Desmond FTW?

Those of you who felt Desmond Miles' story-arc was becoming stale with each passing entry, well, this may come as a pleasant surprise because Assassin's Creed 3 will be the modern-day protagonist's last outing.

At least that's what Ubisoft seems to have in mind. And it is looking like AC3 will reflect this...

Desmond, the New York's resident bartender was kidnapped by Abstergo back in Assassins Creed, the first game in the now mega-hit franchise, only to be used in order to possess the magical artifacts from the past.

From then on, he has seen his legendary bloodline in action and learn't from them. Be it Altair, Ezio or Connor, he is the protagonist from whom, these assassins have transcended. But it looks like this is the end of the road for Desmond. As saddened as we are to hear this, I can without-a-shadow-of-a-doubt say; I absolutely loved playing Desmond and this is one character I will remember for a long time to come.

Gamers and fans have, mostly from the very second outing, despised Desmond. Reasons may vary but they just didn't want a character who does absolutely nothing except for travelling, sleeping...a lot of sleeping, and ..some occasional flirting. When his ancestors are the one's who are taking the majority of your time, you tend to care less for Desmond and more for his legendary ancestors. I know very well how our own members feel; from the Assassin's Creed forums.

But why does Ubisoft want him out? Have they finally heard the gamers' voice? Not quite.

Alex Hutchinson, AC3's creative lead, thinks this decision will bode well for the series going forward. At a Ubisoft press event yesterday, he referred to Desmond's story as "a wrapper". You know what that means, right? His story was a stepping-stone for the bigger picture and after four games, this stone has long been crossed.

Alex put it this way," It's more like The Twilight Zone. There's always a guy introducing it and he's there every episode, but each game completes its own story. Assassin's Creed 1 was Altair's story. Ezio has been and gone. You can engage with these historical stories individually without having to necessarily understand Desmond's story. But yes, we eventually do have to wrap it up." So much on his thought about each game's pace, but what did he have to say about Assassin's Creed as a whole...

"I always pitched it to the guys on this game to think of it almost like Star Trek. Each game is a season, each big number is a sub-title. We're not changing the universe, but we're being given the reins to the equivalent of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yes, it's the Star Trek universe, and that has certain immutable laws and there's a base kind of tone to it, but within that you can do whatever you want." Nice comparison, that!

Now, another reason in Desmond's ouster is that he is holding back the new game, here AC3, from having an identity of it's own.

According to Hutchinson, everything in AC3; from the new setting, to the new gameplay mechanics, to the new protagonist, Connor, is an equivalent to "90% new game."

What's stopping them from going a "100%" ? I think you know by now. To prevent future games from going through this dilemma, Ubisoft came up with that. But is Desmond Miles that much of a hurdle? Will his death (this is the most obvious direction the game will take) give a new lease of life to a stagnanting franchise? I am a bit apprehensive, but GD will answer, at the right time.

GD'ers - I want to know your thoughts. Do you think removing Desmond from the AC series is good or bad?