Assassin’s Creed III Remastered for PC Review

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I remember when Assassin’s Creed III came out and I also remember deliberately skipping it. At that time I was already burnt out on the series. I had beaten the first two, played a portion of Brotherhood, and skipped Revelations. But my friend was into it and he jumped on III when it came out and told me he wasn’t enjoying it as much as the others and I guess that was all I needed to hear to decide to skip it. In fact, I remember hearing several negative things about it but the overall reception was positive. I’ve gotten back into the series recently and have been enjoying it more this time. But I feel like Revelations is where the series lost some steam and I went into III hoping enough was changed so it would feel like a breath of fresh air.

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed III was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in October, 2012, and Wii U and PC in November of that same year. A remastered version titled Assassin’s Creed III Remastered was released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in March, 2019, Switch in May of that same year, and Stadia in December, 2021. It also comes with a remaster of Assassin’s Creed: Liberation. For this review, I played the remaster of Assassin’s Creed III for PC. The original game does come with a multiplayer component but the remaster does not so this review will only focus on the single player.

Desmond’s story continues in Assassin’s Creed III. He and the team use the Apple of Eden to access the Grand Temple where Desmond uses the Animus to relive the memories of his ancestors during 18th-century Colonial America. Assassin’s Creed III is another game that plucks the player out of the memories at certain points so they can control Desmond and obtain the Power Sources required to unlock portions of the Grand Temple. As Desmond explores the Temple, Juno will communicate with him and reveal the events that led up to the first cataclysm. In my opinion, Desmond’s story is not as interesting as that of his ancestors so I would get annoyed whenever the game plucked me out of the memories to control him.

Assassin’s Creed III does give Desmond more to do but at this point, I’ve really lost interest in the modern day plot. Even though I also found being plucked out of Altaïr’s world annoying, I enjoyed the concept of the Animus and found the modern day plot somewhat compelling in the first game. But as more things are revealed as the series progresses, I feel it has become convoluted and I just don’t give a shit anymore. At this point, I think the series would benefit from the elimination of the modern day plot and Animus. It was a neat idea in the beginning but now I think it needs to go. The ancestors and their storylines are a lot more enjoyable and compelling in my opinion.

As for the ancestors, Assassin’s Creed III teases you with an interesting protagonist in the very beginning of the game and then puts you in the shoes of one not very interesting. The story opens with the player assuming the role of a Templar named Haytham Kenway. He assassinates a patron at an Opera House and steals a medallion which he believes is the key to opening the Grand Temple. Haytham then travels to the American Colonies and recruits allies to aid in his expedition. After they free a group of Native Americans, Haytham helps Kaniehti:io kill the man responsible for enslaving her people. In return, she takes him to the entrance of the Grand Temple where he discovers the medallion is ineffective. Then the story shifts to focusing on different protagonist, the woman’s son Connor, for the rest of the game.

When Connor is a child, his mother dies during an attack on their village and he assumes the attack was ordered by the Templars. Some years later, the village elder informs Connor that it’s their tribe’s duty to guard the Grand Temple and gives him a sphere which enables him to communicate with Juno. He learns that if he doesn’t leave, his people will be slaughtered so he sets out to find and convince Achilles Davenport, an assassin, to train him. As the years go by, Connor tries to protect his people and eliminate the Templars as he’s drawn into events pertaining to the American Revolution.

Overall, the plot is okay but the worst part of it is easily Connor. I really enjoy the Native American angle and the new setting but Connor is awful. He’s lame. He’s not as charismatic as Ezio and he seems to lack a personality, not unlike Altaïr. The issues definitely come from the writing and voice performance. He’s either serious or angry and many line deliveries often come across as flat. Connor is a big contrast to Haytham who I find to be a much more interesting character. There’s a sense of mystery surrounding him, especially in the beginning. He can be intimidating and charming and I felt like his personality kind of drew me in. In fact, I would say him and the other antagonist, Charles Lee, are among some of the best characters in the game just for the performances alone.

In addition to the main story is The Tyranny of King Washington which is a separate storyline that released as DLC and consists of three episodes. Set in an alternate reality where Connor’s mother never dies and he never becomes an assassin, the story revolves around George Washington who obtains the Apple of Eden and is corrupted by its power. Connor is granted mystical powers and sets out to stop George who has proclaimed himself king and rules as a tyrant. I really don’t have much to say about this story other than it’s okay. I didn’t love it or hate it but I did enjoy some of the new gameplay mechanics.

Much of Assassin’s Creed III will feel familiar but there is some cool new stuff here. Climbing feels easier and more fluid, you can now climb trees, and the combat has been altered but without really changing. At first, I thought it felt worse but then I realized it only feels different. It took me a bit to get used to the controls and you can no longer manually lock onto targets. You can counter and parry, break an enemy’s defense, chain kills together, and throw enemies into objects. You can also take foes as shields right before enemies fire upon you. Once you get the hang of things, winning fights is still not all that difficult and your hit points, health, or armor is no longer determined by your outfit. You can obtain numerous outfits which are more or less costumes or cosmetic items. You cannot obtain individual armor pieces anymore and health does regenerate. This also means no more medicine to replenish health at the press of a button.

Assassin’s Creed III does introduce some new weapons and equipment and firearms play a bigger role here. There are several pistols you can use and you can also pick up and use muskets. Crafting has been expanded and is no longer restricted to bombs. At a certain point in the story, you gain access to the Davenport Homestead. This is land where you can access the Manor and interact with your people or settlers or whatever you want to call them. As you progress, you’ll unlock Homestead Missions to complete. These are missions where you can recruit new people to live on the Homestead like artisans, woodworkers, blacksmiths, etc. These people allow you to craft items and you can complete missions for them to level them up, allowing you to craft better items. A lot of the Homestead Missions kind of suck but I completed them because I wanted the ability to craft everything. The missions often task you with moving back and forth between areas and completing basic objectives. Some are more enjoyable than others but many aren’t very exciting.

Crafting works like this. You visit the manor or enter a General Store and access the accounting book. From here you can access your stockpile and craft items and even trade items with merchants, or rather send your convoys to trade. The stockpile menu is a bit cumbersome and took me a little bit to get used to. Much of what you craft is either for trading or completing challenges. But you can also craft weapons and special items or upgrades for Connor. Trading is a great way to earn a lot of money. You can craft land and naval convoys and then fill them with items to trade with merchants. But you do have to be mindful of risks and taxes, both of which can be reduced and you may have to defend your convoys from time to time.

I would say money is still not hard to come by once you’ve fully got a grasp of how the economy works in the game. There are still chests scattered around the environments but there doesn’t seem to be as many as that of the previous games. Chests not only contain money but also recipes for crafting. The Assassin Guild returns and you can still send your assassins on missions for money. You’ll also recruit less assassins than you did previously. But each assassin you recruit unlocks a new assassin ability. You can call them to assassinate people, act as bodyguards, and lure enemies among other things. The assassins basically replace the Factions from the previous games. Recruiting them also requires a little more work this time. You must Liberate Districts by completing a series of missions and only then will you gain a new assassin. I suppose you could say the assassin stuff has been streamlined but I would argue these changes were unnecessary. I prefer how it all worked in Revelations and Brotherhood.

New to Assassin’s Creed III is hunting. You can hunt animals and skin them for resources. Outside of completing challenges, I never really felt the need to do this and hunting predators is completely unnecessary, or at least the way the game wants you to do it is. This is because it’s easier to let them engage you. When a predator spots you they will try and attack you and this results in a quicktime event minigame that’s a lot easier and faster to complete than actually finding clues, using bait, stalking the prey, and finally striking. The kind of weapon you use to make the kill will determine the quality of the spoils. Ultimately, hunting is a neat addition but it does feel like it becomes busy work, that is if you’re focused on completing delivery requests. Also, some resources like certain pelts for example can be acquired from the stockpile menu.

I had a realization while playing Assassin’s Creed III. I’ve always felt there was something about open world Ubisoft games that didn’t sit right with me. At least when it comes to the games I’ve played. Something just always feels off and I could never put my finger on what it is. Until now… Which is great because it was bothering the fuck out of me for the longest time. I realized Ubisoft fails at immersion. Or at least I don’t like the way they do it. Assassin’s Creed III gives off a great sense of scale in the beginning but then quickly turns into the typical Assassin’s Creed formula, just in a bigger world. It’s a world with things to do. It doesn’t feel alive so to speak. Some of the Far Cry games have this problem, too. If anything exciting happens, it’s a blip or icon on the map. Everything feels artificial or in your face or obvious or even obligatory. For example, do we really need viewpoints anymore? Especially here where you can now reveal more of the map as you explore.

Very little of the excitement is dynamic and there’s very little to discover because almost everything is revealed and many side missions, especially here, feel more like busy work than fun. For example, Frontiersman missions. I had no idea what the point of these were in the beginning. I’m thinking why am I doing this? What’s the benefit? What’s the point? Well they expand on myths and rumors and I suppose lead to some easter eggs. I think that’s the idea. They’re supposed to be fun little side stories, I guess. But easter eggs should be a fun discovery kind of thing and not scripted mundane missions. At least I think so. So in the end, I just don’t like the way Ubisoft handles immersion. Maybe it’s just me but that’s my take.

One of the biggest new things introduced in Assassin’s Creed III is naval missions and Connor becomes the captain of a ship. He can visit the Harbormaster to complete short missions to reduce risks for his naval convoys. This is probably my favorite new addition to the series. You pilot a ship on the seas and can engage other ships and despite how simple the game makes it, I do find it fun. Plus, you can spend money to upgrade the ship. In addition to the standard naval missions are other missions, some of which take you to new locations to explore. It seems like these naval missions replace the tombs and lairs from the previous games and completing a certain series of missions does lead you to a special outfit. Unfortunately, there is an end to the naval missions which seems odd. For example, once you complete all the what I’ll call risk missions, that’s it. No more risks, I guess. Considering these are just basic objectives like escort and protect ships, eliminate enemy ships, etc., I don’t see why the developers couldn’t implement randomized missions or something to keep the player engaged. Considering you can spend money upgrading the ship, it seems odd that the naval stuff just ends and you’re eventually cut off from ship battles.

In addition to the content already mentioned, there is quite a bit to do Assassin’s Creed III. You can come across and attack enemy convoys, take over Forts to reduce the trade tax, complete courier missions, assassination contracts, Hunting Society missions, Benedict Arnold missions, play games with NPCs, and defeat Boston Brawlers. Some of these are more enjoyable than others and some will definitely feel familiar to series veterans. As expected, all side content can be seen in the form of icons on the map and that includes collectibles and chests once you purchase the appropriate maps. There are collectibles to find including feathers, Alamanac Pages, and Trinkets and all shopping is done at General Stores. These are where you can buy maps, weapons, outfits, and ammunition among other things and you can also sell items. The manor acts as your hideout this time and is where you can view and access any unlocked outfits and weapons along with any rewards like paintings and other various items.

Assassin’s Creed III features four locations if you want to call them that. Boston, New York, the Frontier, and the Homestead. As expected, there are plenty of viewpoints to synchronize and you can fast travel to many locations including the forts you take over, Harbormasters, and tunnels or fast travel points. Horses return and they suck. You can use them to quickly get around and even call your horse to you at the press of a button. But I found they frequently get stuck on things and can’t jump off certain ledges or rocks despite not being that high, making navigating around the Frontier and Homestead a pain in the ass. If you don’t stick to roads, you risk frustration, at least in my experience on horseback in this game. Boston and New York have a bunch of fast travel points which are entrances to an underground network of tunnels and you need to navigate these tunnels and find the exits to unlock new fast travel points. Unfortunately, there is no renovations or buying properties and no source of recurring income this time. You have to rely on looting, selling, trading, and your assassins for money.

If you’re familiar with the previous games, most of what Assassin’s Creed III has you doing should be nothing new. You’ll have to assassinate people, eavesdrop on conversations, infiltrate areas, and of course, follow people. And once again, there are way too many objectives that require you to tail or follow people. The game does feature some cool set pieces like when you get to man cannons or command a firing line but other than that, it’s the typical Assassin’s Creed stuff. As expected, I didn’t find Assassin’s Creed III all that hard to get through. None of the missions are tough to beat. Full Synchronization requirements return and I would say this is where the real challenge lies. Completing the optional objectives to achieve Full Synchronizations. This means using certain weapons, limiting health loss, completing an objective within a time limit, and other stuff like that.

The Tyranny of King Washington DLC not only includes a new storyline but also some new gameplay mechanics. Other than that, it’s more of the same. Each episode grants you a new animal power that you can activate at the cost of health. Wolf Cloak allows you to turn invisible, Eagle Flight allows you to quickly fly from one location to another, and Bear Might allows you to unleash a shockwave of sorts that will knock away or kill nearby enemies and can even break certain structures. These new abilities are cool simply for the fact they give you new ways to engage foes and get around. Other than that, this DLC is pretty straightforward and a lot of the stuff from the main campaign is absent. You can find chests that include resources, upgrades, and new weapons and there are some side missions to complete but you can easily go from story mission to story mission and probably beat it in a single sitting.

Unfortunately, Assassin’s Creed III Remastered is the buggiest game in the series I’ve played so far. I never played the original game so I don’t know what kind of bugs it has but I would think the developers would attempt to iron out bugs for a remaster and if they actually did for Assassin’s Creed III Remastered, I am shocked because it’s buggy as hell. I’ve witnessed characters get stuck in certain poses during cut scenes, synchronizing viewpoints triggers a music loop for some reason, sometimes objective locations didn’t appear right away so I had no idea where to go, messages and information would sometimes stay stuck on the HUD, completed objectives sometimes wouldn’t show as completed, at one point I was chasing someone and they decided to stop and get stuck preventing me from progressing because it was a scripted chase, and finally, the game got hung up or crashed at a loading screen on two separate occasions. Some of the issues are a nuisance and others are just really annoying.

Assassin’s Creed III Remastered does support 4K and according to the description, it features new character models and polished environment rendering. It is a colorful game but doesn’t seem as vibrant as the previous remasters as far as I can tell. Overall, I think it looks pretty good. The environments are well detailed, visual effects look great, and the animations look good. The frequent pop-in can be an eyesore but for the most part, I would say the game is pleasing on the eyes. As for the audio, this is yet another Assassin’s Creed game with great sound work and a great soundtrack. It’s also the buggiest one I’ve played so far as I mentioned before. The frame rate remained stable most of the time but I did notice some dips and hitches here and there.

Assassin’s Creed III isn’t a bad game but I’m a little disappointed with it. It’s more of the same with changes. It’s also slow to start, especially when you’re finally put in the shoes of Connor. A lot of his early missions are clearly designed to show you the ropes which is not an uncommon thing in games, but I did feel like the game was taking its time. For me, the game starts out feeling like it’s building towards something bigger and better than anything we’ve seen before but it never really elevates above what we’ve already come to know and love. It’s just more Assassin’s Creed. There are refinements and changes here and I can’t say anything feels worse than it did before but I also can’t say many things feel refined for the better, either. Climbing is better, though. I think it feels a lot better here. More fluid and using trees to get around is cool. Other things just feel changed for reasons. Like the combat for example. It feels different because the way certain mechanics work have been changed or altered but it doesn’t make a drastic difference. At least not in my experience. It still features the same kind of combat and flow and it’s still easy to win fights.

I can understand some changes fitting in with the new time period and setting but I admit I do miss some things from the previous games. Things that showed promise or that I found interesting or addictive. I miss renovating buildings and consistent income. I miss taking over areas or regions. It feels very toned down in Assassin’s Creed III. You can take over Forts. I miss the expanded Assassin Guild stuff from Revelations. It feels like a step back here. Some things are fine. I don’t mind the consolidation of all the shopping to one store for example and I don’t even mind the merging of the Faction features with the Assassin Guild. Although, I do kind of miss the Faction Guilds. It would have been cool if the developers expanded upon the guild assignment stuff from Brotherhood. Working for different guilds with their own little storylines and unlocking unique or special rewards or benefits. Similar to how Elder Scrolls handles their factions. That would have been really cool. The naval stuff is easily my favorite new addition. It’s only a shame the game doesn’t do more with it. It’s obvious Ubisoft wants to stick to a specific formula and since I’ve been playing through the games in succession, a lot of the familiar is starting to feel stale. And it’s not so much that’s its bad, it’s that I want more interesting things to do. I want some really new and fresh mechanics to mix things up. And for me, the naval stuff does just that.

I would recommend Assassin’s Creed III because it is fun and if you enjoyed the previous games, I don’t see why you wouldn’t enjoy this. The gameplay, anyway. However, I don’t think it’s the refresher the series needs. There are some cool new features here but much of the game feels familiar and the formula is starting to get stale in my opinion. Still, it’s not a terrible game and there is fun to be had. So check it out if you’re interested.