Assassin's Creed III AI affected by changing seasons

Say goodbye to the eternal summers of past Assassin's Creed games.

A number of gameplay details for Assassin's Creed III have surfaced in a GameInformer feature on the game's environments.

One of the more interesting is that every location will be available in both summer and winter modes. NPC behaviour and available actions will vary depending on season, and paths will vary as ice and snow both block and open new paths.

Although snow can bog down NPCs, by taking to the trees, Connor cna move swiftly through icy terrains. this is particularly good news as the feature claims a good one-third of all gameplay will take place in the open world wilderness. Some gameplay will take place during Connor's youth as a boy in a Mohawk village.

Some of the game's characters are lightly detailed; Benjamin Franklin is one, but will not be doing much inventing, instead embroiled in the politics of the time. George Washington plays a central role of course, but Ubisoft want to show his historically-accurate indecisive side as well as the heroic one; Connor will meet with Washington regularly. Captured American leader Charles Lee will also be featured.

The feature also includes some slight details of New York and Boston as they appear in-game; it's not clear whether other towns and cities will be featured in game.

Assassin's Creed III is due on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in October, with a PC version expected to follow and a Wii U launch on the cards.