Instead of focusing only on cities and strongholds, Assassin's Creed 3 introduces battlefields as sites for assassinations. Clear lines are drawn between the amassing British and American forces, and with up to 2,500 characters rendered on screen at once, the game can give the impression of epic battles while the new assassin, Connor, does his work. Instead of just fighting for the Americans, Connor has to deal with targets in both armies as the manipulative Templars try to shape world events. Because of this, Connor has to navigate between both armies during and after the battles.
Connor is a vastly different character from the previous assassins Altair and Ezio, and his new history reflects the shift in the game's focus. Connor is half English and half Native American, and that duality fits the game's new settings. Boston and New York will serve as the main cities for Assassin's Creed 3, but "the frontier" will also play a major part, at least as much as the cities. The wild forests and battlegrounds of the American Revolution add a new and more natural aspect to gameplay in a series that previously focused on weaving through crowds in large, sprawling cities.
I watched Connor fight through the Battle of Bunker Hill, navigating past the American army and through the battlefield to break past the British lines and assassinate a commander. Dressed in white, he was ignored by the revolutionary army during the battle, making his way past the brush and through trees to reach the British troops. Tree climbing is a new mechanic in Assassin's Creed, and one that seemed as fast and intuitive as the parkour Altair and Ezio used in the previous games. Connor jumped from branch to branch, staying out of sight of the fighting troops below until he finally dropped down in front of a line of five British soldiers.
