Assassin’s Creed III is like a fine wine. It’s not the kind of majestic wine that’s only meant for aficionados though. No, this wine is for everyone including beer and liquor drinkers alike. Hell, it’s even suitable for water drinkers.

The point I’m trying to make is that it tastes so damn good when you swallow it, that you just want more. You want to consume all of it. You want to live in it.

Assassin’s Creed III not without its flaws, of course. You see knicks, scars, and chipped glass on the surface of this bottle, but none of that matters because you’re able to look past it, simply because of what it is and what it has to offer. What Assassin’s Creed III has to offer, is a hell of a lot, especially compared to the previous titles in the series.

Assassin’s Creed III

By now, you should pretty well know that the third title, ACIII takes place during the American Revolution. After all, Ubisoft aired the commercials for the game, hundreds upon hundreds of times, for months before the release date, if only to serve as a constant reminder to long-time fans that it was coming soon. If you had never heard of the Assassin’s Creed franchise before the ad started airing, surely you know about it now. I mean, come on, my mother saw the commercials told me that it looked “cool”.

A majority of the game has you playing as a rather unconventional Native American assassin named Connor. When you first start playing, and initially observe Connor’s humble origins, it’s hard to believe that a child could turn into such a powerful symbol of death. But mature he does, and he obviously does it well.

Connor isn’t the only character you’ll take control of, as the first few sequences have you playing the role of someone else – someone supremely crucial to the story I assure you this. There’s no forgetting Desmond either, the future born assassin of sorts that’s the individual root of all this fuss. It is Desmond’s memories that you’re accessing through a machine called the animus.

Hopefully you know that dance by now. There were only four other games before this one.

I’m not going to write a lengthy review like I usually do, there’s actually no need. The Assassin’s Creed series has been around long enough that everyone should have some vague idea of what they offer.

The biggest change in this installment is the free running system, which has been honed to near perfection. Gone are the days where you need to manage your assassin like a puppet (fans of the very first title will know what I’m talking about). Now, you just hold the appropriate free movement controls and you can leap, bound, and climb your way through the early frontier.

When you’re in the cities of Boston, and New York, there are plenty of buildings to ascend and traverse. The cities work just like previous games in the series; you can travel directly across rooftops. The game immensely changes pace in the frontier, or the wilderness. You must learn to use nature to your advantage, by climbing trees, rocks, and scaling cliff faces.

Luckily, in Assassin’s Creed III you can fast travel anywhere you’ve already visited just by using the world map. This makes travel so much faster at times and is a tremendous convenience that I terribly missed in previous games.

A plethora of new missions take center stage in ACIII, more specifically the naval missions which are quite breathtaking. You take control of a private boat and engage in deep sea battles, by firing cannons, steering the ship and docking other vessels- and it plays just as amazingly as it sounds.

There are other side missions also like the Liberation missions, collectible location quests, and group quests. You can join various clubs for additional challenges too, for example, there is a hunting club and a frontiersman club.

Later in the game, Connor takes ownership over a homestead that is located deep within the wilderness. You can then take on missions to improve the overall property and nearby area. Before you know it, there are local inns, farms, miners, butchers and shops all within the vicinity of Connor’s backyard.

Customizing the homestead is just another way to play ACIII. It’s remarkably free and open, you can tell Ubisoft made that a priority this time around.

The first few hours of the game are almost entirely linear, which can end up being a bit excruciating when you just want to get to the meat of the story. When the real action hits though, oh boy does it strike. You’ll be in for a nice surprise.

There’s plenty to do in Assassin’s Creed III, and I’m not even going to bother covering all of it. Just take my word for it that there’s no shortage of content, or things to do in the game.

Assassin’s Creed III – Desmond’s Story Conclusion

Ubisoft made it clear that this would be the final title in Desmond’s story arc. I’m extremely sorry to see him go, and despite what others may think he clearly had a leading role in the story. He tied all of the games together at least in some generalized way.

Many players complained about the future sequences of the AC games and asked for only the historic portions. I loved the future portions of the games. Personally I felt like they gave me something to work toward, instead of just blindly playing through the missions. My ultimate goal was to see how the story wrapped up, or at least concluded for that particular game.

The ending of Assassin’s Creed III is a complete and utter mess. Considering Ubisoft is dropping the staple of the franchise (Desmond, duh), they could have at least stoked the fire one last time. I was hoping they would go out with a bang. Instead, the ending of ACIII is more like a pathetic fizzle. After we spent five complete games together, this is how you close it? Really? It makes you feel like a jealous lover after the 20 date rule has run its course. Broken, battered and confused about what the hell you’re holding in your hands. It’s not flowers that you’re holding, that’s for damn sure.

I won’t even bother comparing it to the Mass Effect 3 fiasco because I didn’t find that ending all that disagreeable.

That being said, you can enjoy the whole game of Assassin’s Creed III even if you don’t particularly like the conclusion. At least I enjoyed it. Connor’s story was certainly compelling, if not only engrossing. You don’t genuinely connect with Connor on a level similar to how you did with Ezio, but I mean come on, you were with Ezio from birth until death over the course of several games.

You only get to experience Connor in one game. That’s a huge difference.

Assassin’s Creed III is Worth The Ride Despite Its Flaws

As a final note, I’m going to recommend Assassin’s Creed III to everyone. Long time fans and newcomers alike will surely love this game. Don’t get too caught up in the story of Desmond, because it’s obvious Ubisoft just wanted to expel him like a bad habit this time around. Instead, appreciate the time you spend with Connor and experience the world that is young America.

The countryside and locales are stunning and are worth experiencing alone, even without all the gameplay elements included. As a game, Assassin’s Creed III does not disappoint. As the final conclusion to Desmond’s epic part in the franchise, the game’s ending leaves you desiring a little more – at least in the explanation department.

Don’t turn to ACIII for answers, because you won’t get them. Instead, just enjoy the finely crafted gameplay mechanics. Sip it like a fine wine, a very fine wine.

I realize the review is quite late in terms of how long ago the game released, but I wanted to spend my time with ACIII before I wrote something. It’s very much a personal game for me, seeing as I’ve been with the series since the very beginning. In fact, most of us have been here a while.