Assassin's Creed 3 Details Leak: Gameplay, Characters, Settings, Weapons And More Revealed

A ton of new Assassin's Creed 3 details have leaked all over the Internets, so we now know a lot about the game. The details are ripped from the April issue of Game Informer magazine, a digital version of which appeared online, and was posted on NEOGaf, as well as PS3Trophies.com, so this isn't officially released information on Assassin's Creed 3. But here's what we know... Spoilers, Ahoy:

• NEWS: Read Our Assassin's Creed 3 FAQ

The hero is named Connor/Ratohnhake:ton (pronounced Ra-doon-ha-gay-doo). He's half English and half Mohawk Indian. You will experience Connor's childhood on the frontier. The Mohawk clash with white colonists who burn their village down, causing Connor to dedicate his life to confronting tyranny and injustice. The overall story is still centered around the Assassins versus the Templars and Connor's journey.

• GALLERY: Assassin's Creed 3 screenshots revealed

The game is set between the years 1753-1783 around  Boston and New York. You'll meet George Washington -- one of the game's main characters -- as well as Ben Franklin, who is apparently not a "convenient inventor" like da Vinci in past Assassin's Creed games.  Another main character is the mysterious Charles Lee. We don't know anything about him at all.

Here are some of the events we can expect: "You will see the great fire of New York. You will visit Valley Forge as a location that is currently occupied by Washington's forces. You will visit these places in the moment that they were important."

A lot of the actual gameplay centers on The Frontier, a huge area of wilderness that is 1.5 times bigger than all of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. When in the frontier, you'll meet up with all kinds of gameplay elements, including hunting and pelt gathering (shades of Red Dead Redemption), and villages -- Colonial and Native American alike. The wilderness traversal plays a big part in the gameplay in the Frontier. You use trees, cliffs, ledges, and more to set up kills and combat. Connor does have a hidden blade.

The city scenes are more detailed than previous Assassin's Creed games, with full crowds of people doing different, mundane tasks, and the city seeming to react to players' actions.

• NEWS: Assassin's Creed 3 to be set in New York

Here are some nitty-gritty gameplay details:

Leveling System:

"Imagine a leveling system in an RPG, except there's a finite amount of XP to find. The more in-sync you get, the more you fill your sync bar. Within each mission, each activity you complete has a value". You can replay everything to increase your score.

There is reportedly something resembling the Brotherhood system of picking up fellow assassins. Aligned groups are gone, but something new is replacing them in regards to factions. There's a new notoriety system that is more hidden and doesn't penalize you for exploring risky areas. The game has fast travel because the game has more traveling. It's a huge map.

Multiplayer: No word yet on the multiplayer.

Combat:

• The tomahawk and knife are a "constant presence" in battle. They let you do double counters and multiple takedowns, as well as chain kills.

• There's no more target locking. Counter/defense are the same button to prevent defensive turtling.

• You can use human shields and other context sensitive moves.

• There are lots of secondary attacks like the one shot pistol on the Y button.

• There's a new dynamic camera to track the action and make it look as cinematic as possible.

• There is a new sprinting system also, so you can hold the button to instantly turn around and start fleeing from combat. They also let you kill people while still moving so you can keep chasing a target.

How's that for a comprehensive look at the game?  This coming Monday morning, you'll get your first real look at the game when the Assassin's Creed 3 trailer is released.