So let's get right down to it.
WARNING spoilers WARNING
So the plot of Assassin's Creed III kind of follows the plot of the first few games. After the last game there is a point in which Desmond learns there is a crisis heading for Earth and he must open a large device to stop it. After using the Apple to gain access to the machine, they realize they still need a key. Desmond has a flash back to a time during the French Indian War and the team straps Desmond back into the Animus to figure out the whereabouts of the key. We then mostly follow the more interesting story of Haytham, an agent who steals the key from someone in Britain then moves to the colonies during the French Indian War. After helping some people and taking out a target Haytham establishes the Templar order in the colonies while making friends with a Native American. He impregnates her and that is how Connor is born. Connor of course is trained in hunting and scouting as well as climbing trees and moving among them. Connor eventually leaves after his mother is killed on a quest for revenge and is trained by Achilles Davenport, a retired assassin. Connor eventually learns the ways of the assassins working with some of the founding fathers, and while he initially started on a quest for revenge, he recognized that the Templars needed to be stopped no matter what the cost. While Charles Lee was his target, Connor knew his father would be an issue. Connor's main concern was to protect his village and the people there as well. He also decided to lead the charge for freedom as the British were abusing the colonists, so Connor ended up helping in the American Revolution, however his main goal was always the extinction of the templars and the liberation of his people. The true issue is that while Connor helped deliver freedom to the colonists Connor still can't stop his people from being pushed from their lands nor can he rid the new country of slavery as well.
Is the story any good? YES it is very good. The main focus of Connor is never the actual American Revolution however it is interesting to see him help the American Revolution out since the Templars are apart of it all on both sides. The Templars are working with both the British and the Revolutionists and so it makes sense Connor is involved in this as well. Also the tension between father and son, Haytham and Connor is excellently drawn out as Haytham respects his son but also is aware that Connor is his enemy. It is an interesting dynamic and though process for the story and historical conspiracies are always fun in their own right if written well which this one was. While the story in the present isn't as strong, it is stronger then it has been in previous games, and the past story is also a lot stronger then it has been in a while, maybe not as strong as Assassin's Creed II but close.
Desmond's dad is an ass. Simple as that. The interesting thing about this game is that it characterizes both Desmond's father and Connor's father. While both relationships are strained they both meet a mutual respect, even though Connor kills his father, and the son dies in the present duo. Seriously though, the characterization between father and son in this game is pretty awesome. Individually none of the characters are really bad in this game. Hickey was awesome, Lee was a great bad guy, Haytham was awesome in his own right, Achilles was incredible, heck the weakest character in the game is Connor. The issue with Connor is that he does grow, he does have emotions, but his voice is so monotone it doesn't convey them well. Heck, if you were to play through the main game and ignore side quests, his growth wouldn't even show up as much, Connor grows and shows himself growing a lot in the conversations and side quests he has involving the homestead. The main game does show his growth, but these side quests really hit home for the character. Still, there are a lot of great characters and while it appears Connor doesn't grow, he actually does and it is pretty interesting if you can catch it.
Actually I had little issues with this game. The gameplay was perfectly fine once I figured it out. The main issue is the game basically doesn't tell you how to figure anything out and you are left to look it up online or use your Sherlock Holmes skills and a bit of luck to figure out what the game is talking about at times. There was also the occasional glitch that took me out of the game, but none of it was all that bad... except sailing. The boat is slow, maneuvering in their "weather" conditions sucked at times, having "weak points" was stupid, and how come the enemies could reload cannons faster then me every time? A Man o War ship has at least as many cannons if not more then my ship, how come they can get three shots between my two? How is that fair? Simple boat missions are fine but complex missions especially the 100% side missions, these controls suck. Once again not much is explained either on what to do at times to complete these side missions, but the main mechanics of the boat at least are explained. Still this presents an overall issue. The main playing is fun if you catch on to what you are doing through the poorly done tutorial missions, but boating in this game is more often then not annoying or boring.
While boating was at times boring, if the level was designed well enough, it could be fun as well if it focused on combat and didn't have a dumb side quest with it. There are also some very interesting missions as well, like during the Battle for Bunker Hill. That being said there are also some really poorly designed missions as well, like looking for Charles Lee after Haytham's funeral. So the missions are about 50-50 in being well or poorly designed. Now lets get to the levels. Boston looks great, the Frontier looks good but is rather big, and New York... looks like a larger version of Boston. That and New York is overcrowded with guards so you do something wrong like sneezing in the wrong direction the guards may come after you, and good luck getting away from them. The best designed place is Davenport however so there is that. Really there are some awesome designed levels and missions, and there are some badly designed missions and levels so again, kind of split down the middle, there is more good then bad, but the bad is really boring unfortunately.
Hunting is a fun way to earn money in the game. The Captain Kidd missions are also really fun bringing that treasure hunting style back from Assassin's Creed Revelations. Outside of that, side quests suck in this game. Most of the side quests that get you things only get you costumes, and not all the side quests actually get you something. 100% synch missions suck the life out of the game if you try to do them, and you don't have to do them all to get the reward which is Altair's costume, you only have to do the story mission 100% synch quests which are designed poorly to say the least. The most rewarding side quests are once again the Captain Kidd quests as they bring both a costume and a Piece of Eden bullet shield for you. At least hunting is fun. Then there is the boring underground hunt for fast travel points. Walking would be faster. The Homestead missions were character building for Connor but weren't enough to save this category.
If you love story and great characters, even if the main character is a little weaker then others, then you will love this game. If you love well designed missions and don't mind bad ones you will love this game. If you love the American Revolution this game is for you. If you hate boring level designs, boring ship controls, and really bad side quests with almost no reward at times, stay away.
This game isn't great. It isn't bad and has a great story, but it isn't great either. More good then bad, but the bad certainly does shine on in this game. If you don't care for side quests this game may seem really good, great even, but if you try for the side quests you are bound to be disappointed. I'd recommend renting this game if interested but don't bother rushing to check this one out if you haven't yet. Shame too as the plot is one of the best in the series and the characters are great, only to be brought down by other things.
