The main character of AC IV will be Connors grandfather, setting it about 50 years before AC III.
I'm glad they've taken it back, but the main problem I see is the change in game play. Ezio became the face of the AC series, we spend three games building him from the ground up to Master Assassins of Italy and maybe Europe. We spent 75% of AC III with Connor and the majority of that was on all the bull shit tasks that padded out the game play. The first time I played through the game I didn't feel the same sense of attachment, I just didn't care about his character.
On a second play through, yes I did feel a bit more for the character but at the end of the game not knowing where his future lies (other than in so far two unimpressive DLC packs) the ending felt like an anti climax. We knew what happened to Altair, we know what happens to Ezio, Connor we left at the house not knowing his fate and now that AC IV is skipping clean over that we never will.
As I said the game play though is changing, the style of what defined the Assassins is getting lost in all the gun play. This new character carries four pistols, struggling with a kill, or a group? Pull out your guns, fight over and done with. Ezio had an elegance and fluidity about his fighting style, up close and person with the wrist blades, Connor was brutal with his tomahawk and wrist blade combinations - Whats this guy gonna do?
Maybe thats the point, he is after all a pirate and not a fully focused member of the Creed, he seems more like a rogue who helps when it suits himself. For the moment, I am interested only by the naval combat, that was a part I really enjoyed. But once you had the Aquila fully upgraded, money was pointless, I was walking around with £100,000 plus with nothing to spend it on bar the odd reload of weapon consumables.
Time will tell.