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Retrospective: Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation

So I’ve been meaning to write about this game for a while since it has been some time since I beat it. I’d like to get some bad flak out of the way for this game – it’s nice to see an Assassin’s Creed game on a handheld that is just as pretty as its home console counterpart; however, it seems like the character development skimps out a bit. I think that was a case for both installments of “Assassin’s Creed 3.”

It was exciting and fresh to see a female Assassin take the lead role in the franchise even if it was just for a portable on Vita. New Orleans was fun and I think the different personas added a nice twist to the combat system. At times it was annoying to have different levels of notoriety across different ‘costumes’, but it makes sense. There were a few things that just didn’t make sense to me that made this game really hard to play through at times: who is Aveline? I understand she is the daughter of a slaveholder who grants her freedom and she is also the adopted daughter of her father’s wife. How did she come to be an Assassin? Why did she share her activities so freely with her step-mother? Why is Aveline’s birthmother intent on keeping her distance? Just what is that damn disc everyone is so afraid of? I feel like these are important, pivotal questions which remained unanswered to the very end.

The gameplay is relatively intuitive – it plays a lot like its predecessors, although there are a few quirky things here and there ranging from stroking the back of the Vita to row a boat, to rubbing the backside
a certain way to pick-pocket someone. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to rub my handheld to steal some change! Hold triangle to steal, please! These extra ‘controls’ felt really gimmicky, like the mandatory sixaxis controls in Heavenly Sword (anyone remember that game!?) in which everything involved tilting the controller because.. sixaxis. I also couldn’t stand decoding maps or letters. I’m told to hold my vita to the light as if I am peeking at a real piece of paper, yet the damn camera controls are inverted for some reason and it’s actually the front camera that needs to be held to the light. Decoding maps and other riddles took forever because of this glitch that is NEVER FIXED. I suppose after the game breaking save glitch fix Ubisoft gave up on this game.

Onto other details: there is a trading system side mission(or quest.. or mini game?) where you could make a butt-load of money using Aveline’s company to buy and sell crops, linen, and supplies. It seems
to be the counterpart to the Homestead trading in Assassin’s Creed 3; however, the controls are so horrendous it often took me ten minutes or so to figure out how to select a ship and where to send it. Once I figured out how to do it, the controls are so NOT intuitive that I would forget almost immediately how to send out another ship. Let’s just say I didn’t bother playing this part of the game very much.

Connor: Everyone was looking forward to meeting and running through New Orleans with Aveline. Well, he’s really just eye candy – you can’t do anything with him and all he does is follow you around somewhat incompetently. I think he is in this short game for just a few minutes depending upon how quickly you clear the missions.

I think this game is worth it if you can find it in the bargain bin. It’s been almost a year since its release so that may be possible at this point in time. I got mine with the Assassin White Playstation Vita bundle which I think was a very good bargain. I’m glad I did not pay full price for this title. Unfortunately, I think I’ll be waiting for the bargain bin for Assassin’s Creed IV since I’m still not convinced that it’s worth being a day one purchase.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag RELEASE DATE LEAKED

There has been much talk and speculation about the forthcoming title from the Assassin’s Creed franchise. I have to admit, I wasn’t very excited since I just didn’t like Connor from the 3rd installation of the series; however, I really did love Haytham Kenway. Rumors were swirling that the protagonist of the next game is actually Edward Kenway, Haytham’s father. I am uncertain if this has been confirmed by Ubisoft, but being that the game does take place before the Haytham/Connor story - it can be possible and quite welcome because I’m much more interested in Haytham’s story arc than say.. Connor or Desmond. Which also leaves a lot of fans wondering - who will be in the Animus after what happened at the end of Assassin’s Creed III? I’m thinking it could be like Liberation, Revelations, and Brotherhood in which there is no Animus interaction. Perhaps Desmond Mile’s father is in the Animus and he is in fact a descendent of Edward Kenway? Time will tell.

Did I mention that the title of this game could be better? Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag reminds me of some mediocre punk band from the 70s:

I’m wondering if Ubisoft was aware of this when picking that terrible title. Or maybe this band is so obscure these days that I’m the only person that would actually think of this.

Assassin’s Creed III was record breaking because it was the most pre-ordered Ubisoft game ever. Let Assassin’s Creed IV be another record breaker by being the first glitch and bug-free game in the series.

It seems the video is disappearing as quickly as it was leaked onto the internet. You can watch it here:

https://cdn.anonfiles.com/1362245692264.mp4

This is a direct mp4 link so it should work on most computers unless you’re missing some packages. It reveals the release date as October 29th. This is supposed to be a next-gen system. Will Playstation 4 be released in October?