u/DavenOnTheMoon

I had a long review where I broke down all the gameplay elements to explain why everything works so well. I decided to scrap all that to just say that this is one of the best open world action games ever.

The onscreen action is intense. Explosions are going off in slow motion sending enemies and cars flying. Aiden moves seamlessly from up close takedowns to long range headshots. Movement is fast allowing you to quickly close the distance or gain some verticality.

The focus shot is the heart of the combat. It gives you a bullet time mechanic that rivals that of Max Payne or Fear, but you get to experience it in a fully realized open world. The many negative reviews I’ve read on this subreddit or seen on YouTube tend to not mention the focus shot.

When you’re not in combat everything else is great. The map is varied and there’s some fun puzzles and mini games. The handling of the cars could have used some tweaking but the bikes are amazing. Very responsive controls and it’s awesome to clear jumps at top speed. The skill tree rewards players who want to engage with the side content but doesn’t punish those who just want to stick to the main story.

The story itself is excellent. It has great pacing, the plot is always developing, and the game always gives you a reason to do the next mission to see how everything unfolds.

Overall, one of my favourite games of all time. I don’t want a remake but I do want a remaster. I think the sound design on the guns can be improved and the textures and lighting can be overhauled. And Ubisoft needs to do some better marketing because I don’t think enough people realize just how good the combat is.

By the time the original Assassin’s Creed game released I had lost interest in the stealth genre. AC3 however was marketed as an action game so that became my entry point into the series.

When I got my hands on it I thought it was a major disappointment. It failed to deliver a true open world. The areas were separated by long loading screens. Everything took a loading screen from the missions to the cutscenes.

The story infuriated me. Connor constantly helps the Patriots even though they are openly more hostile to his people than the British. When he learns that George Washington was the one who attacked his Village and killed his mother, he has some stern words for Washington, but then kills his childhood friend and continues to help Washington’s army.

That was the point where I turned off the game. When Black Flag released a year later, I assumed that it invalidated AC3. I thought AC3 would just be remembered as a stepping stone for the pirate adventure.

A decade later I saw a compilation on Youtube showcasing the combat in AC3. I thought to myself “wtf, I didn’t know you could do all that”. The combat is leagues better than what’s in Black Flag. There’s much better sense of weight and impact. The sound of Connor’s tomahawk connecting is devastating. You can switch weapons out mid combo, perform multi kills with your tools. Heck you can even choke people with your hunting snare.

The enemies are well animated as they stumble around when pulled from your rope dart. There are dozens of kill animations, each one more brutal than the last. Officers swarm Connor, and even though the combat never gets too challenging, they are aggressive enough to keep you on your toes.

As I was slicing my way through officers I came to appreciate what the devs were trying to do. The cities are densely populated and the NPCs react to or participate in the revolution. The seasons cycle and the frontier and homestead get developed over time. It became more understandable why load times were used to stitch the world together on aging hardware.

Connor’s story is still a mess but I appreciate that they tried. It would have been so easy to have us play as Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger and whack redcoats with an American flag. It would have been an instant crowd pleaser but what we got was something far more enduring.

I still remember booting up this game. A game where you get to drive tanks, jets, helicopters, hover crafts, jet packs, and in the very first mission, they start you off…on a bicycle. A brilliant move that just showed how confident they were in their vision.

Yes it was a sandbox with a lot of toys but more important than that was the atmosphere they were able to craft. Grove Street is an area that is meticulously designed to feel like home both for the character and the player. When CJ returned from his cross state crusade I already felt nostalgic for Grove Street even back in 2004.

The chemistry between the four characters (CJ, Ryder, Sweet, and Big Smoke) is so good that mundane, routine missions are something to look forward to just to see them interact. They really captured that feeling of getting in a car with your boys and driving around town. Thinking about it now, this was the first stepping stone towards the incredible camp dynamics in Red Dead Redemption 2.

The game is just as enjoyable for me today. The bicycle is still my favourite vehicle. With max stats you can jump over cars, fences, bushes, and sometimes onto small houses and buildings. it’s just a piece of PS2 fun that we don’t see today.

Officer Tenpenny is an awesome villain. It’s a bit of a shortcut because it’s Samuel Jackson, the writers just had to build off an already familiar persona. But it works so well.

Over time I realized that the opening chapter in Los Santos is much stronger than the following sections in the Badlands, San Fierro, Bone County, and Los Ventura. We get more over the top action and missions but we lose that carefully crafted atmosphere and character dynamic. I wish the Los Santos section was a bit longer, but I guess that’s just part of the brilliance of San Andreas, it leaves you wanting more.

I think it’s relevant since stuntman is essentially a spinoff of Driver. Apparently it’s by the same studio as the Mudrunner games.

This certainly comes as a surprise. I didn’t think this type of game would be commercially viable since it takes a lot of work to create a stuntman track. Excited to see how they approach it.