The Good vs Bad when it comes down to Assassin's Creed III.
As for the good things about Assassin's Creed 3: It's actually quite alright if you're just joining the Assassin's Creed franchise or simply didn't want to play Brotherhood and Revelations. The very beginning of the game wraps up everything without spoiling much from the previous titles. However, for those of you who actually did play Revelations, AC3 begins right where Revelations' ended. You won't have to experience a gap in time, flashbacks, or any other silly things that sequels do these days.
From the very first moment I entered the 18th century, my mouth literally dropped in awe and I couldn't refrain from complimenting how beautiful the world around my character looked. I mean sure, it's not even half as nice as 15th century Rome was, but it was still pretty nice. With so many characters on-screen in some moments, diverse locations and extreme attention to detail, I found myself falling in love with Assassin's Creed again.
Assassin's Creed 3 brings quite a few new features to the franchise, including the addition of naval warfare. It seemed like a risky addition when I first saw it, but after finally actually being able to take control of a ship and take down my enemies, I'm impressed. Controlling a ship is actually pretty simple, but doesn't make things easy to the point where it's boring. You can also pick locks now and fast travel to certain locations from your map, which makes travelling a lot less lengthy for those who just wish to get the story over with.
Though gaining the abilities to sail a ship and pick locks are cool, my favorite addition to the franchise is the wildlife that you can actually interact with. Not only can you hunt and gather parts from numerous animals in the wild, but animals will interact with each other as well. Animals that are higher on the food-chain will often be seen chasing or even feeding on those that are lower, and if you take the time to admire one of these chases you will even unlock an achievement. Personally, I think more games that have such a variety in wildlife should pay attention to such things, especially for a better feeling of realism.
Assassin's Creed brings its addicting multiplayer mode back, and is better than ever. The customization is deeper, new abilities have been added, and there are even a couple new game types. One of my favorites is the new cooperative mode called Wolf Pack, which puts you and 3 other players on missions that require NPC's to be assassinated before the time expires. Ah, and for those who REALLY want to unlock something for your characters but don't wanna go through the painful process of getting Abstergo Credits and leveling up, Erudito credits have been added as a shortcut. These are credits purchased with real money that can unlock anything in the game, despite its level. This may seem pretty cheap to some, but you would be able to unlock these abilities eventually anyways.
As for the bad things about Assassin's Creed 3: Though the writing for this game is amazing and it tells a fantastic story, the game-play itself made it seem as if things escalated way too slowly. The first 5 hours of the game felt like one big tutorial, followed by a series of dull moments that made me feel slightly disappointed for hyping this game so much. There are also quite a few glitches with this game that have yet to be fixed, even after the first patch.
Overall, this game may not be the best in the series but it's definitely worth checking out. The new features and multiplayer are something to look out for and enjoy, but the story can be a bit slow for some people and some of the glitches can be quite annoying to deal with, giving Assassin's Creed 3 an 8.75 out of 10.
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(Review based on Xbox 360 version.)