“I cannot tell a lie, it’s good to be the king.”
If you’ve played the Assassin’s Creed series, then you already know that Ubisoft takes the occasional liberty with its historical figures. For the most part, this is a necessary compromise between an accurate representation of real individuals and the assassination-focused story Ubisoft wanted to tell. On the other hand, Ubisoft apparently has no problem jumping headlong into outrageous and insane alternate history scenarios when it comes to DLC. Case in point: The Tyranny of King George Washington, a single-player DLC campaign presenting America’s first President as a power-mad monarch who oppresses the colonies that he once sought to free.
“History is our playground,” said Executive Producer Sebastien Puel, “and AC teams have always loved playing with historical facts and their consequences as a way to better understand a time period … While Assassin’s Creed III concentrates on history as it happens, we wanted to take some liberties with this DLC and tell you how things ‘could have happened.'”
The King Washington campaign, released episodically in three DLC packs, will detail an alternate ending to the events of Assassin’s Creed III. After defeating the British and gaining independence (spoiler alert!), Washington establishes himself as America’s king to quickly secure the future of the Thirteen Colonies. Once Washington inevitably becomes the very tyrant he once would have opposed, it’s up to Connor to don an assassin’s hood and lead a new rebellion against his former ally.
The concept is incredibly silly, but the more I think about it, the more I suspect it could be just what the franchise needs. Assassin’s Creed II‘s annual sequels may have given Ubisoft the funding to make its latest game, but they didn’t exactly break a lot of new ground either. An alternate history DLC campaign sounds like a fun way to experiment with the usual Assassin’s Creed formula, and Ubisoft may sell a few more copies of its new game in the process. More importantly, if The Tyranny of King George Washington is successful, it might encourage Ubisoft to experiment further in the Assassin’s Creed universe. I’m predicting a DLC campaign in which Connor teams up with Teddy Roosevelt to defeat Mecha-Hitler. In space.
Assassin’s Creed III will launch on October 30th for PlayStation 3 and XBox 360, and in November for PC and Wii U platforms. The Tyranny of King George Washington will be included in an Assassin’s Creed III Season Pass within six months of release.
Source: Joystiq
