Dissatisfied gamers tend to be more vocal than satisfied gamers. It's also the case that the things that work well in AC3 are things that have worked well earlier, so they're not surprising. I think some of the complaints on the thread are legitimate, but the game is ultimately wholly worth experiencing for anyone who's already invested in the franchise. It lacks elements that gave the Ezio games much of its charm (Renaissance Europe, Ezio's charisma, Jesper Kyd), but if you take it on its own merits colonial America had its own charm, and the gameplay has not suffered in this new iteration. My advice would be to do as many side missions as you can since some are really standouts.