The Assassin's Creed series has always held a special place in my heart, as seeing the original game convinced me to move past my old Gamecube and Xbox and invest in an Xbox 360. But this love affair makes me just as quick to be critical of the faults as I am to praise the highlights. Assassin's Creed 3 had its ups and downs in the months leading up to its release; a marketing campaign that left many skeptical and some outraged (and the Brits say Americans get too mad about their flags being burnt) and a focus on the naval vessel combat that could easily be a redux of the panned tower defense minigame. Does the conclusion of Desmond's story wrap up loose ends? Is Connor as compelling a character as Ezio? Read on to find out.
Assassin's Creed 3 is the epic conclusion of Desmond's storyline, and encompasses the story of the third ancestor in the "trilogy"; Connor Kenway, a half-British half-Mohawk Assassin living during the Seven Years War and the American Revolution. Following the events of Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Desmond and his team have holed up in an ancient temple of the First Civilization, trying to find the artifacts that will allow them to awaken a power that will save the world from Armageddon.
Meanwhile, in the Animus, the story begins with a character who will remain a spoiler, then changes over to a young Connor. He leaves his village at an early age in search of a way to save his people from destruction, only to meat Achilles, the elderly head of the colonial branch of the Assassin's Brotherhood, and find himself involved in the Assassin-Templar conflict that envelops the entire American Revolution. Connor's belief in freedom and equality are put to the test by seemingly well-intentioned Templars, and the actions of his friends take his allegiances to the brink.
As with all Assassin's Creed games, AC3 is riddled with spoilers, so I won't dare ruin the game for anyone. The plot and gameplay start off incredibly slow, introducing new characters and game mechanics over the course of five to six sequences. However, the payoff story wise is well worth the wait. As per usual, the historical plot is more interesting than the 2012 plot, though this time around Desmond at least feels more like a character you can feel for. His relationships with the other characters are fleshed out, particularly his feelings for his father, and his emergence as a powerful Assassin finally takes place. The return of Warren Vidic and the video game debut of an important character in the Assassin's Creed universe also help to make the modern plot line more interesting. The ending of Desmond's storyline however, is a mixed bag. On the positive side, rather than continue on with the same loose ends, the ending finishes nearly all of the existing plots and replaces them with new threads to be chronically in later games. It worked, and I understood everything around the circumstances, but at the same time "meh" could easily describe the outcome. It was adequate; neither a glorious sendoff of epic proportions, nor a controller-throwing, outrage-inducing dud.
On the other hand, Connor is most likely my favorite Assassin protagonist, though the introductory character gives him a run for his money. His personality, which includes kindness, a love for equality, and frustration at the world around him, is believable, but his relationship with Achilles, his mentor, is truly the highlight of the game, as is his relationship with the intro character to an almost equal extent. The plot quickly changes to a rapid pace once the introduction is out of the way, leaving a significant chunk of the story in side missions at the homestead (your base of operations) or in the naval missions. It is because of this that I highly recommend playing the missions related to these two as soon as they appear; waiting until after you beat the game will not lessen the experience, but playing them before the end certainly enhances the story. The amount of historical characters present, should you know a thing or two about the time period, is massive, with the likes of George Washington, Lafayette, Samuel Adams, Edward Braddock, Daniel Boone, and Charles Lee appearing. That is a fraction of the historical characters; I could be here all day listing them. The original characters are fleshed out more in this game than they have been in the past, which is great from a storyline perspective but diminishes a portion of the gameplay (more on that later).
The young Assassin spends the majority of his time in Boston, New York, the Assassin Homestead (the base of operations) and the Frontier; a massive wilderness filled with small towns, forts, and animals. While there is plenty to do in these regions, from playing various boardgames to completing different guild challenges, there are three new additions that stand out. The proliferation of guns, which many have dreaded, was done well. Musket volleys from enemy soldiers do an adequate amount of damage, and at their worst are good at harassing the player. Reload times for both Connor and enemies are exactly the same, further reducing any advantage Connor might have (though having multiple pistols helps later on). This, combined with what feels like real variety in soldier type compared to the Ezio series, make combat more challenging than in previous editions. Not full blown hard, but not entirely a counter-fest.
Now for the two era specific editions: hunting and naval combat. Using snares, bait, and the bow to gather ingredients and furs to sell is interesting the first few times it is performed, but over the course of the game doesn't hold very much weight. Naval combat, however, is much more than the tower defense disaster of Revelations. Essentially a condensed version of actual naval battles (players who enjoy hours of setting up per broadside are probably out of the target audience), the variety of objectives, weapons, and situations make every mission feel unique.
As far as minor changes, the bomb crafting of Revelations has been replaced by item crafting for trading, which comes with an annoying menu system and not much else once you've crafted the items that actually affect Connor besides making money for naval upgrades. The Assassin recruits are all unique and have their own stories, which is a nice edition, but have little importance in terms of gameplay. They feel underpowered in combat (even ignoring the lack of crossbow lulz) and at best fulfill the functions of the old thieves and courtesans. The bow and rope dart, along with the muskets the player is able to pick up, add some variety to Connor's arsenal. The controls have been streamlined since Revelations, which can be confusing to longtime players like me who are used to holding down specific buttons on consoles. Fluid is the best way to describe the freerunning in AC3, whether that be hopping fences or running from tree to tree. Actually, fluid could easily describe gameplay as a whole, save for a few glitches that more often are not just result in a laugh.
The multiplayer introduced in Brotherhood returns with a few tweaks. For those who have never played Assassin's Creed multiplayer, combat in the base gametypes revolves around the player killing their assigned contracts, using the different abilities and perks of their loadout to either help to successfully perform the kill or avoid the other players targeting you. Numerous modifiers, such as saving another player from dying, killing someone while hiding in hay or a crowd, and poisoning your foe secretly add to the points earned. As you play, you gain points to spend on new abilities, customizable parts for the various characters, and profile enhancements. If you are the type of player who prefers to save time over money, you can purchase a separate type of point to buy these additions faster, but earning the normal points is fairly easy.
The addition of Wolfpack mode bring coop to Assassin's Creed. Four players race around a map killing NPC targets, attempting to perform multikills and combos to earn more points. This gametype is fast paced and exciting, but in order to achieve the best scores and move to the later rounds, teamwork and communication are required, so don't expect to reach the last round with a group of randoms who charge into every group of civilians they can find.
The game isn't without it's faults, from various glitches that are slowly being fixed to Shaun Hastings approaching Writer on Board or even Author Filibuster status on a few occasions. At times the more minor side missions feel like they lack purpose save for tormenting completionists (AKA me and my achievement hunting). But these grievances do little to knock Assassin's Creed 3 off its pedestal as the most complete Assassin's Creed experience yet.
- CJ
Assassin's Creed 3 | Concept | Bring the Assassin-Templar fight to the 1700s. | Graphics | Crisp, but prone to a glitch here or there. Patches are slowly fixing this issue. | Sound | Music is not only epic, a staple of the series, but memorable, something the previous installments couldn't achieve. | Playability | Content galore with streamlined controls to navigate the wilderness and more. | Entertainment | A thrilling story and plenty of side missions to keep you engaged for days. | Multiplayer | Chaotic fun, especially with friends. The addition of a coop mode is another highlight. Is a multiplayer campaign on the horizon? | Freedom | High | Replay | High | Overall Score | 9.5 |
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