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[Trumpets]

Having played every other AC game up to and including Unity (ugh), I finally bit the bullet and picked up the hated third installment, the one with the terrible main character, the boring setting, the one that takes ten hours to get started. The one that almost buried the franchise for good, but for Ubisoft enlisting a bunch of famous pirates to dig it out of the mud afterwards. At least I'd know for myself how badly they messed up after the great ACII & Brotherhood.

And what do you know, ten hours in, it's amazing!

I can't believe people complained about the opening, pre-Connor sections. It's a clear storytelling highpoint for the series, carefully introducing new characters and settings, and then suddenly pulling the rug out from under you with a great plot twist (which I didn't see coming). Following that you get to experience Connor's life in an isolated tribe in the American wilderness, which feels very different to previous AC games. What I'd been led to believe was a flat, snowy expanse dotted with trees is actually a beautifully designed, rugged, varied and dynamic environment. Even the new tree and rock climbing stuff works well.

Silly as it is, I'm also happy to be back with Desmond and that whole present day narrative, after Black Flag and Unity watered that stuff down to the point that it may as well not have been there.

Maybe the whole thing takes a huge nosedive in quality later on, but with the ship combat still to come (the only aspect of the game people seemed to praise when it was originally released) I doubt it.

 

[Battle_Scarred Shogun]

definitely my favorite assassin Connor.

 

[TM94]

One of the most disappointing games I've ever played.

Horrible, hated it.

 

[Derp]

definitely my favorite assassin Connor.

I hated him with a passion. He was just so lifeless and boring and dull and depressed it somehow managed to make me depressed. He had literally zero sense of humour to top it off. Of course everyone will say "that's his character", but really...? He's easily my most hated video game character.

I loved using Haytham at the beginning. Such a great character. And then once the main character changed i was basically forcing myself through the rest of the game. I seriously wish the game could've been just about Haytham. I would've enjoyed it a LOT.

 

[Hamster Plugin]

Did you play the whole game and see how Desmond's saga ends? It's so stupid it has to be experienced.

Did you try to start one of those sidequest assassination missions yet? Those are amazing, they really show the lack of effort Ubisoft put in this game.

Did you unlock any fast travel shortcuts yet? You'll have to unlock one as part of the story if I remember correctly. Have fun in the underground!

Have you had 20 guards on your minimap at once, and then suddenly they attack you for no reason at all, even with no notoriety? Fun times. Oh, this raises your notoriety too so it's time to tear down some posters.


Yeah, this game sucks. By the way, please buy the DLC and play it. It's actually not shit and it gives you super powers and it's awesome. So much better than the main game, why did they not make a standalone for it like they did with AC4 Freedom Cry? Damn it Ubisoft.

 

[Mozz-eyes]

I played the Wii U version and loved every second!

I also really like the story and am looking forward to what happens next.

 

[Carbonox]

I loved it. Great environments, interesting story, best assassin design (Connor's an ass though) and the combat was oh so fun and satisfying (despite being stupidly easy). Some annoying bugs aside and the environments being quite empty, the game was really fun.

Fuck the modern day stuff though but fuck that stuff in the series full stop. I'd love for them to do away with it altogether as there is no need for it and just disrupts the flow of each game.

 

[Ceallach]

Its the only game in the franchise I had to force myself to finish. I never even launched the Tyranny of King Washington as the mere concept seems so damn ignorant.

 

[Mendax]

Best assassin's creed; most interesting and most immersive setting and story. Sense of adventure and discovery everywhere.

Its the only game in the franchise I had to force myself to finish. I never even launched the Tyranny of King Washington as the mere concept seems so damn ignorant.

how can a "what-if" scenario be ignorant

 

[Trumpets]

Did you play the whole game and see how Desmond's saga ends? It's so stupid it has to be experienced.

Cool, something else to look forward to! I don't take the Desmond stuff seriously at all, but I appreciate that the game does. The more flippant stuff from Black Flag onwards harmed the series IMO.

 

[UncleCross]

Having played every other AC game up to and including Unity (ugh), I finally bit the bullet and picked up the hated third installment, the one with the terrible main character, the boring setting, the one that takes ten hours to get started. The one that almost buried the franchise for good, but for Ubisoft enlisting a bunch of famous pirates to dig it out of the mud afterwards. At least I'd know for myself how badly they messed up after the great ACII & Brotherhood.

And what do you know, ten hours in, it's amazing!

I can't believe people complained about the opening, pre-Connor sections. It's a clear storytelling highpoint for the series, carefully introducing new characters and settings, and then suddenly pulling the rug out from under you with a great plot twist (which I didn't see coming). Following that you get to experience Connor's life in an isolated tribe in the American wilderness, which feels very different to previous AC games. What I'd been led to believe was a flat, snowy expanse dotted with trees is actually a beautifully designed, rugged, varied and dynamic environment. Even the new tree and rock climbing stuff works well.

Silly as it is, I'm also happy to be back with Desmond and that whole present day narrative, after Black Flag and Unity watered that stuff down to the point that it may as well not have been there.

Maybe the whole thing takes a huge nosedive in quality later on, but with the ship combat still to come (the only aspect of the game people seemed to praise when it was originally released) I doubt it.

Nice to see someone say positive things about it. I typically don't like the AC series, but III is the first one I actually enjoyed, followed closely by Black Flag.

 

[Lockjaw333]

AC 3 is my least favorite in the series, not including AC 1 which I consider a tech demo. For all it had going for it with the revolutionary setting, all of the characters were shit and the gameplay for the most part sucked. I wanted to love the outdoor sections so badly, but they were poorly designed and just not fun to explore.

I did enjoy combat though, The tomahawk was really cool. I felt pretty bad ass engaging enemies. Its just the world and story telling was bad, and I really didn't like the ship sections. I went on to love sailing in AC4, so not quite sure why AC 3 rubbed me the wrong way there.

 

[m_dorian]

Paid 13 € for a used copy. Still miss those 13 €.

 

[NZNova]

Wait. You said you played every other AC game up to and including Unity, right?

If you've played Rogue, how did you not see the twist after the first section of AC3 coming, given that the relevant facts about the individual in question are stated explicitly several times throughout that game?

 

[Trumpets]

Wait. You said you played every other AC game up to and including Unity, right?

If you've played Rogue, how did you not see the twist after the first section of AC3 coming, given that the relevant facts about the individual in question are stated explicitly several times throughout that game?

Oops, forgot about Rogue. No, I haven't played that one, or Liberation come to think of it. I guess I mean I've played all the mainline entries.

 

[fokkusu]

Couldn't fill the gap that Ezio games left.

 

[tringworldso]

I hated him with a passion. He was just so lifeless and boring and dull and depressed it somehow managed to make me depressed. He had literally zero sense of humour to top it off. Of course everyone will say "that's his character", but really...? He's easily my most hated video game character.

I loved using Haytham at the beginning. Such a great character. And then once the main character changed i was basically forcing myself through the rest of the game. I seriously wish the game could've been just about Haytham. I would've enjoyed it a LOT.

I liked him. As for why, simply because he wasn't the cliche, charismatic character who keeps cracking one liners and has a legion of ladies following him. Connor was refreshing with his take no bullshit attitude and cut straight through the point attitude.

Ezio, Haytham, Edward are all cut from the same cloth in that sense.

 

[OmegaMan]

Yeah I don't know why this game is so hated on gaf. Guess the Internet just needs something to hate on and what better than an annualized franchise by a hated publisher. Anyways, this is my favorite assassins creed for many reasons (I've played and beat all except for rogue, btw). I just remembered being awed by how dense yet seamless the forest was integrated into the game world in prerelease footage and while I was playing. Also, this game by far had the most gameplay innovations out of any game in the series. This is the first game where tree climbing was available. From footage I had seen of the game before it came out, I was expecting to be able to climb trees from the get-go as Haytham and thought it was a nice touch that he actually doesn't have that ability. This game added animals, rock climbing, the-pass through of buildings, the best historical setting of any assassins creed to date, and the beloved ship battles. Good write-up OP, I hope more people actually give this game a chance.

Spoiler

It seems as if all a game has to do to please people these days is to have pirates, nazis, or zombies rather than actually be a good game that brings anything new to the table, I'm looking at you black flag!

 

[NZNova]

the best historical setting of any assassins creed to date

Could not disagree with you more on that point. The Renaissance and the Crusades were far more interesting settings than the American Revolution.

 

[tryagainlater]

I really enjoyed this one. Much more than 4. Never knew why it was hated so much.

 

[TheXbox]

I liked it a lot more than most. That said, the game feels a bit like a hodgepodge of disjointed ideas that never reach their full potential. The open world area is gorgeous and exciting to traverse, but you have no reason to. None of the side activities are compelling or even remotely worth your time. Even the main missions are usually bland, buggy, and fairly typical for an AC game. The Desmond missions were also terrible. There are a few highlights, though, and it should be said that the boat stuff is awesome; if totally out of place.

Connor himself is a great protagonist.

Spoiler

His father

is a terrific antagonist. Neither of them receive any justice in the otherwise tepid story. It's cool that they overhauled the platforming and built up a solid cast, but the rest of the game is anything but.

 

[vladdamad]

This game was the most crushing disappointment I have ever experienced in video games. I suppose it was my own fault for hyping it up for myself, but I loved 2+Brotherhood, Revelations to a slightly lesser extent. I was way into the lore, read the comic books etc. and couldn't wait to see how the series would conclude.

The controls somehow managed to get worse, the gameworld was incredibly boring, nothing in the design felt cohesive, and the story was disjointed and made no sense. In fact, some crucial plot points were only explained if you finished entire side mission quest lines LATE GAME SPOILERS

Spoiler

like the death of Achilles

.

But the real kicker, the thing that really made the game feel so disappointing was the fact all sense of mystery in the present day setting was completely gone. I know all the conspiracy stuff wasn't Shakespeare but it was hugely entertaining. The way it was handled here was completely incompetent. The ending is one of the most mind-bogglingly terrible pieces of storytelling I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing - the fact that it didn't get much attention is probably due to people being more upset about Mass Effect.

If I look at the game objectively as a separate entry it's probably about a 6/10 (there's some good elements like the tree climbing, the twist in the first third of the game was great, playing through historical moments is still thrilling), but subjectively, it feels like a 3/10. Haven't touched an Assassin's Creed game since, and if Unity is anything to go by I won't be doing so for a long time.

Glad to see you could get some enjoyment from it though OP, and make sure you play the DLC, which I enjoyed a lot more than the main game

 

[Catdaddy]

I really enjoyed AC3 especially the setting/gameplay, although I really didn’t like Connor, not so much his story but the voice actor’s delivery is just terrible. For me it’s right up there with the other titles with AC4 now being my favorite. I still need to play Rogue, and finish Unity (Unity may end up being my least favorite, the one setting really makes it drag for me).

 

[JimmyRustler]

I liked ACIII as well and I played it with the horrible framerate on the 360. Planning to rebuy it again soon - this time on PC so I can enjoy it in all the 60 fps magnificence.

 

[Burger_Baron]

Better look up the homestead missions on where and when to do them, cause if you don't do them in the right chapter, it locks some content, including some craft-ables, for the rest of the game.

Had to restart the game in mid-way because of this.

 

[Pankratous]

Brilliant game, loved everything about it. Seems to get absolutely unreasonable hate.

 

[Uklott]

You haven't finished it. That's what broke a lot of hardcore AC fans, me including.

To me that game got worse and worse, i actually really liked the pre-connor Missions.

I hope you can enjoy it OP, but i really hated it.

 

[CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls]

Still don't understand why people hate Unity. It's a really fun game.

Unfortunately, I bought AC III before my PS3 crapped out and never got a chance to play it. Honestly, though, the AC franchise is my favorite. Not because of the lore, but because I've loved how they play ever since AC II. The parkour never feels dull, the humor is usually pretty engaging and, hell, you get to interact with famous personalities throughout history.

 

[Loakum]

One of the most disappointing games I've ever played.

Horrible, hated it.

This. What they did to Desmond Miles/Subject 16 storyline was criminal. Assassin's Creed never fully recovered from AC3. Assassin's Creed Unity was disappointing as well.

 

[Ouroboros]

I day I got AC III was the day my 360 died. Coincidence? I think not...my xbox was trying to tell me something, something I unfortunately didn't listen to.

 

[Soultaker0220]

Worst game in the series, I enjoyed ac1 more because I could not stand Connor. Probably ubisoft fault to for overhyping this game, only ac game I never completed 100%

 

[oni-link]

How does this compare to Rogue?

I've played 1-Rev and then I skipped 3 because of the bad reviews/reception

Jumped back in with 4 and enjoyed it, unsure about trying 3 or Rogue

(I don't have a next gen system yet so haven't played Unity)

 

[rootbeerafloat]

After several aborted attempts to slog through it since release, I actually just finished AC3 last night. What a miserable piece of shit this game is. It's barely a fucking game. There's so much fluff and filler. I did almost everything I could in the first four games, so I knew that was to be expected. But this was on a whole new level. I finally gave up on getting perfect sync or doing any of the side stuff because it was all just so awful and I wanted it to be over. Garbage like following a prisoner and pushing him when he stops isn't gameplay. AT ALL. IT'S FUCKING NOTHING. Sure it only lasts a few minutes but WHY IS IT IN THE GAME AT ALL. Navigating the rocks during that boat sequence was just the fucking worst. All the boat stuff was just terrible. Terrible. Just so terrible.

Connor's actually okay. He's a little bland but it fits. The story was pretty disappointing (even by AC standards) and felt totally rushed towards the end. They really wasted the opportunity they had with the setting. It's a real shame about the way Desmond's story resolves after spending five fuckin' games on it. I own Liberation and Black Flag, but I dunno if I can do this again.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

How does this compare to Rogue?

I've played 1-Rev and then I skipped 3 because of the bad reviews/reception

Jumped back in with 4 and enjoyed it, unsure about trying 3 or Rogue

(I don't have a next gen system yet so haven't played Unity)

Rogue directly references areas and characters from 3. You'll want to play 3 first to get the best out of rogue.

 

[stangend77]

I loved ACIII actually. I thought the characters were fairly interesting, and I understood their motivations, or at least as well as you can in a Ubi game. Almost all of the gameplay systems were fun, and the way they wove it into the historical set pieces was a lot of fun too.

I got the game about a year after release, so maybe I just missed a really buggy start, but I've never understood the vehement hatred on this one.

However, I consider Assassins Creed games to be a guilty pleasure and have enjoyed them all except for Revelations. For some reason that one just burned me out.

 

[UncleSporky]

Connor's ending is awesome.

Spoiler

An extended chase scene between two people who are just incredibly weary of all this fighting, but neither can let go. Culminates in Connor, bleeding out, staggering into a pub to find Lee, also bleeding out, as they quietly share a last drink together, before Connor stabs him to death. No words needed.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Connor's ending is awesome.

Spoiler

An extended chase scene between two people who are just incredibly weary of all this fighting, but neither can let go. Culminates in Connor, bleeding out, staggering into a pub to find Lee, also bleeding out, as they quietly share a last drink together, before Connor stabs him to death. No words needed.

It's pretty much taken from

Spoiler

gangs of new york

though.

 

[oni-link]

Rogue directly references areas and characters from 3. You'll want to play 3 first to get the best out of rogue.

I didn't play 3 and feel like I got the best out of 4, and Rogue interests me mainly because a lot of people say its basically 4-2

 

[Manu]

The game that singlehandedly killed my love for Assassin's Creed. I even loved Brotherhood.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

I felt that it had the best villian in the series and appreciated that it made the templars more human and explained their motivations a little better.

 

[Siegmeyer]

I enjoyed the AC games, until I played III. Got about 5 hours in and then couldn't take it anymore. A big part was probably franchise fatigue, but I was having no fun so dropped it and I haven't played an AC since, and I have zero desire to do so in the future.

 

[Inkvoterad]

Best AC game together with Brotherhood and Black Flag. Currently going through Unity and having loads of fun with it. I also liked connor, but after boring as fuck Ezio i'd love any character.

 

[Stormus]

I've beat every Assassin's Creed aside from this one (save Rogue). As someone who loves the franchise, this game blew chunks. Got about 5 hours in, but what a boring, uninspired game.

 

[lucebuce12]

I've nothing to say regarding the story or characters that hasn't already been said so I'll just say this.

DO THE HOMESTEAD MISSIONS!!!

While they may not give Connor any more personality, they certainly make you appreciate his cause and his relationship with the land and it's people, they make you realize that people are affected by his actions and depend on him. Unlike Ezio or Altair, the brotherhood is never the most important thing in his life and I don't think he ever REALLY buys into the whole thing and that for him, it 's just a means to an end. It's his tribe, and his friends that always take precedence, arguably the opposite of Achilles.

 

[Bo Knows GAF]

I have played every Ass Creed game to date, and as much hate as this series sometimes receives from gaf, I love it. I know it's repetitive at times and the combat is cake but as someone who loves history I love playing through these narratives. I like the characters and think that the idea of using memories to go back into time is a great idea because of the potential it opens up. That being said Assassins Creed III was shit.

 

[Omni]

I'm honestly astonished that someone can refer to Unity as "ugh" and ACIII as "amazing"

Am I dreaming, GAF?

 

[Alavard]

The biggest problem to me was Connor, and I'm not just talking about his personality.

From the very beginning, he clearly views being an Assassin as a means to an end. All he really cares about is revenge and killing his father. So you spend the game having the Assassin moves, but not really being an Assassin. Sadly, by the end of the game, he's actually starting to become more of an Assassin, and care a little bit about the creed, but we don't get to see him finish developing. Look at Ezio - we saw him throughout his entire transformation as a young man with no cares, to being driven by revenge, to becoming a mature and capable Master Assassin.

And then there's Connor's parentage. Despite how major him being half-native would be, it's brought up only a couple of times after he becomes an adult. All kinds of characters in the story treat him as a white man for no reason.

 

[Markitron]

Its got problems, the fast-travel unlocking system is possibly the worst design decision I have ever seen in a game, but it's still far better than the gash that is AC:R and AC:U

 

[UncleSporky]

I felt that it had the best villian in the series and appreciated that it made the templars more human and explained their motivations a little better.

Which villain though, Haytham or Charles Lee? I feel like they kind of share top billing. Haytham is more significant to Connor's story, but Lee was a more traditional AC villain and a magnificent bastard.

 

[Breakfast at Noon]

Got platinum on it, one of the worst experiences i have ever had.

The only part i enjoyed was the story with the miner and the hunter.. everything else was just fucking horrible..

Oh and the sound of the Elks in the forest..

THAT WAS IT!