Main Story Review

With the end of Ezio’s and Altair’s respective journeys and the knowledge they could provide Desmond in modern-day 2012, we would find ourselves walking in the footsteps of a new Assassin hero. A new warrior for a brand new era and the next generation of Assassin’s Creed that would forever change the landscape we were first introduced to in 2007, Assassin’s Creed 3 would challenge our formed ideas of the series, specifically regarding the central plot of the Assassin-Templar war.

As we rejoin Desmond Miles in Modern Day 2012, with his fellow teammates, Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane, we are also joined by his father, Assassin leader William Miles, who has acted as an unseen shadow for the team in the previous games. Since Assassin’s Creed 2, the approach of an impending disaster has weighed heavily on the shoulders of our team for quite some time now, with it being a driving force for their actions. Gathering information about a way to stop the disaster from past Assassins and the mysterious precursors, Desmond finally finds himself at the Grand Temple, the last hope for the planet.

Unfortunately, to access the deeper workings of the temple, Desmond must once again venture into the Animus to a new period in time and a new ancestor. Taking the central stage is Connor Kenway, a half-British, half-Native-American Assassin who would go on to play a pivotal role in arguably the most important moment in history. Connor is different compared to earlier characters like Altair and Ezio. Where Ezio was more of a humorous character and Altair more of a stoic man, they both found purpose and meaning in the Assassins. For Connor, his commitment to the Assassins is built out of necessity although that doesn’t mean he’s any less committed to fighting the Templars or any less dangerous.

On the subject of Templars, Assassin’s Creed 3 provides us with an incredible look into the inner working of the series' villains that honestly begins to make us think they have their merits. In past Assassin’s Creed games the Templars were just generally cruel and power-hungry people and in the Modern Day that is represented even further but Connor’s journey allows us to interact with Templars of a different kind, like the charismatic and deadly Haytham Kenway, Connor’s Templar father. Introduced to the likeable and admirable man, Haytham brings up many excellent points about the need for the Templars and the need for Order over Freedom.

Challenging the ideas of who are the real heroes of the series and which side is right or wrong is something that Assassin’s Creed 3 does incredibly well as both Connor and Haytham represent the best qualities of both their respective orders while making the player carefully consider what they say. Adding new layers to the Assassin-Templar conflict was a smart and effective move as it helps to keep the conflict fresh with new ideas before it becomes too stale.

As we progress through the Colonies during the American Revolution, we meet many well-known faces of the time like George Washington, Paul Revere and Sam Adams who each leave their mark on Connor, for better or worse. George’s hope in the revolution is infectious and keeps Connor committed on his journey to fighting the Templar’s and Adams, while a good ally, is also a hypocrite in many of his beliefs and both characters are often used to justify Haytham’s argument on the futility of Freedom.

While Assassin’s Creed has always had side narratives, they’ve never really been important to the overall narrative except for padding out elements of the main narrative and while Assassin’s Creed 3 does the same, its narrative aspects relate more to the overall theme of freedom and independence that is shown throughout Assassin’s Creed 3’s story. The beautiful Homestead region where Connor calls home, harbours many secrets and opportunities to get to know Connor on a personal level and acts as a perfect personification of the American Dream, the opportunity of prosperity for all with hard work and determination.

In 2012, Desmond contends with his own personal journey as he continues to find a way to stop the disaster foretold by the precursors while hiding from the Templars who are still after him. Desmond’s time with the Assassins has changed him irrevocably, the once humorous and relatively carefree young man has been forged into a skilled and careful individual. With his time in the Animus, Desmond has learned many things about being an Assassin in both skill and belief and embodies many of the Brotherhood’s finer qualities, if a little unrefined.

While team members Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane are a welcome return and bring their natural flair and attitude, the addition of William Miles, Desmond’s father and Assassin leader, shakes up the dynamic the team has. Where Shaun and Rebecca understand Desmond more about him in terms of experience, potential and limitations, William is tougher on Desmond, with his mind on activating the Temple and hoping for a way to defeat the Templars. Though his harsh criticisms and single-mindedness can often hurt the character, it’s needed as we see a side of Desmond that we’ve never seen before which helps to show how far Desmond has come since the first Assassin’s Creed as he undertakes missions in the Modern Day.

The Verdict

Assassin’s Creed 3 opens up the next chapter of the Assassin’s Creed series with an action-packed and foundation-breaking adventure that puts the Assassin and Templar conflict in a new light while also staying true to what the main conflict is about. The backdrop of the American Revolution provides us with the series' best open world with an authentic and bustling world that holds many dangers and is full of opportunity. The side narratives offered a lot this time around as they offered excellent character-building and significance to the overall themes of the story. Connor is a great character but falls victim to the shadow of past heroes for the series, despite this he brings hope for the series that a new hero can take up the mantle and lead the series. Assassin’s Creed 3 also brings a fantastic and unpredictable end to Desmond’s story as it reminds us why we have grown to care for and like this troubled but good-hearted character. Assassin’s Creed 3 shows why the series is considered Ubisoft’s flagship series and while the narrative may not be original many of the ideas and messages presented are very relevant to the series' identity.

Characters - With a brand new era to explore, we say goodbye to some of our beloved characters and get introduced to some new ones. Connor Kenway serves as an excellent Assassin hero, even if he doesn’t carry the charisma that past heroes have and this time around the Templar’s are given so much extra depth in the form of Connor’s father, Haytham that he blurs the line on if the Assassin’s are right or not. The historical characters met throughout the game are nicely written but the true gems are the side characters and Assassin recruits who are improved upon by having their own distinct personalities hat they are used frequently to enhance the strong narrative themes. The modern day continues to show why it’s valued led by strong performances and excellent characterisation - 9/10
Main Narrative - The main narrative of Assassin’s Creed follows the simple formula that has been established in past Assassin’s Creed games and while it still works, it doesn’t take full advantage of it’s fresh setting and new hero to try and take any risks in how the story is told. While the ideas that are shown throughout the story help to shake the foundations on some of the main aspects of the series story, it is sometimes overshadowed by the game’s predictable storytelling. Nonetheless Assassin’s Creed 3 offers a fun and exciting campaign that is exciting to play thanks to it’s scale and set pieces - 8.5/10
Side Narratives - Improving upon the initial side quest structure offered in past games helps to give Assassin’s Creed 3 a better standing when it comes to side quests. In the past where side quests were either limited or incredibly hollow, Assassin’s Creed 3 uses them to expand on the character building and expand on the themes presented in the main narrative. While there are still some missions that keep to the original formula they are no less fun even if they don’t bring anything new - 8.5/10
World Building - Using the backdrop of the American Revolution to further flesh out the Assassin-Templar conflict helps to understand more about the deeper motives and thought of both factions and Assassin’s Creed 3 marks the first time we are able to play as a Templar and surprisingly their reasoning and motives aren’t as bad as we’ve initially thought, despite their methods being morally questionable, much like the Assassin’s. Focusing on other eras in the future will allow Ubisoft to focus on building on the conflict even further and with the conclusion of the Precursor doomsday over, a new threat looms for the Modern Day Assassin’s - 9/10
Environment & Collectibles - The incredibly fun playground of Boston, New York and the Frontier provide plenty of rich historical info on the era and provide the players with an expanded world that the players can change in their own way. As the side narratives of the game take precedence, you can see the impact of the world around you and even how it impacts he people. Expanding on variety but maybe not overall quality, the collectibles are a lot more varied this time around although their narrative significance doesn’t seem to impact the players - 7/10

I give this game 8/10 Temple Power Source’s

DLC Story Review

“History is our Playground”. That is a quote taken from the Assassin’s Creed devs who always tell their fans that history is their playground and they have proven effective at writing exciting and engaging stories based around some of the most significant and vivid periods in history from the Italian Renaissance to the American Revolution. What we never anticipated was the adventure that we would be getting through the lens of Assassin’s Creed 3. Since the release of Assassin’s Creed 2, Ubisoft has made a commendable effort to make sure any of their post-launch DLC had an intriguing and valuable story that deeply impacted the lore of the Assassin’s Creed series since the discovery of the Grand Temple location in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood to the discovery of Lucy’s true allegiance to the Templars in Assassin’s Creed Revelations.

Taking place in an alternative history, we join Connor or Ratonhnhaké:ton as he seeks to survive in a new world and understand how he came to be here. The mystery and intrigue surrounding Ratonhnhaké:ton’s predicament is shrouded with political agendas and occurrences that would otherwise seem out of place but when you dealing with a George Washington, mad with power, empowered by an exceptionally powerful Apple of Eden, anything can make sense.

Sent on a journey across an America that has been subjugated, from the occupied Frontier lands to the now Capitol city of New York. While these locations are always fun to explore, there’s nothing actually new about them, save for New York which has a massive pyramid as the palace that can be easily seen from a distance, showing just how high a pedestal Washington has placed himself on. The Collectibles offered in this adventure are Narratively strong as they play on the player's nostalgia but having only one type of collectible feels like an uninspired choice which is odd considering how much more imagination was put into the DLC’s more creative elements.

This version of Washington is different to the one Connor has met before, having been consumed by his sense of power and invulnerability and that makes him all the more dangerous so it’s up to Ratonhnhaké:ton to take him down. Throughout the 3 episode chapter which easily can take 5-7 hours, we find Ratonhnhaké:ton struggling to gain ground in this new war he’s found himself in, he must find ways to combat this new power and this comes in the form of the Sky World Journeys. A meditative drug that enhances Ratonhnhaké:ton by imbuing him with unique animal gifts that are honestly the greatest fun to be had in the series, with each impacting the 3 main pillars of Assassin’s Creed: Stealth, Navigation and Combat. Narratively it’s a strange addition to the Assassin’s Creed lore but it does set the groundwork to see what kind of things Ubisoft may do to mix up the already expansive lore of Assassin’s Creed 3.

Among some of its imaginative design choices, The Tyranny of King Washington brings about another interesting narrative, The Narrative of Kings and Power. The whole point of the American Revolution was to be rid of the British King and his laws but as the law of the land, when a power vacuum is present so many strive to fill it, and in this case, Washington is the one. Fulfilling the role of King is an interesting choice as it’s something that helps to build on the character when we last left him in the main story and it also expands more on what the Precursor objects are really capable of.

The Verdict

Assassin’s Creed 3: The Tyranny of King Washington is a dynamic and imaginative DLC that while it may not break any new ground for the series, it is still a brilliant chapter in the Assassin’s Creed series and for Connor’s story. While there are a lot of excellent ideas here and it’s clear that Ubisoft have begun testing the waters for more dynamic adventures and lore, they will have to work on their mission and narrative structures in the future. The environments that were so fun to explore in the last game are more annoying in this entry as they don’t hold the same secrets as the last game and don’t offer much in terms of changes save for a few adjustments. The collectibles the DLC have to offer are not varied but the narrative values they offer bring a much-needed backstory of why these events are happening. While it continues to show why the DLC stories are so interesting, it doesn’t do a lot to diversify the mission structures which is really what holds the DLC back most of the time.

Characters - While there is not much more development done for the hero of Assassin’s Creed 3, we are instead given a lens on George Washington’s personality and beliefs as he is elevated to King of the United States and just how much power corrupts. The characters introduced throughout the story are all familiar and it’s good to see them but because their agency on the story is so shallow, it feels like they were shoehorned in just for the sake of it and so they could show the effects of what Connor’s absence had done to these people but because their presence is so minuscule it’s not very effective - 6/10
Story - Despite the game’s episodic release structure, there are not any variations to how the plots for each episode go as Connor must find his feet in a new environment, find his target, get strong enough to fight them and then move on. The interesting premise of Kings and their place in a country is an interesting one even though it’s not deeply explored to an eye opening extent - 6/10
World Building - The exciting lore made possible with the Apple of Eden is an interesting hallmark of the DLC as it shows just what kind of ideas could be used in the future, regardless of their accuracy as the Apple has shown it can make virtually anything possible and it’s exciting to know what kind of ideas Ubisoft will create next - 8/10
Collectibles & Environment - While the environments are always fun to explore, there is not much done to them to make them feel new with only a few additions being made to show Washington’s reach and more often then not they can fall flat. With only one type of collectible in the game, the responsibility is great to make sure it tells a relevant Narrative and while it does help fill in some of the blanks of the story, it feels like something that could have been told in the main story instead - 7/10