Assassin’s Creed Liberation is a complementary experience to Assassin’s Creed 3. However, just because its on a smaller system doesn’t mean it doesn’t pack a punch.
Liberation is set in the same time period as AC3, but from an entirely different perspective. During this period of history, Louisiana was controlled by the French, although Spain was attempting to nab it for themselves. This game will primarily focus on what America was like before the Revolution. You’ll play as Aveline, a female assassin who is French African. Her reasons for fighting are very compelling; she protects civilians, battles against injustice, and is an all out opponent against slavery.
Liberation shares basically the same engine that is powering its bigger sibling. For example, the tree running, combat mechanics and graphics are not only on par with Assassin’s Creed 3, but they are in many cases more impressive, partly due to the fact that the Vita is such a small machine. This game even has real time cinematics. Plus, Liberation features a huge open world, side missions and anything else you’d expect from a full fledged Assassin’s Creed game. The only difference is that Liberation’s missions are tailored for the mobile audience; they will be shorter to accommodate subway rides and trips to the store, but they will still be packed with action and adventure. In fact, Liberation will take about 15-20 hours to complete, and that is if you rush through it.
As with many games nowadays, Liberation supports multiple play styles. You can go stealthy, full action or a mix between the two. Aveline has several new weapons at her disposal, such as the machete, blowpipe and duel pistols. Liberation’s combat appears to be extremely smooth and well suited to the Vita’s controls. In fact, it uses the exact same control scheme as AC3 during the majority of gameplay. Ubisoft will only be using the touch screen and camera on the Vita to accentuate the gameplay where it makes sense. For example, once you’ve built up a special meter you can mark enemies, similar to Splinter Cell Conviction, and then take them out with one tap in a single incredible choreographed flurry of mayhem.
As Ubisoft says, this is no mere port. It is designed purely for the Vita and is meant to take on AC3 as an equal.
The official website for Assassin’s Creed Liberation can be found here.
