Assassin’s Creed III launched last Tuesday, and with Ezio’s story arc all wrapped up, the new ancestor Desmond is following is Connor; a half English, half Iroquois Assassin in 18th century America during the Revolutionary War. I was immediately intrigued by the timeline, and it has been very cool to see so many historical events and characters from America’s beginnings. However, I have found Conner himself to be somewhat lacking. While Ezio was a man who could see the big picture of events and how they would affect the whole world, Conner cares little for anything beyond protecting his village of 20 Iroquois. His entire motivation in the game isn’t to stop the Templar’s, or help the Revolution, or stop tyranny. He is only interested in stopping whomever would threaten his peoples village, or claiming revenge on anybody he feels has wronged him. It just so happens that in doing so, he is by coincidence killing Templar’s and helping the Revolution. It seems like Ezio and Altaïr would be able to take a step back and view the big picture, and make the decisions that needed to be made.
My distaste for Conner has not made the game less enjoyable however. The gameplay has been further refined since the last title, and feels as smooth as ever. The new mechanics for running through trees is very fun, and the new weapons are very exciting to use in new and interesting ways. I just wish the games writers didn’t feel the need to place your character at every single major battle and historical event in the period. It is cool to see these places and events, but it just feels fake that miraculously your character ends up at the center of every major event of the whole time period.
Aside from those few shortfalls, I am having a very fun time playing the game. I haven’t gotten to 100% competition yet, but I am well on my way. I’m sure the ending will have it’s own plot twist as it always does, and I am excited to get to see whatever it is. Given the series popularity, I’m sure I won’t be waiting long for the next title to come along. I just hope if Conner returns in the next title, he grows up a little.
