Game Review: Assassin's Creed III

The AC series has just delivered it's third installment of the main storyline. In AC III you play as an assassin by the name of Connor Kenway in mid to late 1700's USA, the period of the American Revolution. You guys know we hate giving out spoilers but we must discuss some of the game's story so that our final score for AC III can be back up by facts. The game starts with Desmond, his father and two other characters trying to find a temple in New York. Desmond is in possession of the Apple and uses it to gain access to the temple, in doing so he activates a timer that counts down to the end of the world event which will take place on December 21st, 2012. Desmond then starts going crazy or at least what looks like he's going crazy and gets put back into the animus where he goes back to the 1700's into the character Haytham Kenway the father of Connor. From here the story develops a bit until you end up in the mind oc Connor Kenway and his involvement in shaping US history alongside some of the most famous people in US History like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and many others. This is however where the problems start with Assassin's Creed III. I will focus first on the negative aspects to then show you the redeeming aspects of the game. First of all the interaction with famous figures is rather bland and not very well developed, just like the personality of Connor. It makes the game feel like if Ubisoft wanted to throw in as many important figures as possible without giving them much development, it feels almost like an video game "easter egg" instead of a well thought out storyline. The game also has some glitches, some that don't allow the story to progress because you can't progress in certain missions and must restart your game, getting spotted when you are perfectly hidden, and even getting attacked for no reason without causing and alarm are some of the few I can mention. Stealth has also become a problem, with the simplified parkour style of just running and having Connor do everything without inputs, your jumps can be unpredictable, landing you in a spot you did not intend to jump to or something along those lines. Now lets get into the good aspects of the game, because it does have them and they are many. First let's start with the Naval Battles, they add a good amount of fun to the game and they are not just shoot and destroy oh no there is skill involved in driving your ship through narrow channels, chasing the enemy and avoiding a shipwreck. The game also has many hidden elements like a mission from famous pirate Captain Kidd, and now you can train your assassin recruits straight out of your menu without the need of a safe house. The game also avoids the whole buying or property to get money, that is done all out of your Home front where you can recruit artisans to make things for you and to sell. Combat has been changed a bit too, it is more fluid but it is also harder to make it fluid, you have to time your attacks and parries in a precise manner or your attacks wont connect. Also the game world is vast, maybe not as much as in past games but it is interesting to see how the country developed and Ubisoft created a world where you can feel as if you were there. Lastly I would like to add that the plot twists are not only good but very well executed and will leave you wanting more, sadly this is the main problem with AC III what it does well it does it very well but the same goes for what it doesn't do so well, it makes the game feel incomplete almost as if they wanted to fill up a gap while they deliver the real story.

Drake's Reviews Score 7.5 out of 10