Assassins Creed 3 Pro-American Bias

As interest mounts for the upcoming Assassins Creed 3, Ubisoft reveal more details and features for this latest chapter in the saga.

While much of what we’ve seen so far has been based out in the frontier, a new trailer highlights the more traditional urban settings that the franchise has used in the past, as well as a number of clever little gameplay features…

Boston and New York have been announced as two major centres to star in the game, and creative director Alex Hutchinson explains that Boston was faithfully recreated using eighteenth-century maps of the area for the sake of authenticity. Connor is up to the usual tricks of an AC assassin, dragging unsuspecting victims into a haystack, but this time it’s a haystack in a cart, in motion.

Other tricks include a cover system; a flowing, graceful dual-weapon fighting style and what appears to be a robust stealth engine. Oh, and about a gazillion assassination takedowns.

And that’s what seems to have people talking: not the technical advances and gameplay dynamics on show, but the fact that, despite Ubisoft’s insistence that the shadow war between the Assassins and the Templars is politics-neutral, each and every trailer so far has shown Connor sticking it to the Redcoats rather than the rebels.

Screams of “Historical inaccuracy” and “Pro-American bias” are met with inevitable retorts of “It’s only a game”, but is it a games designer’s responsibility to present a balanced view of history? The aforementioned authentic maps and the clear attention to detail show that Ubi are keen to present a well-researched and immersive world, and the main character’s mixed heritage would seem to suggest that they’re also pretty secure embroiling the player in the social and political questions of the day.

Assassin’s Creed 3 carries an 18 certificate, so hopefully audiences will be mature enough to take into account that it’s a work of entertainment rather than a groundwork in American history. But for some, particularly outside the USA, knowledge of the Revolutionary War may be scant. So should Ubi be praised for bringing this area of history to a wider audience? Should they have a responsibility to deliver the background in a politically sensitive and balanced way?

We’d love to know what you think about this. Let us know in the comments box below.