I hated American history class in school, but I would have probably enjoyed it if Connor, Assassin’s Creed III’s protagonist, showed up in more of the stories and blew up more Brits. He’s half-English, half-Native American and all kinds of pissed off, which makes for some interesting stuff already. But how his assassin story intertwines with the American Revolution is way more interesting than dudes with triangle hats topping curly white hair.

We saw a short hands-off live gameplay demo that had Connor running through the heavy snow of the American Northeast, quietly making his way through dense trees and varied wildlife. He used new weapons, like his bow and bayonet, to take out deer and wolves. Some close-combat with wolves took place, with contextual button cues coming up for dodging and throwing of the beasts.

These animals served as a warm-up for the main event. Connor continued to move through the snowy forest to infiltrate a fort where the Templar Silas was held up, with the eventual goal of taking him out. On his journey, around him, story branches progressed. Battles took place in the background, and optional quests from NPCs presented themselves, with both being somehow tied into the main experience. But, for now, the plan was to get into the fort before Silas headed out that night.

While big changes and improvements were apparent in this early demo (the producers told us we were seeing early alpha), it feels like we haven’t seen anything yet.