Assassin's Creed III

[tapedeck]

It's all about the wilds of America. That's when the game becomes interesting in my opinion. I'd totally forgot about the first few hours due to the world that becomes available later on.

As someone fascinated by American history and as someone who has been 'lost' in the wilds of North America in the past, (seriously, bears are terrifying!) this really appealed to me.

I think it was the most historically accurate/realised action game I'd played.

If they make a free-roaming mode where you can't be killed or start fights this could be a wonderful game to use in teaching kids about what it was like in such times. At times I felt like I was experiencing a living museum at times and it really made an impression. You are right though....it's Hollywood approach actually ends up holding it back from being 'free'.

 

This series has the potential to be so much more but it's hamstrung by it's requirement to be a AAA bad-ass mature action game.

Edited September 5, 2013 by tapedeck

[Blade]

I like playing because of the history and the storyline.

 

I hate playing because of the shite gameplay

[Diageo]

The gameplay is not shite. It's easy to traverse buildings because the guy is a master and the ease is conveyed through that. The gameplay is not just walking and cutscenes. While that may be hyperbolically true for main missions, the story is only a third of the game. There is so much more, so many missions with no cutscenes. So many things to do without even talking to another person.

 

The game is easy to complete if you want to do it any old way. Because everyone knows that players nowadays don't finish games that are too hard. That is why there is so much added into it. That's why there is optional 100% synch, why there are side-missions.

[Rowan]

This is my first AC game about 10 hours in and half way through the main story. I'm really enjoying it and taken aback by how vast the Frontier is. It looks gorgeous both in the snow and in the summer. Plenty of things to do other than the main missions and am slowly getting the hang of how to stealth around a fort. The game at the beginning does have one too many cutscenes but I'm glad I got through it. The turning point for me was when you learn to hunt wildlife.

 

If people consider this a bad sequel then I wish I had time for one of the older games in the franchaise.

[Hero-of-Time]

If people consider this a bad sequel then I wish I had time for one of the older games in the franchaise.

 

Yeah, the earlier games are far superior, with better characters and better story. I highly recommend you play them or at least Brootherhood.

[Cube]

Assassin's Creed 3 probably the second best game in the franchise. The first was immensely repetitive, had little to no story and was very dull.

 

The second was a lot better, but still had some problems, which were solved in Brotherhood (the best game in the series). Unfortunately, they really messed things up with Revelations, which is easily the worst of the lot.

 

Despite having no interest in the setting, I actually really enjoyed the story in AC3, more so than Ezio's story. The naval combat and the forest sections were also brilliant, and the gameplay was more refined.

 

The next one looks like the best one yet, as it seems to be borrowing elements from Far Cry 3 while making it more expansive, a very interesting setting (pirates!) and lots of places to explore.

[markderoos]

Yeah, I'm still not totaly sold on the Pirates theme... I miss the historical relevance. There are more advanced cultures/civilizations unexplored like Inca/Maya/Aztec, Egyptians, Vikings, Middle Ages. But we'll see, I'll buy it nonetheless

[tapedeck]

Yeah, Egypt needs to happen. Next gen sand

[-Dem0-]

I hardly make any progress whenever I play this. Either I walk past the guards and get pushed, running after a burglar and getting chased, jumping on the rooftop and getting shot etc. They get on my nerves and I have to stop whatever I'm doing and teach them a lesson.

 

Just had to get that off my chest. Good game though.

[Cube]

Yeah, Egypt needs to happen. Next gen sand

 

Assassin's Creed: Prince of Persia.

[Blade]

Eh? Persia is Iran, no?

 

But yeah an AC based on Ancient Egypt would be cool.

[Blade]

Finally finished this late last night. I found it a slog. The graphics were good and the story was interesting. I didnt really give a shit about Connor though and found him at times annoying. I think I would have rather continued to play as Hatham if im being honest.

 

The gameplay was just meh and was not particularly inspiring. I felt it was more of an interactive film. Couldnt be arsed with the sidequests. Just did the main story to get through it.

 

But it did grow on me and I reckon I will be getting the next one on the cheap.

[Hero-of-Time]

Finally finished this late last night. I found it a slog. The graphics were good and the story was interesting. I didnt really give a shit about Connor though and found him at times annoying. I think I would have rather continued to play as Hatham if im being honest.

 

So it wasn't just me then?

[Andyliini]

I just bought this, as it was cheap (20€ bundled with Splinter Cell 3D). I haven't played AC before, should I know something of the series story before I begin?

[Blade]

I just bought this, as it was cheap (20€ bundled with Splinter Cell 3D). I haven't played AC before, should I know something of the series story before I begin?

 

I never played AC before this and I found it ok.

[Zechs Merquise]

Connor is as dull as dishwater. He borders at times on being a whiny jerk too. I much preferred Hatham.

 

I haven't finished it yet and some of it has grown on me. The graphics are nice and just exploring the world is quite fun. However there is still an awful lot of hand holding and it is annoying, too many cut scenes and a disjointed feeling.

 

RANT:

 

I find the whole convergence of games and movies quite annoying. It's like the 'big' titles are all trying to make games become like Hollywood blockbusters, but in doing so they are almost missing the point of what games should be and what games can be!

 

The scripted sequences, the rigid plots and the endless cut scenes. It all takes the real control and choices out of the hands of the gamer.

 

I remember playing Fallout 3, there was a plot - but how it unfolded was down to you. There was a main protagonist, but whether he was the good guy, the bad guy or simply morally ambiguous was down to you. There was a massive game world, full of interesting people and places all with their own story which you could be a part of and which you could influence in the way you wanted - make friends or enemies.

 

On the other hand there is AC3, the plot is fixed and rigid. The main protagonists are fixed to a track from which they cannot deviate. There is a massive game world, but it seems to be filled with nothing. Boston isn't filled with dozens of interesting characters all with a story, but by soulless crowds. What's more, where the places and situations outside of the main story in Fallout were full of decisions, interesting conversations and intrigue, Assassins Creed has you collecting feathers and trinkets!

 

I'm not saying it's a terrible game - it isn't. It's just not making the most of the medium as the gameplay is broken up to heavily by cut scenes and relies on hand holding at every point, the characters are not memorable and for such a vast and beautiful world there is little of note to do outside of the main story.

 

I feel the makers of Assassins Creed 3 would rather have made a Hollywood epic than a game! As a result, I sometimes felt the game played itself.

[Miharin]

You know what was missing from this game? Music. Oh, I'm sure there was something along the lines of musical tracks, but can you remember even one right now in your head? Compare to Jesper Kyd's soundtracks from AC2 and AC Brotherhood, there was literally no music (memorable, enjoyable) in this game whatsoever.

[Diageo]

I don't remember any track from any of the AC games unless I hear them.

[tapedeck]

Main theme in AC3 was great IMO.

The real enjoyment for me was about experiencing the vast American landscape and seeing how that was juxtaposed against the developing America in Boston/New York etc. Reading all the information about the tools and buildings of the day was like an interactive museum tour. A true interactive history lesson mixed into a 'game' that, sure didn't do things perfectly, but what a scope, what an ambition. What a history lesson. If people start looking at the game through such a lense you can't fail to be impressed (and there are less cutscenes based around a convoluted story that way.)

 

Also: The soundtrack was in the wilds. The sounds of nature if you will. You don't need John Williams-esque pieces to convey such beauty.

 

I enjoyed this immensely but that's because the world I was exploring wasn't easily ruined by easy combat or dodgy narratives. I was just soaking in the history of America. The craft displayed to create this world was epic.

On those terms AC3 is a sweeping success unmatched in many ways. Those forests, the wildlife, the wonderful weather system and the beautiful atmosphere carved from the hours of research done by Ubisoft shows. A game that offers so much to those who look beyond the looking glass. To judge AC3 on mere aspects like story or AI is to do it a disservice. The true gold is in the land.

[markderoos]

Main theme in AC3 was great IMO.

The real enjoyment for me was about experiencing the vast American landscape and seeing how that was juxtaposed against the developing America in Boston/New York etc. Reading all the information about the tools and buildings of the day was like an interactive museum tour. A true interactive history lesson mixed into a 'game' that, sure didn't do things perfectly, but what a scope, what an ambition. What a history lesson. If people start looking at the game through such a lense you can't fail to be impressed (and there are less cutscenes based around a convoluted story that way.)

 

Also: The soundtrack was in the wilds. The sounds of nature if you will. You don't need John Williams-esque pieces to convey such beauty.

 

I enjoyed this immensely but that's because the world I was exploring wasn't easily ruined by easy combat or dodgy narratives. I was just soaking in the history of America. The craft displayed to create this world was epic.

On those terms AC3 is a sweeping success unmatched in many ways. Those forests, the wildlife, the wonderful weather system and the beautiful atmosphere carved from the hours of research done by Ubisoft shows. A game that offers so much to those who look beyond the looking glass. To judge AC3 on mere aspects like story or AI is to do it a disservice. The true gold is in the land.

 

Man, you make me want to play it again!!!

[Rowan]

Finished the story. Liked the game overall but the ending, final mission and Desmond's ending was pretty bad & underwhelming. That final mission was really not what I would expect from a 'final boss'. Maybe it is just because I haven't played the other games but I would have preferred if Desmond's storyline did not exist at all and it was all just set in Connor and Haytham's era.

 

Can see why people don't like this game now and in a way I'm put off from ever playing the others or 4.

[Blade]

Whoever said that music was missing are you mad!!?

 

Did you miss the credits? Im sure the credits for the music lasted 10 minutes alone! You even found out who was playing the flute!!

[EEVILMURRAY]

Whoever said that music was missing are you mad!!?

 

Did you miss the credits? Im sure the credits for the music lasted 10 minutes alone! You even found out who was playing the flute!!

Yes, because that's where atmospheric music is meant to be remembered. In the credits.

 

 

¬_¬

 

 

I vaguely remember the music of the credits, maybe because it lasted so goddamn long, about 20 minutes.

[Blade]

Haha, I didnt mean the music in the credits. I meant the credits attributed to the music! Which took forever!