Assassin's Creed III for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

Gameplay. It’s the canvas upon which every video game is painted. The chance to interact, to participate, to do – that’s what we love most about this medium. But the creators of Assassin’s Creed 3 have neglected gameplay, focusing instead on cinematic presentation, and the game suffers because of it. It’s just not fun anymore.

Assassin’s Creed 3 never rewarded me; in fact, it’s a never-ending string of cheap challenges. There were always too many guards, and they were always too suspicious of my presence. Missions often required me to fail over and over again while I figured out which route I was supposed to take or which guards I was supposed to kill. Even when I wasn’t looking for a challenge, when I just wanted to go for a walk around Boston, I had to be wary of any redcoats in the area. Otherwise, they quickly decided that I was a criminal and chased me until I found a pile of hay to jump into. The purpose behind this constant threat may have been to create tension or conflict – but it does neither, and it doesn’t need to. That’s the job of the characters and the story and the missions. All it does is make me want to quit playing, which is what I did.

Even though Connor was a total schmuck, the voice actor behind him did an excellent job of bringing that schmuck to life. This was true of all the characters. When Connor spoke down to others, I could hear the resentment in their replies.

The voice-work was impressive, but the animation almost outshined it. At one point, one of the characters said something clever, and the person he was speaking to just gave him a look that said “Really? Did you really just go there?” and I couldn’t help but laugh.

Unfortunately, those laughs were too few, and they couldn’t make up for the awful gameplay. That towering monolith of videogame design overshadows the rest of the experience, turning what could have been a great game into a great movie – minus the parts where you actually get to go do st