Call of Duty
I have really enjoyed the Assassin's Creed series. The games up through Brotherhood were especially great with each one adding much more to the game and really showing a lot of potential. So I was very excited when I learned that the new installment would take place on the other side of the Atlantic with a fresh new face, new gear, new places and hopefully a lot more variety in everything.
In some ways that is what is delivered in Assassin's Creed 3 but the overall feel of the game is that is was rushed to meet the companies deadline and as a result much of the actual game play is very much a rehash of everything that came before. Connor can be an interesting character and they do a great job of having some twists in the story and making that interesting but the gameplay is still spot on identical to the set up of everything in the previous games.
It also takes almost half of the game to actually get to play Conner as an assassin. You spend most of that time being introduced to the world in ways that feel unnecessary like playing hide and seek as a young child or hunting feathers. While learning to hunt wild life is good I even felt that took too long to cover and instead of getting into much action you wind up going through repetitive motions.
The story is good, but in many ways not nearly as compelling as you would think. Everyone has a childlike quality to them except your enemies which are complete assholes (which is good, makes you want to kill them). It's just that some of the things many of the characters say like "Shenanigans" or "Tom Foolery" end up breaking any kind of suspension of disbelief you might have with the game which knocks you back into consciousness even if that is something that would have been said during the time period.
That isn't to say it is all bad. The naval battles are awesome and easily the best addition to the game. They can be intense, strategic and, most importantly, fun. You can upgrade your ship in a lot of great ways and it is the only part of the game that I have yet to get tired of. It's very addicting.
Other than that though I felt this game was a real let down. The minor additions to it and the change of some weapons are nice but just not enough. Not to mention this is probably the glitchiest Assassin's Creed I have ever played. Some scenes don't play out completely, loading screens lead to 2 second clips and back to loading again, people disappear right in front of you for no reason. The only thing that hasn't happened is a complete freeze.
Sadly because of all these Cons I can't help but feel that this game would have really been better off if after Assassin's Creed 2 UBISoft had just focused completely on this title instead of Brotherhood and Revelations. I realize they want to make money and this is a top title for them but it would have been so much more breath taking if instead of the baby steps that have lead up to it is was really a giant leap. Plus with all that extra time they could have worked out the kinks and made it a bit more smooth. Considering their deadline of 12/21/2012 they really should have had more people working to make sure this was the best is could be. So sad that Assassin's Creed doesn't deliver nearly as much, it's like Call of Duty now, just a rehash with a fancy new skin.
