REVIEW -- Assassin's Creed III

With the highly anticipated Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag right around the corner, I finally decided to bite the bullet and give this entry a fair shot after finishing up most of the DLC for Assassin's Creed II since it was on sale during this summer when that game was free as part of Games For Xbox Live Gold.

I managed to pick up the game on sale for a mere $10 and happened to finish in a span of two weeekends, which is rather fast for me for this series. Want to know what I thought of this heavily hyped entry of this franchise? Read on to find out.

The Plot (FULL Spoilers):

Desmond, William, Rebecca, and Shaun find the Temple in a cave in New York and access it using their Apple of Eden. After partially activating the temple, Juno uses it to communicate with Desmond. Desmond is placed in the Animus where Juno's influence causes him to experience the life of his ancestor in 1754 England; the Templar Grand Master, Haytham Kenway.

Haytham assassinates a patron at the Royal Opera House and steals a medallion; the Key to the Temple's inner chamber. Haytham is dispatched to the American Colonies to locate the Temple. While in Boston, he kills a slave trader, freeing a group of Mohawks including a woman named Kaniehti:io. She helps Haytham find the Temple in exchange for him killing General Braddock. Haytham and Kaniehti:io find that the Key is not able to open the temple itself. The pair develop a romantic relationship during their time together. The perspective then shifts to Ratonhnhaké:ton's childhood in 1760. His mother dies during an attack on his village led by the Templar Charles Lee. Years later, the village Elder informs a teenage Ratonhnhaké:ton that their tribe's duty is to prevent the Temple's discovery. The Elder gives him a transparent Sphere which allows Juno to communicate with him; she tells him of his importance and shows him the Assassins' symbol. The symbol leads him to the retired Assassin Achilles Davenport, who reluctantly begins training him as an assassin.

Achilles suggests Ratonhnhaké:ton rename himself "Connor" to enable him to move more freely throughout the Colonies. While seeking supplies in Boston, Connor is framed by the Templars for instigating the Boston Massacre. Over the following years, Connor kills several Templars, and aids in the Revolutionary War between the Patriots and the British. Connor meets with his father, and the two forge a temporary alliance to eliminate a rogue Templar. Later, Haytham uncovers a letter detailing George Washington's plan to remove the Indigenous population, including Connor's tribe, from the frontier to prevent them supporting the Loyalists. Connor returns to his village and learns that Lee has recruited several Mohawk warriors to turn back the Patriots sent to eradicate them. Connor neutralizes the warriors to avoid conflict, but his childhood friend Kanen'tó:kon cannot be reasoned with and Connor is forced to kill him.

Meanwhile, Desmond is occasionally roused from the Animus to retrieve power cells from Manhattan and Brazil, necessary for activating the Temple, before the Templar Daniel Cross can take them. William goes after the final cell himself, but is captured by the Templars' modern day front, Abstergo. Desmond assaults the facility, kills Cross and Warren Vidic, and rescues his father.

"Yes, Connor... I am your Templar bastard of a father."

Connor becomes conflicted about eliminating the Templars, and hopes to work with Haytham towards a common vision of peace and freedom. However, Haytham remains convinced of the chaos of freedom and the necessity to control the nation by replacing Washington with Lee. Lee is disgraced by Washington for attempting to sabotage the outcome of a battle and takes refuge in the heavily fortified Fort George. Connor infiltrates the fort and is confronted by Haytham; they duel, and Connor kills him. Connor later kills Lee and recovers the Key. With the Colonial Templars eliminated, Connor returns to his village only to find it empty, and the Sphere left behind. Using it, Juno instructs him to conceal the Key where it cannot be found; Connor buries the Key in the grave of Achilles' son, Connor Davenport.

In 2012, Desmond retrieves the Key and accesses the Temple's inner chambers. Juno informs him that activating the pedestal will save the world, but at the cost of his life. Minerva appears before them, opposing the plan as it will free Juno, who was sealed away in the temple to prevent her conquering humanity. Juno and Minerva explain that if the solar flare occurs, Desmond will be one of the few survivors in a post-apocalyptic world. After Desmond's later death, he will become revered as a god, whose well-intended legacy will be manipulated to control future generations, restarting the cycle. Desmond chooses to save humanity and give them the opportunity to fight Juno rather than be destroyed. William, Shaun and Rebecca leave the temple as Desmond activates the pedestal; a global aurora protects the planet from the solar eruption. Juno commends Desmond's choice and declares that it is time for her part to begin.

In the epilogue, Connor witnesses the last of the British ships leave New York and a trader selling slaves, a reminder that his fight for freedom is not over. Connor then returns to his village only to discover that the Mohawks have gone west after the newly formed Congress sold the land to settle war debts since, he is told, bringing in taxes so soon after a war fought to remove them would only serve to portray the newly formed US government as a continuation of its predecessor.

Following this, a modern-day voice-over can be heard directing the listener to locate a number of 'pivot points' that have been spread out across the memories' graphical representation of the Colonial America. Once collected, the voice-over returns to congratulate, and informs that they have now connected to the cloud.

Gameplay: 

Assassin's Creed III is a third-person action-adventure title set in an open world in which the player uses a combination of stealth, parkour, and combat to complete various missions. The player takes the role of three characters during the course of the game. The main character is Desmond Miles, a 21st-century Assassin, working to uncover the secrets of a mysterious Precursor Vault that purportedly will protect the Earth from an upcoming solar flare on December 21, 2012. To uncover the secrets, Desmond uses the Animus to live out memories of two of his ancestors which the player controls during these sequences, both set at the time of the American Revolutionary War. The first, briefly played at the start of the game, is Haytham Kenway, a British Templar that seeks the location of the Vault. The second, and the primary character for the game, is Ratonhnhaké:ton, the son of Kenway and his Native American wife. Ratonhnhaké:ton takes on the name Connor to blend in better with colonial society. When playing as Connor, the player has access to a huge wilderness known as the Frontier (which is 1.5 times bigger than Rome in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood), the cities of Boston and New York. Portions of the Eastern Seaboard and Caribbean Sea can be explored via the flagship of the Assassin's navy, the Aquila, captained by Connor himself, with Robert Faulkner his first-mate advising and teaching him in the ways of the sea.

Free running has been simplified to allow for more fluid parkour in the cities and wilderness, such as climbing and running on trees, mountains, cliffs, etc. Close combat has been modified, allowing Connor to dual-wield weapons and take down multiple opponents at once and players no longer need to manage the lock-on mechanic. Aiding this, Connor has access to a wide range of weapons which include muskets, pistols, native weapons such as the tomahawk and bow and arrow, a rope dart (used to pull foes or hang them, while on a tree) as well as the hidden blades. Human shields can be used against firing lines of enemies. Medicine is no longer used as health recovers automatically. Stealth is also revamped, allowing players to use natural elements such as tall grass and trees to hide, along with the ability to blend between any two people.

Assassin's Creed III features new weather simulations such as snow, fog, and rain. The seasons can also change i.e., Summer and Winter, which not only effect visuals but also gameplay, as the player will find running slower in deep snow. Snowfall can reduce visibility for the player and enemies, aiding stealth. Unlike the past games, this one includes animals varying from domestic (horses, cows, dogs) to wild (deer, wolves, bears). The wild ones are found in the Frontier, and can be hunted for meat or marrow in order to be sold. The quality of the kill determines the price, encouraging the player to hunt silently. For this, traps and bait can also be used.

Economy is now based on the Davenport Homestead, which also acts as Connor's adopted home. The site can be visited by people such as carpenters, tailors etc. suffering from displacement due to the war. Helping and interacting with these non-player characters (NPCs) will encourage them to settle in the Homestead. From there on, the player can craft various items and trade with them, and then sell the goods to the cities via caravan. The player can also help them build relationships with each other, which will then result in the formation of a small village. The player can also upgrade the Homestead manor as well as Connor's ship, the Aquila.

A revamped version of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's recruitment feature returns as players can enlist citizens to the Assassins' cause by completing "Liberation" missions. They also have a much larger skill set, which allows them to start a riot, provide a covert escort, act as a personal bodyguard etc. Other side missions include collecting Almanac pages, exploring underground tunnels to locate fast-travel stations, joining hunting and fighting clubs, investigating frontiersman rumours about UFOs and Sasquatch, "peg-leg" missions in which Connor goes to underground forts and wastelands to uncover the legend of Captain Kidd's treasure, and others.

Assassin's Creed III also features naval expeditions. Using Connor's warship, the Aquila, the player can navigate the high seas. Control of the ship relies on environmental factors such as wind direction and speed, local presence of storms, high waves, and rocks. Engagements are by cannon, with broadsides covering both flanks of the ship, and swivel guns that can be used to damage smaller ships which can also be boarded to find treasure. The Aquila is used in the side missions known as "Privateer missions" and is also used in some of the main missions.

The Wii U version of the game has extra features. The player has the ability to change weapons on the go and the map is always visible on the Wii U Gamepad. The Wii U version also supports Off TV Play. With this feature enabled, the main screen is redirected to the Wii U Gamepad.

Multiplayer returns in this installment by Ubisoft Annecy. Along with returning modes, new ones feature a co-operative mode named Wolfpack, in which 2-4 players are charged with killing certain NPCs within a time limit, through a sequence of 25 stages. It also features Domination, a team mode where players will have to capture certain areas of the map, protecting them from the opposing team

The Verdict: 

If you have been following my comments on Facebook, then you should already know how I feel about this game, but after clearing the main campaign, I strived to find some positives underneath all of the negatives of this game.

Single Player Gameplay

Narrative & Story Missions, Plus Basic Gameplay

In terms of story, I have to say I was more immersed in the Desmond-centric plot of the narrative rather than the whole behind-the-scenes look at the American Revolution. Some of you might find that surprising as it was completely the other way around when I played through Assassin's Creed: Revelations. I was more immersed in Ezio Auditore's narrative in his elder years as an Assassin (along with Altair's) than Desmond's reconstruction of his psyche. I think it's more with me being American and growing bored with that subject manner shoved down my throat throughout the duration of years in grade school and college. 

The first portion of the game that served as the prologue, whereas you played as Haytham Kenway was interesting enough, but it just dragged on too long for my taste. The sequence on the boat as you crossed the Atlantic could truly test any player's endurance and patience as you will start to think that this forced tutorial will never cease. To make matters worse, that sequence is merely the introduction to this prologue. Mind you, this prologue is roughly 4-6 hours in length before the game switches to the "real" open world portion of the game where you play as Ratonhnhaké:ton (Connor).

The basic gameplay mechanics are roughly the same that we have come accustomed to for the last 4 games now, minus the newest addition being that individual limb control via button inputs on the face buttons on the controller is now nonexistent in this game. The new free-run mechanic, whereas Connor will not make any is a welcome addition, but it is not helpful in the least when the environments are laid out in a way where you will be traversing more on at ground level than over rooftops and trees for the bulk of the game. Speaking of trees, that has to be this entry's most flawed mechanic. Every single time I would try to climb to the top of a tree to synchronize, Connor would glitch out and fall to his demise - EVERY SINGLE TIME. So I stopped trying to scale them for synchronization for the duration of the game.

I really hate the menus for using items in this game. By default in the past 3 games, to call my horse to my aid, I would merely hit up on the d-pad. Now, I'm forced to manually go into the menu, select horse and wait for it to walk up. It's steps back in gameplay like this is what really holds this entry back. I know we have come to the point that there are far too many items to hotkey and put into shortcut commands, but call me spoiled as the Batman: Arkham-themed games manages to make it work.

Unlike in the previous games in this series, I didn't mind the breaks from the Animus for more story with Desmond Miles' rag-tag group of assassins. This is our fourth game together now, so I have gotten used to their presence. To be honest, these breaks from playing as Connor were much appreciated and it was a welcome change to see Desmond's skills that he has acquired from his ancestors used in modern times. These sequences are flawed, much like the everything else with this game, with occasional graphical and AI behavior hiccups scattered within them. Despite the shortcomings, I found myself more interested in what was going on in the modern world than what transpired with Connor's ongoing quest for revenge and assisting with the American Revolution.

For me, Connor's story stood out the best during the set pieces placed throughout the battlefields in the American Revolution, especially when he was forced to transverse a live battlefield just to approach and assassinate his target or the few missions where Connor commanded allied troops to defend the frontlines of incoming enemy soldiers. As a result, the player is given control of allied soldiers' military armaments and troops to add a new dynamic of strategy in missions. This is a welcome change of pace over the tower and den defense mini-games from Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

One major aspect that hurts a lot of the missions is this game's (or lack of) stealth mechanics. Stealth is borderline laughable in this game as the slightest action detects your presence to enemies and animals alike. As a result, perfectionists will find themselves pulling their hair out going for the stealth-oriented optional objectives on the story missions.

I have to ask this question as well - why am I still being forced to follow a target around and listen to random conversations just to gather information? This gameplay mechanic has been horrible since the original Assassin's Creed and still comes across as pain in the ass in it's sequels. I will be glad when Ubisoft creates a new method for gathering information in these games. Why can't these assassins go around interrogating people like Batman for damn information? That would be more convenient. Just saying...

I think most players will agree with me but climax to this game fell flat completely on two-fronts. First of all, I wanted the fight against Haytham Kenway to last-longer than the brief final encounter that occured between them. The boss fight on its own was unique and another welcomed change from the norm that players have come accustomed to in this series' combat, but I left the encounter wanting more from it. The same could be said from the final chase sequence with Charles Lee that had an arsenal of bad gameplay mechanics plaguing it as well as lackluster finale. By this point, I had already given up on caring about Connor's story of revenge as it was clear at this point of the narrative that Connor was more fixated on revenge than following the Creed, and was anxious on the final revelation to the plot in the modern era. 

Combat

Prior to playing the game, other players and other gaming outlets raved about the series' combat in this entry is reminiscent to the Batman: Arkham-themed games. I beg to differ. It's still same tired and true strategy. You simply strife around your enemies and wait for them to make a move, counter, then follow-up with either a disarm, heavy attack, or instant kill afterwards. It's the same thing that players have been doing since the original Assassin's Creed. The only notable changes that stick out are the ability to counter multiple enemies at once and to use nearby enemies as human shields to block incoming gunfire. Connor is able to arm himself with enemy weapons, much like predecessor Ezio Auditore in previous games. Sadly, this mechanic is very flawed as I found myself mashing on the button to pick up weapons in combat. It's easier to simply to perform a disarm mid-combat than actually arming yourself with discarded weapons on the ground. It is a shame that more time wasn't spend in development honing this part of gameplay to perfection. 

Arguably, when combat does work right, it looks amazing to see Connor beat his opponents into submission. There is no doubt that you won't feel like a bad ass in these sequences, especially during the double and triple kill animations. 

Hunting

This concept is introduced shortly after gaining control of Connor in the narrative. For those who have played Red Dead Redemption or even Far Cry 3, some of the same principles apply here. Animals treat you like NPCs in the game. They are aware of your presence in the environment and will either run or attack if you are making too much noise or clearly visible in their field of vision. Other natural predators, such as bears and wolves will flat out attack you if you tread carelessly in their hunting grounds. You can either set traps and lure animals to their demise in a "clean" manner or you can track their movements through the trees and environment and take them down with honed precision with your hidden blade or long-range weapons.

This is a welcome addition to the series as it adds a new layer of depth and realism that this series has been missing on its wilderness environments. My only gripe with the animal NPCs is that they can even attack you while you are in the thick of the action during story missions that force you into their attack prompt QTE that often times get you killed or result in a mission failed thanks to the game glitching and you miss both the prompt and your target/objective. 

Homestead Missions

Other than hunting, this is what I found myself doing a lot of during my duration of gameplay. Instead of upgrading and restoring your family mansion to its former glory like back in Assassin's Creed II and Revelations, the Davenport Homestead serves as Connor's base of operations. By completing Homestead Missions, you can recruit more homesteaders to live in your budding community and offer to make supplies for trading and potentially craft stronger and more rare items for use in missions. More importantly, these missions allow Connor to learn more about the people settling around the Davenport Homestead.

These missions vary in variety, as some would have you hunting for rare animals, others will have you raiding tombs like in Assassin's Creed II for a particular item, then some will prove to be as simple as merely winning an optional mini-game. 

Liberation Missions

This is how you recruit your assassins to help you, much like the recruits back in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Complete these tasks, which are commonly stop a few enemy soldiers from bullying townsfolk, and you will have a new recruit to summon in combat or to assist you with stealth attacks on targets.

My biggest gripe with this is it is nowhere as refined as it was in the last two games. I will easily admit that it was rather overpowered in a few sections of Brotherhood and Revelations, but that is still no reason to dumb it down to this degree. Sure, your recruits have a few new options to them, but that's simply to make up for the absence of various guilds to assist you in this time period.

Privateer Missions

To say that naval warfare was a huge selling point of this game, I found it to be most cumbersome of the new gameplay options in this game. Steering and navigating the Aquila is often times a hassle, and this is amplified in combat. Players are expected to steer the boat, aim the cannons precisely, and even defend against enemy attacks during combat. It sounds cool in theory, but much like the traditional combat and everything else in this game, it doesn't work good enough.

With Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag set to center around this aspect within the age of pirates, I can only hope and pray that they refine this area of gameplay for it is a much more enjoyable experience than what was provided here. 

Sound

Hands-down, the BEST theme used in this game. Sadly, you only get to hear it only a handful of times in the game, namely during the last chase sequence of the game and during the ending credits. The rest of this game's music is easily forgettable. That is sad as one would expect some monumental tracks to accompany this period in American history, especially during all of the battles across the battlefields of the American Revolution.  

Glitches

I have experienced a bulk of those glitches and then some throughout my tenure with this game. It seemed like Ubisoft literally rushed this game out just to meet the holiday gaming rush deadlines. As a result, this Assassin's Creed game feels more like a beta-test than Revelations did.

The worst glitch I experienced was the during the introduction of Connor coming to Boston on horseback and he fell through the environment and died. I reloaded the checkpoint about two more times only for it to repeat again and again. After the third attempt, the game finally allowed me to continue my progress in the mission. 

Multiplayer

First of all, shout-out and kudos to my friend, Anahiko, for taking the time out of her busy gaming schedule and helping me out on learning the ropes and running a few multiplayer sessions for I could obtain reasonable feedback. I'm sure she won't even have time to read this as she hasn't stopped playing Grand Theft Auto V's Online Mode to my knowledge...

One thing players must note that an UPlay account is required for playing online. If you have been playing these games since the original Assassin's Creed then you more likely already have a UPlay account already anyway...

As this game is in the last leg of its multiplayer lifespan, there's not many players playing online, but when you do get a full room of players it's a thing of beauty, especially with the team-executed sync kills (see video below) that are triggered simultaneously by all 4 players working together in unison to strike down 4 separate targets in unison. Think of it much like the sync shots in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier, but you have 3 other human companions with you instead of AI.

In multiplayer modes, there are 16 characters playable (more as DLC) with different sets of preset skills and weapons, but all of them are equipped with a melee weapon for assassinations. I found myself using The Independent (who reminded me of Connor's mother) the most as I didn't fancy to any of the other archetypes. While there are many multiplayer modes, most players are playing Domination and Wolfpack. Domination is a team mode in which players need to capture areas of the map while protecting them from the opposite team. In other words, it's your run of the mill capture the flag mode in online multiplayer. Wolfpack is where 2-4 players have to hunt down and kill targets within a time limit with a total of 25 sequences.

I personally found Wolfpack to be the most fun as everyone is scrambling across the map to kill targets and bonus targets within the allowed time limit. If you are like me and a complete newbie to multiplayer in these games, then Wolfpack is a great place to start rather than trying to hunt down other human players in the other multiplayer modes. For achievement/trophy hunters, it's a lot easier to level grind in this mode as well. While I'm not the biggest fan of online multiplayer period, I found myself easily losing about 6+ hours of my free time having a blast in this mode.

For players who want to invest in this mode for the long haul, there are customization options and unlockable outfits, items, and weapons for higher levels. I'm sure the customization freaks from Call of Duty and Battlefield will love that option in multiplayer. Sadly, there's not that level of depth here, but it's enough to keep things interesting.

Closing Remarks

I really wanted to like Connor, but he came off as a lackluster replacement to his predecessors in the Assassin lineage. Sue me, I'm still quite attached to Ezio Auditoire after spending the last three games that chronicled his life from beginning to end, so I came into this entry with high expectations for his replacement. Connor allowed his personal vendetta for revenge to blindside him to anything else but that mission throughout the course of the game. Not for one instance did he think about the bigger picture outside the small scope of his train of thought. It's sad that his Templar father held up as a far more interesting character than the bland character that Connor was portrayed as in this game. Hell, I was even more interested in Kaniehti:io than Connor and that's just sad. Call me nitpicky, but Ubisoft have managed to engross players into their protagonists, especially Altair, Ezio, and even Desmond Miles nowadays, with each new entry adding a new layer of depth to those characters. Now we are up to the fourth sequel and treated with a new protagonist who is merely following orders and not asking questions. It's exactly how Altair found himself becoming a pawn in this circle from the start. So I ask, why are we repeating this pattern? I thought the Creed exists to make sure that no other Assassins found themselves to become pawns to the grander scale of things in motion?

As for the narrative in modern times, I'm anxious to see where it goes from here. It's obvious that Desmond Miles' key role in this narrative is over (for now...) but I doubt this is going to the last that we have seen of him and his companions. 

From the original Assassin's Creed to the entire Ezio trilogy (Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Assassin's Creed: Revelations) to Assassin's Creed III, I have put up with the best and the worst this series has to offer from the creative minds of Ubisoft. Much like Revelations, Ubisoft seems to be at a lost to where to take this series next. With every step forward they take this series creatively, it steps back tenfold with its own shortcomings. Regardless, I know I will play the next entry, solely on the fact that I am so heavily interested and fixated on this series' narrative, but at the same time, I know there are not many gamers who will put up with this degree of shortcomings and glitches just for a good story. With a heavy heart, I have to give Assassin's Creed III a 7 out of 10.

With Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag releasing today set in the age of pirates and swashbuckling, I can only hope that Ubisoft gets their shit together before this series finds itself at the end of its chain. That being said, Ubisoft would be best to consider not making this series an annual franchise.