Assassin's Creed III takes the eternal battle of the Assassins vs The Templars to Colonial America from 1754 to 1783. Here you will control Englishman Haythem Kenway who makes the journey from England at the onset of the French and Indian War and later a Mohican boy Ratonhnhaké:ton who becomes known as Connor, the first Native American member of the Assassin Brotherhood.
The plot once again has you as Desmond uncovering the secrets of the mysterious Isu picking up directly from Revelations. While I admit I was intrigued by this in the beginning, by now the fifth outing, I grew weary of it as it serves no real purpose and has become more incoherent and annoying more than anything. The true game anyway is inside the Animus and the American Revolution was an interesting backdrop to play in. Along the way you meet everyone from George Washington to Benjamin Franklin and even kill a few famous people (who historically died albeit under different circumstances).
Conor is a very different protagonist to Ezio and it was quite jarring to play as someone with such a different personality or dare I say lack thereof. I get he is supposed to be a Native American, incensed by outsiders invading his ancestral lands, destroying his village and killing his mother but this seems to be expressed through a petulant child's impatience and arrogance rather than someone taking mature and measured view of the changing political landscape while assassinating people in revenge. Being annoyed by the main character isn't a great feeling for a long game but thankfully each AC game from this point onwards has a new protagonist so it's a short-lived suffering.
It's fair to say that once Ubisoft scored a hit with a game, they often simply reiterate on the formula with little by way of significant innovation and that's very evident from ACIII. Traversal is as the older AC games, without the extra zip-lining of Revelations and now one can free run through trees as well as over rooftops. Combat is a little more streamlined and and a tad easier than before and also shows Connor's sheer brutality with his traditional weapons like a stone axe or tomahawk, very different from Ezio's more redefined and elegant combat. The majority of the game isn't vastly different from before other than the setting and characters and that's not necessarily a bad thing but there does need to be more significant innovation than what we got here for a title to be elevated above it's predecessors.
One new thing that did to come to ACIII is a naval battle mechanic, where you take control of a naval vessel and manage its sails and weapons to outwit the enemy and sink them before they sink you. While this is a welcome change from the other 30 hours or so of melee combat, it's underutilised here and wouldn't be until the sequel Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag where it would be explored properly.
While I wasn't bored by any means, I did not on this occasion seek out to reveal as much of the map through synchronisation points, nor did I complete all the side-missions after a time, preferring to concentrate on the main plot. I know that later titles in the series somewhat softlock you until you gain experience or wall off access to content through playing but this was not necessary here which is good in the way that Ubisoft respect your time and not require you to complete certain side content to progress, but bad in the way that I do feel I did miss out on part of the game that I may have enjoyed. I also chose not to engage with the DLC, The Tyranny of King Washington as it was essentially a "dream sequence" and unrelated to the main narrative.
At the time of playing Assassin's Creed III, I was unaware that the remastered version is considered partly inferior to the original release due to differences in lighting and character facial textures being more "plastic" looking. Knowing this I would still have elected to play the remaster due to some quality of life changes and modernised controls. The original retail version of ACIII is no longer available for sale.
Final Verdict: With a lacklustre protagonist and nothing too innovative, Assassins Creed III is not the most beloved entry in the franchise and a relatively by-the-numbers Ubisoft adventure. It was a bizarre choice for the only remastered entry of the series as of 2025.
Technicals: 35 hrs playtime approx though Ubisoft Connect in 2560x1440 @ 60FPS (engine cap) on RTX4070Ti in Windows 11. In-game HDR.
Bugs: Horses would occasionally get stuck in terrain.
Availability: Assassin's Creed III: Remastered is on Steam or the Ubisoft Store for €39.99. Review copy came as DLC included with a purchase of Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Gold Edition for €33.43 in November 2019.
- Assassin's Creed [2007]
- Assassin's Creed II [2010]
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood [2011]
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations [2011]
- Assassin's Creed III [2012]
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag [2013]
- - Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry [2014]
- - Assassin's Creed III: Liberation HD [2014]
- Assassin's Creed Unity [2014]
- Assassin's Creed Rogue [2015]
- Assassin's Creed Syndicate [2015]
- Assassin's Creed Origins [2017]
- Assassin's Creed Odyssey [2018]
- - Assassin's Creed III Remastered [2019]
- - Assassin's Creed III Liberation Remastered [2019]
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla [2020]
- Assassin's Creed Mirage [2023]
- Assassin's Creed Shadows [2025]
- Assassin’s Creed Hexe [202?]
