Assassin's Creed 3 trailer will wow the whites of your eyes

The first trailer for Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed III.

Was it really just last week when we knew practically nothing about Assassin's Creed 3? In roughly five days, the available info has piled up: from a blurry photo of the rumored Native American assassin to leaked screenshots to the Game Informer cover to today's high-res trailer. Boy, is it a stunner.

The towering landmarks and sprawling cities of Europe have been swapped for the dense forest of colonial America. (In the distance of the final image, we see a city and port, too). There are redcoats and patriots, eagles and wolves, a tomahawk and a bow. It's a lot to take in, and looks to be a big shift for the series. Especially compared to the previous three games, which blurred together.

It feels so American. So big and expansive and rough around the edges. All the red, white and blue. The regal outfits and rising orchestral music. The assassin going about his deadly business, in a world that – thanks to fewer buildings –stretches towards the horizon. It captures that sense of great discovery, of nearly endless land waiting in every direction that the founding fathers wrote about and fought for.

But we still have questions: Where is Desmond? What's up with the snow? And who wears a hood in the 18th century?

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