ASSASSIN’S CREED III INVITES PLAYERS TO EXPERIENCE THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION THROUGH THE EYES OF A NEW ASSASSIN, CONNOR.

Designed from the ground up over more than two years, Assassin’s Creed III takes one of gaming’s most beloved franchises to new heights.

The year is 1775. The American colonies are about to revolt. You are Connor, an assassin who has sworn to secure liberty for his people and his nation. To do so, you will hunt your enemies across a staggeringly large, open, and realistic world. You will unleash your lethal skills in a violent quest that will take you from chaotic city streets to blood-soaked battlefields in the hostile American wilderness and beyond. You will meet legendary heroes of American history, and together you will conspire to annihilate those who threaten Liberty itself.

Whether you use your predatory instincts to kill silently, or your fearsome arsenal to kill openly, one thing is clear: the world that the Assassins live in has become far more deadly. And so have you.

– assassinscreed.com

By Steve Farnham, Associate Editor, All Habs Hockey Magazine

MONTREAL, QC. — On Tuesday, All Habs had the honor of being invited to an event at New City Gas, where the Ubisoft Montreal development team held a launch party for the Assassin’s Creed® III video game, the latest in a series of video games published by Ubisoft.

The night began with a press conference to announce a partnership with Montreal Canadiens’ locked out goaltender, Carey Price.

A contest, in collaboration with The Sports Network (TSN) and Réseau des Sports (RDS), will give gamers and hockey fans the chance to vote for their favorite Assassin’s Creed III-themed mask among the three models carefully designed by the Ubisoft Montreal development team. The mask who receives the most votes at the end of the voting period will be replicated 31 times and auctioned off on Hockey Helps. The highest bidder among all 31 auctions will get to meet Carey Price. All proceeds will be donated to different charities across the country, carefully selected by Ubisoft and Carey Price. (Read more on the press conference here)

Following the press conference, we were not only treated to some hors d’oeuvres, but also an open bar. I repeat, I was sent to cover an event where I had access to an open bar.  I love this job. I also love Coronas. Don’t worry @All_Habs, I only had two.

Corona in hand, and waiting for the Ubisoft executive to address the crowd, I had the chance to have a front row seat to TSN’s Cabbie Richards, interviewing Carey Price. The interview centered around the game and the charity, but produced quite a funny scene as Cabbie demonstrated his “attack moves”, just before Carey pulled out a sword.

Cabbie Richards vs. Carey Price

After Cabbie suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Carey, who was clearly the better assassin of the two, the charity helmets were showcased again.

Charity Masks

Carey shook the hands of a few fans before going backstage, to later return accompanied by Brian Gionta, Josh Gorges, Travis Moen and David Desharnais. After a short yet quite impressive video scene from the game, the Ubisoft Montreal executive took the stage, led by Luc Duchaine, Director of Communications for Ubisoft Montreal.

“After launches in Paris, Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Toronto, it’s with great pleasure that we are here tonight with the Assassin’s Creed® III development team to launch this great game.” said Luc Duchaine, in front of a cheerful crowd of Ubisoft employees. “There is so much anticipation for this game that we have not only surpassed, but doubled the record for number of preorders, for any Ubisoft game,” he also went on to say.

Producer Francois Pelland then  spoke to the employees and congratulated them for the impressive reviews the game has already been receiving.  Creative Director Alex Hutchinson  finished off, thanking the employees for all of their hard work in the past three years working on this game, and his humoristic approach received quite a few laughs from his fellow colleagues.

The group ended the on-stage presentation by showing a very impressive employee recognition video, featuring every single employee that participated in the creation of the game.  Lastly two Montreal Canadiens jerseys were raffled off, and then I was left alone, with my open bar.

I left the event feeling two things, three actually.

1. As a gamer who hadn’t intended on getting this game, I am now very seriously considering it. The videos they presented us with were quite impressive, and I’m curious to see the difference in gameplay with their new Anvil Next engine, which they say provides you with, “stunning breakthroughs in motion-capture, animation, and AI technology, which deliver more realistic character animations and interactions than ever before.”
2. The employees of the Ubisoft Montreal Development team appear to be a very tight-knitted group, and having spent the night with them, I can say they appeared to me much more as a family than a group of employees.
3. I like open bars. (Okay, maybe I had three, or four.)

Montreal Canadiens’ Jersey Raffle Winners
VIDEO: Assassin’s Creed® III
VIDEO: Ubisoft Employee Recognition

I apologize for the quality of the previous videos, the cameraman had a few coronas, five I think. Finally, spotted in the crowd was a Hartford Whalers’ fan and a dude in a kilt:

Spotted in the Crowd
Carey Price with Travis Moen, Josh Gorges, David Desharnais and Brian Gionta

For more information on the game, visit assassinscreed.com.