Assassin’s Creed III: be athletic without the effort

I have a confession to make.

I am not in any way, shape, or form, an athlete. So, naturally, I’m not particularly gifted when it comes to free -running, hand-to-hand combat, or being light on my feet. Thankfully for people like me, there’s Assassin’s Creed III.

Despite the number three, this is Assassin’s Creed’s fifth outing. If you haven’t been to the club, now is a great time to join. Fans of stealth action, epic naval battles, and alternate history will find a lot to love here. You’ll spend a great deal of your time free running through 1776 Boston and New York City, sneaking up on your foes and sending them to their maker with the Assassins’ trademark wrist-blade. When you grow weary of pouncing on English soldiers from the rooftops, there’s a plethora of side-quests and activities to take part in: hunting (both wildlife and treasure), gambling, and waging war on the open seas are only a few of the diversions ACIII has to offer.

For the uninitiated, the story of Assassin’s Creed can be a bit much to handle. Since the 12th Century, the Brotherhood of Assassins has been battling against the Templars, a corrupt organization vying for control of the world. In this latest installment, the conflict has reached the American Revolution. You play as Connor Kenway, a Native American of the Mohawk tribe, who becomes an assassin after Templars (aka the English) burn down his village and inadvertently kill his mother.

History buffs will surely get a kick out of ACIII’s take on American origins. Connor’s role as an assassin is fueled by a personal vendetta, yet he finds himself caught in a budding nation’s battle for independence. As Connor, your first brush with the revolution will come from helping Ben Franklin retrieve lost pages from his almanac. As you progress you will befriend freedom fighters like Sam Adams, who will help you escape from an English-controlled Boston, and military figures like one George Washington. The developers also have plans for future downloadable content that will explore a “what-if” scenario, one where Washington declares himself the king of the United States.

ACIII isn’t perfect though. Most enemies can be easily disposed of with a combination of only two buttons, and at times Connor’s stubbornness makes him hard to relate to as a protagonist. Where it falls short the most, however, is during segments where the player is returned to the present and is dropped into the shoes of Connor’s descendant, Desmond Miles. Using a virtual reality machine called the Animus, Desmond lives out the memories of his ancestors in an attempt to train as an assassin. These chapters attempt to flesh out a portion of the story where the Assassins and Templars are battling for artifacts that will prevent the coming 12/21/12 apocalypse. These fall short in comparison to the rest of the game, and if you’re anything like me, you will want to return to the colonies as soon as you can.

With a hefty single player campaign, an intense cat-and-mouse multiplayer mode (online only, no system link or split-screen), and more content on the way, ACIII’s indiscretions can be forgiven. To veterans of the series, it may just seem like more of the same, but to newcomers who have thought about jumping in, there is no better time than now; Viva La Revolución.