Assassin's Creed 3 Vita heroine has a poison dart-firing umbrella

Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation on PlayStation Vita will allow you to dress the game's heroine in different costumes, one of which bestows a deadly parasol.

New Orleans-born Aveline, the first female protagonist of the franchise, spends most of the game dressed in her hooded assassin robes. Ubisoft unveiled the features to Eurogamer during a session at Gamescom.

But you can change her attire at outfit shops dotted around the map, turning Aveline into either an aristocrat or a servant.

Richly dressed aristocrats can bribe or flirt their way past guards, negating the need for combat. Which is just as well - the long dress and gaudy hat mean that the game's trademark climbing and free-running are off the table.

Aristocrats also gain access to one of the series' most outlandish weapons to date - a poison dart-firing parasol that can stealthily take out enemies from range. It's slow to reload but includes both instant death and madness-inducing rage varieties.

Servants can evade trouble by slipping past guards holding a nearby crate. They will assume she is entering guarded areas for work purposes and let her be. You can also enlist members of the public to join your cause, in a kind of communist all-against-the-oppressors spirit. Once you've dispatched a target you can blend back into the scenery by joining fellow peasants in a spot of street sweeping.