In Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, you play as Aveline de Granpré, an assassin of mixed French and African heritage. Her assassination skills span multiple disciplines, and she is especially adept at manipulating the perceptions of others in order to move stealthily through all levels of 18th-century New Orleans society.

In order to understand Aveline’s talents, it helps to have an accurate picture of the world in which she lived. 18th century New Orleans was a tumultuous place, having just transitioned from Spanish to French occupation. People from all over the world and all walks of life interacted with one another on a daily basis in all sorts of capacities: rich landowners rubbed elbows with freshly imported colonists and wealthy merchants mingled with indentured servants. It was a roiling hodgepodge of nationalities, ideologies, religions, social castes and political affiliations — perhaps more so than any other part of the burgeoning United States.

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Last week, Ubisoft graciously offered members of the gaming media the first opportunity to go hands-on with Assassin’s Creed III for PS3 and Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, the upcoming PS Vita-bound chapter set against the backdrop of Spanish occupation in 18th-century Louisiana.

Both games, of course, demonstrated plenty of promise: ACIII for its Revolutionary War-era pomp and Skyrim-rivalling scale, ACIII: Liberation for its sultry new setting and uncanny attention to detail. But in the five days since the hands-on session, I’ve unexpectedly found myself reflecting more on my experiences with Liberation.

Seeing the series’ sprawling, hyper-detailed environments and fluid gameplay so faithfully recreated on PS Vita’s luminous 5” screen bordered on startling. Protagonist Aveline also struck me as an interesting character with unique motivations, and the game’s untapped 18th-century Louisiana setting seems like it could pay off in a big way.

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The frontier of Assassin’s Creed III offers an incredible bounty of wildlife for a skilled and dedicated hunter. The wilderness positively sprawls before Connor, ensuring that its boundless resources are always available. Adventure awaits beyond the protective city walls of Boston, and I’d like to give you a glimpse of a tiny fraction of what you can expect to find within the forests and glades of the frontier.

Let’s begin with the simpler game Connor can capture, and a few examples of how he can put them to use.

The animals pictured in the image above can be found roaming the countryside in AC3, and you’ll find them the easiest to catch. Hares, foxes, deer, raccoons and beavers shouldn’t present much danger to a canny trapper like Connor, but these animals (so frequently preyed upon by the larger predators) can be incredibly skittish and will bolt if they detect a human presence.
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Here at gamescom 2012, Ubisoft finally granted hands-on access to its newest assassin, Aveline, star of Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. In this video, story writer Richard Farrese walks us through some of the new features found in PS Vita‘s first entry in the series.

Liberation takes full advantage of the new Assassin’s Creed III game engine and its simplified control scheme. Gone are the days of leaning on the shoulder button and playing defense during encounters. Press Square for melee attacks, hold and release Triangle to aim and fire ranged weapons, Circle counters, X is used for block-breakers and other moves. It’s a bit of an adjustment to begin thinking offense first in an Assassin’s Creed game, but ultimately it’s likely to be seen as an improvement.

Ubisoft is taking advantage of Vita‘s touchscreen in logical ways: tapping the screen brings up a split weapon wheel where you can select melee weapons (machete, hidden blades) on the left and ranged weapons (blowgun, whip) on the right. Of note: with the whip equipped, Aveline improves her parkour abilities, latching onto structures much as Ezio used the hook blade in Assassin’s Creed Revelations. You may have seen a shot in the gamescom trailer showing Aveline paddling a canoe using the rear touch panel, though that’s entirely optional.

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The shadow war between the Templars and the Assassins spills from the gilded halls of Renaissance-era Europe to the rowdy seaports of the Thirteen Colonies this fall with Assassin’s Creed III, the highly anticipated PS3 threequel. The seismic shifts in geography and time period have introduced changes both large and small in combat, equipment, terrain traversal and more.

But the game’s most dramatic evolution lies in the form of its thrilling naval battles, first witnessed during PlayStation‘s E3 2012 press conference. But during Gamescom, I finally got a chance to control a massive warship for myself. I learned that guiding the craft was a deceptively simple affair, and largely dictated by the ship’s sail configuration. Full sail propels you along faster but limits your turning radius; a button tap drops you to half sail, reducing your speed but giving you nimbler handling and higher cannon accuracy.

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