Use of Vita Features
Similar to what Bend did with Golden Abyss, Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation makes good use of the Vita features. At certain points in the game, gamers will be using various controls like the gyro controls when solving a puzzle that involves you tilting it until the ball drops, swiping both the touch and rear panel at the same time to open a letter, using the rear camera under a bright light to reveal the secrets of a letter and much more. The use of Vita features isn’t as annoying as other games as every Vita control implemented in Liberation works just right and it’s easy to get used to.
In addition to the Vita controls, Liberation also uses the NEAR feature where you can send the collectibles you collect in the game via the ‘Game Goods’ section of NEAR. With a lot of them to collect, completionists will find this feature interesting.
Cross-Play Features
Assuming you will also get Assassin’s Creed III on the PS3, one of the benefit of having both the PS Vita and PS3 version of the game is the ability to get goods from each other’s games. One of the benefits for linking your PS Vita to the PS3 version of Assassin’s Creed is that you can get Connor’s Tomahawk as a weapon and the ability to play as him. Also, you can transfer goods and all sorts of items that will make the experience more fun between both games.
NOT
Confusing Multiplayer Mode
Those who are hoping that Ubisoft will put the multiplayer competitive online mode in Liberation will be disappointed. Instead of putting it on the handheld, Ubisoft implemented some sort of other unique multiplayer mode. No, it’s not competitive where you can move your characters to assassinate, but instead you will spend time looking through nodes and capture either the Assassin or Absertgo nodes, depending on which side you choose. At first, figuring out how the online mode works is confusing as you will first have to plot your geolocation and start conquering nodes as you send in agents. The multiplayer mode isn’t worth playing and I find it a waste of time even tinkering around in it.
Frame Rate Dips
With a big and expansive environment in Liberation, one of the things that is hard to prevent is a slight dip on frame rates. At a certain point in the game, there will be times where you will notice that frame rate will drop, though it doesn’t look as bad as other games. The frame rate drops only happen occasionally, but for the most part you can expect the game to stream smoothly.
Glitches and Errors
Another problem that I’ve found in Liberation that is annoying are the glitches. At certain points in the game, you will reach an area where Aveline will suddenly fall out of nowhere in a light screen endlessly. Once that glitch happens, you cannot control her anymore and the only way to regain control of her is restarting the last checkpoint. On my play through, it happened several times and hopefully it will be fixed via a patch. Also, another problem that I’ve encountered aside from glitches are the errors that close the game. During some segments in the game, like after clearing out an area of Templars, the game will suddenly freeze and an error will pop up. When that happens, it will shut the game down, forcing you to restart the game.
VERDICT
Following the disappointment of Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines that Ubisoft released several years ago on the PSP, I am glad that Assassin’s Creed III Liberation turned out to be the game I wanted it to be. The game does not only offer a true Assassin’s Creed game that fans wanted, but it also manages to retain good storytelling, beautiful-looking visuals and great use of the Vita controls to make the game more innovative to play. The only downside that the game has is the confusing multiplayer in which players will not care about and the random encounters of glitches and frame rate drops. Overall, Assassin’s Creed III Liberation is the game that fans should get on the PS Vita as it will not disappoint.
[Editor’s Note: Assassins Creed III: Liberation was reviewed on the Playstation Vita. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
