Game title: Assassin's Creed III
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Developer: Ubisoft
Release date: October 30, 2012
Pregame:
It's time once again to dive into the mind of Desmond Miles, and through him and the Animus machine, the mind of one of Miles' Assassin ancestors. This time, that ancestor is notably not Ezio Auditore of Italy. While Ezio was the protagonist of the last three games, this one gets a number on the end, so it gets a new face. The Assassin in question is named Ratonhnhaké:ton, and he is a Native American in New England during the American Revolution. While his birth name is accurate, his Assassin mentor names him Connor for stealth and pronunciation's sake.
Early on, Connor's village is attacked by the Assassins' sworn enemy, the Templars, and he'll get his revenge if he has to make history to do it.
Play-by-play:
Stylistically, ACIII is much the same as its predecessors. It has copious amounts of counter-heavy combat along with a strong focus on parkour-like running through cities to get around. Unlike its predecessors, this game extends that action to the largely untamed frontier. Connor will be able to use the forest to his advantage and travel along tree limbs to stalk his enemies. This practice, dubbed "treerunning," works surprisingly well in practice.
Players can attack (and even hunt animals) from trees, and the new Rope Dart weapons is especially effective for preying upon unsuspecting enemies. The "natures warrior - death from above" feeling hits its mark in those moments. Even if open fights break out, it's just too much fun to take out a group of enemies with tomahawks or any of Connors several other weapons. There are a few enemy archetypes this time around that are immune to normal counters, but with some practice, they'll be easy enough to overcome too. Players shouldn't get too cocky in the wilderness, though: there are other predators there too.
Packs of wolves (and I mean packs), cougars, bears, bobcats and even elk will all present a real danger to players who are unprepared. When they attack, quick-time events will trigger, and if players are quick (and timely), they'll survive. Depending on the event, the result could also include a nice pelt that players can sell. While I have pretty extensive experience with quick-time events, I can say I was mauled to death by a few wolves before I got the timing down. Nature can be your ally, but she is not your friend.
As usual, there are some beautiful sights to behold in this game, whether out in the wilderness or in cities like Boston or New York. Having those views as a backdrop always enriches the game, at least for me personally. As an American, I find that, try as I might, I tend to be more interested in U.S. history than the history of other nations.
While previous Assassin's Creed games have taught me a bit about the Crusades, the Italian Renaissance, the corruption of a certain pope and the Ottoman Empire, ACIII hits me closer to home. That's not to say the game was created with a bias, mind you. "As an Australian working in Canada for a French company, I think we have a lot to say," Alex Hutchinson, creative director for the game, said at Comic Con last year.
The altered versions of events, as well as colorful portrayals of historical figures, can certainly keep the players' interest. Don't believe me? Try speaking with Ben Franklin in the early game. He'll have some intriguing theories on the practice of bedding an older woman. Fun fact: that part's not made up. He actually wrote a letter titled "Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress." Look it up.
While Connor's main objectives are the assassinations of certain high-powered Templars, his actions will influence the course of British history, and will help turn it into American history. Connor aligns himself with the early-American colonists for three reasons: One, because a Precursor (more on that later) told him to. Two, because he believes the Templars back the British. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," and all that. Three, because he (along with the other Assassins) believes in the concept of freedom. That last one might be a little vague and Connor's execution of it is pretty naive, but that's covered well in the game's story. In any case, Connor will not hesitate to get completely involved in the war. He's no soldier, but he will occasionally enter battles or defend towns while pursuing targets.
Over the course of the game, players will even be able to help found a small town dubbed "the Davenport homestead" and do missions for the settlers there. Homestead missions offer a nice departure from the main storyline, and they're certainly more interesting than Ezio's money-sink city improvement system. Eventually, settlers can help Connor craft and trade items for money, although doing so plays out like it's Menus! The Game!
During the missions, players will do everything from rescuing settlers in peril to defending the homestead from groups of soldiers. The settlers themselves are interesting characters and players will see them for a full-on community over time.
My only real gripe with the homestead is the noticeable drop in production value from the rest of the game. While most of ACIII's cutcenes run smoothly, the homestead ones have jerky animations, blank facial expressions, and dull, static camera angles. The settlers' voice acting is usually pretty solid, though, so it's not all bad.
Also available at the homestead is the Aquila, the ship that Connor captains. The naval battles surprised me by being a lot of fun, although they are frustrating if 100% completion is your goal. On the high seas, players will need to use the wind, cannons, swivel guns and a few different types of ammunition to contend with variously sized enemy ships. If players want, they can spend a significant amount of time and money at sea, although most naval gameplay is optional.
While the American Revolution is going on inside the Animus, things on the outside of it are no less turbulent. Desmond has serious troubles of his own to contend with.
A friend of mine once commented that he keeps forgetting that Assassin's Creed is a sci-fi series. Because so much of the game is spent experiencing the distant past, it's certainly possible to forget about the second set of characters from time to time. While most other Assassin's Creed games forced Desmond to take breaks from the Animus to chat and check his email (there was nothing else to do, sometimes), ACIII will actually send him on missions.
Getting to use all that Assassin training in the "real" world is pretty satisfying, although it has less combat than inside the Animus. That fact greatly improves Desmond's survival chances. Fights inside the Animus include pop-up icons telling players when to counter or defend, but fights on the outside have no such thing. Players will need to read the enemies' body language, and it can make things pretty tough. Honestly, I think all the games' fights could do without the icons, but it would make things much harder.
To be fair, training Desmond to be an Assassin was only half the point of the Animus. The other half was finding clues to save the world from the 12-21-12 apocalypse, as was foretold by an ancient civilization. No, not that civilization. This civilization, simply called Precursors, was incredibly technologically advanced in its day. However, it was wiped out by the same catastrophe that threatens to happen again. Essentially gods, these Precursors have left clues, messages, and impressions of themselves behind to guide events across the ages specifically to help Desmond. No pressure.
As for the series' now-trademarked multiplayer, it's back in force. Players can use highly customizable characters to silently kill other players, and experience points and rewards are offered for good performance. The multiplayer has more to do with the main story than you'd think. It's all set up like it's a video game published by Abstergo, the Templar's legitimate front corporation. Creepily happy spokespeople will be just thrilled to tell you all about it in videos, if you like. Also, if players meet the right requirements, those videos will be hacked and their true nature revealed. Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.
Final call:
ACIII is a great representation of the series. It hits all the series' benchmarks, and adds some new ones that have great potential. It plays fun almost every moment, and it's hard to put down. I'd highly recommend it for anyone who is even remotely interested.
Also:
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Developer: Ubisoft
Release date: October 30, 2012
Pregame:
It's time once again to dive into the mind of Desmond Miles, and through him and the Animus machine, the mind of one of Miles' Assassin ancestors. This time, that ancestor is notably not Ezio Auditore of Italy. While Ezio was the protagonist of the last three games, this one gets a number on the end, so it gets a new face. The Assassin in question is named Ratonhnhaké:ton, and he is a Native American in New England during the American Revolution. While his birth name is accurate, his Assassin mentor names him Connor for stealth and pronunciation's sake.
Early on, Connor's village is attacked by the Assassins' sworn enemy, the Templars, and he'll get his revenge if he has to make history to do it.
Play-by-play:
Stylistically, ACIII is much the same as its predecessors. It has copious amounts of counter-heavy combat along with a strong focus on parkour-like running through cities to get around. Unlike its predecessors, this game extends that action to the largely untamed frontier. Connor will be able to use the forest to his advantage and travel along tree limbs to stalk his enemies. This practice, dubbed "treerunning," works surprisingly well in practice.
Players can attack (and even hunt animals) from trees, and the new Rope Dart weapons is especially effective for preying upon unsuspecting enemies. The "natures warrior - death from above" feeling hits its mark in those moments. Even if open fights break out, it's just too much fun to take out a group of enemies with tomahawks or any of Connors several other weapons. There are a few enemy archetypes this time around that are immune to normal counters, but with some practice, they'll be easy enough to overcome too. Players shouldn't get too cocky in the wilderness, though: there are other predators there too.
Packs of wolves (and I mean packs), cougars, bears, bobcats and even elk will all present a real danger to players who are unprepared. When they attack, quick-time events will trigger, and if players are quick (and timely), they'll survive. Depending on the event, the result could also include a nice pelt that players can sell. While I have pretty extensive experience with quick-time events, I can say I was mauled to death by a few wolves before I got the timing down. Nature can be your ally, but she is not your friend.
As usual, there are some beautiful sights to behold in this game, whether out in the wilderness or in cities like Boston or New York. Having those views as a backdrop always enriches the game, at least for me personally. As an American, I find that, try as I might, I tend to be more interested in U.S. history than the history of other nations.
While previous Assassin's Creed games have taught me a bit about the Crusades, the Italian Renaissance, the corruption of a certain pope and the Ottoman Empire, ACIII hits me closer to home. That's not to say the game was created with a bias, mind you. "As an Australian working in Canada for a French company, I think we have a lot to say," Alex Hutchinson, creative director for the game, said at Comic Con last year.
The altered versions of events, as well as colorful portrayals of historical figures, can certainly keep the players' interest. Don't believe me? Try speaking with Ben Franklin in the early game. He'll have some intriguing theories on the practice of bedding an older woman. Fun fact: that part's not made up. He actually wrote a letter titled "Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress." Look it up.While Connor's main objectives are the assassinations of certain high-powered Templars, his actions will influence the course of British history, and will help turn it into American history. Connor aligns himself with the early-American colonists for three reasons: One, because a Precursor (more on that later) told him to. Two, because he believes the Templars back the British. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," and all that. Three, because he (along with the other Assassins) believes in the concept of freedom. That last one might be a little vague and Connor's execution of it is pretty naive, but that's covered well in the game's story. In any case, Connor will not hesitate to get completely involved in the war. He's no soldier, but he will occasionally enter battles or defend towns while pursuing targets.
Over the course of the game, players will even be able to help found a small town dubbed "the Davenport homestead" and do missions for the settlers there. Homestead missions offer a nice departure from the main storyline, and they're certainly more interesting than Ezio's money-sink city improvement system. Eventually, settlers can help Connor craft and trade items for money, although doing so plays out like it's Menus! The Game!
During the missions, players will do everything from rescuing settlers in peril to defending the homestead from groups of soldiers. The settlers themselves are interesting characters and players will see them for a full-on community over time.
My only real gripe with the homestead is the noticeable drop in production value from the rest of the game. While most of ACIII's cutcenes run smoothly, the homestead ones have jerky animations, blank facial expressions, and dull, static camera angles. The settlers' voice acting is usually pretty solid, though, so it's not all bad.
Also available at the homestead is the Aquila, the ship that Connor captains. The naval battles surprised me by being a lot of fun, although they are frustrating if 100% completion is your goal. On the high seas, players will need to use the wind, cannons, swivel guns and a few different types of ammunition to contend with variously sized enemy ships. If players want, they can spend a significant amount of time and money at sea, although most naval gameplay is optional.
While the American Revolution is going on inside the Animus, things on the outside of it are no less turbulent. Desmond has serious troubles of his own to contend with.
A friend of mine once commented that he keeps forgetting that Assassin's Creed is a sci-fi series. Because so much of the game is spent experiencing the distant past, it's certainly possible to forget about the second set of characters from time to time. While most other Assassin's Creed games forced Desmond to take breaks from the Animus to chat and check his email (there was nothing else to do, sometimes), ACIII will actually send him on missions.
Getting to use all that Assassin training in the "real" world is pretty satisfying, although it has less combat than inside the Animus. That fact greatly improves Desmond's survival chances. Fights inside the Animus include pop-up icons telling players when to counter or defend, but fights on the outside have no such thing. Players will need to read the enemies' body language, and it can make things pretty tough. Honestly, I think all the games' fights could do without the icons, but it would make things much harder.
To be fair, training Desmond to be an Assassin was only half the point of the Animus. The other half was finding clues to save the world from the 12-21-12 apocalypse, as was foretold by an ancient civilization. No, not that civilization. This civilization, simply called Precursors, was incredibly technologically advanced in its day. However, it was wiped out by the same catastrophe that threatens to happen again. Essentially gods, these Precursors have left clues, messages, and impressions of themselves behind to guide events across the ages specifically to help Desmond. No pressure.
Final call:
ACIII is a great representation of the series. It hits all the series' benchmarks, and adds some new ones that have great potential. It plays fun almost every moment, and it's hard to put down. I'd highly recommend it for anyone who is even remotely interested.
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