Assassin’s Creed 3 – A Unique Journey

There have been a rare few games that have been created that create a sense of amazement and make you want to see how the story ends and in some regard, not want to see it end. Yes, we know that Ubisoft has released a new Assassin’s Creed title every year since 2009 and you see some people make the argument that they’re coping what Call of Duty has done. However, not since Assassin’s Creed 2 has a story made me want to actually play it over not just a second time, but a third as well. And that is a rarity for me.

Usually when I beat a game’s story mode, I usually don’t play it again because either it takes too long or you really can’t get that same emotion again. Certain games just don't have that same appeal as the first play through, they don't have those moments that you remember instantly. However, Assassin’s Creed has made it a point for the character to not only continue his own story as part of a legacy, but to make the world around them better in the hardest of ways.

When we began our journey as Altair in the original Assassin's Creed, not remembered as the greatest character or story, but still important as it of course established the story. Of course, we would later be returned to witness some of Altair's most important parts in life and see just how much he struggled.

Once we were introduced to Ezio Auditore, the game changed into what we see it now. He had humor, charisma, and certain flare that we all love about him. We wanted to complete the side missions as well as the story. We wanted to find amazing items, to make the people recognize us. That continued all the way through Ezio’s journey which I enjoyed every step of the way. 

But we needed a breath of fresh air and Connor brings that with his own personal torment. I'm not going to reveal too much, but I'm going to give you the basics of the story to give you an understanding of it. But to truly experience it is to play the game themselves.

Connor is born to a Native American woman and a British Colonial man, also a Templar to boot. He is born just before the American Revolution and cast into a world that he has no idea of until his late teens. He loses his mother in a fire that will eventually be a catalyst later in the game’s story as he continues onward. He begins his journey when a ‘spirit,’ rather Juno, comes to him from a Piece of Eden from his village elder. After finding former Master Assassin, Achilles, Connor begins his journey to becoming an Assassin himself.

As the Revolution goes onward, Connor is at a constant struggle with his beliefs in right and wrong, and knowing that he must his kill his father, Haytham Kenway, while also trying to avenge his mother whom he believed died at the hand of Charles Lee. As the story unfolds, Connor learns the horrors of truth as he continues forward, learning the truth of his mother’s death during the Seven Years War, due to George Washington’s orders. The ironic truth is that he allied himself with generals like this to protect his beliefs, but as a result, allow the American people to push his own people further west, the ultimate betrayal in a sense.

That is what makes the story so sad, so powerful, and so inspiring. Connor sacrifices his own needs and wants of his people for the greater good in defending the right of freedom to the colonists. And even the ending, you still see the travesties of slave trade that would not end for nearly another hundred years. So for all the good Connor inspired and wanted, in the end, he still could not accomplish his goal.

He is not the same person as Ezio was. He's more reserved, protecting himself from the colonists around him as his people have done since their arrival. He isn't a ladies man like Ezio was, he's not as elegant in his movements. He's down to business, he is a simpler man and just beginning his journey as an Assassin, even if he does not take to it at first. It's not until the end that he understands that his role as an Assassin is not to protect just his people, but to protect the world from the Templar influence. Yes, throughout the journey he's very cocky, overconfident, naive, defiant of the conventions of what the Creed stood for, going so far as to suggest an alliance with the Templars after encountering his father for some time.

But it's those qualities  the fact that he chooses to question the Creed's conventions in an attempt to grow, something that the Assassins have strove for since their existence was first known. It wasn't until he had killed all of the Templars, including his father, and killing his best friend along the way, did Connor finally understand what it meant to be an Assassin, sometimes, there are things that you cannot control as he saw with the slave trade at the end of the game.

The problem I feel that people do not like Connor for is that they did not invest the time to understand him. They did not do the side missions that were fun, the ones that involved bringing up the Homestead around him, the ones that saw him take down Forts around Boston, New York, or the Frontier. They did not appreciate the Naval combat or recruiting the Assassins that he had. To fully understand a character, you have to play the game fully in my opinion. And each time I freed someone being oppressed by the British, I felt a little closer to Connor.

Now I've heard criticizers of the story of Assassin's Creed 3, saying that Connor is too dull to be an Assassin, that the story overall is boring compared to Assassin's Creed 2 and even that of Brotherhood. But people fail to realize that yes, this isn't going to be as lively as Florence or Italy was. It's a new colony just starting to find its way. There aren't sprawling cities where the buildings are all connected for rooftop exploration. There are no massive buildings or polazzo or catacombs to explore inside. No, there is instead the open world, the wilderness, the massive battlefields, harsh winters and forts that have never been explored in the Assassin's Creed universe. Shame that people cannot appreciate that. Don't get me wrong, the frame rate has been an issue with this game. The engine of course should not have been for this generation of consoles, but Ubisoft screwed themselves with the 2012 end of the world scare. Again, as I've said before, they should have never introduced Desmond and just left it to history.

As I've stated, Assassin's Creed is not Call of Duty, but apparently, they should have done that to make the people happy as they wanted more of the same. Perhaps in time, people will see the error of their ways.