Assassin's Creed III

[Ayen]

I finally got around to playing this game just the other night. So far I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I've always been fascinated with this period of history so seeing it come to life in such a way is a real treat for me. I'm also enjoying Haytham Kenway as a character. He's such a classy mofo. It's easy for me to visualize him as a real person in that time period with how well he's characterized. I'm currently at the part where you meet up with Kaniehti:io and help her go after General Braddock.

I admit I haven't done much exploration yet. I've mainly just been following the main story, as is the case with most of the open-world games I play. I'm used to a somewhat linear gaming experience because of all the games I had to play growing up so I tend to stick with that out of force of habit for the first playthrough. I get lost easily, too. Maps? Compass? What are those?

Discuss.

[Skyblade]

I stopped playing shortly after Conner's Assassin training started, and I haven't gone back. I can only take so many hours of tutorial from this series. Not to mention, Conner is thus far the least interesting protagonist the series has had. I'd much rather have Altair, Ezio, or Haytham.

[Wolf Kanno]

This was such an interesting game. They really tried to change things up with it and while it wasn't necessarily all good changes there were some great ones.

The story kind of goes back and forth between being really good and kind of poorly done, largely cause once Conner shows up the game likes to gloss over plot elements most fans wanted to see. His interactions with Haytham are pretty fun though. What is nice about Conner's story is really the fact it's a bit like Crisis Core in that we the player in the current time already know that Conner's goal is a lost cause. It's watching him dirty his hands and throw himself into the "white man's" conflict for the hope of saving his people's lands makes the story really tragic. The early chapters also pay off pretty good in the later chapters as well and I appreciate the fact the series returned to the gritty ambiguous nature of the Assassin/Templar conflict. After Ezio played hero for three games it was great to get back into a story where the good guys and bad guys are not necessarily clear.

In terms of gameplay, I really enjoyed the game, the new combat system really nice, guns were nicely balanced, the locations were fun to explore, building the Homestead was a nice evolution from the Assassin territory missions from Revelations, and the naval battles were awesome.

The biggest beefs with the game was that the trading post mini-game was an absolute chore, the frontier was a bit too aimless, and oh yeah, all the bugs. I'm talking Brotherhood style "tear your hair out, game breaking bugs. If you can finish a side mission without the game glitching out and making it unwinnable, consider yourself lucky.

Despite all that, its still one of the few AC games that has actually made me want to go back through it. The Revolutionary War was always my favorite era of American History, so I had a blast going through the game. Though Paul Revere is both lazy and annoying in this game.:colbert:

[Ayen]

I stopped playing shortly after Conner's Assassin training started, and I haven't gone back. I can only take so many hours of tutorial from this series. Not to mention, Conner is thus far the least interesting protagonist the series has had. I'd much rather have Altair, Ezio, or Haytham.

I'm dreading getting to that part because it means I have to part with Haytham. He's so cool and I think I'd honestly rather wear his outfit than the traditional snow white assassin's outfit.


This was such an interesting game. They really tried to change things up with it and while it wasn't necessarily all good changes there were some great ones.

The story kind of goes back and forth between being really good and kind of poorly done, largely cause once Conner shows up the game likes to gloss over plot elements most fans wanted to see. His interactions with Haytham are pretty fun though. What is nice about Conner's story is really the fact it's a bit like Crisis Core in that we the player in the current time already know that Conner's goal is a lost cause. It's watching him dirty his hands and throw himself into the "white man's" conflict for the hope of saving his people's lands makes the story really tragic. The early chapters also pay off pretty good in the later chapters as well and I appreciate the fact the series returned to the gritty ambiguous nature of the Assassin/Templar conflict. After Ezio played hero for three games it was great to get back into a story where the good guys and bad guys are not necessarily clear.

In terms of gameplay, I really enjoyed the game, the new combat system really nice, guns were nicely balanced, the locations were fun to explore, building the Homestead was a nice evolution from the Assassin territory missions from Revelations, and the naval battles were awesome.

The biggest beefs with the game was that the trading post mini-game was an absolute chore, the frontier was a bit too aimless, and oh yeah, all the bugs. I'm talking Brotherhood style "tear your hair out, game breaking bugs. If you can finish a side mission without the game glitching out and making it unwinnable, consider yourself lucky.

Despite all that, its still one of the few AC games that has actually made me want to go back through it. The Revolutionary War was always my favorite era of American History, so I had a blast going through the game. Though Paul Revere is both lazy and annoying in this game.:colbert:

I haven't encountered any bugs yet, but I also haven't done any sidequests yet so that's probably why. I'll be sure to say, "Ants happened" when I do, though.

[Pike]

Decent game and great time period but AssCreed IV is where it's at. YARR

[Tasura]

Decent game and great time period but AssCreed IV is where it's at. YARR

This.

[Kalevala]

I felt too restrained by Assassin's Creed III. I suppose you're at the mercy of the development team in just about every game, but I don't like feeling as though I'm being forced to experience things the way the devs think is best for me. It's almost patronizing. Have enough faith in me as a player to allow me to experience your creation to my own liking.

[Ayen]

I felt too restrained by Assassin's Creed III. I suppose you're at the mercy of the development team in just about every game, but I don't like feeling as though I'm being forced to experience things the way the devs think is best for me. It's almost patronizing. Have enough faith in me as a player to allow me to experience your creation to my own liking.

How do you mean?

[Kalevala]

Things like planning an attack on a thug in Boston and then oops he just teleported over to his horse. I'm sure a chase on horseback is far more exciting than planning an attack to some, but that kind of shoehorning cuts off my immersion in the game. Your game is rated M, don't treat your audience like children.

[Ayen]

Things like planning an attack on a thug in Boston and then oops he just teleported over to his horse. I'm sure a chase on horseback is far more exciting than planning an attack to some, but that kind of shoehorning cuts off my immersion in the game. Your game is rated M, don't treat your audience like children.

WTF? That is weird and contradicts how hard the game tries to grant you freedom with all the places you can explore.

I actually kind of hate the horseback riding in the game except when I run into people. "Out of my way!"

[Kalevala]

Yes! That the game is contradicting its design philosophy like that makes it even worse. There was another part of the game where I jumped into a river to save a man from drowning, however, immediately after jumping in the game shows me jumping again in a cut-scene. Why? More pointless, immersion-ruining design decisions.

[Del Murder]

I've played all the AC games except the first one and I found AC3 to be my least favorite. Connor was pretty uninteresting and his father and grandfather are much cooler. I did like the hunting and stuff in the Frontier but colonial America doesn't interest me as much as Renaissance Italy or the Pirates of the Caribbean. The naval missions were also cool but after playing AC4 I look back at those and think of them as child's play.

[Quindiana Jones]

I found it unplayable dull but suffered through a fair amount out of loyalty and hope. This game actually killed AC for me for a while, but then Psychotic (I think) said that Black Flag was amazing so I decided to buy it.

3 did many things well, but those small things were not enough to counteract the general boringness of it all. Ubisoft took all the best bits, polished them up and made an excellent game out of them, so I'm glad about that at least!

As WK said, I am glad they dropped the whole "Assassins = Good" stuff from Ezio's time. I loved that man and those games, but the real draw of the first and fourth games for me is the fact that the Templars are all perfectly reasonable. AC3 reintroduces this, but kind of waters it down by making the Templars comedically evil at times, but overall they did a great job of portraying them as reasonable sympathetic.

Overall, many good things hidden inside a giant grey mushy haystack. Haytham really was the highlight of the game.

[Loony BoB]

I liked the ability to build your own little village thing. But my game cut out after about 50 hours of gameplay and my PS3 died and I regret so much not having PS Plus at the time because now I have to do the whole lot all over again "someday" and I just don't want to anymore. I have PS Plus now, though. Lesson learned.

But yeah, was not a massive fan of the game so far. My biggest pet peeve in it was that I could take out about 50 guys in a row. No, 100. No, 200. Why? Because they just freaking kept coming. There was an endless supply of easily defeatable enemies in the Boston shipfront and they just didn't stop multiplying amongst themselvess. It was crazy. I had to leave and then return. That doesn't make you feel very immersed, personally. I'd rather they just beat the crap out of me eventually. :p

Anyway, yeah, maybe I'll play again someday. I prefer the ACII series.

I far prefer the Desmond story to the "historic" stories overall.

And seriously, "running into Ben Franklin" the second you arrive? Cheesy much?

One cheese bit I did adore was the final box of the Boston Tea Party. xD

[Wolf Kanno]

And seriously, "running into Ben Franklin" the second you arrive? Cheesy much?


Ben Franklin got around, his speech about a "man's need for a mistress" is something he would actually say. ;)

[Ayen]

Oh that Templar twist.

I've made it to Connor as a little boy. I'm an Indian!

[Skyblade]

Oh that Templar twist.

I've made it to Connor as a little boy. I'm an Indian!

Prepare for seven hours of annoying "growing up and becoming an assassin" plot. If you can get through that bit (which I basically couldn't, it just got too dull), you can then try to enjoy the actual game.

[Ayen]

Oh that Templar twist.

I've made it to Connor as a little boy. I'm an Indian!

Prepare for seven hours of annoying "growing up and becoming an assassin" plot. If you can get through that bit (which I basically couldn't, it just got too dull), you can then try to enjoy the actual game.

Oh dear sweet Jesus, I already know what you mean. Jumping through trees and whatnot is cool but goddamn I hate hunting and why the smurf do I need to fix this old man's house? You know, game, if you wanted to do the growing up phase, that's fine, but don't put it after I already did a bunch of real trout at the beginning of the game!

[Skyblade]

Oh that Templar twist.

I've made it to Connor as a little boy. I'm an Indian!

Prepare for seven hours of annoying "growing up and becoming an assassin" plot. If you can get through that bit (which I basically couldn't, it just got too dull), you can then try to enjoy the actual game.

Oh dear sweet Jesus, I already know what you mean. Jumping through trees and whatnot is cool but goddamn I hate hunting and why the smurf do I need to fix this old man's house? You know, game, if you wanted to do the growing up phase, that's fine, but don't put it after I already did a bunch of real trout at the beginning of the game!

Yeah, that's the part that seems really weird to me. They give us a fantastic opening, including a compact yet solid tutorial, with a brilliant main character, exciting events, and great look at the world...

Then they dump us in Conner, a character with no personality, and put us in a holding pattern for hours. The Desmond plot is as convoluted, annoying, and nonsensical as ever, so that doesn't pull us along, but there is nothing at all about Conner's training to engage us. With Ezio, they gave us a reason for it (we were learning to be an Assassin from the ground up, we needed to go through the training steps along the way), they gave us a strong personality to hold the experience together, and they actually put a plot to it all. Ezio was seeking to kill those who conspired to destroy his family, and learned about the way of the Assassins and of the threat of the Templar along the way. Conner goes on a similar revenge story, or so you would think, except he just goes outright to get trained, and rather than interesting plot points and hunting for foes, we just get boring training, house repair, and bandit fighting for hours.

I did eventually finish the sequence, but at that time I was so thoroughly sick of it that I just quit. I got the open world, did one mission, and just basically thought: "Why am I here? Why am I doing this? I don't care about Conner. I don't care about his tribe. I don't care about Desmond. The only character left I do care about is the villain, and I know I'm not going to see him again for another forty hours. I'm done." So I shut the game off. I haven't started it back up since, and I don't really have any intention of doing so. I was gifted Assassin's Creed IV, and I haven't opened it. I just don't care about the world any more. I'm sick of running through ten hour introductions (Assassin's Creed III makes Kingdom Hearts II look fast) every game. I'm sick of the constant overly convoluted nonsense that makes up Desmond's story. And I don't have anything worthwhile to get me invested in the experience, because now even the Animus characters are boring, and the story seems nonexistent. ACIII killed the series for me.

[Ayen]

Well, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who finds Desmond's plot confusing as smurf. Assassin's Creed is the only game I have trouble writing about because even after I played for hours I still have no clue what's going on. Most of the time I'm just going through the motions. They really should have kept Haytham as the main playable character throughout. I don't mind Connor as much and I'm probably more invested in the tribe because my heart always bled for the Indians and what happened to them at this time, but even then going from Haytham to Connor is like MGS2 going from Snake to Raiden. The latter just can't hold a candle to the former.

[Quindiana Jones]

As someone who also had the series killed by AC3, Skyblade, I strongly recommend you give 4 a try. It rekindled my love, and it's just awesome. Did basically everything in, including all the collectibles, just because it was fun, and the real world missions are genuinely interesting to do. They completely 180'd the boring pointlessness of so much of AC3 and made pretty much everything worth doing.

[Skyblade]

As someone who also had the series killed by AC3, Skyblade, I strongly recommend you give 4 a try. It rekindled my love, and it's just awesome. Did basically everything in, including all the collectibles, just because it was fun, and the real world missions are genuinely interesting to do. They completely 180'd the boring pointlessness of so much of AC3 and made pretty much everything worth doing.

I probably will play ACIV, but it currently has to compete with Bravely Default, Fire Emblem Awakening, Conception II (just released today!), and the last half of Dishonored.

Plus, although I didn't like Desmond's story (especially after they killed off Lucy for no reason), I am not sure I could go in without knowing what happened.

[Quindiana Jones]

I did, and it all went perfectly well. :)

[Ayen]

As someone who also had the series killed by AC3, Skyblade, I strongly recommend you give 4 a try. It rekindled my love, and it's just awesome. Did basically everything in, including all the collectibles, just because it was fun, and the real world missions are genuinely interesting to do. They completely 180'd the boring pointlessness of so much of AC3 and made pretty much everything worth doing.

I'm assuming by the sheer excitement whenever it's brought up, and it being about pirates, that the naval missions have been improved by a large margin? Because those swivel guns were a pain in my ass.

[Del Murder]

The entire game is a giant naval mission. But yes the swivels are much more intuitive to use.

[Quindiana Jones]

It's also the first AC game ever to have a proper reason for having money, which is nice. All of the gameplay components work really well together and there are very few loose ends, I found. It has a Windwaker sense of bigness and grandness without being Just Cause 2ily too massive.