User Score
6.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 679 Ratings

User score distribution:

Review this game

  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
  1. Jan 20, 2013
    10
    I was really impressed with this game. I have played the whole series and I think I enjoyed this one the most. An amazing open world, great additions to the classic assissin's creed we know and love and a good finish to an amazing series. Great for series vets and newbies alike.
  2. Dec 1, 2012
    10
    Assassin's Creed III is one of the most anticipated games in this year and its worth to play the Connor's way.this instalment gives much more to exploring,hunting, sailing and war with enemies. the new story is well written and the historical events and characters are well placed. the game play is amazing but I disappointed with new engine it gave me very low fps in some of the parts and PC version have so many bugs but after all I am the big fan of Assassin's Creed games so I ignored and played. i think more to come in series and I am waiting for that. Expand
  3. Nov 25, 2012
    10
    the only lack of this game is optimization especially on AMD cards. Graphics the best of the series, gameplay the best and more dinamic , elements of batman AC and some RDR airs. Amazing story.

    This is the best AC and the only one that didn't get me bored.
  4. Nov 24, 2012
    10
    This game is amazing. History, the plot, art, action, i like them all. It is good to see this revolution from both sides, it's very interesting and make people think about it. The natives could not protect their lands, is a sad thing in history. There are some troublesome glitches if you want to 100% finish the game; but you can still finish it, just have to spend time or Google it. The challenges are not easy, it takes time, and good for hardcore assassins. I give a 10 because it's history and art, it's so AMAZING. Expand
  5. Dec 6, 2012
    10
    Ac3 is probably the most in depth chapter yet in the series. It redefines the whole series it is intuitive and challenging to play..but is quite shorter than expected but however it masters story telling and presents the game in movie style...the opening of the game will say it...
  6. Nov 28, 2012
    10
    THE BEST assassin's creed game to date... AWESOME graphics great story and magnificent game play!
    IT is the best game i have played since Skyrim... The polished combat system, the new hunting play along with the naval missions has given Assassin's Creed a really unique look in a awesome way... and not to mention the DX11 graphics is mind blowing! 10/10 goes to UBI!
  7. Jan 19, 2013
    10
    let me tell you something assassin creed 3 is an amazing game its batter from all the games in the frenchise (Except from assassin creed 2) its is amazing as assassin creed 2.the story is great and the battles are very satisfing.the multiplayer isnt the best multiplayer ever. this is the very same multiplayer that was in brotherhood and in ravelation.its ok but not so fun.but the assassin creed frenchise was never the multiplayer so i will give it 10/10 Expand
  8. Nov 21, 2012
    10
    This is a masterpiece and a new era of gaming... I've been gaming my whole life and I'm not quite into graphics usually, I want a decent gameplay and some combat sistems, but this game just blew me away. I've been playing the whole AC seriers amongst others. I am highly impressed and this is a game that you should buy. Hats down Ubisoft
  9. Nov 21, 2012
    10
    This game is awesome :P I really enjoy myself during my game-play. Although there are some bugs or glitches but they don't effect my game experiences. I believe assassin's creed 3 is worth a 10 score
  10. Nov 27, 2012
    10
    I hands down love this game. I really think the ending could have been a little more climactic, but it was satisfying all the same. The graphics and in depth characters to the game are additions that are unique to this sequel to the series. There are flaws and strengths to Connor that I did not find in Ezio or Altair in the preceding games. The game is ten dollars less than most new releases if you buy it digitally, and, in my opinion, is worth every penny. In the storyline alone, I got a good twenty hours out of it, and I still have a lot more content to complete. The game sparks emotions with many of the events that occur along the story. It's a fun ride throughout and there is such a variety of gameplay that will make you never want to put it down until you beat it. Expand
  11. Nov 24, 2012
    10
    A real review of Assassin's Creed 3
    I created an account just for this review because too many people and critics alike are giving this game unfair grief for stupid reasons.
    First of all the PC version is superior to the console versions. I've seen both and PC allows the game to shine how it's supposed to. No, Ubisoft didn't develop this game for the PC ALONE, but it's not a bad port a
    t all and they did release it later in order for it to have less bugs and to polish the game more. otherwise they could've just released it when consoles came out.
    Now to the game itself, it's an amazing game with tremendous quality. Ubisoft did an amazing job in its research to make the game very historical and has very accurate portrayals of Boston and New York. They hired an actual Mohawk (Native American) consultant to make sure they were getting their language right and portraying how they lived correctly.
    The game engine is AMAZING. Ubisoft has easily made one of the best open-world game engines of this time. The way the weather looks, tracks in the snow, rain, the terrain, the environment feels like a living, breathing environment. It renders the whole world seamlessly. And going to the world, it's HUGE. Bigger than any other Assassin's Creed and rivals the size of GTA4 and Skyrim, but with so much more detail. Which goes on to my next point, Attention to Detail. I've played hundreds of games, but AC3 takes the cake for the most attention to detail, but the thing is NO ONE appreciates this. All the environments are created piece by piece. There are animals roaming the streets of Boston, you can interact them, the people talk about real world things that happened at the time, such as the Boston Tea Party, Taxation, etc. Everything looks authentic from the houses, to peoples' clothes, to the voice acting. Ubisoft literally tried to make to make sure they got every little thing right about the game, something I CANNOT say about many of the other developers out there.
    Mechanics & Animation are the next biggest improvements in this game. Assassin's Creed was starting to get a little dull in this environment as time went on. I read how somebody said the combat was choppy in this game and fluent in AC2 and the others...HA! The combat was the biggest issue in the other games. You just hold down a button and press another anytime somebody was attacking you and Voilà! You are now a tank. And it was pretty awkward and choppy. They've completely revamped combat and it actually works. You have to time counters now with one button and once you counter you can either attack with primary weapon, secondary item, disarm, or throw the person, but it's a lot more involved now since you and enemies have guns and they take a while to reload not that fake stuff in Brotherhood and Revalations. And it's a lot more fluent now and looks really really cool when you master it. Free-running is really improved with just one button to press, but the animations make it look so much better because it's MUCH more fluent, free-running through the trees is just amazing. The animations for people look great too and flow so much better so their lips actually look like what they are saying.
    One of the biggest improvements in the game is you can ACTUALLY BE and LOOK LIKE an assassin. In the other games it you were just doing things that they wanted you to go guns-in-blazing for every situation. Because of the many elements provided to you to help keep you concealed you can actually sneak through and make less mistakes. You can now take cover behind a wall or similar surface and peek around it, which is great to me because it looks really stupid standing behind a wall and looking at it just to see around the corner. You can now blend in in bushes and you don't have to have a huge crowd to follow to blend in either. You can pretend to look at merchandise, stand on a wall with some people, and many more things to increase your stealth.

    Yes there are bugs in the game and sometimes you will still do things that you don't want to do because there are too many actions mapped to one button. But people are acting like there are bugs around every corner which is just plain false. I use a controller for PC because it makes things easier and you have analog controls which is very useful for this game. The pros overwhelmingly outweigh the cons in this game. I can't believe people, and critics too, would give this game average and below average scores, but go crazy over low quality games like Call of Duty and half of the other releases out there. I give respect where respect is due and this game demands respect from a gamer. You're personal mishaps of YOUR low FPS, how YOU can't complete a mission, and YOUR crashes, and how YOU think it's boring, shouldn't take away from this game. You crash so much because you torrented the game and it's a bad torrent. AC3 contests for one of the best games in the past couple of years
    Expand
  12. Dec 2, 2012
    10
    伴随着刺客信条3的到来,我终于坚定地删除了硬盘中的刺客信条前几作,刺客大师艾吉奥传奇的一生已经结束,;余烬中垂垂暮年的他再也无法神勇的战斗,最后安详并且宁静的逝于佛罗伦萨。

    虽然我怀念于艾吉奥奔跑在文艺复兴时代的潇洒身影,但刺客信条系列并没有结束,新的一作,新的主角,英国人与印第安人生下的混血儿
    Expand
  13. Dec 2, 2012
    10
    This game really good about graphics also playability and action. Like a all serious. But last version so that it is given the score. And of source music is good.
  14. Dec 2, 2012
    10
    I think the BEST assassin creed ever (I am a PC gamer so my reviews are strictly based on PC Games)... Pros. 1. In My Top 5 List for "Best Game Story of 2012" 2. Even Support Intel HD 3000 (minor lags in snow) 3. Best Combat System (B.A.C is better in hand to hand combat) 4. Desmond Face Is improved Dramatically. 5. Every Character Have There Unique Features 6. Best Colonial Environment I have Ever Seen
    7. You Will Ride Horses All The Time
    8. Soundtracks are better than brotherhood and revelation
    9. Voice Acting was spectacular.
    10. You Can even Skip clips in this version
    Cons.
    1. Very Difficult to kill wild animals
    2. Xbox Port for game pad
    3. keyboard controls are difficult to understand
    4. as AdaReview Says story not really suited for a "open world/free roaming"-game.

    i think this game is one of the best game in 2012....
    Expand
  15. Dec 7, 2012
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Assassin Expand
  16. Dec 22, 2012
    10
    Assassin's creed III may have a few faults but it makes the original look like a pile of crap. And since the first Assassin's Creed was pretty damn good, that should tell you something about AC3.
  17. Dec 23, 2012
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. i really do not get why some people hate this game so much...the developers had made this clear that this game will be an end to desmond's story and after all his goal was to stop the 2012 incident...so there clearly is no reason to get angry over something that you already knew ...the combat was simply awesome and addicting and that includes the naval combat . the story was good but you only get to play as connor with his suit halfway through the game which isnt that bad if you think that the game itself unfolds halfway through the game...and that means that once you get your hands on the actual character you have so many more things to do that are fun . what the game lacks is perhaps the assassination contracts that have been technically been absent from brotherhood. overall this game is awesome and none can deny that this game is fun as hell Expand
  18. Jan 12, 2013
    10
    Impossible, even with limitations. There are an atmosphere and good music. Good combat, really, even simple.
    Why I love the whole assassin's creed series? Cause it stunning.
  19. Jan 28, 2013
    10
    O jogo e muito bom e ele tem graficos otimos jogabilidade boa tambem.
    Um ponto negativo que eu achei foi tirar à possibilidade de matar civis, não que eu seja sadico mas isso deixa o jogo menos realista e divertido.
    Jogar assassins Creed 3 e uma viagem no tempo.
  20. Mar 11, 2013
    10
    Fantastic game, changes many core features. I enjoyed the last few games, the Desmond stuff drags but the Conner stuff is brilliant. The world feels alive and very realistic. The story goes on for ages and there's plenty to do beside the story. Graphics are excellent looks very nice when it snows.
  21. Mar 23, 2013
    10
    This game is PERFECT!!!)
    Sense of celebration
    Game of the year!!!
    This game is PERFECT!!!)
    Sense of celebration
    Game of the year!!!
    This game is PERFECT!!!)
    Sense of celebration
    Game of the year!!!
  22. May 11, 2013
    10
    Assassins creed 3 is not as good as Assassins creed 2, but you have to admit, the innovations they added in AC3 are really awesome, and you have to realize the risk they took with making this game different.
  23. Apr 25, 2013
    10
    Overall the game is unbelievably great, This games strengths are in the fighting and story line but the pvp is so graphical intense it makes the game look so realistic as if you were there.This game is Unmissable and everyone should have it in there game libary
  24. Dec 7, 2012
    9
    As a warning: I really like every title of the series. Seem to have a penchant for climing around and stabbing people in the back. ;)
    AC3 is by far the best title up to now, as its story is simply great and dialogues are very clever. If one cares to listen, these really outshine nearly all other game dialogues I have ever heard. If you like a bit of philosophy, that is. Graphics are great
    , gameplay in the forests is good, animations are fantastic and controls are way better than before. Oh, and don't forget the voice acting.

    Only downsides: Some things a bit too tedious and it very often is much too easy, feeling like an interactive movie. And the crafting menue is needlessly complicated.

    Bottom line: One of the best games I ever played.
    Expand
  25. Nov 22, 2012
    9
    Well it couldn't match the success of previous games of Assassin's Creed series such as Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood but this really is a great game which is certainly worth your time.
  26. Dec 1, 2012
    9
    Beautiful, strange. The one time 'Nothing is true, everything is possible' game has become something else. Maybe this could be applied to the multiplayer? Anyway, this game puts you on a strictly set path for the mission parts. And I mean it, jump slightly off the course in a chase scene and you de-sync (die). There is a lot of open-worldness in the frontier and many achievements to go along with that side of the game. These two aspects are practically fractured from one another.

    Multiplayer is fun, tons and tons of customization options for looks and abilities. Thankfully there is now a solid counter to the infamously op smoke bomb. You can spend real money to get stuff instead of using legitimately acquired 'animus points'. Bugs are everywhere in single player, I had a bear get stuck halfway underwater near me preventing me from looting tons of loot. I had a cannon ball get stuck in the air with its fast-moving air graphics all around it. The games you can play in bars and such are way harder than its worth to ever play them. There are no temples with associated achievements, dis-a-pointment!

    Overall quality is great with it still being very much the same game, a watered down story and a deeper open-world aspect as well as deeper multiplayer. When has this series ever not been mildly annoying? I love having to overcome something, but sometimes its just downright annoying. Worth playing if only for multiplayer. Despite some shortcomings on expectations I still have to say I love this game and got way into it this time around.
    Expand
  27. Mar 28, 2013
    9
    Assassin’s Creed III is the latest edition in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. It is the fifth main game in the series, set in the year 1750 takes place mainly within North America.

    In this article I will be mainly covering the multiplayer aspect of the game and how well it compares with the previous games. In many ways, Assassin’s Creed III takes what elements work in the previous games
    games and supplements them with a variety of interesting modes and objectives. After each battle you earn experience towards your next level up, with higher levels the players are awarded bonuses such as new abilities or other unlockables. When the abilities are unlocked, you can then unlock them for crafting which allows abilities to be enhanced in a variety of different ways.

    The highlight of ACIII multiplayer takes the form of Wolfpack, which is a co-operative challenge, designed for 1-4 players. In this mode your objective is to take out targets stealthily in order to gain the highest number of points. Killing targets by charging at them or using the gun will earn you a low amount of points, in comparison with poison and stealthy kills. You earn a focus bonus if you wait next to a target for a few seconds before a kill, and promotes a ‘slow approach’ in order to maximise the point gain.

    In Wolfpack there are 25 progressively harder sequences, each one requiring more points to complete while the player is working against the clock. Some of these sequences are bonus sequences where the player must perform ‘sync kills’ with their teammates, these require each teammate to attack the enemy within a small window of opportunity. When done successfully they reward the player with high points and a cutscene.

    There’s also several modes which return from the previous games, such as my personal favourite which is Manhunt mode. In this mode you have four attackers and four defenders, after the first round, the attackers and defenders swap places. This keeps the game fresh and allows players to hone their skills in both offense and defense.

    There are also other modes such as Artifact Assault which is a capture-the-flag type mode, Domination which is all about capturing locations from the enemy and Deathmatch, which is a free-for-all race to get the most kills.

    Since each player can be stunned or killed in one hit, it’s important to emphasise the amount of hiding and cat-and-mouse antics that ensue within each game. Overall, this is a fantastic game and well worth it if you enjoy the multiplayer aspect of the series to date.
    Expand
  28. Feb 16, 2013
    9
    Assasin's creed III is the best entry in the series, with the best story, fighting engine (which is bassicly the same but with some improvements), best setting (colonial america), and a great cast of characters with awesome voice acting. You can spent hours investigating the wilderness, or fighting with the guards wich is epic, and the soundtrack is very good. The only problem is the bugs and the ragdoll physics are too active sometimes you can even see the guards (while fighting with them) with they're legs and their bodies etc....If you dont have this game go buy it. Go now.NOW. Expand
  29. Feb 13, 2013
    9
    Hands down my favorite game in the series. On PC it is drop dead gorgeous. The story very much begins as an origin story for the new protagonist Connor. This is incredible, but completely replaying the game gets tedious due to the long handhold of an introduction. The new ship warfare and sailing is incredibly fun.

    Very long game, in a positive way.

    I loved this game.
  30. Nov 22, 2012
    9
    Lot of fun, very solid port, the controls are much better than the previous games, combat still feels a bit awkward but I will probably get used to it, the graphics are a big step up, the people look almost real, the environments lush and full of detail, and in the frontier there are wild animals that you can hunt and skin, adding further into the depth, trees and rocks are fully climbable, and adds a lot to exploration, the voice work is really high quality, and you meet a lot of founding fathers like Ben Franklin, Sam Adams, and George Washington. My only issue is that Connor is kind of boring as a character, he doesn't have the charm that Ezio had, but he's still pretty cool. Good game over all, worth buying if you're a fan of the series. Expand
  31. Nov 21, 2012
    9
    A better companion than previous 2 AC games because of its long development time ad money . Boston n New York looks good ... frontier hold its own fantasies . It is one of the best port of PC by Ubisoft . Obviously its not perfect Assassin's Creed game , there were even some bugs as well as bit pacing problem . But with Well refined combat mechanics , Great Visuals and Especial Naval Fights , you can spare your few moments to get yourself in this American Fight . Desmond section were bit average and could be much better but with well made mechanics and good game-play features ... GO FOR THIS GAME!! Expand
  32. Dec 28, 2012
    9
    I've played (and completed) AC2, AC2:Brotherhood and AC2:Revelations....honestly, with AC3 I'm having more fun and I'm enjoying the story much more than with any of the previous releases.
    This story (AC3) is the best yet written in the entire series (from my point of view, of course). I mean, what the hell was Machiavelli doing in AC2:Brotherhood? And what about da Vinci? If you want to u
    se such historical characters in a fictional renaissance story, at least take it seriously. In my opinion both characters were poorly represented/superficially conceived (like a sorry postcard), I found them embarrassing... In fact, not only historical characters were underdeveloped, I also think they could've improved Ezio's story a big deal if they had put a mind to it (I'm not saying it's rubbish, I'm just saying it could've been better). Don't get me wrong, AC2 trilogy was praiseworthy (for arcade open world standards) in my opinion.
    Concerning AC2 trilogy's story, I found it wanting in various occasions...on the other hand, I think that AC2:Revelations finale was very touching: Ezio meets Altaïr's skeleton, speaks to Desmond "trough the centuries" (great concept) and then retires considering his work fulfilled. I didn't really expect much from AC3, now I find myself delightfully surprised. I liked the story right from the start: you find yourself in the flesh of Haytham Kenway (England 1754), who is attending a revival of the "Beggar's Opera" in the Royal Opera House in London. He enters the auditorium, tries to reach his seat while stepping on other people's feet in the process and starts apologizing to them in turn (I found it hilarious and original, a great way to open the story)...he doesn't care for the opera, of course, there's something else in his mind...
    If AC3 was conceived like a movie of some sort, a lot of people would probably like it. This means that AC3 screenwriters have done a good job both establishing the main plot and designing characters, dialogs and scenes. For example, I'm still laughing at Benjamin Franklin's dissertation about the advantages of taking older women as lovers (this was a REAL letter by Benjamin Franklin written on June 25,1745. The game developers were simply outstanding here.).
    Perhaps the story loses some of its grip while playing Ratonhnhaké:ton (Connor), but truth is that I like to hunt game and explore the native american forests, I like my tomahawk and I like the fact that the main character is a Mohawk who tries to defend his people and their way of life (mohawks in the game speak traditional mohawk, by the way, that's another merit of AC3)
    The music in this game is great (specially because of sailor shanties and native american tribal music).
    They introduced historical board games like the Roman Checkers (I love them).
    Now you can fight naval battles (unrealistic, OF COURSE, like almost all things in the AC saga, in case you haven't noticed). I see various people here complaining about controls, clichés, predictable turns of events, glitches, lack of immersion, lack of freedom, lack of creativity, dumb action scenes, unrealistic fights, etc.

    1-As far as I can see, they mainly changed two key bindings. Now you use "E" instead of "Shift" and "Q" instead of "E"...that's about it...you can customize them anyway so I don't see the problem here. 2-There aren't more clichés or predictable turns in AC3 than they were in previous releases... I mean, I knew Ezio was going to beat everyone long before it happened...

    3-Maybe it's just that I'm lucky, but my AC3 installation doesn't have those horrible glitches some people is talking about.

    4-Personally, I can cope with the game's plot "jumping" between characters (this already happened in previous releases), so it's not a problem for me. Just one question to all people who is complaining about this: How do you expect to develop this plot (which is divided in different stories) without jumping between characters? 5-You can still explore Boston, the forests, the frontier, New York, etc. at your will. The game allows the player to do it... So I still don't know why there is people saying that you can't explore the scenarios freely. There are document fragments to be catched, trinkets to be found, messages to be delivered, naval battles to be fought, forts to be destroyed, trade to be established, game to be hunted, treasures to be claimed, missions to be completed,etc. Perhaps there are less sub-missions than in other releases, but there is still a lot to be done in the game, you can be busy if you want to.

    6-For those who haven't noticed yet, AC series is COMPLETELY unrealistic.
    I mean: haystacks don't save your life, the world isn't some kind of "puzzle" where everything is placed to accommodate your magical acrobatics. Killing is not easy, "medicine" can't restore broken bones and bullet/arrow shots, etc,etc...
    Expand
  33. Nov 21, 2012
    9
    For me this is the best Assassin's Creed since the first game. Yes it's simple regarding combat and so on, but the story and game's world is so enrapturing I can't take my hands of it.
  34. Dec 1, 2012
    9
    Looks like we've been ME3'd. The game itself was almost as fantastic as AC2 but except for the ending. It leaves you confused, angry, sad, and makes you feel like the whole series was a lie.
  35. Nov 20, 2012
    9
    Ac3 is probably the most in depth chapter yet in the series. The game was very intuitive and challenging.
    There were many changes to the dynamics of the game, making money and so forth. Money is harder to earn and crafting is kind of a pain. One of the missions to retain two main crafters is bugged so you can't hire them. The only thing you can really do is hunt and skin and sell. They di
    d a great job on the huge areas of movement and the ship battles are spectacular and exciting! Hopefully they will stay on this path and the next chapter will be just as exciting to play. By the way it's about 4 days or so to complete at 8 hours a day so it's worth the purchase!! Expand
  36. Nov 22, 2012
    9
    Excellent game. Great graphics and gameplay. Enjoying everything about it right now. I am reading few users complaining about glitches or game not being designed the way they wanted. So far in 5hr gameplay I haven't noticed any issue and am totally happy with the game.
  37. Nov 25, 2012
    9
    AC3 is definitely a refreshing change to the already established mechanics of past AC games. An incredible soundtrack, graphically amazing, a predictable yet decent story and a new , likable protagonist, AC3 is surely a game to look into despite a few bugs and glitches.
  38. Nov 29, 2012
    9
    Great story, awesome graphics. The amount of time you can spend in game is huge. Only playing the main story would take around few days and plus all the side quests and buying and selling mini games take great amount of time. In my opinion mini games are created really good. The flow of the story and the changing of scenes from 18th century to present is epic. Ending is great and the only bad thing I can say about this game is that we don't get to choose the ending, Desmond chooses what he wants. All in all, really great game! Expand
  39. Nov 30, 2012
    9
    This game gives me more and more new emotions with each part of the game! every chapter shows new gameplay, besides it has updated battle and acrobatic systems and updated graphic. AC3 absolutely perfect, and this is an eidos of the Assassin's Creed franchise as for me.
  40. Dec 5, 2012
    9
    Amazing Experience. Connor is cool Assassins with pretty cool weapons and fighting tactics.Still not a juicy character like 'Ezio' though but lays up well to my expectations.Yes,there are lags in the game,
    -During free-running Connor may dip inside the land (surface)
    -Problems during the High-top Sync.
    Over all and Amazing game to play the tree running is superb and the Wildlife is simp
    ly Exquisite.

    Must Play ! M.Usman Nazir
    Expand
  41. Dec 15, 2012
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I went in to Assassin's Creed III expecting something similar to the AC2 trilogy with a different control scheme. How wrong I was. I'd started to get a little tired of our Italian friend Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Don't get me wrong - AC2, Brotherhood, Revelations... These were all great games, but they had Call of Duty/EA Sports syndrome - the same game with minor upgrades released yearly. Fortunately for Ubisoft, and gamers, they were damn fine games. But as I said, AC3 isn't a repeat of the last three years. But is that a good thing? Of course it is!

    Assassin's Creed III picks up right were Revelations ended - Desmond, his father, and the two remaining assassin buddies Rebecca and Shaun have found the temple they've been searching for. Now all they need is a key to get in to the inner chamber and save the world from a solar flare. Makes sense? Not really, but it does the trick for letting us mess around in various historical settings. The explanation for the new setting is... Well, there really isn't one. The "ones that came before" just happen to know how to make the animus work and give Desmond a new ancestor to relive the memories of.

    Now this is where I venture into some serious spoiler territory, so skip the next (and rather large) paragraph if you don't want early to mid-game spoilers.

    London, mid 18th century. A crowded theatre, it's patrons awaiting the start of a play. A well-dressed and well-spoken man by the name of Haytham Kenway enters, and starts talking to his associate. Shortly afterwards, it's off to climb around the theatre and assassinate someone. Haytham steals his necklace, which is believed to be the key to the temple Desmond and company have just found. Haytham then travels to America, and you get a good couple of hours to mess around in Boston as him. It's pretty much the standard Assassin's Creed fare - climb buildings to get to view points and un-fog the map, kill the angry guards with your hidden blades, and so on. I think Haytham is probably the most well-written character the series has come out with thus far. After a few missions, some surprising plot twists occur, which I won't spoil as they're actually really cool, and you start out playing as Haytham's half-native American son, Connor, a few years later. This is the "growing up" part, where you get your assassin training and so on. The game opens up bit by bit, and then things start to get really interesting. I must mention the few missions where you play as Desmond in 2012 - they're great fun, if a little linear. I tried ripping down the wanted posters when I first saw them, but to no avail! Still, a nice touch to see them around.

    The new gameplay mechanics - hunting wildlife, gathering resources, crafting new gear, trading - these are all well-implemented and keep things interesting. Killing a bear is great fun. The free-running feels much different this time around, as you're out in the countryside a lot, climbing through trees and cliffs as opposed to buildings and streets. There's a nice juxtaposition between the country and the cities of Boston and New York, keeping the game fresh for hours.

    Combat's had a nice overhaul, but is still a little too easy for the most part. The addition of guns is nice, but they take a long time to reload, so your bow is usually a better - and stealthier - option.
    The real main attraction, however, is the naval missions. You captain a ship, giving orders to your crew to adjust sails, man cannons, and so on. It's well-implemented and doesn't feel like an after-thought - unlike Revelations' tower defence mini-game.

    The Assassin Brotherhood is still there, but for the most part it's optional. Fast travel's improved, and the awful villa/city management has been overhauled. You now meet new people and build a small settlement around your mentor's manor. It's got great story elements and is more mission-based than money-based.

    There's plenty of mini-games to do, ranging from a few board games to bowls and fight clubs. A lot of content, and surprisingly well thought out. Nothing has been half-done here. Everything seems to have been lovingly crafted, and designed to be great fun. And that's exactly what it is.

    The story missions in colonial America are great fun, and aiming for 100% synchronisation is a great challenge. It's been fleshed out a bit this time around, as there are now multiple bonus objectives as opposed to just the one.

    Graphically, the game is beautiful. On a decent PC, you'll be amazed at what the Assassin's Creed team at Ubisoft has done. Sound design is spot-on as usual, though I preferred some of the music from AC2. The story is great, in my opinion, but I found the ending to be rather lacking. I didn't expect much from it though.

    Overall, Assassin's Creed III is an amazing game that's incredibly difficult to pick fault with. Definitely a game of the year contender, and easily the best open-world adventure released in 2012.
    Expand
  42. Dec 15, 2012
    9
    The game is not without flaws. I have jumped 150 meters in the air and fallen to my death. I have found jumping from on object to another isn't as fluid sometimes as others. A couple of times I've have failed to meet goals of a mission and I didn't know it was a goal. The beginning of the game was quite slow to me. In spit of these minor and far and few between little annoying things the game is solid as a whole. I love the ship captain missions it really looks and feels like a ship plunging into waves and fights are amazing. The ground fights are fluid and flowing; different mobs need be engaged differently with breaks monotony in fights unlike the first of the series. I'm 80% into the campaign and the story is fore filling and rewarding. I've enjoyed the side quests (besides collecting feathers which is tedious and unrewarding) The crafting/trading/bartering system is slow at times but the rewards make it worth it if you invest the time. Overall I'm very happy I spent the $50 on the game and I would do it again given the chance to relive it. Expand
  43. Mar 28, 2013
    9
    I don't see how people can hate this game with such fury. This certainly wasn't my favorite AC, but it was better than ACR and it holds up. The only controls that are changed are the sprinting and blocking/parry mechanic. I liked Connor a lot, and the game had interesting characters. The only downside I believe would be the pacing, but in the sense of having so much to do at once, not the main storyline. The Infamous glitches everyone talks about aren't happening to me at all, but it may just be the fact I play on a PS3. Anyway, great game. Expand
  44. Dec 22, 2012
    9
    This was the best game I've played in a long time, and I've played many games in the past few years. The story was excellent, the graphics and mechanics were great, and I never ran into the problems other people have encountered (i.e. horses not going where you wan them to). I can only complain of the ending and, while it's a fitting way to end Desmond's story, I can't help but feel that it was all for nothing. The ending to Desmond's story is just a speck of dust in the infinite possibilities of the Assassin's Creed universe. Expand
  45. Dec 28, 2012
    9
    AC3 has its own story and should not necessarily be compared with the previous AC storylines. What was needed was more missions. Yes, there is a bit too much dialogue, and I disliked the interruptions into the Animus/Desmond scenes more than I ever did before. The naval battles are great. Overall, it deserves a score of 9. Playability is great on a PC especially if you've played the previous AC series. I have played it twice and enjoyed it more the second time. Expand
  46. Jan 20, 2013
    9
    I may not know the whole story of ac3 , cuz this is my first ac game . It is great the player understands what thing you want to do (climbing a building killing a soldier etc) the control is fluent and the graphics just blew my mind a GREAT GAME!
  47. Feb 5, 2013
    9
    I dont no why people are hating this game so much this game is really good one y favorite of the year but i hate the desmond parts so much if i facotred them into my review this game would get a zero but because i hate them so much im going to try to forget about them and just focus on the assassins part this game has a ton to do the graphics are outstanding thr naval combat is so awesome and the story is good this game is getting way to muuch hate Expand
  48. Apr 19, 2013
    9
    a super great game, nice graphics, nice stealthy gameplay (if you want 2), a real nice story,big nice world to explore and an all over great game, the game play is nice hard and interesting the story makes you keep playing and real nice visuals is all the things i felt when i played this game there is lots of gameplay and interesting character's. but i have to give it a nine beacause i think that ezio from ac 2, ac: brotherhood and ac: revalations and his story caught me way more. and i would reccomend those games as well Expand
  49. May 4, 2013
    9
    Po słabym brotherhoodzie i revelations można było się obawiać 3 części. Twórcy podeszli jednak porządnie do zadania i zrobili świetnego Assasyn'a. Świetna fabuła(jeżeli chodzi o Connora, Desmond został kiepsko wykorzystany), świetna grafika- pory roku są tutaj świetnym pomysłem, bardzo fajne zmiany co do systemu walki czy biegania. Bieganie po drzewach czy bitwy morskie są naprawdę fajne. ą naprawdę fajne. Szkoda że misje nie są do końca wykorzystane, motyw assasynow również, gra ma pewne nie dopracowania. Moja ocena 9/10 Expand
  50. Dec 7, 2012
    8
    The game definitely gives a new vibe to the series. The whole franchise was starting to get incredibly boring, in fact, i only played Revelations to keep up with the storyline. Even though I would've liked them to take some time(a couple of years at least) and come out with an incredible game, I will make the most of what they did and enjoy the small, but interesting changes brought. The storyline continues to be good and the gameplay is a little more varied than before. The game in general has the same feel but if you think about it that's not really a bad thing. Expand
  51. Dec 4, 2012
    8
    First let me address the things I like about the game. The fighting has improved, in that it is much more difficult; in the previous Assassin's Creed games, you could literally just hold a button and block every attack. Not in this one. There is a much wider variety of things that you need to keep in mind when battling. Still, once you are familiar with all of these things, you will never be hit and it does become a bit repetitive. The combat system still needs some serious work before I can call it perfect. Hunting is amazing. It's a great way to pass the time on the way from point A to point B. At first, when the game was introducing hunting to me I was like "Oh boy, this is just another stupid gimmick that's going to force hunting requirements on me". For the most part, hunting is completely optional, and all of the animals react differently. Some can be caught in snares, but larger animals obviously can't. Once you're done hunting you can go to the store and sell all of your pelts, fangs, claws, meat, and other animal products. It's a very satisfying feeling and the game doesn't force it upon the player in any way. If you find it fun, great. If not (I think you should reconsider), don't worry about it because you'll never have to put up with it. Climbing in trees works wonderfully. I had some concerns about the tree climbing; I thought perhaps it would be a bit clunky and wouldn't work properly. One thing I have to say I don't like about the climbing is that they took away the ability to leap up and grab a higher ledge, a trick implemented in Assassin's Creed 2 I believe. I will definitely miss doing that because it made climbing a lot faster. I also really enjoyed the naval missions, finding treasure, battling with other ships, etc. Finding Captain Kidd's treasure is the greatest side mission in Assassin's Creed so far in my opinion. And of course, the main storyline is captivating as always. I mean, come on, it's Assassin's Creed. Now I would like to address the things I don't like about the game. You can manually aim now which seems like a great idea, but it was so poorly implemented. First of all, you can't aim for the head, if you put your cursor on their head, it will auto-adjust and move to their body. Players that can aim well should be rewarded with one hit kills for aiming at vital spots. You also can't shoot freely, despite that you can aim manually. So what's the point? All it does is give you a bit of extra range (maybe 5-10 feet or so), and it auto-adjusts for you if your aim is poor. This was very disappointing for me because since the first Assassin's Creed I have been saying that you should be able to aim manually, and when it was finally implemented, I expected it to be done well. I fear that rather than perfecting the aiming system, Ubisoft may decide to scrap manual aiming altogether. Another big problem is the optional objectives. Some of them are so poorly done that if you want to get them, you'll be restarting the mission 10-20 times. Don't get me wrong, the problem isn't that the optional objectives are hard. I have 2 problems with them. Number one, they're poorly implemented. They're horribly inconvenient, they often rely on luck, and the game often does not set the player up for a fathomable way to complete the optional objective. Look at missions like the one where you have to destroy two British ships by swimming out to them and planting bombs. In that mission, they want you to kill one of the captains with an aerial assassination. But it's like they intentionally set it up so that this is horribly inconvenient to pull off. Look at the mission where you have to shoot groups of approaching enemies with the cannon. They want you to take two groups out with a single cannonball. No good player would really feel accomplished once they pulled it off anyway, because they would know that it relied almost purely on luck and not skill. Look at the final naval mission; the one where you have to destroy 2 frigates and a man-o-war by attacking their weak points. It's ridiculous, and anyone who has tried it would have to agree, unless they were either insane, or being paid by Ubisoft to just lie and say they disagree. Anyway, the second reason I don't like the optional objectives is because they limit the player. They tell you to complete the mission in a specific way, rather than letting you assess the situation and formulate your own course of action. Let us think for ourselves, that's part of the fun. Or rather, it SHOULD be. Another thing that I don't like is that the game is heavily consolized. We constantly have to pause and interrupt the action because Ubisoft refuses to utilize more hotkeys for PC players. Overall, the game is not what I wanted it to be. I expected a 10/10. You still have a lot to perfect Ubisoft, but this was definitely a step in the right direction. AND PUT MANUAL AIMING IN AC4. DON'T SCRAP IT. DO IT RIGHT. Expand
  52. Jan 29, 2013
    8
    I enjoyed this game. Sure, sometimes missions were a bit too difficult and frustrating. There is a large number of glitches, though none game-breaking. Give this game a shot, it's worth it.
  53. Feb 23, 2013
    8
    Before there was Ezio, I loved the man, Everybody else did, now It's the great Conor, the noble, you must be fond of him. you'll live with him, since the beginning when he was a little boy. The story here is really motivating, much better than I expected. This time the game team put everything in it, a lot of details as well. And much to explore. But the controlling is bad. By just pushing one button the character makes a series of moves like you're just watching a movie. Expand
  54. Dec 3, 2012
    8
    a good game but not great
    and i really like connor story but totally dislike desmond in this series
    I think in as2 series everything was perfect and i like ezio over connor as a real assasin
    but still its overall a good gaming experience...
  55. Nov 22, 2012
    8
    Entirely personal impression. I'm not going to argue about change in game mood, or how Connor is a different character than Ezio, I don't give a rat's ass about those.
    Cons: Blinding lights whenever scene changes. Character distortion whenever in conversation. I fell through invisible hole 3 times in the first hour of gameplay. PRESS THE E BUTTON TO SKI
    P CUTSCENE hovering over freaking boggles my mind. HUD barely customizable, Looting has 1 second lag that delays my movement Camera during combat spinning wildly Melee is ok, but shooting mechanic is questionable But MOST IMPORTANTLY, control port is **** as hell. Everything is E!!! Riding horse and getting off horse has different key binding. Regular running is gone, replaced with jump. Because of that, speed difference between walking and sprinting gives me eye strains. Why is shooting button all of sudden changed to Q? Since when in the series? What does SHIFT button do?

    Pros: Everything else.

    Overall, the game itself is solid, that was never an issue. BUT PC port is pure horse dung. Graphics aside, neglecting control customization for keyboard is pure laziness and arrogance in Ubisoft's part. Even counting the keys usable AC3 is absolutely inferior than even AC2 which tells that the devs either lost interest or became arrogant as **** towards PC market. SCORE: 8/10

    P.S. Just look at what PC guys in US gets for their special edition. A pdf file and soundtracks? Give me a break.
    Expand
  56. Nov 27, 2012
    8
    Assassin's Creed 3 really is a striking game all around. It's brilliant presentation of scenery and locale, it's incredible attention to history and beautiful looks, as well as the minor-but-huge fixes to the overall game mechanics, this game succeeds at finally separating itself from the Ezio-esque gameplay style for good. Assassin's Creed's overall formula for gameplay remains relatively unchanged: get presented with a well choreographed cutscene, go sneak around a bit, do some high and low profile combat, and maybe the game will even throw a cookie at you if you manage to complete the optional objectives. The difference though between this game and the two others are the fixes they made to just about everything. In Assassin's Creed 2 and below, the climbing system was revolutionary at first but quickly became frustrating. By the time Revelations rolled around, you could clearly tell that Ubisoft was trying it's best to revamp the climbing system, but now they've finally done it right. No longer will you be making awkward camera-angle constrained leaps of faith that most often result in a rather confusing and infuriating death, now instead you need only hold down the high profile button and you'll stick to whatever you land on 99.99% of the time. In addition, the combat system has been largely improved and appears much more fluid. Ubisoft diversified it's previously counter-to-win system by adding a variety of enemies that respond drastically differently to various kinds of attacks, as well as added cool cinematic-esque breaks to the combat by having the enemies form firing lines on you, and you as the player having to react accordingly. Gadgets have also diversified and have all become relatively useful, as compared to the previous games where I found myself using solely one or two. The open world setting inside of the untamed Western Frontier adds an immersion previously unknown in the Assassin's Creed series. It allows players to quite literally take a breath of fresh air as they break away from the hustling, bustling cities of Boston and New York to take a quiet stroll in nature, hop along some trees in an aesthetically pleasing manor, and hunt some animals for pelts and other sell-able goodness.

    The story during the first three sequences were a tad slow, but after the end of the third sequence I felt that it was worth the wait. Connor's story isn't necessarily as touching as Ezio's in Assassin's Creed 2, and there isn't quite as much of a connection between the player and the characters, but even despite that i found the historical aspects, the well-done voice acting and visuals drawing me in further as I progressed through the story.

    There are however a few reasons this game is not receiving as good a score as I would have liked to have given it. The few biggest things that deterred me as a PC player were the glitches and the overall unoptimized engine on which AC3 runs. Graphical anomalies, AI bugs, disappearing objects and townsfolk as well as the overall poor framerates on my rather hefty rig left me a tad unsatisfied. With a few simple patches from both Nvidia in it's drivers and Ubisoft with some minor game fixes, this could easily earn another point from me.

    Some other negative points to be noted were some of the rather pointless features this game introduces, such as the underground Free Mason navigation tunnels and the frankly overcomplicated trading system. I feel like with every Assassin's Creed game since 2, Ubisoft has been trying to force another concept down our throats: first it was the guilds and the shop-rescuing mechanics from Brotherhood, the bomb crafting feature in Revelations and a combination of the Naval fights and the new trading system in this one. While the naval battles succeed in being consistently epic, if not a bit frustrating at times, the trading and crafting system feels a bit clunky and overcomplicated. If Ubisoft had taken some steps to simplify their UI and to streamline some of the process it wouldn't be such an issue, but I found myself being deterred from using it during the core of my gameplay and mainly focused on story missions throughout.

    All in all this a very well done game and I would recommend it to veterans and newbies alike. If you don't have the patience to pace yourself and take the game slowly as it intends you to, this game may not be for you, but for those with the curiosity and the tenacity to explore this game as thoroughly as it bids you to, the experience it grants you is unparalleled.
    Expand
  57. Nov 27, 2012
    8
    Pretty good series, but not as good as the 2nd was. I missed something from it, maybe the good story. I've waited for it, but it's not as good, as I expected. Good graphics, good gameplay, but not the best story. The character of Connor is easy to forget, not like Ezio or Altair. I liked the game, but it's not the best in this series.
  58. Dec 4, 2012
    8
    Just to be clear, AC2 is the best AC game ever, but take AC2 away and review this game like the game is. Ok, let's start. The game is amazing. Just like I expected it to be. The graphics are good, no glitches, no cutting edges. The combat system is just like it needs to be. To be able to take down 30 guards is amazing. I did that when i took a fort. I also love the fact that it takes place in the American revolution is fantastic. Sorry for my bad English btw. I love that you're playing as Connor as a child to begin with, I had to laugh a couple of times when i first saw it. And when you are a teenager and you are getting introduced to the hunting system i was like wow, amazing system. And that you can find chests with stuff and cash is awesome. But the thing I like the most beside the story is to take over forts and free-running. The story was really good until the ending like people says, but i haven't played through the game yet, so I will leave that out of hand. But play through the game if you like Assassin's Creed. Expand
  59. Dec 18, 2012
    8
    Let me preface this by saying the only truly good Assassin's Creed game was 2. Brotherhood and Revalations were just cheap shadows of Assassin's Creed 2. Having said that, I love Assassin's Creed 3. I think it is set in a fantastic time period, with great movement and combat mechanics, and awesome voice acting. When I started playing, I thought I was in for another amazing A.C. like I had been missing since the 2nd one. However, after playing about halfway through the game I became more and more frustrated with what I can only how is a series of bugs and errors. The guards detection abilities and line of sight are often inhuman. They spin 180 at the drop of a pin, the can see in a 270 degree arc, and sometimes they simply know where you are and what your doing. On top of that I've been killed by soldiers during a cutscene, how my inventory wiped clean a couple of times, and several other bugs I wont go into. But more disappointing than the all the bugs that persist despite their massive patch, is that the game seems to want you to have to fight everyone. In AC games past, I was able to complete most everything without being noticed, or at the very least killing everyone quitey, and with relative ease I might add. As of 1/3 of the way through this game I and finding it difficult to complete several missions without direct confrontation. And before I hear a score of, "Your just not good at the game" or "Get better" i assure you that I am quite an accomplished gamer and very good that this game. I summary, Ubisoft was so close to remaking the magic that was Assassin's Creed 2 only to fall short by 2 steps. 1 the story wasn't quite as good, and 2 they released the game to soon...it just wasn't finished yet. Expand
  60. Dec 16, 2012
    8
    Я со всей душой желаю чтобы assassin's creed не появлялась в следующем году!!!
  61. Jan 9, 2013
    8
    You know... I'm the fan of the seria but I'm still critic. And as for critic and as for fun inside me Assassin's Creed III left more strange feelings which mixed with kind of ectase and "FUUU RAGE". Multiplayer almost the same as was, but we still have little bugs, which helpfull for professionals, new COOP that doesn't change anything ( believe, it's not a thing you should buy a game for ) and some new skills. Very Small amount of maps and almost all they are very bad and boring. And characters... But Abstergo Archive is very usefull - you can open new horizons from it by using skills for opening a content. Event are good part too.
    But Multiplayer it's not the MAIN part of the game. Singleplayer is very strange. Story doesn't feel like one part. Sometimes it's very boring, misunderstandable and really disgusting, but next minute you can't stop it because you're srawn in it fully and this is one of the strangely thing. New graphic, director's cutscene - yes, they cool, but why Ubisoft ruin all mechanic from previous games? Why level-design is so damned horrible for missions? And this Synchronization tasks with stupid lagging checkpoints? Rage was my sister that time...
    On the other side - naval missions, very emotional and unexpected story with some boring moments, yes they are sometimes, new hero that can't be not so popular as Altair or Ezio cause his character is crashed by scenarists and make more negative emotions in you than positive. And bugs, lags etc... They still here.
    What I'm trying to say. Assassin's Creed III - is a result of commercial style of Ubisoft. Very ambitious but in many aspects it's twisted or broken, but still it has very emotional connection with a player what wasn't previously. It has very cool animations and setting, good design and live world, where you can hunt and make money. Good village missions and very nice personalities as Ahilles and Haytem, Lee and crying Washington. It's good, but could be more better.
    Expand
  62. Jan 29, 2013
    8
    Good game, but lots of bugs though, continues the story, not as good as the other games, pretty amazing graphics and historic content. The new weapon arsenal is not as rich, and you could easily get through the game with the items you started. Useless crafting mechanics, fun hunting in the woods, its an experience worth the money ,to sum up
  63. Feb 27, 2013
    8
    No Doubt that Assassin's Creed III compared to Assassin's Creed II [Which is my most favorite game of this generation] is a huge disappointment, since AC2 delivered a sequel that improved a lot of the mechanics of AC1, same was expected for AC3 to overcome AC2.

    Sadly it didn't happen with this game, AC3 continues right after the ending of AC Revelations, And promises to end Desmond's St
    oryline, it does that only the ending itself is executed in the worst way possible! This time Desmond's Sections of the game include its own levels in Modern Day Era, there are 3 levels that are playable with Desmond only and while they are heavily scripted it was nice to see a change of scenery from the Italian Renaissance and the 18th Century America, the level design in these particular levels are very well done! However Something that is not well done is the facial animations of the Modern Day gang, they look Completely Different from the past 3 games, and Desmond himself looks the worst! This time around there's a new protagonist and a new era, Connor is a decent character but compared to Ezio he is really bland and boring. The New setting which is Colonial America is interesting and perhaps even Highly accurate but its not fitting the AC franchise since all of the houses are small compared to the huge buildings of Rome and Venezia, which is a shame since the Free Running mechanic in this game is the best in the series! Combat is slightly different this time, unlike in the previous games where most of the times you will be using a hidden blade this time you will be using an axe and a pistol, its not drastically different but its a good change of pace since the previous games. AC3 followed the tradition of including multiple Cities/Locations this time, as a full pledged sequel. [Since AC1 had multiple locations, and AC2 also Had multiple locations] This time you will be visiting Boston and New York with the addition of the Huge Frontier and Davenport Homestead. Frontier is particularly interesting since this time you can hunt for different animals, killing them with bows or the hidden blade will grant you their skin and sometimes even more, however shooting them will only give you a damaged pelt. The game is visually stunning however there are a lot of visual glitches which shows that the current gen of gaming start to show its age, Probably the best looking aspect of the game is the new Naval Warfare feature, which lets you control a ship and storm the Carribean and the Atlantic seas! Its a welcome addition to the series and probably the closest you will get to feeling like pirate in a video game.

    AC3 in my opinion is a huge letdown, despite the combat and the free running being the best in the series the game feels rushed and the ending is extremely disappointing, there are too many bugs both visual and technical. MP is better than ever but only for those who like it! I Give this game a 8/10!
    Expand
  64. Feb 14, 2013
    8
    It's a very well made game, although it has its flaws. The story kind of sucks, it feels like it's rushed, there are many bugs and graphical glitches that ruin the experience and the missions are too linear. It's pretty long, I've completed it 100 in 40+ hours so there's definitely a lot to do. I think it's heavily underrated by fans and critics, it definitely deserves an higher overall score.
  65. Mar 8, 2013
    8
    Being new to the assassins creed series I did not find myself lost or missing out by entering during the third installment. This game featured some of the most epic scenes I have experienced in a game. Alot of the battles, especially involving ships, were on a caliber I had never seen before. The combat always kept me interested and entertained, and the world was worthy of exploration. The ability to traverse obstacles and buildings in a "parkour" fashion never gets old and is entertaining enough to make you want to play in its own.
    My only complaint about the game is that, although they masked it well, the game has a subtle feeling throughout that it had been rushed. This is most obvious with the "Homestead" which seemed half implemented to me.
    Expand
  66. Mar 21, 2013
    8
    First off i'm a big fan of the AC series and was eagerly awaiting the launch of this title. Unforgettably it doesn't make the best first impression and the first 3 hours are made up of boring quests from a boring character trying to give you some background story for the main story line. I would of much preferred a long cinematic! Once your on the main character, it turns into an enjoyable game and what we have come to expect from the AC franchise. Expand
  67. Dec 1, 2012
    7
    The single player part of the game is the best of all the AC series, the graphics are good even if sometimes the video clips are choppy, the storyline is very interesting, i say best part of the all, but lack in the open world part of the game, yes hunting is fun but limited to just few animals and only one hunting quest, attacking the rare convoys, and try to do a few tricks but get soon pretty boring once you finish the storyline, there's just not enough to do once you're out of the 2 cities. but the very bad side of the game is the multiplayer part: same as in the previous games, only different maps and characters but the sad part is that previously you were able to gain points by fighting and personalize your characters while now fighting points are useless until you are willing to pay real money to get some other coins that you can use to get some gears or perks, very disappointed by the multiplayer game, greatly reduced my score. Expand
  68. Dec 20, 2012
    7
    Even though I haven't had good luck with the Assassin's Creed series, I succumbed to the hype and bought this game. First of all, its an interesting historical novel with a science fiction twist, and a touch of the DaVinci code (references to the Knights Templar). If you're a history buff, you'll appreciate the short background notes with their combination of historical accuracy and dramatic license. I read a few of the notes as I played the game and there was some funny sarcastic remarks sprinkled throughout. Secondly, the graphics were outstanding, even though the intentional fading in/out got a little old. Also, my XPS-8100 with Intel 5 processor and GT-220 card seemed to handle the complex graphics quite well. However, this game becomes annoyingly frustrating at times. In my limited view, the gameplay is too complex. For example, you need three keyboard entries to fire a musket or shoot an arrow. Additionally, moving your character around is difficult at times when you are trying to run away and the character shifts into melee anytime it gets close to the opposition. Still, this game was fun, and I felt a sense of accomplishment when I finally finished it after 30+ hours of playing time. Expand
  69. Dec 3, 2012
    7
    Good gameplay, interesting new mechanics, boring storyline and characters, ending will make you go "...wat" and horrible menus for PC. Not as good as AC2.
  70. Jan 28, 2013
    7
    Another solid game in the Assassin's creed franchise, I am not sure why it has been getting a bunch of negative reviews but I could understand people being frustrated with it. The combat is very fluid and easy to get the hang of. The park-our style of running, jumping and climbing is also very fluid, more so in this game than the previous ones. The graphics are very good, though I do miss the roman architecture of the previous games. The storyline is overall pretty good but can have some dull stretches. My main issue with the game is just how slow it moves, you can play for 6 plus hours and still not have unlocked a good chunk of side missions. There is a ton of stuff to do in the game but it can get overbearing. The ship combat part was not needed imo, the fun in the game comes from its combat mechanics and this just takes away from it. I liked the character you first play as but I had a hard time liking the main character (Connor). I never really got a good feel for him or his motives. You can tell just by playing it that they put a bunch of time into this game but you really need to be in it for the long haul, it is long drawn out. Sometimes AC3 feels more like a chore than the fun I had in AC brotherhood but it is a solid game. Expand
  71. Feb 28, 2013
    7
    So Assassin's Creed 3 was praised by so many peeps and I just never saw the big fuse about it. So was it as amazing as everyone said it was going to be? In some ways yes but overall no. Now not saying its bad, its a decent but but im just going to explain why im giving it this score. So first talking about the pros about his game. Action and cutscences feel so cinematic. The game looks great with it been best graphics in any Assassin's Creed game. Combat has improved alot even tho it can be annoying at times. Good story and the Navel Ship Battles... best thing about this game! I mean it was an amazing engine for the ship combat and the engine beats alot of pirate engines and I hope Ubisoft make a game like that. Now the cons. Well first the character you play as Connor is just dull and boring compared to Ezio and even Altair even had a little more more charactor then Connor. Lots of stuff to do, but no real reward to them like other games in the series( well maybe a bit more then the first game) Ending was awful and should have given you an option at the end. The new engine makes the game too easy, I mean I want the old engine when you bought armor to take more hits and buy better weapons. Now you still can buy weapons but you can complete this game without buying a weapon(stupid if you ask me). So its got many pros and cons, but the pros just make it a decent game. So overall a decent game. Assassins's Creed 3 7.3/10 Expand
  72. Nov 26, 2012
    7
    It's a very good game. But not so good as an Assassin's Creed :/
    It's different, the others opus were more "RPG"... here the story is our primary quest.
    And there is no explanations about the game except principal storyline (yeah, 6 sequences of tutorial)
  73. Dec 9, 2012
    7
    Sure, the third AC is mostly overhyped and overpraised, especially on the big videogame portals, but it's definitely NOT a dud. The animus-part story is miles better, more complex and more layered than the rather dull wanderings of Altair or the cheesy, cartoonish escapades of Ezio. Yes, Desmond is a stupid character but I rather like the outside-animus sci-fi story, although the brief Desmond gameplay stuff itself is just terrible. It's almost if instead of putting some real effort in making the Desmond parts better Ubi bosses said: "Folks don't like Desmond so let's make his part as short and simple as is necessary for the overall story." Another improvements over the previous installments - minigames are finally fun, especially the naval battles, which are fantastic, and the hunting, which is very acceptable. And almost all the side characters are very likeable and well dubbed (especially Haytham). Oh and I also LOVE the way this game handles difficulty - the basic campaign is so easy a 5 year old could cakewalk it while watching cartoons but most optional objectives can be VERY difficult. So you CAN finish the game in under 20 hours (10 if you skip the cinematics) but if you like some extra challenge, you can grow old and crazy trying to do the 100% sync.
    *********
    Now to the not so good things about AC3. The graphics is a mixed bag. The cities are great, as usual, and the naval part is simply phenomenal. But although the Frontier has it's shining moments, it's marred by really bad textures, pop-ups and overall inescapable feeling that the game has been made primarily for 8 years old console hardware. It just shows. Even the first Crysis is still miles ahead when it comes to forest environments. Of course Ubi is not to blame here - Microsoft and Sony are.
    *********
    And now for the cons. First and foremost - Connor. Everything that's been said about him is true. He is humouress, dull, moody, annoying and interacts with NPCs like a computer trying to pass the Turing test. It's also disappointing you can't go parkouring over the rooftops anymore because the streets are too wide and there are guards on every second roof. But the biggest disappointment is the way the whole game is put together. As I said, the main story itself is fun and interesting, but the gameplay is...well, almost boring. It's usually about walking from point A to point B and watching a cutscene. And, if you're lucky, the game let's you press a button in a critical moment. More often than not if feels like an interactive movie than an actual game. And for the side missions and optional activities the exact opposite is true. Improving your homestead, hunting, crafting, trading - all of it is quite fun but completely pointless and useless. Yes you can skin animals and craft weapons and sell your produce but what for? There's almost no difference between the available weapons, you'll massacre a redcoat regiment with the basic sword just as easily as with the ultimate endgame model. There's also NO gameplay difference between the available outfits, except they look different. So even though you can spend countless hours collecting feathers and improving your homestead and whatnot all you get is a stupid T-shirt, basically. Furthermore you can't actually buy anything useful for the money you make from craftin and trading, maybe except a map of chests containing - more money. "But you can do all these things just for the enjoyment of seeing your homestead grow and prosper or for the fun of the hunt," I hear some of you objecting. But for me, in an action adventure game like this, all these side activities just feel pointless. I enjoy building my town economy in Settlers or SimCity or Colonization as much as the other guy but those games are ABOUT building and trading. AC3 is about crushing the Templars and how does crafting barrels and skinning rabbits help you with that?
    *******
    So the verdict - AC3 definitely feels epic and expensive. It exudes the money and expertise and astounding artistic talent that went into making it. But it also feels like the fantastically talented team of writers, artists, architects, historians and programmers was steered by a very poor lead designer. Despite all of that, it's still a towering achievement in the vast sea of stupidity, shallowness, cheesiness and desperate run-of-the-millness that's the current AAA videogame market.
    Expand
  74. Dec 9, 2012
    7
    Terrible consolitis. A mash up of all the game mechanics from previous AC games, makes the journey a confusing chore - disappointing because the story is very exciting... albeit with a rather flaccid ending.
  75. Dec 1, 2012
    7
    AC3 is a good and solid game, but doesn't feel quite right in the series. I felt that the game relied too much on "chase this guy and kill him" or "fight these 20 guys to kill this one guy" instead of actually using your head and sneaking in and assassinating somebody. Several of your assassination missions you actually have to sneak in past tons of guards, where if you get discovered it's an instant lose condition, and then, once you close on your target it goes to cutscene where you are discovered and have to fight all those guards anyway. The graphics were good, but I can't say the same for the new facial animation tech Ubisoft has been bragging about. It just wasn't that good, and even in cutscenes characters mouths were often not synched with the audio. The cities are small and the buildings are too spaced out to make rooftop jumping (a staple of the series and part of why the series is so much fun) not practical in most cases. I actually barely used to rooftops at all, as it was often faster and easier to use the streets. The hunting mechanic was ok, but nothing I felt like spending a lot of time with. The crafting mechanic was pointless except for the pouch upgrades and special weapons, and those are not even really necessary. The UI for the crafting was awful, annoying to navigate, and you couldn't craft more than one of any particular item at a time, which was ok for some items, but annoying for items you use a lot like glass bottles, sewing threads, etc, but since there is never a point in the game where you HAVE to craft anything, and the rewards are so insignificant there's really no reason to craft anything, the bad crafting doesn't really take away from the gameplay itself. Same goes for the trading. Sending trade convoys takes a long time, they often come under attack in the middle of the very large frontier far enough away from any fast travel points that there is no way you can get there in time to save the convoy, and even if it makes it you don't really make enough money off it to make it worth the hassle. One thing I missed that AC2, Brotherhood, and Revelations did very well was the platforming "dungeons", those were a lot of fun and really gave you a chance to play with the free-running aspect of the game. These are almost completely absent in AC3, and the few platforming missions there are are not very good and don't keep you on the edge of your seat like in previous games. Also, the game is glitchy. Daily while I was playing it killed my computer, locked it up so not even a "ctrl-alt-del" worked and I had to to a hard shut down. Luckily the game usually autosaves often enough that you start back close to where it died. Now, I spent a lot of time complaining, now I'll tell of the good parts. The wilderness is large, think the Kingdom from the first AC game and double it. The tree climbing mechanic is fun, especially in swampier areas. Too bad more of the game doesn't take place in the frontier, because you have a lot more stealth options in the trees than you do in colonial towns. I REALLY enjoyed the naval battles. I would buy a DLC that just had a lot more of the naval warfare missions. The waves look amazing, the battles are epic, and it's just a lot of fun. The Desmond storyline gets a lot more play than any other AC game, and wraps up nicely. The way they did the Desmond missions in this game makes me want even more for them to make a modern-day AC game. I like the combat a lot, and enjoyed the big battles, I just wish it would let me stealth-kill my big targets more often. It's an AC game, it plays like an AC game, expect nothing more. One last thing, Connor is a good character, though he is a bit bland. He's supposed to be bland though, an Iroquois warrior is not going to be as flashy or flamboyant as an Italian nobleman like Ezio. I liked Connor, though I actually thought his father Haytham would be a better main character. A little more Ezio-like flair and attitude. All in all, I really enjoyed the game though some aspects were frustrating. I recommend this if you are a fan of the series, but not if you are looking for anything really new and exciting, as all of the new things were annoying except for the naval combat. Expand
  76. Feb 16, 2013
    7
    This is a pretty good game. It has some insane quality smoother and much more improved physics with more detailed combat than previous games. The game has a very cinematic feel to it, but the inconsistency is confusing along with the very slow progression.
  77. Nov 23, 2012
    7
    Assassins Creed 3 is more the odd man out.. It adds alot of unique gameplay elements that would be great if it all worked out properly. But the end its a shaky but great game thats worth a shot if your an Assassin Creed fan. [Keep in mind I am reviewing with the current update 1.01 - some things maybe fixed if your reading it later down the line]


    Story: [6]
    The story has quite a few
    twists into the plot, and a few good moments. Yet in the end it doesn't pack the punch of the first 3. Game World: [6]
    Now saddest part of Assassin's Creed 3 is the game world. The problem with era they are recreating is majority of the buildings during that era looked pretty much alike. So now you end up facing a very repetitive world also. Going to eagle view points essentially requires the same method each and every time Unlike Constantinople where quite a few eagle points posed various challenges to get to. Now there is a very tiny variation in all of them But they did add quite a few unique methods of traveling through houses and sliding through low lying obstacles. Yet it once you get into the game you will soon notice how very few those opportunities their are. Also how majority of the time it doesn't seem to work when you need it to. Gameplay: [9]
    Now gameplay has not really shifted from the core principles of Assassin creed. The same style attack block counter is still there. As well as a few added weapon styles. The fighting as smooth as ever and quite a bit more interactive. They made achievement and special item hunting fundamentally a lot easier. Though their are still some secret treasures hidden away that are not revealed. Also they have quite a few varied side missions.

    So what exactly changed? Gone are the ways of the mercenaries brother girls and roaming groups of camouflage. Though the last one is sort o replaced with wagons of hay that move around the map. But to be fair people rarely used them anyway. You also do not have your assortment of grenades though you do get smoke bomb still and trip mine. Also your throwing knives and cross bow is replaced with a rope dart and bow and arrow. Personally most of the changes are quite well done. Also there are no more "tutorial mini levels. The tutorials are stream lined in some part into the game.
    Now the sad part is, only some of what you need to do is explained. For example one optional mission was ';Throw the Red coats into the water" - now it doesn't tell you how to do that. So if you never played an Assassin's Creed game before, your basically screwed. If you did, your also possibly screwed. You cannot simply make them fall inside. You must use the push evade to do so, which the game fails to tell you so. This is just one of many things it doesn't wish to explain.

    Now a lot of "filler" missions are available. Some are quite fun, some make you want to rip your hair out. The new lock picking mechanic they introduced is one of those hair ripping moments to button ashing. Randomly twist and turn then button mash and repeat. They should have followed the skyrim or splinter cell model of lock picking. As for the board games, they are probably the best board games I have played that came packaged with a game. Classical games played during the era, that are really get you thinking. Which I personally applaud was a great addition to add. The biggest and probably the best feature they added was Naval Battles. The naval battles are truely phenominal. Infact its better then most naval battle games. You have control of your sails, movements and gun fire. It really makes you feel like a captain on the open seas.

    City creation is one interesting feature added to the game. Where you get to manage your own little town and recruit a cast of characters to help you craft various items Now you can't decide who you want to choose, but each one does have a back story involved, with various relations with each other. Yet at this point it becomes a bit to obvious its just a port and not made for PC. As the crafting and trading menu's force you to go a very round about way to choose your items. So they didn't bother creating a more PC friendly UI. But its decent enough to get it to work.

    Another interesting feature is hunting. You can track and hunt various animals for various parts. These parts can later be used to craft various items to be sold. Though surprisingly enough the value of the pelts are not related to the difficulty in catching it. Sound: [8]
    The music and environmental sound was top notch. The voice acting was a mix, some of the voices were done phenomenally. The others feel as if the person was just woken up in the middle of the night and told to read the lines. Final Synopsis.
    Assassin's Creed III adds a lot of great elements to the genre. Yet the game feels incomplete and rushed.If your an Assassin's Creed fan, you will more then likely enjoy it. If your just starting, this may not be the place to do so.
    Expand
  78. Nov 28, 2012
    7
    Great gameplay, I do love naval combat. Not linear mission, confusing for beginner. Not last, What happening with the desmond face?and connor face from youngster to adult is not the same! hahaha
  79. Jan 6, 2013
    7
    When you open the Assassin's Creed III main menu for the first time, and you had played the whole series, wou will see an enormous difference, but when you open the single player history mode, you can see that Ubisoft made a real copy of all the others games. You can see innovations, of course, but you can't see a huge innovation. It's cool that Connor can climb trees, but it isn't that cool. Same thing when he takes two weapons at the same time, but the good work that you've made with a single hidden blade on the first Assassin's Creed is good enough. But one thing you'll miss is the character. Connor isn't a charismatic guy like Ezio or disciplined like Altaïr. He's so easy to forget that you won't even remember his name after finish that game. I'll say that Assassin's Creed III is one of the best games made by Ubisoft, but almost all of the fans of the Assassin's Creed series are disappointed after buy that game. Expand
  80. Jan 10, 2013
    7
    Grande flop della casa canadese Ubisoft .Rispetto ai suoi predecessori (Assassin's creed 2 e Assassin's creed brotherhood) non tiene il videogiocatore incollato allo schermo, se non per i primi 5 capitoli.Grafica davvero pregevole , come d'altronde il sonoro ,ma questi sono elementi relativamente importanti dato che il gioco è monotono e privo di innovazione.
  81. Jan 16, 2013
    7
    Speaking in great franchises, Assassin's Creed is one of the biggest of them. As the end of an trilogy. It was expected to an fan-double-tastic ending which actually didn't happened. The campaign is very good worked with good characters but not so much worked. If you play the game you'll notice that the protagonist is not so good as Ezio or Altair, but if you think, is really very hard to introduce a new main character to an game like that. Due to the new engine, Assassin's Creed is in one of the best graphics in 2012, the controls kept the same scheme, but a kind of "so boring" you know? In this game climbing is so easy, making no difficult in the game, it's just press a button and go forward. The combat is kind of simple, using only counter-attacks to kill up to 87438975 enemies at time. These and other characteristics that makes us all miss the controls and difficulty of AC2. But still a very good game that worth your money. Expand
  82. Jan 27, 2013
    7
    I cant decide between 7 or 8, but overall a very good game. It has a huge open world and free runnning in this game is WAY better than the its previous. It has more bad than good but its good is good enough. It is very challenging and unique in every way. The missions sometimes feel repetitive and kind of a chore. The cinematics are WAY too much but nicely made. The boat missions are tiring and pretty much a waste of all the fun you will have with the game. The game super exciting at some parts and will leave you with memories. Connor's gameplay is probably the most balanced and best I've played. Hunting is fun and Desmonds missions are a thriller too. The game does seem a little overblown and inconsistint but if you minus the chores in this game, its GREAT! Expand
  83. Jan 22, 2013
    7
    The graphics are beautiful, the game play is also very good, but this game has too much tutorials: you just start playing at all when you are in the half of the game. I didn't like the new character, and also I didn't like the main story.
  84. Jan 26, 2013
    7
    This is a good AS but it lack on what the other games have, the world is big and enjoyable to walk and free run around, but it the story that ruins it yes it good but not the best so far it one of the game you must play but i recommend playing past AS before this one.
  85. Feb 18, 2013
    7
    It's wasn't that a great game, as AC II, which I waited for.Maybe it's interesting to see how some American cities looked like in this game, but for example I didn't feel that awesome atmosphere like in AC II Venice city, or like in AC Brotherhood's Rome city, I missed something in AC III. And ok in very many games action's going in America, and even it's reminded me a bit of Mafia II, so it wasn't that "wow, what amazing game" or something like that.

    Graphic's effects are really nice in this game. History line can't match to AC's II history line, it wasn't intriguing to me at all, like AC II history line.

    If to sum up AC III lost that amazing AC's game soul.
    Expand
  86. Mar 26, 2013
    7
    Assassin's creed 3 is a third person stealth/action game set around New York and Boston during the american Revolutionary war.You play as Connor, a native american assassin. The first thing I have to say about this game is that it looks pretty amazing and is presented really well (in most parts). The graphics look amazing in this game, it's a substantial improvement over the previous titles. The animations are also stellar. However though the occasional lag, glitch and flat texture prevent this from being perfect. The story is okay although it isn't quite as good as Assassin's Creed 2. The introduction dragged on for way too long. They did this to give Connor a believable and interesting background but in the end that just fell apart since the character connor wasn't at all that good. He was nowhere near as good as ezio or altair. The only side of connor I ever saw was the butthurt side of him, which quickly grew stale. Most of the other characters weren't at all interesting and weren't fleshed out enough. The missions were also incredibly linear and didn't provide much choice. The story also wasn't long enough for my liking. Plus after every sequence (around 2 hours) the game interrupted with desmond along with a mission I wasn't interested in. It really broke the atmosphere of the game. The ending for Desmond was also sudden and confusing. Although the story overall was decent. Just no enough to match the standard of the previous games. The combat is incredibly easy after a couple of hours you'll get the hang of it. The only enemy that you can't kill with ease in AC3 in the jager. You could kill entire platoons with ease. However though ranking up combos and killing enemies is funand satisfying. The combat is much more streamlined than the previous games. There is a good feature though. Naval missions. You get to engage in naval warfare across the atlantic Although the battle do tend to get repetitive. The platforming in the game has gotten borderline useless since it is much easier to just run as the crow flies. Stealth has also become useless since just killing them outright is much simpler and quicker. Plus after the game there is practically nothing to do except collect collectibles and to tedious missions. The only interesting thing to do is the naval warfare missions.Plus in this game you are going to spend a LOT of time running. The loading screens are also a bit long. The multiplayer is also pretty good. You engage in team deathmatches against opponents. It rewards you for stealth kills. Overall the multiplayer is pretty good. Overall Assassin's creed is a good packages, although there are better games out there. Expand
  87. Mar 28, 2013
    7
    Assassin’s Creed III once again makes you assume the role Desmond fighting against the Templar’s by using the memory of his ancestors. This time you live the memory of Connor, a Native American who finds his village in trouble and will do anything he can to guarantee his villages safety, growing up in the woodlands your skills at hunting and foraging are powerful and will aid you on your pur path to becoming a powerful assassin.
    The PC version of this game is graphically beautiful especially when there is snow to run around. This game includes graphical settings that allow the users to change the environment, textures and anti-aliasing. These settings allow you to optimise your game to work freely without any lag or disturbances within the game.
    The combat is very similar to the other Assassin’s Creed games in that you can either go full on attacking countering every move or take to the roofs and remove your target from a distance while standing in the shadows. The combat feels freer than the last few games with more abilities and options open to the player but does get tedious after a while. Sometime into the game Connor will start to recruit assassins into the brotherhood that he can control, upgrade or send on missions similar to Assassin’s Creed Revelations however they have different abilities and options.
    This time round your assassin has two main weapons, a brotherhood styled tomahawk and a customised hidden blade that can be detached to be used as a dagger. There are many more weapons throughout the game including darts, swords, spears and guns that can be collected from fallen enemies however the only way to maintain that weapon would be to buy it from one of the many market stores scattered throughout the game. A sort of economy in the game, AC3 has introduced a homestead for the first time, here Connor can invite people into his homestead to increase the amount of products or money he can acquire, for example you can invite some lumberjacks that will grow and harvest trees that you can buy off them and send them to market to gain a profit, this is the new economy that Ubisoft have added to Assassins Creed and I think its brilliant although it can take while to start with you can eventually be rolling in the money.
    Another new thing to the game are boats and ships, now in Revelations you could use a boat to travel across the river but in this you can sail a ship across the seas, just like the homestead you can upgrade your ship, more cannons, men, armour. This game includes sea battles with you matching up with ships firing multiple cannons at each other. Unfortunately sailing the ships isn’t free-roam style, you have to be doing a mission that requires Connor to use them, and something that I hope they change in future games.
    This game is very enjoyable and a slight change from the earlier games however the games replay ability would be once or twice in my opinion with the first time just going through following the story and getting entwined with the characters and the second time trying to 100% it, collecting all the items and finishing all the side quests. I will give Assassin’s Creed III a score of 7 out of 10.
    Expand
  88. Dec 28, 2012
    6
    'I didn't know Zynga made themed boxed sets?' Having been a tragic fanboy of this series since way back at instalment #1, I found myself at a loss as to how to feel about this game. Even from the outset. YES they changed my beloved control setup, and YES the new animus interface is less intuitive than before. But then I wonder how many people would be whining about the lack of innovation in the new title if everything had stayed the same in that regard. I don't think the writing is the problem, because from the outset I LOVED Haytham, and I found myself drawn in to Connor. He may be a bit of a blank slate, but I don't think he is an especially WOODEN one. No. What bugs me about this game didn't really hit me until just before: it's all the mini-games. Granted AC#1 had an exceptionally simple set-up, (triply so if you played it on a console), and the AC2 trilogy addressed this by adding additional things to do, a few mini-games, and some interesting one-time mechanics in the odd side-quest or story mission. I started to get wary of all the extra padding though in Revelations with the new territory mechanic, and the tower-defense game, but THANKFULLY they weren't necessary to the completion of the game. There was still enough assassination to get you through the game without having to worry about it. AC3 though. The mini games aren't mini games anymore. It's as though someone's taken all the content of SPORE and made us play all the stages simultaneously. In Brotherhood or Revelations I could send recruits out on a mission and so long as there were enough of them with enough skill, they would succeed. In AC3 if I send a wagon to market and it gets attacked I have to track it down and defend it or lose the shipment. What happens if I'd rather just stab people than play farmville? Then there's the Naval part of the game. Bloody brilliant, but I need LOTS of money to upgrade that boat of mine which means lots of grinding away at babysitting caravans doesn't it? I could always try my luck at gambling but the use of games common to the era means I can LEARN the rules but they will take a longer time to master well enough to consistently beat the AI and make it viable. So the problem has become one of time... and I don't have time to play Assassin's Creed: Farmville the way it wants to be played. To completion, grinding away my life behind a keyboard playing an imaginary man's dead ancestor. Even with all the extra mechanics the game was fine (I actually loved the new mechanic for opening fast-travel spots), fine that is right up until I had a house and harbour to get up to spec. Then the game slows right down becoming instead of a quest for vengeance, it's a quest to be the richest man in colonial america, in what I can ONLY assume is some ridiculous attempt to pad out an ALREADY long game. I'm assuming at least. The previous titles were all certainly long enough without farmville attached. Imagine if Bioware had decided to pad out ANY of the Mass Effect titles by forcing you to engage in a spotlight stealing mini-game (and I use the prefix MINI loosely in this context) between story missions just so you can survive the next one. The game is simply too complex, and not in any good way. The story is lost under acres of clutter and would be much better served by some simplicity. It's telling that the more complex these games have gotten, the less I have replayed them. I played the first Assassin's creed to death waiting for number 2, and it wasn't levelling up my reputation with the thieves guild or having a guild den in every major port on the Mediterranean that did THAT, it was the context-dependent combat and the flawless execution of a mission that kept me coming back. NOT wanting to see how many wagons full of lumber I could get running back and forth to market (okay maybe there were SOME flags involved...). Expand
  89. Dec 31, 2012
    6
    AC3 is a game that starts out well - you get introduced to a really great character, the storyline progression feels natural and there's some overall sense of direction. Some hours into the game though the "real" protagonist (Connor) is introduced and from that point onwards the game gets progressively worse. Connor is a boring bloke without any kind of personality or purpose. The plot - even the one in the Animus - is bonkers as well with almost every other story mission being a historical event shoehorned in to make Connor play some completely nonsensical part in it.

    I'm afraid there hasn't been an AC game with a good story since AC2. That one had character, interesting locations, a good plot. This one not so much. I'd say if you can get it cheaply it's worth a try but don't expect too much from it.
    Expand
  90. Jan 28, 2013
    6
    Huge dissapointment. Unskippable credits just rolled. These days its either nuke or ufo. Here is the latter. Some great promises from previous installments have been broken. The mysterious story of ancients turned out to be silly and shallow - some answers are best if not told. So the series is over now, completely exhausted and dried out of essentials that made first Assassins Creed establish its name. Every another game in the series was loosing its ground piece by piece, until this quite pathetic conclusion. What about game critics reviews? Game of the year awards? Did we really played the same game, or they got some bonuses together with reviewers copies?
    Maybe its just me, did you guys who live in USA enjoy this somehow more than me?
    Graphics: great. Sound: great. Story: promising at first, but completely failed in the end. Game mechanics: fights are way too easy though animations are impressive, STEALTH IS WITH NO PROPER TOOLS, eagle vision is completely useless, horses are unnecessary, leap of faith is sour becouse Connor cannot see where the spot is. Side missions: too many, not worth your time, you get nothing apart from silly dresses and minor improvements. Some whole branches of side missions should be eliminated by quality dept. (letters, deliveries, crafting, trading) these are trivial and pointless. Testers let through serious bugs, it seems that they were only able to test until New York, where glitches festival starts. Strong points: naval missions.
    Conclusion: for me its just one of these games that make easy money for the publisher. Consists of too many elements that can not make consistent picture. "Shitload of side missions in your face player". Epic finale of the series is not there. No more please. Play first AC and make real reboot, becouse you lost direction. Not the complete failure but still huge dissapointment.
    Expand
  91. Dec 13, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It is far from downright awful, but still lacking something the previous instalments had. On a good rig, graphics look really good. The art is amazing (ships, houses, the whole atmosphere). I think the game is a bit too long for its own good. Trade system is quite forgettable: after a while you've bought everything and It becomes useless. Same goes for crafting. Most of the items you create are meant for trade, so it's all back to square one. There are some bugs here and there: most of them are quite annoying (items not working, losing your whole stock of tools at the beginning of each new sequence). What bothers me most is the drastic change in gameplay. Stealth isn't the best option anymore and once you've been spotted, the best way out is to kill everyone around. Indeed, the AI will chase you on very long distances and the number of places where you can hide has been significantly lowered, to the point that you can't hide on roofs anymore (which makes ground the best option when fleeing...) The beginning of the story was enjoyable, but it drags at the end. The ending is laughable, as bad as it gets: compared to that, mass effect 3's ending was a true diamond... Weapons are unbalanced, most of them are not even worth buying. You don't even see any real difference between them. Armor is gone. The whole sense of progression has been kind of raped. Secondary objectives to reach 100% synchronization add a bit of difficulty but don't reward you for completing them. Just like the other episodes, there's no replayability value, but that was expected. I'm not too much of a multiplayer type of gamer, so I haven't quite tested that yet: so far it looks like brotherhood's and revelation's multiplayer with a few new features.

    - All in all -

    Pros: graphics, naval warfare, part of the story, animations.
    Cons: modified gameplay, unbalanced items, bland side quests, lack of freedom in most missions, ending.
    Expand
  92. Jan 18, 2013
    6
    Amazing graphics but cutscene after cutscene after cutscene after cutscene just destroyed what should have been a great game. Have played and enjoyed all the series but I am forcing myself to carry on to the end of this one. Less then half way there and I don't think I can take another guess what! ya a cutscene. What a pity.
  93. Feb 18, 2013
    6
    BAIT AND SWITCH. I was under the impression that I would be playing a badass Indian assassin bent on killing the English. 3 out of the 12 chapters you play as the Indian assassin's English father. It is ridiculous watching an Englishmen jump from roof top to roof top. The combat is clunky and repetitive. There are two prologues and the training is horrendous. But the world itself is really really beautiful and the music is awesome. If you have the horsepower in your rig and a great soundcard you can really loose yourself in the game. Don't buy for over $20 or you will be disappointed. Expand
  94. Jan 27, 2013
    6
    A game that just doesn't stand up to the hype. Assassin's Creed 3 is slow to start up and drags its tail throughout the rest of the game. The music is highly unremarkable, notably so during segments between missions, where you are supposed to look for the bits and bobbles scattered around (feathers and viewpoints, mostly) as no music plays at all. The dead silence dulls the game and gives it a very tedious feel. Connor is incredibly bland as a character. His motives are very unclear, and his lack of characterization might as well place him as a silent protagonist. A definite step down from the wonderful Ezio (in 2 and Brotherhood).
    The only thing that really saves AC3 is its attention to detail, as it has thousands of location-specific animations and beautiful scenery (as long as you aren't in the underground tunnels, where quite a bit of pixelization and color messups reside).
    Would not recommend. If you want the best game in the series, play Assassin's Creed 2.
    Expand
  95. Nov 24, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After watching the trailers for this game, it looked incredibly promising. However, Assassin's Creed 3 has many fatal flaws that let it down.
    Although there have been some excellent changes regarding graphics and animations, making combat and free running look so fluid and epic, there actually aren't that many opportunities for a fight during the missions. In fact, the game often wants to restrict you with 'optional objectives' like staying out of open combat and limiting the amount of people you kill. This is extremely immersion breaking and unsatisfying. The stealth missions are also very linear and of you make one mistake then you're instantly desynchronised. However, there are a few awesome bits, which are inconsistent, leading you to a let down of an assassination target.
    The frontier is also a completely new addition to Assassin's Creed 3. It's a lush landscape, with loads of opportunities to climb and hunt animals. Other than that, it's really quite empty.
    Having played every Assassin's Creed game, I've always found the Desmond/Abstergo storyline intriguing and a nice break from delving back through history. Now, they're an even bigger break from playing as Connor. Climbing up a skyscraper, sneaking through a stadium, fighting your way through Abstergo - it's fun and high octane stuff. I can safely say that the Connor storyline is boring, partly because of how many times cutscenes interrupt the gameplay. The whole 'revenge' thing is cliché and I don't think Connor even understands why he is an Assassin, as opposed to Altair and Ezio. The multiplayer is fun, yet quite similar to that of Revelations.
    In conclusion, this game had a lot of potential to deliver a consistently entertaining and awesome experience, but it sadly fails at it with an uninteresting storyline, frustrating linear sequences and boring open world gameplay (ironic, I know).
    Expand
  96. Dec 24, 2012
    6
    Since 2007 I've been following and loyal to the Assassin's Creed series from the release of the first game. I watched the games grow and expand to the triple AAA franchise it is today. When I heard about the Assassins Creed 3 upcoming release, I was really excited. I've watched the E3 game play videos countless times and pre-ordered since day one. However when October 31st came around and my copy of the game came in, I thought that AC3 would definitely win 2012 game of the year, but turned out to be a disappointment. The game has a great introduction and brings the player up to speed about the Assassin and Templar conflict and how Desmonds trying to save the world. You get in the animus and play the tutorial and try out the games many new features and your probably thinking to yourself "wow this is a great game, look at all those new features ubisoft implemented to this new installment!" However once you're done with that the game goes downhill from there. The Pacing is god awful. I understand that you need to set the charters and setting, but the game literally takes you about 4 hours until you can start playing this so called "open-world" game. Speaking of open world, the games so called AnvilNext game engine that claims they can run over 100 NPCS and can" render seamless worlds of nearly infinite possibility, transporting you deep inside America before it was 'America.' From vivid, natural landscapes, to accurate portrayals of life during The American Revolution" is a **** lie. The game is so glitchy it makes Skyrim look like its glitch free, running on 60 FPS. Heres an example. I'm in Boston, one of the main settings in the game and I'm trying to run up a building. the game suffers from so many slowdowns it just doesn't make it enjoyable. To much pop in with NPCS and buildings a whole just ruin the experience. The story is mediocre and not as absorbing as Assassin's Creed II . Conner as a character is satisfactory and is just too serious. Fortunately, the graphics are great, but like I said before, the glitches will turn you off. However the Frontier is great with the new tree climbing and mountain scaling parkour. I find the Frontier the only setting in the game where glitches wont appear as often. All in all this game totally doesn't deserve a 10 nor does it deserve and 0 or a 1. I give this game a 6, soley for Ubisoft's somewhat effort to avoid repetition from previous games and make a jump from the over saturated franchise that it is today. Assassin's Creed III is sloppy, unpolished and rushed product that had so much potential. Expand
  97. Dec 7, 2012
    6
    I love the Assassin's Creed series, but this game was like a huge kick in the balls for me. I was extremely excited when I heard they were (finally) moving Assassin's Creed to America but I expected much more. After doing absolutely nothing to improve the game from Brotherhood to Revelations they decided to keep everything they did before except smaller buildings and a larger free-roam map. The thing that really pissed me off was the crappiest intro known to man. If you want to know exactly how to make people not want to play your game. Make the intro on a boat while teaching them to do everything they learn by playing the game anyways. Hats off to the creators of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Hats back on (and a few boo's) to the creators of Assassin's Creed 3. Expand
  98. Dec 4, 2012
    6
    This game left me with the mixed feelings. From one side we've got gorgeous, detailed word, with thoroughly made "living" characters, extraordinary level of animation (for protagonist and NPC alike), high standards of visual image. From the other side we got awful game: lame arcade gameplay, linear level design for missions, zero replayability. One thing I keep thinking while playing, that developers had so many ideas for this game - they never had time to fully complete ANY. The game also very NOT-friendly for users. There is almost no in-game tutorial, text tutorial in "animus database" is almost useless. Sometimes I've needed much more time to understand what developers want from me to complete a mission, rather than fulfilling a task itself. Worst interface (PC version) I've seen for years - another major thing, that spoiled my experience. Expand
  99. Dec 10, 2012
    6
    Pros -Great atmosphere and history -Amazing and humorous detail in the database -Fun combat -Incredible Naval Battles Cons -BORINGLY SLOW beginning of the game, spend 4+ hours as a different character and the boy version of Connor doing stupid fetch quests -Crap game economy, can go throughout the game without buying a thing -Heavy reliance on cutscenes, most of which are slow -Terrible replacement of building running with tree running, no longer fun to run atop of rooftops, because guards spot and kill you instantly
    -Relatively Bad U.I
    -TERRIBLE gun/throwing weapon controls

    Overall, AC3 is a huge letdown in the AC series, and a disappointment to the stealth genre
    Expand
  100. Dec 14, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Not sure if actually the worst or the best of the series. Maybe not the worst, AC1 was (because it feels like a test, for example comparing Portal 1 with 2). It was fun and different from the previous games, but I was missing something, maybe because it doesn't play in Italy and the annoying language. The atmosphere was pretty cool though. After I completed the second level on the ocean, heard the music and saw the title, I thought it's gonna be an awesome adventure, but I got dissappointed. Why in the hell would you wanna be Haytham for 4 Sequences (If that's right)? Considering the game won't have any DLC's with story for Connor, the last 8 sequences are not really much for a completely new assassin. They kinda overdid the beginning and made it much longer than it should've be. Some may be good with it, but they should've worked with a more advanced story when it really begins, not to mention the missions are kinda dull, the ending for desmond was literally the "end of the world". I'm not disappointed nor excited about the game. I think I'll leave it with a 6. Expand
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 21
  2. Negative: 1 out of 21
  1. 80
    Assassin’s Creed III proves to be, despite its promises, a rather indecisive game. It comes with so many strong elements, that it could have been the best Assassin’s Creed ever, but it fails to harmonically balance those elements. [January 2013]
  2. Jan 29, 2013
    85
    Assassin's Creed 3 offers a spectacular way to fill in the blanks in your knowledge of the American Revolution - it never holds back on scope, drama or action.
  3. Jan 23, 2013
    84
    What, no French revolution? For Europeans, birth of the United States is not really very interesting time nor environment. And after Ezio (or Haytham Kenway), Connor is bland, irritating protagonist. Game is also full of chores that add very little to the experience. [Jan 2013]