FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Assassin's Creed III

I have now been playing Assassin's Creed III for roughly 7 hours and thought I'd do a little first impressions segment on how the game is going. Note that this is not a full review and does not indicate what my final impressions upon completing the game will be. The full review should be up within the next week and a half but until then hopefully this will hold you over.

So in my 7 hours of gameplay, I have focused solely on the single-player but will be trying multiplayer later tonight. I have currently finished 5 out of the 12 sequences, with the 5th sequence taking me a good 2 and a half hours to complete. From what I have been told, the remainder of the sequences are as long or longer than the 5th sequence, so I still have quite a ways to go.

[WARNING: THE FIRST SENTENCE, WHICH I HAVE ALIENATED FROM THE PARAGRAPH, CONTAINS A MINOR STORY SPOILER]

The first three sequences of the game are not played from Connor's perspective, but rather, his father Haytham's.

The first mission is pretty fun and gets you used to the basic controls of climbing. The rest of the sequence is quite slow and introduces you to most of the combat controls. The combat in this game is significantly different from the previous games, and although it takes some getting used to, I find it to be a nice change. The 2nd and 3rd sequences are where the real fun begins. At this time, the game becomes much less linear, and although you will still be going through some minor tutorials such as gunplay or eavesdropping, it is significantly less annoying and slow. There are quite a few side missions present at this time which you can choose to do, or you can focus on the main quest. Each main quest mission provides the option to try and "Full Synch" the memory, such as in Brotherhood, except there are multiple conditions/restrictions which all add up to the full synch.

Two of the new mechanics I have also been introduced to as of the 4th and 5th sequences are hunting and ship battles. Hunting is the main way to get materials and/or money in the game, and it requires ALOT of patience. It is impossible to hunt by simply running around as fast as you can out in the open, unless you are fighting a hostile animal such as a wolf or a bear. Deer, rabbits, foxes, otters, etc all require that you sneak while blended with the environment. It also depends on what weapon you kill them with, as some weapons, such as guns or arrows, may ruin the fur and give you significantly less material/money.

Ship battles are extremely fun. The ship has three speeds: no sails (stop), half sail (slow) or full sail (fast). While full sails are up, the boat is harder to steer but goes much faster while when there are half sails, the ship is easier to maneuver but goes significantly slower. Also, you must play close attention to the direction of the wind, as it can seriously screw you up if you have your full sails up. Cannons are controlled by the R1 button (note that I am playing the PS3 version) and the gun (can't remember what it's called) is controlled by the L1 button. You are also encouraged to brace by pressing square when being shot at.

One final thing I will talk about briefly is Desmond gameplay. While most of his gameplay is similar to previous games: walking around the environment talking to NPCs and reading emails, he also has sequences of his own. I have, so far, done one of these sequences, and all I will say is that the environments are great and if you enjoyed the Assassin's Tombs in previous games, you'll like his gameplay.

That wraps up my First Impressions of Assassin's Creed III. I look forward to finishing the game and writing a full review.

Giuliano V.