Before we begin, I have to note I have not played Brotherhood or Revelations, so any comparisons to the rest of the series will be for AC1 and 2. That note aside, I bring you to my review of Assassin’s Creed 3. There may be some spoiler in here, but I will mark where it is in hopes of you skipping passed.
Assassin’s Creed has a long history of engaging story, fun parkour gameplay, and overall epic/badassness in terms of characters. We began with Altair, then moved to Ezio, and now we have Connor. So has Connor lived up to the creed and abilities of his ancestors? That is what we will found out.
Story: The AC franchise has a history of providing a good story to the games, at least in terms of the ancestors you play as, and having a very engrossing world for you to traipse around in. You begin the game as a person known as Haytham Kenway, killer extraordinaire. Of course, you won’t continue playing as him and after a while (mostly learning the ropes) you will shift over to a young Ratonhnhaké:ton (Known as Connor later). You learn the ropes of his specific playstyle as well as how to hunt and after some time, you begin on your journey to be an assassin. Connor’s story plays well in the whole immersion aspect and I found myself enjoying the main story objectives. You, however, also plays as Desmond Miles, the assassin descendant himself, who has learned quite a bit in his time in the Animus. His story is somewhat less interesting as it punctuates bits of Connor’s journey. I will say, however, that I found his parkour segments fun.
I might add, that of the other quests you can do, I REALLY enjoyed the Naval Combat sections, part of me wishes there were more. There is something viscerally enjoyable in watching a hail of cannon balls fly out at an enemy ship and it exploding in a blast of wood splinters and fire.
Overall, the story is okay. I didn’t find it as engaging or interesting as the previous ones, but it was still enjoyable. The ending of the game was somewhat surprising, yet slightly disappointing, and maybe that has to do with me only playing AC1 and 2. I feel like things came to a head very quickly, though not just in the series as a whole, but in the game in general. It also feels very short as well, even with various subquests. I finished the game in a much faster time than I thought, and by the halfway point I thought I had at least three-fourths of the game remaining.
-SPOILER ALERT!-
Spoiler! :
Gameplay: As usual, Assassin’s Creed 3 features a free-running, parkour-style of sandbox play. You can climb most everything, jump from ridiculous heights, and traverse almost anywhere you want. This freedom, however, sometimes leads to Connor grabbing onto things when you don’t want him to. This is especially frustrating in chase sequences. I found myself actively talking to the TV when these things would happen and berating Connor for them. The same is true for him jumping off in the wrong direction when the camera isn’t placed just right, or him falling to his death randomly.
All of that aside, I do enjoy when the parkour works well. The most enjoyable part of the gameplay, though was combat to me. I know they’ve revamped the combat since AC2 with Brotherhood and Revelations, but I feel like they added a few new things to Connor’s game as well. For one, there is a much clearer counter-attack indicator than the previous games, and counters feel really rewarding, especially when it’s a double-counter and you have a nicely scripted sequence to kill two guys at once. You will run into enemies that can stop your counter, as well as stop your ability to break their defenses. I found that there was a kind of “Weapons Triangle” in the game, so that when you fight someone with a Tomahawk while you have one as well, they pretty much parried every blow. It somewhat forces you to be more diverse in your weapon choices. You also have the ability to use muskets and a bow and arrow in the game. I found myself using the musket/pistol as a one-shot-kill for overly annoying enemies, and my bow for stealth kills or quick reloads in-battle. You also have a new weapon called the Rope Dart, which is basically a hook-shot with a knife on the end to drag your enemies closer, or hang them when you’re on a higher level than them. Combat, is not perfect, however, so there are some cheap deaths and some of the enemies counter attacks take a lot more life than you would think. It’s a good thing, then, that your health regenerates at a fairly good pace.
My biggest complaint with the gameplay overall would be how sparse the areas can be. Unlike the previous games, where you had sprawling, yet built-up cities, Assassin’s Creed 3 features large expanses of land, shorter buildings, and buildings more far apart. Unlike the previous games, I spent most of my time on the ground versus running across the roofs or in the treetops. On a note, I actually liked the treetop running. It fits Connor quite well and lends to a nice free-flowing parkour feel. I do, however, take issue with the distances you have to travel, either on foot or horseback (which still controls like a wet rag), even with the Fast Travel system they have in place. I feel like Assassin’s Creed has been a game more about traveling the cityscape versus a larger, open, sandbox area, but maybe I’m wrong.
Also, for Desmond’s sections of the game, you have NO Heads Up Display in any way. That means no indication of counters, no map, nothing. You don’t realize how much you rely on such things until they’re gone. I wish they had included them in his sections of the game just to keep the frustration level down.
Despite its flaws, the gameplay in Assassin’s Creed 3 is enjoyable, and you’ll find yourself running around, killing enemies by the dozen, and just enjoying the world Connor lives in.
Graphics: Compared to Assassin’s Creed 2, this game looks really good on the PS3. I had screen tearing and a bit of slowdown with AC2, but there was only minimal slowdown on AC3 when a lot was going on around me. you can definitely tell it’s a new graphics engine this time around, but you can also tell that in a bad way as well. Every now and then there were some graphical glitches and just gameplay glitches like being stuck in objects or scripted scenes being out of sync. Otherwise, and with more patches, I can see the game playing better in terms of graphical quality. Since I played the game after patches, I suppose I had a smoother experience than people who played it earlier in the process, so I guess I can’t complain too much.
Music: I was almost sad to see that there were no Jesper Kyd tracks on the soundtrack, but once I gave it a close listen, I threw that thought out the window. Lorne Balfe worked on the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations soundtrack alongside Jesper, and I liked what he had to bring to the table there despite my love of Jesper’s input in the franchise. I was not disappointed by his soundtrack for this game the moment I put in the game disc and heard the main theme. I’ll put several song examples below.
Assassin’s Creed 3 Main Theme
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE0Y5VmkILQ
- This song just speaks of amazing epicness to me. The way it begins with hints of Connor’s Native American heritage in music form, builds into a more stunning piece, and then crescendos to a climax of music really strikes a chord with me.
Freedom Fighter
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tjHFcz24fs
- Did you want a powerful, driving, and yet dark song when you fight people, well here you have it. Despite the hours I spent in battle (according to game about 10), I still enjoyed this song every time. What I like is that, even though it fits a more aggressive style of game, it still works perfectly in the world of Assassin’s Creed.
Through the Frontier
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMDt6fsH1ao
- Beginning with a vocalization and then quiet, yet driving, violins and strings, this song speaks well to the hunting aspect of the game. You must stalk your prey, bait them to come close, and sometimes fight against them. Bears won’t kill themselves, after all.
Modern Assassin
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfK91tJjpoM
- Seems Desmond has grown quite a bit since his first days in the animus. Channeling a more electronically-based driving melody, this tune really speaks to how technologically advanced the world had become since the time of his predecessors.
Fight Club
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxU54NeKZJo
- Did I mention there are Brawling side-quests? Well there are, and this track really shows a style of more colonial sounds with the pipes mixed with the violins. It has a very American Revolution kind of sound to it, which I thought was a nice change of pace.
Eye of the Storm
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amaCJ8bWgn8
- Who wouldn’t get pumped fighting armada’s of ships with this playing in the background? Perhaps garnering inspiration from Hanz Zimmer’s Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks, the song starts off with power and keeps the tension of the moment throughout.
What Came Before
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0aGa7IetPI
- Of course, the game is more than just overpowering action-based songs. There are plenty of songs like this which lend more to a bit more contemplative events. I happen to like when songs use this kind of mix of sounds.
Conclusion: Assassin’s Creed 3 does feel like an Assassin’s Creed game at its core, and I’m glad to see that the side-quests (outside of the fetch quests) are worth your time. The combat is very free-flowing and fun. The Naval battles are far more fun than you’d expect, and the story, while not as deep as the others, is still enjoyable. For the faults I point out, the game is worth the time, however, I would almost suggest you wait until it goes down in price unless you really want to get to it now. It will be more worth your money at a lower price. Despite this, I still recommend this game simply from a perspective of it being good at immersing you in the world of Revolutionary War-Era America.
Scores:
Story: 7.7/10
Gameplay: 7.5/10
Graphics: 8/10
Music: 9.8/10
Overall Score: 7.8/10
