AC III: My 2012 Letdown

The year was 2012, and my heart was filled with joy. It was coming, at long last. The first true Assassins Creed since Ezio's first outing several years previously. We'd had Brotherhood and Revelations, but those had only made me tire of the Italian prince. Sure, he was charismatic and tough as nails. But I hungered for a new time period, a new hero. And I saw it in the half British, half Native American that was Connor Kenway.

This game had been in development for three years. I remembered the quality, and quantity, within AC II and my mind boggled at what Ubisoft could do with that much time. They built a new engine for it, NextAnvil and it seemed to be the future of the industry. So much excitement, so much love. And so. Much. Hype. Looking back, I really should have seen the warning signs: It had Skyrim Syndrome. Now, I want you to understand something. I like Skyrim, as I like AC III. But both were blown far out of proportion, slated as era-defining when, in fact, they were simply another pair of games.

So, how did it all fall apart? The simple answer is complexity. It forgot what it was, at its very core: A stealth game. The first game had it in spades, although it suffered from a water-soluble assassin and repetitive quests. Assassins Creed II hit the nail on the head, with a fine balance between in-game content and fresh missions. The two spin-offs, for that it how I see them, bundled in a bunch of extra stuff that the series could have done without. Turret Defense? I'm good, but thanks for asking.

I was promised an internal struggle, a personal drama that we had not seen before. A man, born of a Templar, who wants to do the right thing. He was supposed to follow justice, regardless of what side it befitted  What we got instead was a copy-pasted assassin who was as dull and cold. Minus the death of his mother, he shows little or no emotion throughout the game. When his father, Haythem, appears, Connor just kind of shrugs his shoulders. No real resolution, nothing. Altair had a better story, and he hardly spoke.

Currency is something that serves no purpose in the game. You can't buy banks, you can't use it to upgrade your homestead. What you can do is craft things, which you then sell. So you spend money to make money, which you then spend on crafting. It's a vicious circle. It can be used to buy other weapons and upgrade your boat, I admit. But I completed the game without doing either. Money was simply unnecessary. I miss buying new armour for Ezio. Bring that back please, Ubisoft.

Finally, the bugs. Oh good Lord above, the bugs! I understand that it was a new engine, although they used a lot of the same code from their Anvil engine. But seriously, play-testing it thoroughly may have helped. You had three years! We deserved better than glitching guards and floating horses. I shot a redcoat out of existence, and I don't mean I killed him. I mean the arrow hit him, and the simply vanished. Also, when trying to draw my sword, it stuck in front of a guard. It looked like Connor was really fond of that particular fellow.

All in all, this is my most disappointing game of 2012 for one, strong reason. It had such potential, and it knew it. It made promise after promise and had us fanboys on the edge of our seats, before slapping us and chuckling 'better luck next time!'. It stung, and we won't forget it. Don't let us down again, please. I don't want Blag Flag sitting here this time next year, and neither do you.