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[Muffdraul]

So far my biggest complaint about AC3 is that they hired Robin Atkins Downes for the role of George Washington. I guess they couldn't find anyone else who was even more generic and inappropriately lacking in presence and gravitas. *dons top hat/monocle*

[read: I am finding very very little in AC3 worth complaining about]

 

[SlasherJPC]

So, why doesn't my preorder 'Captain of the Aquila'-gear show up? It's already sequence 6 and I don't have it yet.

Is it not showing up in the basement?

 

[FStop7]

Into sequence 4 now, my impressions so far:

The game is glitchy and unpolished. Pathing/scripting bugs abound. Clipping abounds.

The controls are a big step backward compared to Brotherhood or even AC2. I don't understand how they managed to make things this much worse.

I don't like the setting. We've gone from some beautiful, sprawling cities to clumps of small houses and your back yard. What makes it worse is just the faintest whiff of

Spoiler

London

at the beginning of the game leaves me wondering what could have been.

It takes forever to get going. It's like the developers crammed every idea they brainstormed into it. It's self indulgent, bordering on pretentious.

The voice acting is uneven. John DeLancie is not good. Which is unfortunate since he has so many lines, presumably because Ubi wanted to get their money's worth out of him. It sounds like's cold reading all of his lines without any idea of what any of the stuff he's talking about actually means.

The character models in the present day segments look freakish.

 

[News Bot]

The character models in the present day segments look freakish.

Yeah I don't understand this. They were perfect in Brotherhood. Then they just dove straight off a cliff in Revelations and haven't quite got back up since.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Is it not showing up in the basement?

Nope, only Ezio's outfit.

 

[keltickennedy]

They really need to patch Desmond's back tumor.

 

[SlasherJPC]

Nope, only Ezio's outfit.

Hmm weird. I know I bought a costume at the shop in Boston and it doesn't show up in there either... wonder if its a bug.

 

[Wuthering_Heights]

I want to stab those orphans in the neck, so bad.

Ugh.

 

[spidye]

Into sequence 4 now, my impressions so far:

The game is glitchy and unpolished. Pathing/scripting bugs abound. Clipping abounds.

The controls are a big step backward compared to Brotherhood or even AC2. I don't understand how they managed to make things this much worse.

I don't like the setting. We've gone from some beautiful, sprawling cities to clumps of small houses and your back yard. What makes it worse is just the faintest whiff of

Spoiler

London

at the beginning of the game leaves me wondering what could have been.

It takes forever to get going. It's like the developers crammed every idea they brainstormed into it. It's self indulgent, bordering on pretentious.

The voice acting is uneven. John DeLancie is not good. Which is unfortunate since he has so many lines, presumably because Ubi wanted to get their money's worth out of him. It sounds like's cold reading all of his lines without any idea of what any of the stuff he's talking about actually means.

The character models in the present day segments look freakish.

sequence 6 here.
agree with everything you wrote. very disappointing so far

 

[John Harker]

So far my biggest complaint about AC3 is that they hired Robin Atkins Downes for the role of George Washington. I guess they couldn't find anyone else who was even more generic and inappropriately lacking in presence and gravitas. *dons top hat/monocle*

[read: I am finding very very little in AC3 worth complaining about]

But that's one of my favorite parts!

(love him)

 

[Derrick01]

Game just got here and I'm looking forward to tearing into it and finding out what side I stand on in the new AC battle. I was on the pro AC1 side for reference.

 

[Eideka]

To be fair I'm not impressed by the graphics on consoles. Lots of low res textures and pop-in, shadows and the depth of field (in the intro sequence) are really ugly as well.

That's strange because the E3 Frontier walkthrough seems more impressive to me. I replayed this sequence and it's almost weak in comparison...
Especially the aliasing which did not seem to be prominent in the E3 videos.

On the other hands the faces are noticeably more detailed than in previous games, the skin shading is odd though (sub-surface scattering could be used in the PC version).

 

[Dunan]

I don't like the setting. We've gone from some beautiful, sprawling cities to clumps of small houses and your back yard. What makes it worse is just the faintest whiff of

Spoiler

London

at the beginning of the game leaves me wondering what could have been.

Surely AC3.5 and AC3.75 will be set in

Spoiler

revolutionary Paris

(perhaps ACL-2 for that one) and then probably something in

Spoiler

London

.

 

[keltickennedy]

Hmm weird. I know I bought a costume at the shop in Boston and it doesn't show up in there either... wonder if its a bug.

Those costumes at the shops are like the tailors from past games. Its just a color change for the default costume. I made the mistake also of buying all the "outfits" thinking that they would be back at the manor, but since the Assassin's outfit was the last one I purchased, it left Conner in the default look. Confusing I know.

As for the downloaded outfit...I don't know what the problem may be. It could be a glitch. I think I had a similar thing happen when I downloaded the pouch upgrade from the Uplay store, I saw no change in the capacity of my tools.

To be fair I'm not impressed by the graphics on consoles. Lots of low res textures and pop-in, shadows and the depth of field (in the intro sequence) are really ugly as well.

That's strange because the E3 Frontier walkthrough seems more impressive to me. I replayed this sequence and it's almost weak in comparison...
Especially the aliasing which did not seem to be prominent in the E3 videos.

On the other hands the faces are noticeably more detailed than in previous games, the skin shading is odd though (sub-surface scattering could be used in the PC version).

Ubi seems to do this a lot with their games. Especially if you play the Bunker Hill mission. The demo I saw at PAX, the british troops were way closer and you could make out each individual model. The retail version they are moved way further back and the only thing you can really make out are the shots of gun fire. Bummer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiVJG_mrtFo&feature=player_detailpage#t=63s

Also I think that they use two different version of character models for cutscenes. (similar to uncharted) The have way more high res faces and I think they are pre-rendered. Which still confuses me why they would keep such low res shadow maps in the cutscenes.

 

[Muffdraul]

But that's one of my favorite parts!

(love him)

He was great in Halo 2 and whatever. Just not feeling him as Washy. Casting director's top priority should have been to find someone who can imitate Gregory Peck.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Huh, I just played those sea missions, and now I actually have sea legs.

 

[keltickennedy]

Huh, I just played those sea missions, and now I actually have sea legs.

Okay, go back to the manor now. That outfit might only unlock after you have completed the first ship missions.

 

[PowderedToast]

this series is clearly hurting from the absence of patrice désilets. say what you like about AC1 but the game had a clear, concise vision and knew what it wanted to be. since that point the sequels have shed nearly all of the elements that made the concept unique in the first place.

structurally, tonally, thematically, it's nearly all gone.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

What is going on with Desmond's nose? His whole face is like stretched out by half a foot. I'm weirded out everytime I see it.

 

[Daft_Cat]

I really hope the next game takes place in a London/Paris one-two punch combo.

AC3's setting feels more like Skyrim than an AC game...not that I don't like it. There are elements of this game that I think reach a new peak for the series.

this series is clearly hurting from the absence of patrice désilets. say what you like about AC1 but the game had a clear, concise vision and knew what it wanted to be. since that point the sequels have shed nearly all of the elements that made the concept unique in the first place.

structurally, tonally, thematically, it's nearly all gone.

I agree that you can feel his absence here. Despite AC3's quality, I doubt this is the game he'd have made.

 

[keltickennedy]

this series is clearly hurting from the absence of patrice désilets. say what you like about AC1 but the game had a clear, concise vision and knew what it wanted to be. since that point the sequels have shed nearly all of the elements that made the concept unique in the first place.

structurally, tonally, thematically, it's nearly all gone.

AC1 was a game where way more time was spent developing the engine and tech. So much time that they had to quickly implement some sort of gameplay mechanics and structure. Therefore you get, go to city->research target->go kill target. Repeat 9 times. I loved that game. But mostly for the atmosphere. I think AC2 is what they fully intended the franchise to be.

Btw, any news of what Patrice is doing now? Still at THQ? Did he leave when it started to go to shit?

 

[EloquentM]

I got

Spoiler

randomly attacked by a cougar and almost fell off a cliff side as a result.

I love this game.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Okay, go back to the manor now. That outfit might only unlock after you have completed the first ship missions.

Nope, none of my pre-order gear is in there. No axe, no uniform, no pistol, no nothing.

 

[Pavaloo]

Into sequence 4 now, my impressions so far:

The game is glitchy and unpolished. Pathing/scripting bugs abound. Clipping abounds.

The controls are a big step backward compared to Brotherhood or even AC2. I don't understand how they managed to make things this much worse.

I don't like the setting. We've gone from some beautiful, sprawling cities to clumps of small houses and your back yard. What makes it worse is just the faintest whiff of

Spoiler

London

at the beginning of the game leaves me wondering what could have been.

It takes forever to get going. It's like the developers crammed every idea they brainstormed into it. It's self indulgent, bordering on pretentious.

The voice acting is uneven. John DeLancie is not good. Which is unfortunate since he has so many lines, presumably because Ubi wanted to get their money's worth out of him. It sounds like's cold reading all of his lines without any idea of what any of the stuff he's talking about actually means.

The character models in the present day segments look freakish.

Agreed 100%. Especially on the self indulgent bordering pretentious lengthy intro. I was completely ready to turn this game off and come back to it when I have nothing else to play, but I stuck out past sequence 5 and I finally feel like it's going somewhere. Took long enough, seriously.

 

[PowderedToast]

AC1 was a game where way more time was spent developing the engine and tech. So much time that they had to quickly implement some sort of gameplay mechanics and structure. Therefore you get, go to city->research target->go kill target. Repeat 9 times. I loved that game. But mostly for the atmosphere. I think AC2 is what they fully intended the franchise to be.

Btw, any news of what Patrice is doing now? Still at THQ? Did he leave when it started to go to shit?

i think GTA mission structure of AC2 is a response, not a decision driven by creativity. instead of iterating on the design of the original it felt like they threw their hands up and went with a proven formula that works. consequently the sequel lacks a lot of the first games flavour, despite how robust and satisfying it can be. the writing also dropped in quality, it glossed over a lot of the grey morality that made the original interesting.

 

[SlasherJPC]

I've played almost 17 hours now. I know the game take a good chunk of hours to get going, to be honest I've spent more time in sequence 6 and 7 then the combined time of 1-5. Six of those hours were 1-5, the other 10 came from 6-7 and I'm not done with 7. Yes I'm doing alot of side quest but still. Just goes to show how much things change and gameplay options open up later on.

 

[MrCompletely]

It's a shame the multiplayer is taking such a backseat here. PLay this MP game people, its fantastic.

 

[Eideka]

Ubi seems to do this a lot with their games. Especially if you play the Bunker Hill mission. The demo I saw at PAX, the british troops were way closer and you could make out each individual model. The retail version they are moved way further back and the only thing you can really make out are the shots of gun fire. Bummer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiVJG_mrtFo&feature=player_detailpage#t=63s

I know a lot of things are going on in this game, but I can't help but being disappointed by the result. I was very enthusiastic prior to the release by the graphics and now...Well its nowhere near as mind-blowing.
This leads me to assume trailers footage were PC....

Also I think that they use two different version of character models for cutscenes. (similar to uncharted) The have way more high res faces and I think they are pre-rendered. Which still confuses me why they would keep such low res shadow maps in the cutscenes.

Indeed, if the cutscenes were indeed pre rendered then they could have gone a little bit further regarding fidelity.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Depends on who you ask, I guess. I think he is the most likable character so far. Certainly more fun to play as him as well.

costume, gameplay and setting wise he is my favorite but he seriously lacks the heart Ezio's character had.
he does actually has a more interesting background though,
I think the the voice acting is a big part of it.

Man the standard Aquila costume is the best outfit in the game, too bad it isn't unlockable.

 

[george_us]

One thing I actually do like about this game is that I actually fear getting my ass beat when I attract a lot of attention and thus run away. In AC2 it was really easy to take on a large group but here I actually usually resort to violence as a last resort.

 

[Pavaloo]

One thing I actually do like about this game is that I actually fear getting my ass beat when I attract a lot of attention and thus run away. In AC2 it was really easy to take on a large group but here I actually usually resort to violence as a last resort.

I find myself going "fuck these broken stealth mechanics" constantly. Trying to take a breeze through the city, point a to b, but no guards all want to start shit. It's ridiculous sometimes, I end up going "fuck, I'm just going to murder you all one by one and be done with it." In the other games it was way easier on the user's end to evade and hide.

Also, I really hate how the game goes into another screen when I press R2 to change one weapon.

 

[Quick]

Running through Charlstown while it's getting destroyed by cannon fire? HNNNNNNNG

 

[RiotPelaaja]

Agreed 100%. Especially on the self indulgent bordering pretentious lengthy intro. I was completely ready to turn this game off and come back to it when I have nothing else to play, but I stuck out past sequence 5 and I finally feel like it's going somewhere. Took long enough, seriously.

I cannot understand how you think the controls are worse, I felt they were much improved and streamlined in a good way. Probably big differences in playstyles. Also the frontier graphics are superbly realized, though the present day Desmond execution is clearly weaker than the rest of the game.

 

[rvy]

Agreed 100%. Especially on the self indulgent bordering pretentious lengthy intro. I was completely ready to turn this game off and come back to it when I have nothing else to play, but I stuck out past sequence 5 and I finally feel like it's going somewhere. Took long enough, seriously.

+1 for awful, drawn-out intro. It's like one of their b-studios handled that and the Desmond sections and Montreal did the rest of the game. So, so bad.

 

[Derrick01]

Jesus this really does start slow. I'm fighting off sleeping during sequence 1.

Doesn't help that voices in the background are hard as hell to hear. Hurts the immersion when I can't hear anything but cutscene speech.

 

[rvy]

Jesus this really does start slow. I'm fighting off sleeping during sequence 1.

Doesn't help that voices in the background are hard as hell to hear. Hurts the immersion when I can't hear anything but cutscene speech.

You have a long way to go before it gets any good. But it does.

 

[FStop7]

Agreed 100%. Especially on the self indulgent bordering pretentious lengthy intro. I was completely ready to turn this game off and come back to it when I have nothing else to play, but I stuck out past sequence 5 and I finally feel like it's going somewhere. Took long enough, seriously.

I was raging at being forced to play hide and seek for 10 minutes (more like 20 since I had to do it over in order to get the optional objectives) with some bratty kids that kept repeating the same 2 or 3 lines of dialogue with the same 1 minute bit of native American folk music droning on in the background. God.

I actually enjoyed a lot of sequence one. Two was okay, three left me tired and frustrated. All three of those sequences could have easily been concisely edited down into a single sequence that is just as informative. And the surprise at the end would have been no less impactful. In fact, by dragging it out the reveal that

Spoiler

Haytham is a Templar

was lessened because it had become so obvious to me.

 

[Pavaloo]

I cannot understand how you think the controls are worse, I felt they were much improved and streamlined in a good way. Probably big differences in playstyles. Also the frontier graphics are superbly realized, though the present day Desmond execution is clearly weaker than the rest of the game.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but switch weapons in Brotherhood and Revelations were a breeze, now I get a new screen popping up so I can change from bait to snap, it's annoying. Also, feel like they made target lock on worse. But you're right, it's most likely a play style thing, and as soon as that frontier opens up and they allow you to do all the tree traversal stuff, it feels great absolutely.

I hated the intro for being so drawn out, but it pays off with something I didn't expect when

Spoiler

Charles Lee gets his ring

And this might just be me, but is anyone else sick of how constantly this game flashes/fades to white? I'm not talking cut scenes, every little interaction you do apart from combat and parkouring. Skin an animal FLASH open a door FLASH etc. I don't know, it's just really starting to hurt my eyes.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

i think GTA mission structure of AC2 is a response, not a decision driven by creativity. instead of iterating on the design of the original it felt like they threw their hands up and went with a proven formula that works. consequently the sequel lacks a lot of the first games flavour, despite how robust and satisfying it can be. the writing also dropped in quality, it glossed over a lot of the grey morality that made the original interesting.

I agree with this. I still think AC1 had the best mission structure. It was more hub-based and a lot less linear. I love AC2 and Brotherhood, but I always felt like they should have evolved the AC1 formula more, at least for the assassination targets. It should be historical Hitman.

 

[Pavaloo]

I was raging at being forced to play hide and seek for 10 minutes (more like 20 since I had to do it over in order to get the optional objectives) with some bratty kids that kept repeating the same 2 or 3 lines of dialogue with the same 1 minute bit of native American folk music droning on in the background. God.

I actually enjoyed a lot of sequence one. Two was okay, three left me tired and frustrated. All three of those sequences could have easily been concisely edited down into a single sequence that is just as informative. And the surprise at the end would have been no less impactful. In fact, by dragging it out the reveal that

Spoiler

Haytham is a Templar

was lessened because it had become so obvious to me.

Absolutely. I ended up being surprised at the end, but only because I had gotten this feeling of "Okay I get it, he's a GOOD GUY, jeez." Also probably end up surprised because I got so bored and stopped paying attention for most of the first 3 sequences.

 

[Wuthering_Heights]

Synchronizing viewpoints feels kinda worthless this time. It only reveals a tiny circle, and you have to fill in the rest yourself, anyway.

 

[Messofanego]

Kevin VanOrd is asking Brazilian players about inaccuracies in AC 3:

Isn't SalsaShark from Brazil? And some others in this thread?

 

[Blue Ninja]

I think they got a real native american to play Connor, right? Good for them, but they should've looked a bit longer to find a guy who knows how to do other emotions besides 'calm' and 'angry'.

And I think Salsa's from Uruguay.

 

[Pavaloo]

I agree with this. I still think AC1 had the best mission structure. It was more hub-based and a lot less linear. I love AC2 and Brotherhood, but I always felt like they should have evolved the AC1 formula more, at least for the assassination targets. It should be historical Hitman.

Double agree. The structure of assassinations now is so far removed from the original concept, which I thought was the most appealing.

 

[Kerub]

How long would you say the game is?

I must be at least 5 hours in, and I still feel like I'm playing a tutorial.

 

[Pavaloo]

How long would you say the game is?

I must be at least 5 hours in, and I still feel like I'm playing a tutorial.

You are :/ I can't speak for the overall game length, but the entire intro is really drawn out and long.

 

[Mattdaddy]

I've been tyring to hold out for PC but I don't think Im going to make it. 3 day weekend coming up... im weak.

 

[Raitosaito]

How long would you say the game is?

I must be at least 5 hours in, and I still feel like I'm playing a tutorial.

If you do only the main quest very few of the game's main quest feel like actual non tutorial content.

 

[Mizzou Gaming]

Am I the only one in here that is really enjoying this game. Some people make it sound like its downright torture playing it.

 

[Kerub]

Am I the only one in here that is really enjoying this game. Some people make it sound like its downright torture playing it.

No, it's nice. It's just very controlled so far.