Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Ambitious"

Assassins Creed 3- The Good, The Bad &, The Ugly

Assassins Creed 3 is a mixed bag. The thing I will say first is that while its not perfect, it is the best game in the series and if you're wondering if its worth picking up after seeing Gamestop's or IGN's Score of 8.5, the answer is you would be missing something great if you didn't. However it does have its good points and bad points which hold it back from its true potential and while I do believe that 8.5 is a fair way to guage the overall product compared to other games that have been released over the past few years, Its not a fair score to put on the great experience AC3 offers which is not only the best in the series hands down,but also some of the best in gaming this console generation PERIOD easily earning a 9 from myself a diehard gamer and AC fan. But let me put the good and bad in perspective.

The Bad part about AC3 is that its Story is muddled and confusing and downright glitchy with choppy sound quality, Graphics that not only pop-in and out during gameplay at times but also during many cutscenes, a horrible plot, Especially Desmond's, and overall the storyline is a muddled mess. Its not only the least interesting of the series, but its also the least polished when it comes to the storyline. Its the plot in this game that truly makes you wish that the Desmond storyline was non-existant in the series. It basically renders it completely pointless. Its like they didn't even put any thought into desmonds story, but just put it in there because, hey we already started it and now we have to put it in. and with all the glitches you wish they had put more time into the part you actually wanted to play and just left desmond out. Even the character models of Desmond and his team looks like crap. They really didn't give a darn and you can tell. Conner's Story is pretty good and seeing the revolution from his perspective is great but its not as interesting as Ezio's sadly. Again it seems rushed and difficult to follow making you again wish desmond was cut out so they could have thought the real plot through.

The GOOD thing is that the best part of the game isn't the storyline but rather the game world itself for once. It sucks you in and offers much more to do than previous Assassin's Creed installments. Usually I enjoy the main story of AC games and then get rather bored with the game world after a while because there isn't much to do like there is in games like Grand Theft Auto for instance. AC3's game world is packed with content and things to do and takes elements from The Witcher 2 with Games to play and Fist Fighting missions, Red Dead with its hunting and random encounters with citizens, And a world as dense as GTA's. Hunting and navigating in the forest is the best aspect of the game and is far more satisfying than Red Dead Redemptions. When it comes to gameplay and actually exploring the world, Assassin's Creed 3 Truly shines and you can get fully immersed in the forest for hours. I would give that aspect of the game a perfect 10. Running through the trees is just great and once you get the hang of it its much more varied then climbing buildings in previous AC games. It makes you think about how to transverse rather then just holding right trigger and pushing forward . The combat is also outstanding and much, much more fast paced and brutal than it have ever been. The enemies travel in larger groups of 8 instead of the 4 we have become accustomed to in previous AC's and more guards always seem to join the fray offering many more enemies you have to defeat to escape. It's intense and seems like they have doubled or even tripled the fighting animations cause you rarely see the same kill even while using the same weapon all the time. And even though its more streamline, its actually a bit more challenging than other AC's. This game has so many great things to offer that it could have been a 10/10 if not for the glitches which are far too many and too often.

At its best AC3 is packed with content, Much more satisfying to play, The combat and exploring the world is excellent, Its brutally satisfy and an epic experience. The bugs, some of which I'm sure will be fixed with patches, keep it from being truly great and can downright frustrate the experience. But despite its flaws, the scope and finess of the game still shows greaty even though the plot is muddled. If you're buying the game just for the story and are heavily invested in Desmond and his storyline then you will surely be dissappointed at the lack luster quality. But if you like actually Playing assassins creed then this is by far the best in the series and actually gives you things to do in the open world, so overall this game is more worth your buck then previous AC games which were mostly good for the story missions. The dense world of AC3 will keep you entertained for weeks. 9/10