Yesterday Ubisoft released a trailer for Assassin's Creed 3 detailing the story of its main character Connor. What many gamers didn't know, though, is that there were two versions of the trailer, one of which was designed not to offend gamers in the United States.
The US version of the trailer, Kotaku notes, edits out a scene in which Connor slaughters a squad of American soldiers. You can see it in the below video at the 2:10 mark:
This scene shouldn't be surprising to anyone who's been following coverage of the game. As Ubisoft said, this game isn't simply about the American Revolution - it's about the covert, centuries-old war between the Assassins and Templars. While Connor seems to primarily side with the American revolutionaries, the fact is that the Continental Army has plenty of Templars within its own ranks. Nonetheless, Ubisoft chopped out the scene for the US trailer:
Ubisoft's self-censorship isn't all that surprising, either. They've made America's fight for independence the cornerstone of all of their previous trailers. Connor has killed dozens and dozens of British soldiers but we haven't seen him kill a single Continental Army soldier until now. They've white-washed Connor a bit, too. He seems like some sort of avenging angel of the American Revolution in the trailers but the fact is that his goals as an Assassin won't always align with those of the Revolution. Furthermore, his tribe's village was wiped out by the colonists he now fights alongside.
Why promote the game as black-and-white and pro-American? Well, it's a hell of a lot easier. I'd rather market the game as a stirring tribute to the American Revolution than the tale of a Native American reluctantly fighting for the freedom of a nation that wronged his people - even if the game is really closer to the latter.
That being said, a lot of people who are going to buy this game could care less. They want to be a dude in white who kills people with a tomahawk and wrist-blades; everything else is negotiable. All this posturing by Ubisoft just feels a bit pointless.
