Assassin’s Creed III Review, 8.5 out of 10 based on 6 ratings

Old-timey bar fights were really hardcore.

However it must be said that in its current state the frequency of glitches is a little alarming. None of these errors have been game breaking, nor have the crashed the game, but finding a horse stuck half way up a house does tend to break the immersion.

I imagine these glitches exist due to the huge upgrade the Anvil engine must have gone through in order to produce this game. I could go on about the amount of characters on screen at once, the detail each building in the city has, or even the sheer scope of the map, but ultimately you simply need to get yourself out into the frontier and climb a tree. The view in AC3 is amazing. While the framerate can be hit and miss, the visual display and the variation found throughout the game is astounding. The series has always had some impressive moments, but when the new weather effects kick in as Connor sprints his way over no man’s land, dodging bullets and cannon balls, you tell me you’re unimpressed and I will call you a liar.

Improvements have also been made to the way missions are handled. Like usual, you have to approach a marked target and engage them in conversation to gain new missions and side missions. The difference is that while you are taking part in a mission, as long as you can reach other goals, you can complete any other task along the way. No longer does picking up a mission lock out all other endeavors. It’s such a simple change, but makes all the difference. Once again, it makes the whole experience flow more freely, allowing you to dictate the pace. Sure, Connor running out of a cutscene with obvious urgency then going hunting rabbits for 30 minutes may break the narrative, but I needed some pelts.

The whole city is there for the stabbing.

Hunting is just one of the many tasks you can now complete while roaming the open wilderness of the untamed and yet-to-be united states. In a semi-throw back to the original game, Connor can now explore open areas well away from the city streets. Thankfully though, in the outback of America no one cares at what speed you ride your horse. Here you can complete courier missions, find hidden secrets, and punch moose to death. Yes, I did that and it was awesome. Sure you can hunt with traps, stealth, and patience resulting in rewarding and compelling gameplay, but when you jump out of a tree and a moose surprises you, how can you resist punching your possible templar hitman in disguise to death?

Many of you though will wish to leave the land behind and take to the sea. For the first time in an Assassin’s Creed game, you can partake in naval combat. While you would think something like battling off 20 to 1 odds would be difficult, the controls for such an exercise are so easy that it hardly takes any practice. This isn’t to say the naval portion isn’t fun, but it’s hardly as dramatic as it possibly could have been with a few more complications to add tension. There are plenty of missions to take part in and the ship can be upgraded from your homestead.

The homestead acts much like Montenegro did in Assassin’s Creed 2. Think of it as your hub and a place where you can progress economical tasks that will eventually pay dividends. Unlike previous base building exercises, Connor will have to complete mission in order to bring people to his little stretch of land, and in turn they will be able to help produce and craft items for him. You can even start to play with the market, sending out convoys with goods to local traders, but with the risk of your wagons coming under attack along the way. I found the homestead to have too many factors to really become enjoyable, and the rewards for putting in the time are not always obvious, which often left me leaving such task for later.

‘Murica.

Connor’s sections may have some low moments, but they are few and far between, and with so many other tasks to get on with, it’s not like your left with nothing. Speaking of not being left with nothing, Desmond Miles makes his first ever playable roll within mission. That’s right, our true main protagonists finally gets out of the animus and into the real world, fighting like the assassin he is now meant to be. I have to say, fighting in the modern day is all kinds of awesome, but that is all I will reveal.

Of course, Assassin’s Creed 3 also comes with a multiplayer mode, which for the most part is similar to the one found in Brotherhood and Revelations. Even pre-release, finding a game was easy and not once did I come across any connection issues. I have always found myself enjoying the multiplayer in the AC series and this iteration is no different. The developers have gone to a lot of effort to expand the options within these modes, promoting the idea of playing with friends and even creating a mode for such exploits.

Classic deathmatch and wanted modes return with very little change aside from the characters and locations, but when something isn’t broken, don’t try and fix it. My personal favorite is the Assassination mode where players have to identify any human controlled character and assassinate them. The brilliance behind the AC multiplayer is more evident here than anywhere else. In my time online I saw many different play styles all resulting in victory. Some players choose to be very overt, running around and trying to rack up a high kill count, whereas others prefer to look for those one or two perfect kills to take the top spot. It’s a superbly designed mode that is easy to get into and hard to master.

*Insert lonely island reference here*

Ubisoft Montreal may produce an Assassin’s Creed every year, but unlike many other series, this is not a carbon copy of the previous version with a few bells and whistles. Assassin’s Creed 3 is a huge improvement on what has come before in both gameplay and mechanics. After 20 or so hours pumped into the single-player mode I am still exploring and discovering new things, and unfortunately have been unable to complete the game before releasing this review, such is the scale of the game. My completion count currently sits at around 50% and I am, pretty efficient with my exploration.

To be quite frank, Assassin’s Creed 3 is currently my game of the year, with very few titles on the horizon likely to knock it from that spot. The story is fantastic, with great characterization and development. The game twists and turns, often surpassing expectation and throwing new events and gameplay elements at you all the time. For me, there was never a dull moment. Even when taking part in tasks I found less enjoyable than other, I knew there was more exciting events just around the corner that I could take part in whenever I liked. There are very few negative remarks I can make about the game and most of the few things I can mention could be patched out. The whole experience is just phenomenal and I encourage everyone, whether you have followed the series thus far or not, to give it a go.

When Assassin’s Creed originally was released, I often claimed it was a beautiful concept that hadn’t been fully realized. With the release of AC3, I find myself shocked at how far beyond my expectation that concept has gone.

This game was provided by the publisher for review purposes on Xbox 360. The game was played for roughly 25 hours and was not completed. 20 hours were spent in various sections of the single player campaign. 5 hours were spent in a variety of multiplayer modes of which the reviewer totally won the majority, which he is not proud of or anything

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