First things first... I love Assassin's Creed 3, I really do.  I'd almost go as far as to say it's one of my favourite games in the Assassin's Creed series.  While it may seem unusual to put the conclusion in the opening paragraph of a review, I wanted to make sure the message was clear... because I'm going to be pointing out quite a few issues I have with the game.

This game marks quite a departure for the series; gone are the sandy enviroments, the plentiful rooftops and (probably) the best protagonist, Ezio Auditore da Firenze.  Instead with have beautiful forests, busy towns and the rather moody (and almost constantly confused) Connor.

As with the previous titles you will learn about the war between the Templars and the Assassin's and how you play a role in that battle as Desmond (probably one of the most annoying characters I've ever had to play) and his ancestors.  Fortunately you don't play as Desmond very often (review spoiler: I'll be ranting more about him later) but if you are unfamiliar with the Assassin's Creed series you may be a little confused by the bigger picture to begin with but don't worry, it soon starts to make a bit more sense.

Please be warned... the rest of the review is likely to contain some mild spoilers.  I won't reveal anything major but it's difficult to talk about some aspects of the game without giving a little away (most of which I'd imagine you'll have seen in trailers and other reviews).

Desmond, in the present day, is attempting to save the world using a device known as the Animus which, essentially, allows him to re-live the memories of his ancestors. For Assassin's Creed 3 you will spend most of your time as Desmond's ancestor, Connor in 18th Century America, around the time of the American revolution. Ratonhnhaké:ton (Connor's native American name) is rudely introduced into the world of Assasins and Templars when his village is attacked leading him to a small settlement where he establishes a base of operations from which he can attempt to stop the Templars and (hopefully) save the day,

As you can imagine, nothing is ever quite that straight forward and you will spend a number of years building up Connor's abilities, contacts and arsenal by completing numerous missions.  As with some of the previous titles, part of upgrading your character will come from establishing a decent economy.  Unlike the previous games where you would simply invest in stores and money would magically appear in your bank on a regular basis, Assassin's Creed 3 adopts a more labour intensive system.  Complete missions to recruit craftsmen to your settlement who then provide raw materials that can be used for crafting, or sold.  It works rather well and prevents you from getting too powerful early in the game.  Selling from the settlement also carries with it the potential for extra missions.  Goods do not simply vanish from your stockpile to appear at a nearby shop... they are transported in a convoy and each trip has a chance of being attacked based on the number of stops they might be making and how much of the terratory has been liberated from the British (by taking over their forts).  If a convoy is attacked, you get an opportunity to rescue them (if you can get there in time).  It's a great idea and adds a little more life to what is essentially a management exercise.  That said, by the end of the game it would have been nice to establish some form of automation (employ someone to manage it for you) as it does intupt the flow a little.

You also get to recruit a number of people into your group, although far fewer than previous games.  A similar mission structure to the previous games is in place, however, that allows you to send them off to gain XP, resources and cash. When they are not on missions, they can be called in to perform a few different tasks for you, from straight out assassinations through to distracting guards.  It works well, easily replacing the hirelings from the previous game.

In fact, the game as a whole appears to have been improved in every sense.  The enviroments are more stunning and filled with life, including animals that can be hunted; there are fewer camera-related issues; better animations; an incredible number of combat moves and set pieces and the naval sections are truly amazing.  Other than the rather miserable Connor, it's difficult to see how a fan of the Assassin's Creed games could not put this at the top of their list...

Unless, of course, this is the most bug ridden game in the series.

I'm not sure what happened to the QA team since the last game, but they were definitely not on form with this one (or, perhaps, not given the time they needed).  From small graphical glitches like NPCs floating above chairs through to a number of real game-breaking stuff.  Sadly I have a number of examples... icons disappearing from the map making finding some objectives extremely difficult to find; subtitles randomly disappearing; NPCs getting stuck on scenery preventing you from interacting with them (resulting in the need to restart a couple of missions); QTE keys sometimes being unresponsive (again, resulting in the need to restart a couple of missions).  Add to this the occassional camera issues typically associated with the Assassin's Creed series and it really starts to taint your enjoyment of the game.

Then, of course, there are the Desmond missions.  I still struggle to see how anyone in the development team played those sections and thought they were enjoyable.  The missions are dull, Desmond is infinitely annoying and, without the HUD, you spend a lot of time wondering what to do next.  They are pointless, immersion-breaking and add almost nothing to the game.

Multiplayer, as with the previous games, is full of fun potential... sadly ruined by idiots (more often than not) that are more interested in finding 'quick' ways to boost their score rather than actually an enjoyable session.

Despite this, when the game is working well and you're leaping from tree to tree, tracking an unaware enemy, waiting for the right moment to drop down and show them the business end of your tomahawk, the game is quite stunning. It must be as I've spent well over 70 hours in the single player alone! If only they had spent a bit more time on the bug fixing...

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~ Naiboss