Assassin’s Creed is back, and it’s bigger than ever, says reviewer John Walshe.
Assassin’s Creed is back, and it’s bigger than ever. The action may have moved from medieval Italy to revolution-era America, but the gameplay, tone and all-round addictiveness that made previous games in the series so popular (there have actually been four AC titles, including Brotherhood and Revelations), are all present and correct, along with some new elements to freshen it up for long-term fans.
Casual gamers be warned, though: this game is absolutely enormous. Described by Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot as the company’s “biggest launch ever and the most ambitious game in our history”, in order to complete it you will have to devote weeks of your life, possibly forsaking pets, work and significant others (not necessarily in that order).
It also starts extremely slowly, building layers of back-story and setting the tone, to the point where hours of actual gameplay pass by before we even meet the real hero of AC III, but more on that later.
Like previous games, the story switches from our hero, Desmond Miles, in the present day, and his ancestors from the ancient guild of the title. The action begins on Halloween 2012, as Desmond is about to open the mysterious treasure horde of the Precursor race. You think you’re in line for a massive plot reveal when a mysterious voice asks for a key, and suddenly it’s a case of once more into the breach, as our hero is back in the Animus, the machine that allows him to reconnect with his ancestors.
And so we’re transported back to 18th century London, for a murderous performance at the Theatre Royal. The ever-so snooty nobleman Haytham Kenway locates the key that Desmond is looking for and promptly finds himself crossing the Atlantic on the good ship Providence, complete with sea shanties, threats of mutiny and a penny-pinching captain called Samuel Smythe. Before long, Kenway’s embroiled in a chase on the high seas, duelling with able seamen and rescuing shipmates from storm-lashed rigging, until at last he weighs anchor in the port of Boston, like the rest of America, under the yoke of the British redcoats.
We then spend hours in Kenway’s company, as he puts together a not so merry band of adventurers, taking on the soldiery, freeing native American slaves and battling through the wolf-ridden wilderness. Eventually, however, our real hero emerges (plot spoiler alert): Kenway’s son, the result of a romantic liaison with a Mohawk warrior Ziio, Connor (real name Ratonhhake:ton) is the young assassin-in-waiting who combines the grace of Altair and the charisma of Ezio, our two previous assassins, with a skill-set that’s all his own (including leaping through trees and hunting wild animals).
As the game takes its meandering but hugely immersive course, we see famous figures like Benjamin Franklin take part in real-life events like the Boston Tea Party, while the historically accurate game even gives patient players the opportunity to improve their knowledge about things like the origins of the Beggar’s Opera, should they have the inclination. Of course, you also get to send a host of enemies to the great big guild-house in the sky, and the addition of sea battles gives the game a whole new dimension, which adds immeasurably to the fun.
In short, AC 3 looks great, sounds fantastic and plays like a David Lean epic: long but worth staying the course.
Platform: PS3, X360
Publisher: Ubisoft
Age Rating: 18
Score: 4/5
John Walshe
