Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Gamescom 2025 schedule
  • Gamescom
  • Battlefield 6
  • New Games for 2025
Don't miss these
Fujibayashi Naoe looks at her father's hidden blade in Assassin's Creed Shadows as he bestows it to her
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed has gone a bit off the rails, but Ubisoft says it hasn't forgotten about the whole Assassins versus Templars thing, with a "deep dive" on the conflict coming "in the near future"
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing female protagonist Naoe
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Shadows abandons one of the best features of Valhalla, Odyssey, and Origins, as Ubisoft confirms that Discovery Tour won't be heading to Japan
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Best Assassin's Creed games, ranked from worst to best
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Shadows canon mode doesn't include romance because it's too "personal": "It was better to not make it canon"
Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Ubisoft explains why Assassin's Creed Shadows ditched social stealth, but says it's likely not gone for good: "Our stealth team chose to put 100% of their energy on the moment-to-moment tactical shinobi experience"
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed 3 director says Ubisoft put "a lot of pressure" on devs to "add play time" and "bulk" out games with RPG elements "to delay resale as GameStop was the only one making any money on that transaction"
Kassandra holding a falcon on her arm during Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Assassin's Creed Ubisoft had a very on-brand problem with Assassin's Creed Odyssey: there weren't many tall buildings in Ancient Greece even though it's a "climbing-frame game"
Critical Role character Rufino appears in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Shadows update adds nightmare difficulty, an "open-world alarm" system," a potato mode for low-end PCs, and a new story quest crossing over with D&D series Critical Role
Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Hexe: Everything we know about the new flagship AC game
Assassin's Creed games in order: All of the current Assassin's Creed protagonists on a misty white background.
Assassin's Creed How to play the Assassin's Creed games in order: chronological and release date
Looking over the countryside in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Shadows developers are focusing on improving "what we already have," but they're adding at least one new open-world activity in post-launch updates
in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Shadows players mourn their lost hours manually unfogging the map now the quality-of-life update will make it easier: "At least we can say we were first"
Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Ubisoft unveils "updated" Assassin's Creed Shadows roadmap with New Game+ and level cap boost, again vindicating my plan to wait months if not years to play new Ubisoft games
Far Cry Far Cry 4 lead reveals a cut idea for enemy camps that would have completely changed the story: "I think that's where the fun of the whole genre might lie"
Kassandra holding a falcon on her arm during Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Assassin's Creed Ubisoft foresaw the grindy fate of Assassin's Creed Valhalla back in the Odyssey days, wanting a literal "odyssey" but not "a world that was just fatiguing to travel through"
  1. Games
  2. Action
  3. Assassin's Creed
  4. Assassin's Creed III

Assassin's Creed III - Ubisoft details six historic moments that didnt make the cut

Features
By Ryan Taljonick published 17 October 2012

Scriptwriter Matt Turner discusses almost-worthy historical events

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Revisionist history

Revisionist history

One of the great things about the Assassins Creed series is it allows us to visit historical events that occurred long before any of us were born (even if they are embellished with sci-fi). Though weve explored the Templar-infested streets of cities such as Jerusalem and Rome, weve never had the opportunity to check out a time period as recent as the Revolutionary War.

Sure, were pumped to see events we know are in Assassins Creed III--The Battle of Bunker Hill and naval engagements set during The Battle of the Chesapeake come to mind--and well surely meet the famous faces from history that are plastered on our dollar bills and beer bottles. But what about those characters and moments that didnt make it into the game? We spoke with Matt Turner, a scriptwriter for AC3, to discuss the Revolutions almost-game-worthy events. Some were axed due to conflicts between historical timing and the games setting while others just didnt fit, but all of the following events and figures existed and will enrich your Revolution-exploring experience.

Page 1 of 8
Page 1 of 8
Israel Putnams great underwear escape

Israel Putnams great underwear escape

Israel Putnam, a colonel in the Revolutionary War, had a few pretty amazing stories up his sleeve. "He was shipwrecked in the West Indies and was the only person to survive," Turner says. "He was stranded on a desert island where he survived on boot leather and palm leaves for three months, and then got rescued. He got captured by the Seneca Indians not long after that when he got home, and they tied him to a tree and were going to burn him at the stake. But he gnawed his rope loose, got free, and survived that, too."

Though Putnam is in the game, one of his last tales of near-death was considered--and then promptly excluded--from AC3. According to Turner, Putnam had retired from the ongoing war and was shaving in his house--clad only in underwear--when the Redcoats showed up to capture him. "He jumped out of a second story window in his underwear, ran to his horse, and ran from the Redcoats down a hill with just his pistols," Turner says, further explaining that the events inclusion wouldve felt forced.

Page 2 of 8
Page 2 of 8
Tarletons Quarter

Tarletons Quarter

"Bloody Ban," "The Butcher," "The Green Dragoon"--Banastre Tarleton was a British general and a man of many nicknames, which he gained through horrible actions. "Tarleton was this 22-year-old British dragoon commander," Turner says. "He would come across Patriots, they would surrender, and hed just kill them in their shoes. He was super feared." Tarletons image as a brutal leader was further reinforced by his troops actions during the Battle of Waxhaws--also known as Tarletons Quarter--where they mercilessly slaughtered more than 100 Continental troops after they had surrendered.

Connor wont cross paths with Tarleton, likely because a majority of his war effort took place in southern colonies--but what if the two had met? And what if Tarleton were a Templar? Its possible Connor would have encountered him during the Battle of Cowpens, where Tarletons army was defeated (though he managed to escape), but alas. Well never have the opportunity to bury a hatchet in Tarletons skull.

Page 3 of 8
Page 3 of 8
Benedict Arnolds traitorous deceit

Benedict Arnolds traitorous deceit

A general for the American Continental Army, Benedict Arnold played a key role in some of the Revolutionary Wars major encounters, and was eventually given command of the fort in West Point, New York. Arnold plotted to surrender it to the British forces and defect to the British Army, but his plan was exposed before it came to fruition. He escaped before he could be captured, and died in London far, far away from the sharp end of Connors hidden blade.

"Certain battles we wouldve liked to have done, like the Battles of Saratoga, for example," Turner says. "It was a big turning point for the Patriots, and youd get to see Benedict Arnold in that battle before he turned into a traitor." Turner laments his team didnt have the bandwidth for many things they wouldve liked to have put in the game, including Arnolds defection. "It wasnt even a technical thing, it was just a matter of the gameplay and where the story was going, and there was no room for it," he says.

Page 4 of 8
Page 4 of 8
Nathanael Greenes strategic retreat

Nathanael Greenes strategic retreat

A series of substantial defeats for the Patriots in the South meant British general Charles Cornwallis was racking up victories while burning everything to the ground thanks to his scorched earth policy. Nathanael Greene, the newly appointed leader of the Continental Armys southern forces, knew his troops didnt stand a chance against Cornwallis, and attempted a daring tactic that ultimately paid off. "Greenes strategy for the last three years of the war was to keep retreating across the South," Turner says. Cornwallis continued to give chase and scorch earth, which inadvertently converted some Loyalists into Patriots. "Greene literally lost on purpose. As he was doing that, the grassroots support for the Patriots grew and grew and grew."

Again, its likely that the south-bound retreat didnt make it for geographical reasons, but this couldve been a great opportunity for Connor to recruit new assassins. Imagine running through a destroyed village in the wake of Cornwallis march, assisting those whove lost everything and convincing them to join you in your battle against the Templars.

Page 5 of 8
Page 5 of 8
The frontiers free agent

The frontiers free agent

More minor figures, though not quite as pivotal as, say, George Washington, still played important (albeit minor) roles in the war. One such man was Simon Girty. "He was this really super obscure person," Turner says, describing him as a crazy cool frontiersman who lived in the woods and didnt give a darn about loyalty. (Obscure, indeed--we couldnt even find a suitable image of the guy for this article.) Girty and his brothers were captured by and integrated into a Seneca tribe as children, but he left the tribe around the age of 21 do his own thing.

"He was constantly switching sides in the fight and was living in the frontier," Turner says. "He would barter for prisoners, for Patriot and Redcoat alike, and just set them free because he had no allegiance. During the Revolution, he was the quintessential turncoat because he switched sides like seven times." Admittedly, watching a mountain man flip-flop loyalties probably wouldnt have been all that exciting, and Simon Girty was likely passed over as a result.

Page 6 of 8
Page 6 of 8
The foreign trainer

The foreign trainer

When the Continental Army was formed, it was a ragtag coalition of militiamen with no proper training. To remedy this, Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben was brought in. "He was this dude they brought over during Valley Forge to train the troops of Marquis de Lafayette," Turner says. "He didnt speak a word of English. He had this 17-year-old translator that would walk around wherever he went, and he was this really wild dude that drilled the American troops and made them into an army." It mightve been pretty amazing to watch a super-intense von Steuben scream at budding soldiers in German while his translator screamed in English, but Turner says witnessing this event wasnt so awesome in practice.

"We couldnt really have pointed scenes with [von Steuben] because youd always have to be filtering it through a translator. It just felt weird, and we already had Lafayette at Valley Forge, so we were like, you know what, hes awesome, but he doesnt fit in the way we wanted. We cant do him justice."

Page 7 of 8
Page 7 of 8
Grab those history books

Grab those history books

These are but a fraction of the Revolutionary events that didnt make it into AC3s list of historic reenactments. What are you hoping to see in the game? Take a moment to tell us in the comments below, and be sure to check back for our full review of the game around its release date on October 30.

Need more Assassins Creed III in your life? Be sure to check out our list of 63 amazing things we saw and did in Colonial America, as well as alternate history DLC that needs to happen.

Page 8 of 8
Page 8 of 8
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming PlayStation Xbox Platforms
Ryan Taljonick
Ryan Taljonick
Social Links Navigation

Ryan was once the Executive Editor of GamesRadar, before moving into the world of games development. He worked as a Brand Manager at EA, and then at Bethesda Softworks, before moving to 2K. He briefly went back to EA and is now the Director of Global Marketing Strategy at 2K. 

See more PC Gaming Features
Read more
Fujibayashi Naoe looks at her father's hidden blade in Assassin's Creed Shadows as he bestows it to her
Assassin's Creed has gone a bit off the rails, but Ubisoft says it hasn't forgotten about the whole Assassins versus Templars thing, with a "deep dive" on the conflict coming "in the near future"
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing female protagonist Naoe
Assassin's Creed Shadows abandons one of the best features of Valhalla, Odyssey, and Origins, as Ubisoft confirms that Discovery Tour won't be heading to Japan
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Best Assassin's Creed games, ranked from worst to best
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows canon mode doesn't include romance because it's too "personal": "It was better to not make it canon"
Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft explains why Assassin's Creed Shadows ditched social stealth, but says it's likely not gone for good: "Our stealth team chose to put 100% of their energy on the moment-to-moment tactical shinobi experience"
Assassin's Creed 3 director says Ubisoft put "a lot of pressure" on devs to "add play time" and "bulk" out games with RPG elements "to delay resale as GameStop was the only one making any money on that transaction"
Latest in Assassin's Creed
The pack shot for Assassin's Creed Mirage featuring Basim
Two years and one Assassin's Creed Shadows later, Ubisoft is giving AC Mirage a "surprise" free DLC after saying it was done with the game
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing female protagonist Naoe
Assassin's Creed Shadows beats Mario Kart World and Elden Ring Nightreign to be the top-selling 2025 game in Europe this year, but EA Sports FC 25 has still managed to sell more
Assassin's Creed 3 director says Ubisoft put "a lot of pressure" on devs to "add play time" and "bulk" out games with RPG elements "to delay resale as GameStop was the only one making any money on that transaction"
Looking over the countryside in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows developers are focusing on improving "what we already have," but they're adding at least one new open-world activity in post-launch updates
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows canon mode doesn't include romance because it's too "personal": "It was better to not make it canon"
Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft explains why Assassin's Creed Shadows ditched social stealth, but says it's likely not gone for good: "Our stealth team chose to put 100% of their energy on the moment-to-moment tactical shinobi experience"
Latest in Features
The Outer Worlds 2 character holding bottle and glass, with the GamesRadar+ Big Preview frame and Reaction sticker
Channeling big Fallout energy means The Outer Worlds 2 could be the Starfield I always wanted
Cropped key art for Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles shows two characters stood side by side.
45 minutes of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles has me certain that Square Enix "rebuilding" the remaster after losing the original source code was worth the effort
Battlefield 6 multiplayer screenshot
I'm still concerned about Battlefield 6's map sizes, but there's no denying it gets chaotic urban warfare right
Where Winds Meet hands-on preview
I played Where Winds Meet and fell in love with the RPG's open world so fast I could barely pay attention to any of the missions
Borderlands 4 screenshot shows someone holding a weapon forward towards the camera.
"We tend to commit to the bit": Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford talks Borderlands 4, the evolution of looter-shooters, and $80 game discourse
Babou Ceesay as Morrow aboard the USCSS Maginot in Alien: Earth
Alien: Earth episode 5 isn't quite feature-length, but I think it's the best Xenomorph movie since Aliens
  1. Twisted Cryptids card on a wooden surface
    1
    This gorgeously weird monster board game warms my Halloween-loving heart, and it's a delight
  2. 2
    Lost Soul Aside review: "We (don't) have Final Fantasy Versus 13 at home"
  3. 3
    Hell is Us review: "The lack of waypoints and explicit objectives is a double-edged magical sword that pulls me deep into its harsh world"
  4. 4
    Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
  5. 5
    The Rogue Prince of Persia review: "I roguelike but don't roguelove this freerunner – there's just not enough to stand out"
  1. Demon Slayer Infinity Castle
    1
    Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle review: "Roars past Mugen Train as Demon Slayer's best adventure yet"
  2. 2
    The Long Walk review: "One of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made"
  3. 3
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  4. 4
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  5. 5
    The Fantastic Four: First Steps review: "An occasionally thrilling heroic adventure that sits safely within a B-tier MCU range"
  1. John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
    1
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  3. 3
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  4. 4
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"
  5. 5
    Eyes of Wakanda review: "A creative premise shortchanged by the runtime and Marvel bloat"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...