How Metal Gear Solid 2 inspired Assassin's Creed 3

In my review of Assassin's Creed 3, I alluded to "that twist!" It's rare to be caught so off-guard in such a big-budget game, but Ubisoft managed to keep its big AC3 secret secret.

For some, the switcheroo of AC3 is reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid 2--and that's something Ubisoft actually wanted to capitalize on. In the PS2 classic, Hideo Kojima and company managed to hide the existence of another character during the game's pre-release marketing. Raiden would live on to infamy in the gaming community--and AC3 lead scriptwriter Corey May was inspired by that tactic.

"That was a very important moment for me, it's something I still remember to this day," May told Ars Technica.

Some may feel duped by the game's deception. In the days following the game's launch, it wasn't uncommon to see complaints that Ubisoft's big secret wasn't what they wanted from the game. However, May thinks that the secret doesn't go against the spirit of the game. "I felt secure in keeping the secret in that the game itself wasn't different from the trailers, it's that there was this significant additional content that was being kept a secret, not that the actual premise or content of the game itself was different than what had been advertised," he said.

While we'd love to go into more detail about the game's big twist, that will have to wait for another time. Assassin's Creed 3 will be on Wii U on November 18th, and on PC on November 20th.