If the crowd at Sony’s E3 2012 press conference was anything to go by, the console maker had one of the best shows in recent memory. There were cheers and applause all around for the company’s PlayStation 3 games, from Naughty Dog’s Last of Us to the surprise announcement of the show, J.K. Rowling’s Book of Spells from the Harry Potter universe. Keen observers may have noticed however that the company was strangely mum on the subject of PlayStation Vita. In fact, only one brand new title for the portable was announced. At least it was a doozy though: Ubisoft is making Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, a new exclusive for the system.
Borrowing a page from this fall’s Assassin’s Creed III, Liberation takes place in the back half of the 18th century, albeit far from the Caribbean and American northeastern settings of the console game. Liberation takes place in New Orleans and stars Aveline de Grandpre, a woman assassin which is a first for the series.
The brief trailer of the game didn’t delve deeply into the story of the new handheld title, only confirming that it would share the full open world format of the console titles as well as a multiplayer component. There are some hints however as Liberation’s lead isn’t wearing the characteristic cowl that Miles and his ancestors Connor, Ezio, and Altair sport.
Unfortunately Liberation players won’t be engaging in multiplayer matches with Assassin’s Creed 3 players. Sony did confirm that owners of both games would unlock additional content for both titles by linking save files together, but that’s it for the Vita to Playstation 3 “Cross Play” content.
Liberation is the marquee title for Vita this holiday season based on Sony’s E3 2012 show. The game will be bundled with a white PlayStation Vita when it comes out on Oct. 30. Vita content may still be scarce, but this at least is a promising game.
