The Assassin's Creed franchise has been building up to this moment since the release of the first game. Desmond and his crew are at the end of the road and they need Desmond to take one more trip inside the Animus to find the last bit of information they need in order to save the world. Does the Creed bring us to the end? Or will there be nothing but false hope and sorrow waiting for us?
The story follows both Desmond and one of his ancestors just like previous games. This time, we are reliving one of Desmond's ancestors from the American Revolution; a native American known to everyone outside his village as Connor. His mission in life it to take revenge on the man who burned down his village and killed his mother when he was a child. This man happens to be a Templar, leaving him no choice but to join the Assassins in order to gain the experience he needed to end his enemy's life. Connor starts the game as a child and grows to an adult and this allows you to understand his motivation behind the game which forever remains revenge.
Desmond's story is simple as he must find power sources to open a door to save the world. It's nothing revolutionary on Desmond's end, but the writing and cutscene direction on Connor's are fantastic. Connor might come off as a bratty snob, but that's because he was forced into this life at a young age and his hatred is well deserved. The well written story comes to fantastic conclusion on Connor's part while Desmond's ends a little different. The end to Desmond's story is awful and could not be more forced. Other than that, I enjoyed every second of Connor's story, other than the slow start.
The gameplay is the same as the previous games in concept, but different in execution. The control scheme ditches the puppeteering system created by the first game and replaces it with a decent substitute. Connor still runs around and climbs things, but he is more able in battle making combat more of a joy while still keeping the difficulty low. The overall mission difficulty is low as well and, while this isn't a good thing, it doesn't affect enjoyment in the end. New to your climbing arsenal is the ability to climb trees. Climbing trees grants a new take on the climbing since trees are so plentiful in the area and allow you to take a different approach when doing missions in the frontier.
The game is set up into locations similar to the first game, you have 2 cities, a home base and the frontier. The cities are self explanatory and the home base is similar to the villa in Assassin's Creed II, just that there isn't as much to do there. The frontier is a huge open area covered in trees with plenty to do. There are side missions, hunting, feather collecting and forts to liberate packing the game with things to do. While on missions, you'll be climbing, sneaking, chasing or fighting just like in previous games making it feel similar to the rest. The thing that makes this game different are the inclusion of actual guns and the overall feel. The controls feel different and there is not lock-on. You can manually aim instead, allowing for a targeted shot with either your bow or your gun. After every shot you need to reload and this takes a couple of seconds, other than that the guns don't feel intrusive at all and fit very well.
You get to control Desmond is a few sequences and, while they are fun, only one them adds anything to the overall plot. One is a climbing segment, one is a sneaking segment and the other is about combat. They aren't poorly done they are just things you have been doing as Connor for a while now. The only difference is the time period and setting and that, at least, is interesting. Desmond can also leave the Animus and talk to his crew and this brings up some great dialogue and it builds their character. So, once again, Desmond's segments don't need to be here to make the game good, but the don't detract from anything either.
The final aspect of the gameplay are the naval missions and these are a blast. Connor gets to take command and captain a ship allowing him to head out of naval missions. They just have you sailing until you get into a confrontation but they are incredibly enjoyable and the combat is well done. You maneuver around the open waters trying to align your shots with the enemy ships, you can fire your main guns or the swivel guns to take out smaller ships or hit the powder kegs of a larger ship. In some missions, you have the ability to shoot a chain shot to take out the enemy's mast, allowing you to board and fight. These segments of the game are better than expected and there's hope for them to return. Overall, Assassin's Creed III plays better than the previous games and the naval battles emerge as the best side-game.
The music in the game is sweeping and epic, while the voice work is excellent. Just like in previous games, there are some lines spoken in the native language of the area and that means the language of the Mohawk people. It's a great tradition of the Assassin's Creed series and it remains so here. You'll also here some French here and there, but most of the accents you'll be hearing are British and that's quite appropriate for the time period. The sound effects are nice as well. The voice work steals the show with all the famous assassination death scenes in tact. It's fantastic on the ears.
The visuals are the best they've ever been for the franchise. The character models look fantastic, they are more detailed and the environments are dirty and primitive like they should be at the time. There isn't much variety in the cities, but the frontier looks fantastic, as does the sea when on a naval mission. The animation remains excellent and the combat kills are as brutal as ever. The cutscenes are the best directed of the series and they really add to the overall presence of the game. The presentation isn't flawless, of course. With a game this large, there are bound to be glitches and 99% of the time they are visual glitches.
These glitches can range to anything from something clipping during gameplay to something clipping during the cutscenes. You will find your self doing awkward transitions while climbing every now and then and the models during kills might not be aligned properly, it's all very messy. Even then, the game still looks great for it's size and while the glitches take away from the overall experience, they aren't as bad as some open world games.
PROs
- Fantastic story and excellent dialogue
- Gameplay remains fun
- More brutal kills
- Naval battles are amazingly enjoyable
- Music is epic and voice work is great
- Visuals are the best in the franchise
- Connor's story ends in a fantastic way
- Frontier is a fun new area to explore
CONs
- Gameplay remains slightly repetitive
- Desmond's story is ended horribly
- Visual glitches are everywhere
- Not much variety in environment
- Climbing has issues regarding trees
- Controls are still a little clunky
- Story starts off slow
Overall, Assassin's Creed III is the best looking and best playing of the bunch. It's still not my favorite as the cities look the same and there are tones of visual glitches, but it is a solid entry in the franchise, even if it ends off Desmond's story in a horrible way. It now remains to be seen if the series benefits from removing the present day angle, Assassin's Creed III offered the best gameplay and the best controls so far and it offers the Naval warfare engine. Connor's story is an excellent way to end the original trilogy and it's exciting to see what comes next.
Story: 8.5/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Audio: 9.5/10
Presentation: 8.5/10
TOTAL: 9.0/10