Assassin’s Creed 3, unlike its immediate predecessors, brings heaps of fresh stuff to the table. For one, the setting has galloped across the Atlantic to eighteenth century America, letting us grab a glimpse of the revolution that gave birth to a nation we know today as the USA. And then there are welcome new features that enter the AC series owing evidently to the change in location. Ubisoft seems to have left no stone unturned to ensure that this doesn’t feel like any other game from the series in the past. There’s not a blemish of doubt in the fact that it succeeds in doing so, let us tell you that. This title has kept surprising us – though at times, unpleasantly – throughout the course of the review.
As we fired up our console and popped in our copy with immense anticipation, and with expectations of bathing ourselves in the free running attributes and all the new elements that were built up by all those trailers Ubisoft so kindly gave us from time to time, a damper was there to visit us. Assassin’s Creed 3 moves forward at snail’s pace in its initial parts with little to offer in terms of gameplay. Its abundance of uninteresting cutscenes, wayward tutorial sequences and general lethargy during the first few hours is quite a task to sit and take. While other developers like to make use of initial sequences to reel you in with thrilling moments, Ubisoft instead has chosen to utilize the liberty of establishing a plot and its setting, using the period to demonstrate in short and unenjoyable sequences, some of the new features that make their way into the game. These include the fresh engine, a new eavesdropping ability, tree-to-tree navigation and more.
And it’s after this initial part is overcome that you really get to collect yourselves and enjoy the beautiful game that lies in front of you. If there’s one thing that doesn’t ever lose its shine through the entire course, it’s the game’s flawless writing. Be it the dialogue, the story or the sub-plots, this game manages to pull off a winner in all the departments, rendering exhilarating moments all throughout its duration. Connor, as we know, is of Native American and British origin, and the Assassin-Templar conflict comes into the picture when Connor’s village is attacked by the evil order. A journey of 30 years before and after the American independence is traced in the game with utmost finesse, complete with Connor’s incognito presence at all the important historic events in trademark AC fashion. Desmond’s story has a much bigger arc this time around, as promised by Ubisoft. And the way these stories culminates into a spectacular ending is extremely hard to describe without spoiling it.
Stuff like drop assassinations, silent kills from unusual places, a complete sly approach is a flavor of AC games that’s irresistible, and sadly enough, the same flavor faced some serious toning down in the missions of this game. That’s one aspect stealth fans can take note about. However, that does not in any which way mean the game features a lack of stealth mechanics. On the contrary, fresh additions like the eavesdropping dropping trait and the new hiding places grant the title another level of depth. An abundance of activities can be indulged in while playing Assassin’s Creed 3. For instance, its Homestead missions component is a wholly different game in itself. These quests ask you to build a village around your home from scratch. And although they mostly have Connor running errands for people, there’s a sense of achievement that you feel each time the village flourishes with your humble contribution. These addictive missions are hard to stay away from, and at times, your engagement in them might even overshadow your involvement in the game’s main campaign.
The same kind of immersion is also offered by the game’s Peg Leg missions, the Frontiersmen tasks, and of course the new Naval missions that have turned out to be hugely successful additions thanks to their frantic nature and excellent mechanics. Like we said, this title has a large bundle of activities to indulge in, with the maps always being riddled with something or the other to take a quick dip in before moving towards the campaign missions. The gameplay is smoother than it ever was. New environments give Connor the ability to climb hills and trees, while navigation through the latter is a brilliant and downright graceful experience to say the least. Combat in the game is built on the same blueprint as the previous titles, but the gruesomely violent kills that you can perform might be a lot to handle for the light-hearted.
Assassin’s Creed 3 is a beauty in terms of its visuals. Its graphics have been honed to perfection, and the same applies to its environments. Superb atmospheres have been created by Ubisoft in its milieus, with each of them having a vibe that sets it apart from the others. The rambling locales of New York and Boston feel lively and extensive enough to roam around aimlessly, while the forest-filled Frontier region is a treat to explore owing to its hunting activities and its tree-traversing. All this is accompanied brilliantly by a flurry of authentic sound effects and an exciting soundtrack. The realism in its voice-acting cannot be ignored as well; it’s just spot on, no matter what character we’re listening to. But there’s a major gripe that plagues this game even after Ubisoft having released two patches for it. We’re talking about its buggy nature here.
Foes fighting among themselves, no lip movements while conversing, targets being killed by us even when we were miles away from them, were some of grave bugs we experienced. And adding to the frustrations is the game’s knack of riddling you with heaps and heaps of loading screens all throughout. These aspects hinder the experience so much that you’re compelled to envisage the idea of how utterly impactful the title would have been were it not so inconsistent. As far as its multiplayer is concerned, this game does earn a lot of points for its revamped online attributes. From whatever short amount of time we got to play around with it – we say that because we faced severe server issues consistently in India – the multiplayer came along as an extremely refined experience. The Animus user interface has been given a complete overhaul. But that feeling of the core gameplay being the same was felt nonetheless. You can be sure however that the new maps, characters and abilities put a pretty impressive cover on this fact.
Final Word: The long-running AC franchise needed a refresher for the better, and this game has rightfully succeeded in doing so. Sure the glitches and the shaky start with its languid missions stop the game from achieving greatness, but once you stick through all this, you are perpetually treated with some of the best gaming moments of this year. Assassin’s Creed 3 will keep you busy and will manage to reel you into it each time with same amount of conviction. It’s a must have for fans, and presents an abundance of different directions that the saga can move forward from here on.
Graphics: 9/10
Sounds: 10/10
Environments: 10/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Replay Value: 8.5/10
Overall (not an average): 8.5/10