. Hrmn… this might actually turn out to be quite interesting after all.
#2
Fnoros
09/05/12, 2:45 am
Yeah, the fact that all the trailers end with the new main character standing in front of a giant waving american flag is just a HUGE coincidence.
#3
shogoz
09/05/12, 6:06 am
“Explicitly detailing America’s colonist history may not be the most popular move, at home or elsewhere, but Ubisoft Montreal isn’t afraid to tackle uncomfortable issues – like slavery.” its ok for america to make games set on invading everybody elses country and making other countries look bad but theirs. all the time you see racist and stereotypical commments in american movies such as asians having small penises and theres always a stereotypical way they view england and australia. however, i dont think theres any shit out there that makes them look bad other than whats heard about in the news. oh well, i cant wait for a shoot-em-up like cod to come out where i can fly to america and go kill americans. my commercial would feature everyone from every other country laughing and showing how easy it would be like in the COD commercial
#4
Ali Hayas
09/05/12, 6:15 am
Here is a question I have always wanted to ask, if some Arabic studio located in Morocco, got enough funding and designed a game where you play as an Iraqi teenager trying to free his countr from the American and Iranians which includes killing them and throwing jokes about them, would you buy it ? Keep in mind it is supposed to be AAA game.
Some games are filled with racism … Not Hollywood’s level of racism but still…
#5
X201
09/05/12, 9:35 am
“At that point it’s not about American or English; it’s about English and English and that’s something we want to be very clear on,” Turner noted.
Is that the sound of PR bull I here stampeding uncontrollably?
You can’t come out with a statement like that and expect people to believe you after all of your promotional material has the main character in a heroic pose in front of the early version of the Star and Stripes, and your launch trailer has him killing British soldiers whilst Washington does his courageous battle speech.
As others have said, I would have more respect for Ubi and be able to take the artistic direction/story of this game, If for one second I suspected that they had the balls to portray America as the baddies in another title. I very much doubt they have.
This is the third or fourth interview I’ve now seen trying to emphasise the main character’s neutrality, it shows that they are worried about the game’s content and its perception in the UK. Its a problem of your own making Ubi.
#6
DSB
09/05/12, 2:42 pm
Not to mention the fact that the different tribes quite clearly did distinguish between Euro-English and colonists.
I’m not sure I’d get too hung up on the flag though. I mean it was the violent birth of a new country.
If they put a liberty bell up there, or tea being tossed off a vessel, or a colonist dressed like an indian, or Paul Reveres horse then the image wouldn’t make any sense to most people.
I do think a lot of Americans would be flattered by how much you hate seeing their flag though. They really couldn’t give less of a fuck about yours.
#7
X201
10/05/12, 9:14 am
My point wasn’t *about* the flag. It was using it as a comparison to Ubisoft’s persistent “It not about Brit-bashing” line.
Ubisoft keep stating that the character is neutral and is against both sides, yet every piece of artwork and video released so far fails to back that claim up.
#8
Cobra951
10/05/12, 1:49 pm
1783? I seem to remember a big bicentennial celebration in 1976. (Yep. I’m that old.) Is my brain rotting already? Let me check some history . . . Yep! I was right. America’s declaration of independence was a fact in 1776, which is 7 years before 1783. What’s your problem, Montreal? Qu’est-ce que c’est?