Assassin's Creed was the story of Desmond, a subject in a modern day research facility using advanced technology to relive the experiences of his ancestor in the crusade era: Altair. This game had a good cast, but was overall repetitive and frustrating. Assassin's Creed II introduced Ezio Auditore, an new assassin in Renaissance Italy, in areas such as Florence, Venice, and the Apennine Mountains. The games characters consisted mostly of famous Italian figures, most notably Leonardo da Vinci. It also provided the redemption most people needed to stick with the series. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood followed Ezio into Rome while he and his new partner, Niccolo Machiavelli, tried to free Italy from the corrupt Borgia family. This game was great, my personal favorite, with good gameplay and story. Finally, there was Revelations. This game was well hyped as Ezio travels to Altair's home in Istanbul, where both their stories concluded. Unfortunately, the new frustrating enemy types and game modes ruined this game for me and several others.
News of Assassin's Creed III came about, and though I was still weary after Revelations, I gave the game a try. The opening scene follows Desmond and his friends into a strange cave clearly built by the First Civilization. They are greeted by a massive blue gate and a message from the FirstCiv, Juno: Find the key. Desmond and the team resolve to return to England to Desmond's ancestor, Haytham Kenway. Haytham steals an amulet during an assassination, and his commanding officer sends him to a new colony to find the gate that the amulet opens. The game continues through the stories of Haytham and his son Connor. Figures such as Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, George Washington, and Ben Franklin appear throughout as Connor fights through the American Revolution. Periodically, Desmond's friends wake him up to do a few missions in present day, in places like Manhattan and Brazil.
I really enjoyed this game. Many put-offs from previous games are faded or gone. The story was engrossing and interesting, and the characters were generally likeable. The gameplay was enjoyable and the missions were fun. Particular events such as the Boston Tea Party and Battle of Bunker Hill make the experience more fun for history enthusiasts. The world was vast, and had plenty in it, but travelling from one place to another was a time consuming task, especially when the player gets distracted by the interactive objects, characters, and missions along the way. The hunting engine proposed a fast and entertaining way to earn money. The naval battles were epic and fun, providing something completely new to the series. I found myself devoting all my funds to upgrading my ship to give me the edge the next time I faced a pirate.
There were some drawbacks to the game. The story did take a few hours of gameplay to get truly interesting. The free running, though upgraded, had Conner running off into the forest at random because there were no straight paths. This only posed a problem during winter, when the snow was too thick to walk through. On occasion, your missions were thwarted by a glitch or two, such as an ally who fell off the roof but isn’t programmed to climb back up. A few times, I dived from a cliff, only to discover that the water didn’t reach the whole way to the cliff, and all I can do is watch Connor bounce down the rocks like a ragdoll.
The online multiplayer shows major improvement, and I enjoyed it way more than Brotherhood and Revelations. The competitive modes were very entertaining and ran smoothly. They still represent the basic wanted and team manhunt modes used in previous installments. The cooperative mode was fast paced and action packed. This mode, called Wolfpack, consists of up to four players trying to locate and eliminate targets. This calls for less stealth by far than the other modes due to its lack of intelligent opponents and brief time limit. My friends and I play online for hours at a time.
All in all, this game is fantastic. Despite its few faults and slow start, Ubisoft Montreal has impressed me yet again. I look forward to returning to this game to complete all of the side missions and trophy challenges.
9/10
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