REVIEW: 'Assassin's Creed 3' Plays Patriot Games That Gamers Will Love
Proponents against playing video games believe that they negatively affect gamers minds, and make it hard to disassociate fact from fiction. Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed" series (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) has consistently promised to take interested parties into a new world—and it does more than you can believe.
Gamers find themselves in The New World, as cultures collide to tell the foundation of America's civilization. For those who are not history buffs, the 13 colonies were the birthplace of our nation and the streets were bristling with life and activity. The protagonist is still Desmond Miles, but the ancestor you inhabit is a half-British, half-Mohawk warrior who earns the name Connor.
Gamers navigate the brick walkways of Boston to the wild frontier, and cross scoundrels, freedom fighters and hardworking immigrants along the way. Without giving too much away, you can hit the gallery to see our review about "Assassin's Creed 3," and decide for yourself if this is a must-have game or not.
Gamers find themselves in The New World, as cultures collide to tell the foundation of America's civilization. For those who are not history buffs, the 13 colonies were the birthplace of our nation and the streets were bristling with life and activity. The protagonist is still Desmond Miles, but the ancestor you inhabit is a half-British, half-Mohawk warrior who earns the name Connor.
Gamers navigate the brick walkways of Boston to the wild frontier, and cross scoundrels, freedom fighters and hardworking immigrants along the way. Without giving too much away, you can hit the gallery to see our review about "Assassin's Creed 3," and decide for yourself if this is a must-have game or not.
You can cycle through the gallery to read our review starting above!
"The Assassins want freedom, the Templars want control." —
The good thing about "Assassin's Creed 3" is its rich story and ability to enjoy a freewheeling romp around the newborn U.S.A. You have a limited amount of very interesting choices to choose from in the game. Whether you're a single player campaign, trophy-hound, or a completist creativist, you can build your reputation as practically anything but a politician while traversing the 13 Colonies.
As Connor you can branch off from the main plot to do over a dozen different side missions. You can go down in history as one of the most fiercest assassin's to ever do it by taking on contracts, or be an East Coast Ezio running courier jobs across the country. You can build your reputation through the PlayStation Network by the method of madness you inflict on some of the nastier Redcoats.
The gorgeous gameplay will allow you to be immersed in a world where facts are made fun through the usage of stealth and cunning. You'll find yourself wondering aloud, "Was George Washington really that much of a prick?" or "Which way is Massachusetts?". "Assassin's Creed 3" may be a game-within-a-game, but that's particulary rewarding giving everything that it offers.
"The glitches and bugs are enough to make Benjamin Franklin itch." —
While synchronized within the game for 20% of its playtime we experienced a wide and interesting array of bugs throughout "Assassin's Creed 3". From the picture that you can see for yourself, above, to Redcoats walking on water, the game had some skitchy moments that interrupted gameplay, distracted from the story and made the experience frustrating.
Also apparent in "Assassin's Creed 3" is a visible lack of focus that slows down the game's momentum. Poorly conceived story missions and side quests undermine the overall plot. In one main mission, Connor is tasked with having to plant explosions while remaining hidden from the nefarious Redcoats — a simple thing, right? No. While maybe Solid Snake can walk past guards in pure stealth, Connor easily gets caught on the pier where he must place his explosives. The mission doesn't exactly make use of Connor's finely honed assassin skills.
A side quest even had you saving the life of a would-be explorer from falling over a waterfall. The level was designed to make the chase thrilling and exciting for gamers, yet it came off as arduous and uninspired. While these don't truly effect the overall experience of playing "Assassin's Creed 3," these are a few of the 'D'Oh!' moments that make you shake your fist in anger.
"Overall, an experience that is fun and fundamental!" —
Indeed there are many distracting in "Assassin's Creed 3," but they aren't essential in ruining the core game. Trophy-hounds will enjoy scouring the wild frontier for accomplishments that add to one's reputation both on-and-offline. Completists will celebrate all the extra goodies they have with the Homestead and Naval side missions. They help build up the story within all the explosiveness of the core game.
The level of excitement held for this game was justly warranted. Gamers are treated to an illusory living world, full of life (that will attack you!), a story hidden beneath a history lesson and a clear definition that anyone can be a hero when put to the test. Only in "Assassin's Creed 3," it actually looks harder than it sounds to do. Not shying away from the times, this game is full of meat and potatoes backed by thrilling sequences where you're showing off your specially honed skills.
There will be moments where the game will try your patience, but its cheeky take on the adventures of our Founding Fathers is just the kind of political recess anyone would find delightful.
