Assassin's Creed III (2012)

 Following the end of the Ezio trilogy, the Assassin's Creed series moved to a new character and setting for Assassin's Creed III. This game was released in October 2012 for Windows, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U. It was rereleased for PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in March 2019. 

Plot

Desmond, Rebecca, Shawn, and Desmond's father William have arrived at the Central Precursor Vault in Upstate New York and are able to access it with the Apple Desmond acquired in Rome. Upon entering, Desmond is knocked unconscious by Juno after activating the Vault and is put back in the Animus. 

The Animus takes him to eighteenth century London and follows Haytham Kenway as he kills someone and steals a medallion from him. Kenway is then sent to the American colonies to find the Precursor Vault. Upon arriving there, Kenway gathers several men to aid in his search, including Charles Lee, Thomas Hickey, Benjamin Church, John Pitcairn, and William Johnson. 

Haytham's actions bring him into conflict with British General Edward Braddock as the latter begins to gather his expedition into the Ohio Valley. Haytham makes contact with a Mohawk woman, Kaniehtí:io and aids her in ambushing Braddock in 1755. She takes him to the Vault, but Haytham is unable to open it. Haytham and Kaniehtí:io are intimate with each other before Haytham returns to Boston to attend to other Templar duties. 

Years pass and the focus changes to Haytham and Kaniehtí:io's son, Ratonhnhaké:ton. Ratonhnhaké:ton is a young boy when he witnesses his mother's death following an attack on his home village spearheaded by Charles Lee and the other Templars. He grows up and is sent by the Clan Mother to find Achilles Davenport to be trained as an Assassin to oppose Haytham's Templars. Ratonhnhaké:ton finds Achilles, who trains him and gives him the name Connor so he can blend into Colonial society more effectively. 

Connor completes his training and accompanies Achilles to Boston so he can start to rebuild Davenport Manor. There he witnesses the Boston Massacre and is introduced to the Sons of Liberty. Upon returning to the manor, Connor brings on two carpenters who repairs an Assassin ship, the Aquila. 

Now a full Assassin, Connor begins to target the Templars, first assassinating William Johnson to prevent the sale of his people's land around the Vault. Connor then becomes embroiled in the incipient American Revolution, fighting at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, where he assassinates John Pitcairn. 

The following year sees Connor in New York where he assassinates Thomas Hickey to stop a plot to kill George Washington. The next year as the Continental Army suffers at Valley Forge, Connor makes contact with his father Haytham as both Assassin and Templar agree to a truce to hunt down Benjamin Church. Connor tracks Church to the Caribbean, where he kills him. 

The temporary truce comes to an end when Connor finds out Washington ordered an attack on his village as Haytham accidently reveals he knew about the attack that killed Connor's mother. Connor prevents the attack and plots to kill Charles Lee with the hope that he can turn his father from the Templars. 

Connor tracks Lee to New York and infiltrates Fort George to assassinate him. However, Haytham had sent Lee away to protect and fights Connor instead. Connor kills Haytham and follow Lee to Boston. Connor is severely wounded but is able to kill Lee, recovering Haytham's Medallion and buries it at the Davenport Homestead. 

While reliving these memories, Desmond is occasionally roused from the Animus to find power sources for the Vault in New York and Brazil. William goes after a power source in Egypt, but is captured by Abstergo and taken to Rome where he is held hostage by Warren Vidic. Desmond travels to Rome and frees his father, killing Vidic with the Apple in the process. 

With the power sources and the Medallion in hand, Desmond is able to fully unlock the Vault. There he discovers a device to save the world from the coming coronal mass ejection and prevent another catastrophe such as the one that ended the First Civilization. Juno and Minerva arrive, with  Minerva trying to prevent Desmond from using the device as it would free Juno. Desmond, however, decides to activate the device at the cost of his life, thus preventing an apocalypse. Juno escapes the Vault and enters the Cloud. 

Gameplay

After several games in a row of similar gameplay, III introduces several new features. Dual wielding of weapons is now possible, with the player able to wield a sword, tomahawk, the hidden blade, heavy axes, and muskets. Ranged weapons include a flintlock pistol and a bow. Chaining kills together still exists in this game, with double kills possible now. 

The game takes place in the frontier of New England, along with Boston, New York, and select areas of the Eastern Seaboard and the Caribbean. The Frontier is a massive area spanning the area between Boston, New York, and the Davenport Homestead and features several towns such as Lexington and Concord, along with more untamed areas of the Ohio Valley. 

Hunting is introduced in this game, with skins available to sell for cash. Other ways to generate income involve sending trade caravans from the Homestead containing raw materials and finished goods. These materials are obtained by recruiting trained artisans to live on the Homestead through a series of missions. These goods can also be used to complete delivery missions. 

Other side missions include hunting, frontiersmen, and thief challenges, along with courier missions and street fights. The player can also attack British forts and liberate them, which work to reduce tax rates on trade caravans. Naval combat is introduced in this game with the Aquila and the player can complete privateer missions with this to further reduce tax rates. Collectibles include feathers, treasure chests, almanac pages, and Peg Leg trinkets. The trinkets can be exchanged for information on Captain Kidd's Treasure, which leads the player to Oak Island to recover a First Civilization artifact that can be used to repel bullets. 

The recruitment system from Brotherhood and Revelations returns in an entirely revamped fashion. Individual recruits are unlocked by completing liberation missions in Boston and New York. Once recruited, the Assassins can be sent on missions or called into combat to gain experience. In combat, they have an expanded range of abilities, such as starting riots or acting as bodyguards. 

Of the games that track synchronization rates, this one probably had the most to do to attain 100% synchronization. 

Thoughts

This game was actually the first Assassin's Creed game I played all the way through, attracted as I was to fighting in the American Revolution at that time. I was perhaps disappointed that the game didn't focus on the fight for independence and instead focused around the conflict, but it still set me on the path to fully enjoying the entire series. 

That being said, I enjoyed playing this title once I got used to the overall storyline of the game series. The remastered version especially was impressive, upgrading the game's graphics to levels more reminiscent of more recent titles in the series. 

The naval combat was certainly interesting, though it would not be fully realized until the next game. I did enjoy building the Homestead from the ground up and actually building what amounted to an economy between producing raw materials, finished goods, and even inventions from that time. 

As far as emotional impact goes, this game was not as pronounced as the Ezio trilogy. Connor was somewhat hard to relate to as he lacked Ezio's charisma. The most impact the game had did not come from Connor's story, but instead in the present day story. I could feel that things were coming to an end with Desmond throughout the game, especially when he rescued his father from the Abstergo facility he was held hostage at in the first game. 

Then there was the matter of Desmond dying. Yeah, that hurt. Desmond went through considerable growth from being held captive in the first game to where he ended up. At the end of the day, he sacrificed his life to stop a global catastrophe, which I can respect even if I did not like that he died. 

This game marked the end of the first phase of Assassin's Creed games. The second phase would commence with the next release Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.