Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

After beating ACIII, I was going to take a break from going through the series but then realized, the remastered version had a whole other game with it. I read up about the story online and had to jump right in. Originally, this was a PS Vita game and since I had no Vita and wasn't playing Assassins Creed back then, I completely missed out.

The story is unfortunately not very interesting, it felt like I could guess the main twist very early on. I did like Aveline as a main character and it was cool that they gave her some new mechanics like charming guys for various bonuses, shooting blow darts and changing disguises. I ended up using the blow darts a lot once I got them. There are interesting moments in her journey so I didn't hate the story or anything but I think with this being originally a portable game, they couldn't or didn't want to get too deep with the plot.

The portability did bring one change that I loved though, the almost mission based structure that this game has. Yes, it has the open world mechanics with side missions and other collectables you can run around and grab, but being able to do a mission in a smaller world felt so much more my speed than the huge open areas in most games that you have to navigate back and forth just to get to the next mission. I know I may sound old but honestly, I hate that every game is open world now. It was cool with GTA but I still prefer missions or levels or even just a little hub, if you have to make it slightly open. Open world games usually feel dragged out with everything they throw in there and yeah, you can ignore it all but then you still have to keep going from point A to point B and they throw stuff at you in between, just let me do the missions and move on to the next one!

Ok, I'm done ranting.

All that to say, I like the more mission based structure this game has, with a smaller world to navigate.

The combat is still the same Assassins Creed style that people love, it flows, it feels good and it annoys me at times, like always. Sneaking around is still fun and even more so with this game letting you climb trees and poison dart people. I was worried that this game would have the boat combat from ACIII but thankfully it doesn't. May be controversial but I hated the boat combat in that game.

It's a pretty good side story and a decent companion to the third game. I just wish the story was more engaging but I'll never hate a game that lets me kill slave masters.

7/10.

Greetings from Lithuania.

The only reason i played this game in 2019 was that i received it for free along with "Odyssey". Assassin's Creed III: Liberation (2012) was a very poor game. I finished it, but i couldn't skip this mess anytime and would have saved some time and brain cells. This game has a worst mechanics in the entire franchise, and playing it for me was clear that this game had a very small budget - this is why it felt rushed, unfinished, full of bugs and etc.

Overall - do not bother with this poor game. Its the worst in the series by far.

It's a shame people don't like it, I on the other hand did not expect it be to so awesome. I particularly love the female lead, Aveline. I really didn't have a lot of hope for it then when I saw it as a dlc, after having played AC3, on Xbox 360 when it was new. Now having gone back and played the remastered version of both games, believe it or not but Liberation in HD actually looks better then AC3 remastered. Sure the game is basically a character swap and Aveline controls just like Haytham, but they added some cool features, like the Lady, Slave and Assassin personas for Aveline to switch back and forth between, depending on what missions call for. Overall I enjoyed it very much, and Aveline is a sorely underrated character and Assassin, compared to others in the franchise. If you haven't played, it free to play with the purchase of AC3 Remastered bundle with all the previously released dlc. I'm giving it a 10.

As a fan of the AC-series I was looking forward to the first game for the Playstation Vita; see how the franchise would tickle the possibilities of the hand-held device. But the result is in fact a disappointing piece of a fast and unfinished production that, very likely, had to be finished for Christmas. No matter of ready or not.

You'll get thrown into the story without any sort of introduction to the situation or the characters. Extremely fast and uncomfortable and that is also the main problem of the storytelling with all of its symptoms. There are many logical errors and many unsolved questions throughout the game, including a mysterious family tragedy about girl between two worlds and the connection to templars and assassins. Some parts of the story are told straight, some parts confusing and not really satisfying.

The game play lacks in so many points, that I don't know where to start. There is no possibility of upgrading armor and weapons, but therefore a strange trading system. The idea might be nice, but it works not well and there is just one single location in the whole game you can use. A situation that becomes even worse because of the countless bugs of "Liberation". For example getting a blind map though you already discovered the whole area. Guards recognize you though you status is absolutely discreet and it happens more than once, that the game crashes. Or as reported, it may happen that your savings mysteriously got lost.

I will not kill the whole game. Indeed of the errors and the lack of storytelling, there is atmosphere and some kind of entertaining suspense. And because the player is controlling a girl, the game play offers some interesting features like playing different social roles. But don't expect these features will help you to overlook the poor quality.

Porting a game like Liberation to consoles is going to come with some very noticeable compromises - especially with how much of the gameplay made use of the PS Vita's exclusive features. But with that in mind, Liberation still proves to be a pretty good time. It's flawed beyond its handheld roots, but Liberation is still an Assassin's Creed game with some interesting ideas within its grasp.

Liberation tells one of the most interesting and unique stories in the series. It's more than just revenge and finding pieces of eden. The story mixes a slave narrative with elements of a conspiracy thriller. There's also a lot of interesting themes and symbolism throughout, almost feeling akin to the thematically-driven storytelling of AC1. The script is decent and the characterization is fairly well-done, but unfortunately a lot of these positives are overshadowed by the unpolished negatives. Despite Liberation having a genuinely good narrative, it's the presentation of that narrative that hurts the most. Cinematics are stiff and the voice acting is all over the place. Also, the way the story is told can feel a bit disjointed and abrupt at times - especially when it comes to timeskips, though this is something that other Assassin's Creed games have struggled with as well.

The open world and the gameplay is pretty solid for the most part. Liberation introduces some cool gameplay systems that are unique to this game. Most notably, the persona system. This taps into an interesting element of social stealth and also speaks to the themes of the game. But other than that, most of the game plays like Assassin's Creed III, but in a better world and scenario. The open world is fun to explore and much more fun to traverse than in Assassin's Creed III. There's also a decent amount of fun side content to engage with. But again, the gameplay is sometimes held back by the game's handheld roots. Certain missions have replaced their handheld features, but don't always translate well with a console setup. And also the jankiness of the presentation comes out a bit rougher in console format.

One of the most consistent factors of this game, though, is the atmosphere and art direction. Looking past the janky animations and some odd textures, Liberation looks quite good on the ACIII Remaster. There's better volumetric lighting and the coloration of the environments is a bit more vibrant, too. But the sharper look doesn't take away from the epic and expressive atmosphere. The game is ambitious, but still grounded in its deeper themes. While the soundtrack can be a bit theatrical at times, it makes up for it with its more spiritual and cultural moments.

Liberation is hindered by its janky presentation. The story is deep and symbolic, but the theatrical voice acting and scuffed cinematics make it hard to take seriously. The handheld spirit also doesn't translate all that well on a more powerful console with higher standards of quality. The game does redeem itself with the persona system and implementing Assassin's Creed III's framework into a slightly better sandbox. As well as the beautiful soundtrack, atmospheric environments, and vibrant art direction.