First Assassin's Creed 3 details - report

Assassin's Creed 3 mainly centers around the North American cities of Boston and New York in the 18th Century and features historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Charles Lee, according to information gleaned from the latest issue of GameInformer.

The US magazine's reveal, summarised on NeoGAF, adds that the game's lead character is called Connor. He's half English, half Mohawk and was raised by native Americans on the US frontier.

Exact details of the game's plot were not disclosed but some of the scenarios include the great fire of New York and Washington's winter at Valley Forge.

In addition to New York and Boston, around a third of the game takes place on the frontier, an area said to be 1.5 times bigger than Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's entire game map. There will be some kind of fast travel system to help you get around quickly.

You'll hunt animals for resources, climbing trees and cliffs to set up kills.

As time passes the seasons will change, with NPCs behaving differently depending on the weather. Soldiers will stumble about clumsily in the snow and lakes and rivers will freeze over.

A tomahawk and knife are apparently Connor's main weapons, and you'll be able to perform double counters, multiple takedowns and chained kills.

Target locking has been ditched, with the game automatically pinpointing an opponent. Ubisoft is promising a more fluid, fast-paced control system that should offer more control in combat.

There'll also be more platforming sections this time around.

GameInformer's report claims that the game has had the longest development cycle since the first game in the series, and has twice the budget of Revelations.

Some purported screenshots from the game have also found their way onto the web, via an All Games Beta leak. Click through to take a look.

Ubisoft's official reveal is due on Monday at 5.00pm UK time.