Assassin's Creed III (Xbox 360) - Review

Rewind back to 2012 and Assassin's Creed 3 was my most anticipated title of the year by a long distance.  Assassin's Creed 2 remains one of my favourite games of the generation and I'd spent the early part of the year beating the rest of the games in the series.  So, why has it taken me this long to finish AC3?  Honestly I'm not really sure.

Technically, Assassin's Creed 3 improves upon everything that came before - the graphics are better, the combat is easier and the free running is as refined as it's ever been.  The animations have been completely re-worked from the ground up and the little things that just make everything seem much more realistic really impressed me - the way your character adjusts his run as he brushes past trees, people or other objects was fantastic.  The weather is a lot more varied this time and the different "DNA Sequences" cover multiple seasons, introducing snow and rain that will affect the way you play. Stuff like this, in addition to the new engine allowing "over 2000 characters" on screen at one time made AC3's world feel more alive than ever before.

The game also adds in plenty of new features to the series, including a number of wild animals that can be hunted and then sold to upgrade your gear.  The amount you get will vary based on the quality of the kill so you're encouraged to hunt stealthily by sneaking up undetected on your prey or using baits and traps.  I found this to be a really fun distraction to the main story, though honestly I didn't use it to upgrade my equipment because it seemed to take a long time to get anything worthwhile.  The flipside of this is that you could very easily become the hunted as your travelled through the forest, finding yourself in the midst of a random bear attack.  These sequences consist of quick time event counter attacking, but because they can come out of nowhere they can be really intense and satisfying if you manage to survive.

The biggest change to the gameplay was the introduction of the naval missions.  At first I wasn't a huge fan of these sequences but as I began to get used to the nuances of the gameplay I enjoyed them a lot more.  I've seen a lot of people call these the highlight of the game, but I wouldn't go that far at all.  They're a really good change of pace and a massive improvement over Revelations' tower defense mini game, but the highlight of this game is definitely still the core gameplay.

The setting for the in-Animus world of AC3 is a vast departure from previous games, using the American Revolution as a backdrop to the proceedings.  The timeline lasts around 30 years so you get to see New York, Boston and the surrounding areas before, during and after the Civil War.  I'd imagine this would be great for fans of American History but honestly my knowledge on the area is lacking so I don't think I could fully appreciate it.  Having said that, I'm familiar enough with it that I really enjoyed the whole vibe of the setting.  It's great seeing America in such an infancy compared to what we know today and the fact there's an ongoing war adds a lot to the experience.

You also get to see the life of Native Americans and how the war drastically affected their lifestyles.  Playing Connor as a young innocent lad and then seeing his village being destroyed by Charles Lee really adds a personal slant to the quest similar to how Ezio's early story did.  Herein lies one of my main issues with the game - Connor just isn't that interesting a character, certainly not compared to Ezio who we got to know and love over three games.  He's probably on a par with Altair although a lot more likeable.  Luckily the game is filled with a far more memorable supporting cast.  Connor's father, Haytham Kenway - who you actually play the first few sequences as - is fantastic and I really enjoyed both playing as him and playing against him.  I think without him the game would have really suffered.

More characters are found on the Homestead, with a bunch of settlers whose lives you can watch grow as the game goes on.  You really feel like you get to know them over time and give Connor a bit of personality of his own.  Also on the Homestead is Achilles - the man who acts as Connor's mentor and introduces you to the Assassins - he's a funny character and someone that you grow to really care about.

Connor's story is a personal one as he tries to find his place in this strange new world that he's been unceremoniously thrust into while also gaining a measure of revenge. As is typical in AC games his story interweaves with real historical events and he crosses paths with a number of very recognisable figures from the revolution. This is very cool and adds an interesting twist to the tale. Watching Connor grow into an accomplished leader of a crowd of Assassins with the undercurrent of him seeking some kind of acceptance from his father is fantastic but I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed it as much as Ezio and Altair's epic 4 game, 400 year tale for the ages.

On the flipside we have the supposed climax to Desmond's present day story. Around two games ago this was the part of the story I was most invested in and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next! The original plan of telling Desmond's story over a trilogy of games and the subsequent change to stretching it out over five games has really caught up on it though - by this point I really don't care what happens to Desmond or his merry crew who have undergone a facelift and don't even look like the same characters any more.  It's a pity and they don't end it terribly well but personally I'm glad we got the extra two games to go deeper into Ezio's life as he was a far more interesting character than Desmond anyway.

My only major gripe with the game was how long it took to get going. I enjoyed playing as Haytham so I wouldn't cut that bit out, but the fact I was still doing training missions after four hours was really grating. Given this is the 5th AC game I've played it felt very much like overkill.

Assassin's Creed 3 is a really great game that features a lot of improvements over previous entries, but I just don't feel it's as strong an overall package.  I would definitely recommend it to fans of the series and non fans alike! And now, onto Assassin's Creed IV....

E3 Quick Reactions

E3 is by far the biggest event of the gaming calendar.  I could compare it to a bunch of major sporting events - like the Superbowl, the Champions League final, the World Series, Wrestlemania etc - to make my point, but I don't think anyone would really appreciate that.
Every year the major companies gather to get a one up on each other and show us a load of trailers to give us more excitement for upcoming games than in a lot of cases we'll ever actually experience while playing them.

So this is my round up of the game trailers and information that really grabbed my attention this year. I've stayed away from any hardware announcements because in general they need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Assassin's Creed 3
I was hyped up for this game since I saw the first trailer a few months back, but this one here is just incredible. Assassin's Creed is one of my favourite new franchises this generation and AC2 would be in my top 5 games this gen. But the last couple of semi-sequels haven't changed a massive amount despite improving the core gameplay and introducing the most surprisingly great multiplayer since Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. With the huge shift in setting Assassin's Creed 3 looks set to feel like the proper sequel its title implies it is. Add to that improvements to the gameplay such as a much more fluid hop in hop out fighting system and the continuation of a fascinating story make this my most anticipated game of the year!

My only problem so far is our new Assassin's name. He's Native American and wears a hood, and judging by Altair and Ezio you'd expect a pretty cool, mysterious name. But no, he's just "Connor". Doesn't fit the character in my opinion!




Skyrim: Dawnguard
Skyrim was incredible. For my money it's the best game I've played in about ten years. Having said that, I played it too much and after 90 hours and four months of playing little else I just stopped one day and haven't touched it since. I didn't even finish the main quest! Dawnguard looks to be exactly the kind of offering to get me back on the addiction.

Featuring an interesting looking story tied into a group of vampires and the "Dawnguard" determined to wipe them out, a battle that you can choose which side you join, it has got me really excited. Join the vamps and you are promised new abilities that look to be very interesting, but if the Werewolf form is anything to go by I'm prepared to be disappointed by that! Whatever side you pick there are new perk trees, new weapons and new armour, all of which can be carried over to the main game as the expansion is directly integrated to the existing world. There promises to be new dimensions and dungeons to plunder though!

Much like I only completed Fallout 3 after playing through 3 sets of DLC, I reckon Dawnguard will inspire me to finally conquer Skyrim as soon as I've finished joining/wiping out (delete as appropriate) those brilliant/filthy vampires. This isn't just your run of the mill 2 hour DLC though as 15 hours of gameplay are promised!






Hitman Absolution
It's been so long since Blood Money that I wasn't paying much attention to this game, but a gameplay video released a few weeks back put it well and truly on my radar. The game looks gorgeous and the stealth gameplay looks like a very good option for people who long for the old days of Splinter Cell. The AI looks to be smart and you seem to have lots of options for attacking each mission.

But no one's talking about the gameplay following E3, they're all talking about the trailer posted above that seems to bare no resemblance to the actual gameplay with Agent 47 looking more like Ezio Auditore as he takes out half a dozen Nuns/Whores. Personally I thought the trailer was fucking awesome. No it doesn't represent the game that well but how many of these CG trailers actually do? It was designed to get people's attention and it did. It was slick, over the top and pretty gruesome. And it was pretty bad ass.

Some people complained that it was the most sexist thing they've ever seen, that you wouldn't see a trailer where men dressed as priests stripped down to suspenders. Maybe not, but that's society's problem and the blame shouldn't fall on Hitman for that. It's always featured sleaze and sex appeal but it is rated for 18 year olds. And let's not forget that these women he massacres have come with the sole intention of killing Agent 47. Self defence you could say!






Tomb Raider
The gameplay of this new Tomb Raider reboot looks to have given the series a new breath of life. The last couple of Lara Croft games were good games, but they did look and feel like old games. This one is built on a new engine and looks great so far.

My only problem here is the new Lara Croft they've given us. I get that in a reboot we're going to get a new take on the character but this is too much. Lara has turned from a strong independent leading woman into a whiny snivelling pathetic mess. If she was in a horror movie she'd be killed off before the title sequence.

I get what they're going for, showing the origins of Lara's story before she became the heroine we all know, but there's no way you'll convince me that this wreck of a woman will ever become the Tomb Raider of previous games. Not to mention that her accent is now incredibly irritating where it was once just posh but loveable. 

In my opinion this trailer is much more damaging to females in gaming than the Hitman one that caught so much grief.




Halo 4
Honestly I was preparing myself to fully ignore Halo 4 because as far as I was concerned Halo Reach closed the series out brilliantly. Watching the gameplay demo makes this a very hard beast to ignore! The first thing that's immediately obvious is that Halo looks waaay better than ever before. The jungle level looks amazing and the background looks more full of life than ever.

The demo starts off with Chief facing off against some familiar foes on this strange planet but soon we see some new faces. It seems like the main enemies this time around are a strange race called the Promethians. I can only assume they inhabit the world that Chief finds himself on.

The Promethian knight looks like a really interesting opponent with a few really class moves, including summoning a companion that will protect him with shields and catch and throw your grenades back at you. There are also a whole new set of weapons including the Scatter Shot which is basically a shotgun that has ammo which ricochets off surfaces.

So this basically looks to be the same great Halo gameplay, with the best looking environments it's ever had and a host of new and innovative enemy types and weapons.

Sign me up!




Splinter Cell Blacklist
Honestly it's hard to take much from this non-gameplay trailer and really it didn't excite me very much. It was all a bit blah blah explosion for me. I'm sure more details will emerge though and for now the fact that a new Splinter Cell has been announced is fantastic news. I loved Conviction despite it straying from its roots so I'm looking forward to this one!




Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon
We haven't seen anything of this game in a year, but even the mention if it is brilliant. If you never played the original on the Gamecube then you missed out on a real gem. From what I can see this doesn't seem to stray too far from the first game but that doesn't bother me. I'd have been happy with a straight port to the 3DS!

One new gameplay feature is that you use the coins you collect to power your flashlight and Poltergust, which is sure to add a bit of a survival-horror style conservation element to it.




Resident Evil 6
Speaking of survival-horror, Resident Evil 6 doesn't seem to be showing much signs of featuring any. From the CG sequences I've seen this week it seems to have more machine guns than ever before. I'm keeping an optimistic mind on this one, because I love the series but I'm not too impressed so far




Pikmin 3
This is my surprise of the show and brought a smile to my face. Like Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin was originally on the Gamecube and a relatively low profile game. It was brilliant though, great fun, great puzzles, great character and a superb soundtrack.

Shigsy presented this game as part of Nintendo's main conference and pointed out that the high resolution of the Wii U makes the Pikmin easier to manage than ever before. Watch the short video for an overview of this sequel to a really joyful but intelligent game. Not sure it's enough to make buy a Wii U, but it's good to know that it exists!







South Park: The Stick of Truth
Not sure what to expect of this game, it could turn out brilliant, hilarious and fun or it could just be crap and hilarious. I like the approach they're taking though by making you the hero of this story. It'll be fun to play as a South Park version of yourself in this crazy universe. I'm not getting my hopes up too much but I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this.






Far Cry 3
Not much actually shown in the trailer for this game except for some great looking graphics and exciting island imagery, but this and the trailer released a few months ago have got me very interested. A lot of people were disappointed with Far Cry 2 so hopefully this can bring the series back to the heights the original reached!




So those were my E3 highlights, what were yours? Did I miss any of your favourite trailers? And what are you ready to pre order now? Let me know in the comments section!