Game rating: Assassin's Creed III

[JRD]

Game title
Assassin's Creed III

Category	Rating	Comments
Story line	2	I have to say... after so many rumors about the place and time AC3 would take place like feudal Japan, revolutionary France, Victorian England, ancient Egypt... the choice of America during the revolution seemed a market choice rather than anything else. Don't get me wrong, but American history can be really interesting for those who studied it and are linked to it but for me there are so many more interesting time and places to have an ssassin's Creed game... sure I know George Washington and Benjamin Franklin but most of the events and characters wasn't so striking to my likings and then the background story didn't quite have it to me. The idea of a new character starting from scratch was a relief though. Having played Connor's father for a good part of the game is also a nice touch but Connor is not nearly as charismatic as Ezio was and other characters didn't have rich roles in the game either. Connor could've been so much more interesting... but he seems too much of a "good guy" seeking for revenge. His personality could be more in conflict with his origins after learning his backstory and I can't help but to feel that the Templars versus Assassins plot didn't fit very well in the story. Connor is too serious and he lacks life and humour to make him seem more human.  And then there's Desmond's story arc which was always an interesting point to me but turns out to be just frustrating in the worst final act ever. After five AC games I was really waiting for a climax in this game but it was simply frustrating. Too bad.
Graphics	7	The new engine built for this game delivers great graphics for sure. The Frontier is simply an amazing place to be and to get lost with so many things to do. The trees and rocky cliffs blend so beautifully in the landscape I had to learn to look for paths to climb and navigate. Light effects and color palletes are just great and playing with DX11 enhances the effects in the game. Rain changes the looks of the game and the use of fog is also well placed when climbing high up in the mountains. Really a great looking game. Clothes look more smooth and you can see hair and details waving as the wind blows. And there's the naval missions with the sea.... specially when Haythan is helping fix the riggins in the early sequences... that shows a great engine. The seasonal change is also a wordefull feature. Playing in the snow and then moving to a field in the summer or spring is amazing. Vegetation still consists of 2D planes crossed together to give the idea of volume but it is well done nonetheless. A downside to the frontier and all natural beauty delivered in this game is that the historical period and place could not present beautifull cities such as Renaissance Italy. Florence, Venice, Rome are far more beautifull and detailed than Boston and NY which, by the way, look the same! Even Assassin's Creed 1 brought three nicely done and yet different cities like Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem. Running through the cities in AC3 is quite boring as you have so little variety and the outskirts of the cities are even worst with scattered houses and wide streets. One might say that it depicts the cities the way they were in that time and that's when the choice of America during the revolution takes its toll again. I can't help but think about how Japan could have been depicted during the time when the Western culture was in conflict with ancient tradition, when firearms were being introduced to an otherwise samurai minded culture and how the cities looked like.
Sound	5	Sound effects are nice but the soundtrack in this game isn't anything special. Its there just to fill the silence and that's all. Think about AC2... now that's a great soundtrack
Game play	4	If it wasn't for the brand new fighting controls and dynamic in this game I'd have rated it even lower. Fighting is absolutely great once you learn the new controls. Facing hordes of enemies attacking at the same time is so satisfying I find myself coming back to the game just to start a big fight in the cities and kill dozens of enemies! Hunting was something I really appreciated in this game. Sneaking on preys, hunting small animals with the bow from my horseback, placing snares or moving on an elk from the top of a tree is really fun and rewarding. Which brings me to another feature in AC3: trading and crafting! It is so complex and convoluted it became a pain I avoided for most of the game. There are so many recipies and possibilities to combine and create and so many materials but all depends on trial and error that I gave up trying to explore it. When I decided to try trading some of my stock to build some cash I realised I have to craft a convoy, then choose what I want to load on it and I just can't see the price I can get for this wolf pelt and that beeswax so I always have to select it to see the price each trader will pay then come back to the menu and try another item to see it's price and then again and again and again till I realize I can make good money by selling bear, elk, deer and beaver pelts to the same guy and stick to that. I even found a recipe for salted or smoked elk meat and combined the necessary materials using the proper artisan to have that item on stock. But it is so painfull and time consuming and the price of a single bobcat pelt is much higher... so why bother doing all that crafting and trading at all? Homestead missions should help you improve your trading but instead it just add more confusion to the system as your artisans will give you more items to craft or trade. But what I really miss from all other AC games is running through rooftops. Boston and NY have so wide streets and this time there are so little tightropes or arcs connecting buildings it became almost impossible to travel through rooftops. The architecture of the cities didn't have any impressive buildings and cathedrals then so there's nothing that resembles the landmarks in Florence or Rome or Constantinople... just two stories high wooden buildings far apart from one another. I mostly travel on foot through the streets because even the fast travel network mechanics is a bit boring. You have to wander through a maze of underground tunnels trying to find a way out to unlock another fast travel point. I even found exits from the surface but never managed to lockpick them in order to get in. Apparently the only way I can open them is from inside. As for the main missions, well, there are some great missions to play and some other plain boring like throwing tea boxes in the water to make the player feel like part of a historical event in Boston. A few missions make good use of the new engine and place dozens maybe hundreds of NPCs at the same time on screen and there you are, playing your part. But as you kill the first conspirators and start reaching the top of the pyramid to get to the real bad guys the game seems to slow down. The most striking example is the final target, Charles Lee. You never take your chances using your skills to get things even with the man who burned your mother alive, you never actually hit him. It is not you who control Connor as he finally face his real enemy... you simply watch a long cutscene. It takes the revenge you've been seeking the whole game out of your hands. How fun Ubi thiks this is? I mean c'mon!!!
Replay value	4	I have another playthrough started but just because I like to go through games one more time when I master the controls but it just won't last for long.

Final thoughts
Eye candy, great fighting and some underdeveloped (or overcomplicated) features is what I can say about Assassin's Creed 3.

Connor's story and Desmond's story end are disappointing... it hurts me to say that but I have to face the reality. Ubi screwd up the best game franchise in this installment.

[PZ]

Couldn't have said it better, JRD  :-X

[Art Blade]

nice review, JRD :) all I can say is that I am not unhappy with my decision to stop with AC2.

[JRD]

I still think Brotherhood and Revelations are worth playing. Ezio's saga is just great... the kind of character that will remain as a reference for future games.

Story wise, they just missied it in AC3. The new engine is superb and the Frontier is an amazing place, a fantastic feature in a game. But the ending seems too be rushed out and Desmond's arc is simply not there in the end.

If you ever find AC:B and/or AC:R on a discount bin. do try it!  :-X

[PZ]

I agree; both are worth it, even at full retail for me.  I wish they had simply continued in old Italy.  They even could have named the character "Gord Auditore"

[Art Blade]

"Gord Auditore"

[JRD]

  :-X @Gord Auditore

I think three games with Ezio in Italy was enough. I wish they had chosen a different time and place and that they had given Desmond's story a propper ending with more game play for us instead of just chasing power sources in linear corridor levels and dieing 

[PZ]

I actually wish they had come up with more DLC like they did for AC2.  While I realize that they released the game prematurely without those missions only to "release" them later when they had finally been completed, it was a fun addition to the game.