Assassin’s Creed III Review

Content & Scale

The sheer amount of content which is in Assassin’s Creed 3 is something to be in awe of. With some games this generation lasting a mere 6-8 hours for Assassin’s Creed 3 you’ll be lucky to have completed more than a fifth of the title in that time. Not only does it offer this vast amount of content, it’s content which players will actually want to experience. Players won’t want to rush through to complete the title, as they would miss decent side missions and substance along the way. Taking the time to savour every minute is the way Assassin’s Creed 3 should be played.

Storyline
To sum up something so impressive without giving spoilers away is hard. The plot which has incredible depth to it is now as much of a reason to play as the gameplay. Before, gamers played the storyline to enjoy the gameplay. Now, gamers will play the game not only to enjoy the gameplay, but also to learn more of Connor’s journey and naturally some of Desmond’s. More so than ever are characters of the game given in depth back stories; enough for players to create some form of a relationship with them but not too much, which would bore players. The story itself has plenty of surprises in store for gamers; some I’m sure Ubisoft had a hard time not showing to the public.

New Modes in Multiplayer
The fan favorite multiplayer mode from previous Assassin’s Creed games will be making a return in this game. One of the highlighted features of the multiplayer in Assassin’s Creed III is the Wolf-Pack mode in which players can play up to four players co-operatively to kill NPC targets. While this sounds familiar, Wolf-Pack mode should be pretty familiar for those who played the Assassinate mode since it’s pretty much more of the same thing, which is fun and exciting to play in a Assassin’s Creed 3 online mode. In addition, there’s now a benefit in playing the online mode in Assassin’s Creed III as it will unlock some branching story in regards to the Animus and Abstergo in the single-player mode, thus giving players the motivation to keep playing just to find out the story behind it.

NOTs

Minor Issues
To find issues with Assassin’s Creed 3 was extremely difficult and can be defined as nit picking at best. I’ve encountered no game breaking bugs only minor issues, some that I’m sure will be fixed via patches and others that only happen every 10 plus hours so can’t really be moaned about. Free running has been somewhat tweaked, as a result more often players will be able to head in the direction they wanted to aim for. Despite this on such a big game and the amount of time gamers will be playing Assassin’s Creed 3 for the ‘wrong’ direction issue does still occur. It happens a lot less in Assassin’s Creed 3 than previous titles in the franchise however it isn’t 100% eradicated.

The ability to call a horse directly to the player is extremely helpful when in the middle of the Frontier. Although, it would have been nice to be able to call a horse without having to unequip the bow or pistol. It doesn’t take more than a couple of seconds to switch; it would have just been something to save the use of the extra menu.

Pop Ins & Visual Hiccups

Overall the game looks incredible, in all weathers. Unfortunately, there are occasionally pop ins of textures when on horseback and travelling fast towards a town. Also I have witnessed people disappearing, but never appearing, when running around corners: for instance a couple of non-playable characters may be there for one second and then the game decides in fact only one should be there. Neither the texture pop ins or the disappearing civilians are game breaking bugs but they do make the player lose immersion and think about what they just saw rather than the mission they are on.

Verdict

Assassin’s Creed 3 is comfortably the pinnacle of the franchise. Having taken previous issues of free running bugs and repetitive gameplay on board, Ubisoft has managed to create a master piece that is, without a doubt, the strongest contender for Game of the Year 2012. There are a few minor issues but with an intriguing plot, both fast and fun gameplay, an extremely immersive presentation and a fantastic portrayal of the historical cities of America and the American Revolution; Assassin’s Creed 3 is a title ever gamer needs to play.

[Editor’s Note: Assassin’s Creed III was reviewed on the PlayStation 3 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]