Stopped playing ~5 hours in myself, just couldn't brink myself to play it any longer. Then again I thought first one was incredibly boring.
The first one was incredibly boring.
Me, I don't like not completing games--and I
loathed Revelations.
AC3 is weird in that the first ten hours or so are like "okay, so there are a few good ideas, and I really love the boats, but I'm not seeing what Ubisoft was so good here."
Then, after a while, things start to pick up. You start really exploring the optional missions, and there's a lot to discover, as I've found out today. It's sad that I'm in the top 10% of all traders--I've only sent like fifteen convoys total, loaded up with nothing more than pelts.
AC3's biggest problems seem to stem from the lack of proper communication (it communicates a LOT of stuff, just not the right stuff--I've opened like five hundred locks; believe me, I've got that down) and the inability to pace anything properly. I'm on Chapter 10 of 12 of the game, and I've only just now really begun to do All The Other Things. It turns out that AC3 has a lot of things to do; it just didn't communicate them well or encourage me to try them out the way it should.
The minigames suck completely, though. I haven't won a single one of them; the AI definitely cheats with Bowling.
Also, climbing doesn't seem quite right; it's almost too twitchy, and I seem to be making a lot more mistakes than I did in the previous game. Plus, there are way more... like... "balance" animations, as if the character has to take time to orient himself and begin climbing. Jump across a chasm and grab on to a branch, and you'll swing about a bit before pulling yourself up. Realistically, it makes sense, but AC3 doesn't allow for quite as much roof traversal as previous games, so this ultimately means that you get slowed down a lot more than you should. This ultimately makes chasing after papers really annoying.
The boat missions are incredible, and so good that I would actively buy AC4 on day one if I had the cash, despite AC3's bloat and flaws, simply because I want more of that. But also because I was asking for a Jamaican Assassin's Creed back around Brotherhood's time frame, back when everyone else was speculating that we'd see the French or American revolutions next. So I feel like ACIV is 'my' AC.
Neat game; I hated it when I started it, but now that I'm actively seeking out the non-campaign content (I hate this game's stealth; it's among the worst stealth ever designed), focusing on things like getting my Homestead up to snuff, or recruiting and using assassins, or upgrading my boat and taking it out on the high seas... I'm having a lot more fun.
I dare say I like AC3 now.
