Assassin's Creed 3 - What's your verdict?

I've been a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed series ever since the first, somewhat flawed, installment back in 2007. I've been waiting for this game for years and years, the final part of Desmond Miles's epic saga. But... it was a massive letdown.

Let's get this out the way first, here be unmarked spoilers.

So, to begin with, my first gripe with the game is the dull dull dull protagonist, Connor "I must save my people" Kenway. Compare him to the previous two Assassins extraordinaire. Altair was driven, motivated, prone to anger quickly but ultimately the perfect assassin. Ezio was a charismatic playboy turned revenge-driven killing machine. They were both compelling characters to play as. Connor offers no real reason to become attached to him. There is no character development for him throughout the game. He starts off jaded, and ends in the same damn place. His droning monotonous voice harps on about "finding Charles Lee" and "saving his people" ad nauseum. Honestly, this wouldn't even be that bad if the game didn't tease you with a far more interesting character in the first few hours in Haytham Kenway. He's completely different from any character you've previously played as; he's a logical thinker, more interested in order and rationality than the idealistic liberal thinking of the Assassin's. He's colder, and what's more, he's a Templar. Is it bad that I found myself actually rooting for the Templars throughout this? If the game removes all likeability from the actual protagonist, it lowers the motivation to actually continue playing as him.

The ending - jesus christ, the ending. The Desmond missions in this game were fantastic; I personally think the whole game should have been set from his perspective. Yet when it came to the final moments, where we were to find out how the earth would be saved from destruction, the game craps all over itself by bringing about a stupid deus-ex machina. The abruptness of it all, the introduction of new characters in the final cutscene, it all reeks of poorly executed ideas. It might not be as bad as the Mass Effect 3 travesty, but it's certainly up there.

Gameplay wise, I was unenamoured with what AC3 had to bring to the table that was fresh. The new combat system doesn't really change anything - it's still the same button mashing carnage. The one button freerunning system that was implemented is garbage. Too many times I found myself leaping from the top of a building when I wanted to run along a wall instead because of the game's lack of any way to distinguish what you wanted to do. The hunting system is fine - but it's not really what I would look for in an Assassin's Creed game. But the size of the new Frontier area means that there are a lot of glitches missed during playtesting. Flying horse carts, terrible guard AI, physics-bending tree climbing; just a few of the glitches I experienced during play. I've heard worse - there are some glitches friends of mine experienced that meant they could not finish a mission. That's terrible quality control.

Honestly, after the fantastic three games preceding AC3, I was expecting a masterpiece. Instead, I was let down horribly.

What are your thoughts on the game?

I haven't read the post cos of the spilers, but I'll get back to you as I'm playing at the moment. Just wondering if it'd be worth moving this to the general gaming area as obviously it' on Wii U and PS3 to

I suppose that's right. I'll ask Stu if he can move the thread for me.

A nice read thanks, I didn't purchase AC3 for a few reasons. For one, I hated Revelations. The game play was unless I am mistaken, identical to Brotherhood and for me it felt as if they were trying to drag out the series which is a real shame as the story in the first two and Brotherhood was really compelling. I never liked the addition of being able to chain kills and for me it made the enemies feel helpless instead of being an actual threat. I also waited with anticipation over finishing the story with Desmond, and for it to be dragged out further and upon hearing the end of AC3, I no longer have any desire to pursue the series. All good things come in trilogies! (Except Alien)

Moved! I can't add anything to this thread because I don't know the first thing about the Creed franchise.

Vidofnir wrote:

A nice read thanks, I didn't purchase AC3 for a few reasons. For one, I hated Revelations. The game play was unless I am mistaken, identical to Brotherhood and for me it felt as if they were trying to drag out the series which is a real shame as the story in the first two and Brotherhood was really compelling. I never liked the addition of being able to chain kills and for me it made the enemies feel helpless instead of being an actual threat. I also waited with anticipation over finishing the story with Desmond, and for it to be dragged out further and upon hearing the end of AC3, I no longer have any desire to pursue the series. All good things come in trilogies! (Except Alien)

First off, cheers Stu!

Vidofnir: I was okay with Revelations. It was definitely more of the same, but I didn't mind. I treated it as an expansion pack as opposed to a standalone title like the previous three games in the series. As for the chain kills thing, nothing changes in AC3. You can literally slaughter twenty people by mashing attack and pointing the control stick in the direction of an enemy. It's pretty pathetic. The resolution of Desmond's story is pretty poor too. Honestly, you haven't missed out much skipping this.

I'm playing this game as we speak. Quite literally, in fact, as I picked up my kindle during a loading screen.

This is actually my first Creed game and despite that (or perhaps because of that) I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'll admit I'm not very far in but the gameplay is slick, it feels like Batman Arkham City turned up to 11 and moved to the 1700s, which is a recipe for success in my book.

I'll tell you what though, exploring the frontier and wondering the bustling city streets, Nintendo really need to up their game on the next Zelda. The dungeons and the minutiae are better, sure, but big believable world have moved on a long way since OOT and the series hasn't.

I want to give the series a go but I'm just so hesitant as one of my friends called it rather complicated

Definitely give the series a go. You can skip the first one and just look up the storyline for it on YouTube or a wiki because honestly, graphics aside, it's not overly fantastic. But you should certainly play from 2 onwards, they definitely nailed a formula that works from there on out.

shanks wrote:

I want to give the series a go but I'm just so hesitant as one of my friends called it rather complicated

I gave a quick read of the first 4 games' stories on Wikipedia and I've really gotten into the third one now. There were a few moments early on where I was supposed to be shocked but didn't understand the references, but other than that the main portion of the game is pretty standalone.

Finally got around to it myself and I agree on a few points but I wonder if Connor is meant to be boring. The way he questions to one track mind of the Assassin's and the fact the Templars aren't just evil bastards trying to enslave everyone was a pretty interesting idea. Gameplay wise I agree little changed but that didn't bother me too much. I loved the Homestead missions but I feel hunting was a wasted opportunity, it lacks the purpose of Far Cry or Red Dead. I absolutely loved the sailing though and that has me very excited for 4. As far as the simplified system I didn't find myself jumping off by accident, in fact I did stupid jumps less often so it worked for me.

As far as Desmond is concerned I totally agree, fantastic missions followed by a rushed ending which I fear is because every time it comes out everyone complains about Desmond and says how boring he and his story is (not an issue I've had) and they just wanted to end it.

I don't know if you've tried the DLC yet but episode 1 was fantastic and I cannot wait for episode 2. A tad short but I really liked how the powers breathed a new lease of life into the familiar gameplay.