Great game with a few flaws thrown in.
To say Assassin's Creed 3 is a bad or underdeveloped game would be absolute rubbish, so I'll start by saying i was both impressed and disappointed by Ubisoft's latest installment of the series.
Technically:
the game runs smooth as silk for the most part. Though through your personal play through of the game, you will likely encounter a couple if not several bugs that are distracting enough to make you raise an eyebrow, or possibly cause blood vessels to rupture in your face. Horses having seizures and halting in place, jumping and falling into an endless abyss, AI characters getting stuck on things, and protagonist Connor failing to execute a command are but a few of these apparent kinks in the chain.
Something that bothered me personally(spoiler warning):
The introduction to the game was TREMENDOUSLY long. I spent almost four hours playing as another character, hunting, talking, and even playing hide and seek before i was finally able to put on the assassin's robes and start kicking ass. This, in my personal opinion, puts a huge dent in the likelihood of me giving this game an additional play through, And is honestly a bit boring.
Multiplayer:
Aesthetically speaking, the multiplayer experience is sexy! Well designed menu systems and tutorials are a treat to behold. Servers connect efficiently with very little lag whilst in game. Players are awarded both experience and Abstergo points that function as a form of currency to obtain new icons, outfits, abilities and even weapons. Pretty freakin sweet.
Unfortunately The actual game play itself leaves something to be desired. Don't get me wrong, hiding in a pile of leaves and plunging your weapon into your unsuspecting target as they waltz by is wonderfully satisfying. However, with the scale and potential this game possesses, i was hoping for more than just a handful of players walking around extinguishing each others lives with a single button press for 15 minutes.
Story(SPOILER ALERT):
To be honest, i was very unsatisfied with the ending of this game. When the credits starting rolling, i felt like Ubisoft's lead designers were going to leap out of the screen and punch me in the groin. Four games leading up to this point in the story and one would expect an epic conclusion. A show stopping climax that would leave us with our jaws dropped and our hearts touched (a bit dramatic, i know).
Instead, we're left with a short cut scene, an uninspired, non-player controlled choice, and the anti-climatic, incredibly abrupt death of Desmond. Your personal opinion may vary from my own, but in my eyes, this conclusion downright sucked. It almost seemed as though Ubisoft wrote it in to hasten the ending to Desmond's story as quickly and effortlessly as possible.
Yay:
-mostly Solid game play
-well constructed multiplayer
-Intriguing and captivating time period
-Nice to look at
Nay:
-Several bugs that need squashing
-less than desirable multiplayer game types
-Bogus ending to an otherwise great series