Time flies on Monday Update, where I talk about myself and how important I am…or not, who knows.
Assassin’s Creed III – Is it any surprise that Ubisoft fixed some things and not other? I think not. Still, there’s a LOT of things they fixed, and only a few things they didn’t.
Free-running has become a one button affair, which simplifies things somewhat – it’s nice to know that Connor won’t jump off a precarious ledge just because I pointed him in a specific direction (of course, if you want the old style back, feel free to press the jump button at the same time as you run). Still, if Connor can jump to a ledge…that’s where problems arise. Say, for example, you’re trying to make a leap off a roof onto another building – unfortunately, there’s also a tree in the way. Where will Connor jump? Why, the nearest location, of course! It’s nice that he won’t die, but it’s equally annoying that he won’t go where I command. This also rears its head any time you run on foot. Remember that Ezio could do a “slow run” that wouldn’t make him climb? Connor lacks this ability, so don’t run near climable surfaces (like that’ll happen).
Even with these flaws, the assassin has gained mobility and speed. The new forest areas really show off the capabilities of Connor (who is of Iraquois descent), who runs through the trees like any other assassin has run accross buildings. I run around the wilderness, honestly, just to mess around with all the little predetermined paths the developers provide.
This leads, furthermore, to ACIII’s biggest strength – distraction. That sounds like a bad thing (and Jose Otero of 1UP seems to think this indicates a lack of focus), but it’s actually quite excellent. Like any good open-world game, there’s too many side-missions – but all of them are interesting, here, and contribute to some goal. Whether trade, or the assassin’s guild, or town liberation, or new recipes for crafting, or good ol’ fashioned money, every task has its own little reward. Furthermore, why would I want a linear narrative in the context of a living, breathing Revolutionary War America? Who doesn’t want to explore? Like the best of JRPGs, the world is content to wait for you to save it while you frolic about, jumping, climbing, and stabbing away at anything you wish.
About that stabbing – the combat’s taken a turn for the better. No longer must you lock onto enemies before they get a few free shots. What we have here is a smarter, much more graceful and meaningful variation of Arkham City’s combat system with counters galore. Enemy types vary, and a counter + kill shot will be easily parried and break your combo streak. This forces you to come up with new strategies – guns aren’t entirely accurate in this period (unlike Ezio’s magical wrist pistol), so even those don’t give you an instant kill. Rope darts, however, can knock enemies down or hang them (as in the gallow), so you’ll be using these frequently. Not that you’ll get a clean shot at a downed enemy; you’ll still have to deal with other guys at the same time. Sure, they still wait around looking for an opportunity to attack, but they’re much more likely to kill you if you make mistakes (especially if you don’t use one as a human shield against line firing squads). I like that! Concequences! Heck, I even assault patrols intentionally to do more combat – tomahawks NEVER get old. Maybe I just place myself in nearly impossible situations, though.
Still, there’s stuff that bothers me. The new resource system is, to be frank, confusing. Apparently you’re supposed to gather materials and craft new items in order to trade and manage trade routes, risks, tasks, and all that sort of thing. Thanks for placing real-life economics into my historical fiction. It’s all still menu based, as before, yet I don’t quite get how it’s supposed to work. If anything, if you developed the villa in ACII at all, this is a more advanced, yet similar model. I like the “homestead” quests, as it gives more incentives to do more sidequests (more materials = profit). No more hunting around towns to buy shops like Brotherhood and Revelations; thank God for that change.
The Assassin’s Guild, for whatever reason, has not gotten the same benefit. Since there’s substantially less population and less locations in the game overall (though, of course, they’re quite huge and all), the number of assassins to recruit has gone down. As usual, it’s the same exact deal: recruit, assign, get experience, etc. Each recruit, though, can do different tasks better than others, and even provide different skilled when called out on the field. One is a marksman, for example, and he can cover your approach during assassination attempts. Another can incite townspeople to rebel; rioting can prove an effective distraction.
Solider detection, however, remains rather inconsistent. I’ve found that, throughout my playthrough, they sometimes work perfectly, and sometimes they do not. When they spot you, they’ll approach your location AND look for you where they saw you last. As well, they can see you from FAR away, so stealth missions actually have some tension to them (you’ll know whether the game wants you to use stealth based on whether you get mobbed by a small army after detection). Other times, however, you can plug a guard with an arrow to the chest, his partner will look nonchalantly at his cold, dead star, and return to his post. I’d call it hilariously jarring. The occassional glitch really breaks the immersion, but they’re hilarious – flopping corpses, the famous “atomic kick” (seriously, you can launch guys incredibly far), clipping, and animation hitches occur in much greater frequency than previous entries. The framerate, even on the PS3, jumps all over the place from 60 FPS to below 30, although it’s never unplayable. You’ll notice it. though!
Even so, I find ACIII wants to be a game this time around, and not just a load of busy-work – I can forgive these minor discrepancies based on the quality of everything else – it’s technically ambitious, to be sure, and I imagine it accounts for much of the above problems. Every aspect has had a great deal of care put into it, even the parts I dislike. Even the portrayal of American Indians, contrary to most media, has given them an honest and fair shake – so goes with the colonists, who aren’t the white knights you’d imagine. SImply put – it’s pretty darn good, and a substantial improvement.
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Monday Update’s turning into “Video Games Without Theology”, apparently. Conclusion of the God of War articles this week for sure, as well as a variety of other things not related to Assassin’s Creed…for now.
