Hidden side Assassin’s Creed III

Assasin’s Creed III-No, not the third, but in fact, the fifth of the truly great series, which has long gone beyond the struggle of the Assassins and Templars, but still clashes the absolute order and chaotic freedom in a secret war. True, one -sided.

Despite the different attitude to the video game from a large number of people, I endlessly love this part. From the entire series in Assassin’s Creed III I spent the most hours, and the number of passages has long gone over a dozen. North America During the revolution, the player is more than capturing, the plot from the side native resident issues an interesting position in the era, and Ezio Gameplay fascinated the finalized from the time. I still remember my emotions from acrobatics in trees and .. Possibly murder on the run!

Two opponents!

This is a breakup for a 9-year-old I was!

But I’m not talking about it today.

During one of the last passages, I devoted more time to additional activities in the video game. And in many ways he noticed that the tricel (we will position the game just like that) is noticeably different in their filling from the previous and subsequent parts of the series. Yes, the franchise is relatively famous for the ministers, we recall at least how Avor jokes about the opponent’s mother in a kind of rap batel in Valhalla.

But the third part, as for me, is especially distinguished among them with a variety of activities that can use the main mechanics, but implement them in a completely different way.

So, what will we talk about today?

Let me start a fairy tale about one of the unobvious aspin’s Assasin’s Creed III ..

Chapter 1. Assassin’s Creed III and board games

London, Royal Theater in Covent Garden, a stately man in a triangular hat goes to look at the opera .

We are leaving the opera.

And here we are on the ship sailing to America. We are going to find adventures at the fifth point ..

And from that moment on the world of the dimensions opens ..

Yes, who needs it America, Colonial problems, after all, the eternal question « Where is Charles Lee?!« When you can get rid of Mill, Fanoron And checkers.

And if you want to get up from the table, then please! Curling! Only instead of ice is ordinary earth, and pra -hobby shells replace balls. Diversity, by the way!

Analogue Curling, In addition to individual participation and climate features, it largely repeats the principles of the game. One of the players throws a test ball to determine the test zone. Then the rivals try to throw their already test balls as close as possible to the test. Whose shell, and preferably, a few, will be closer to the test, he wins at the end of the period. Repeat to victory.

As in a good game, a simple concept is not devoid of pitfalls: several principles of throwing, building tactics with the possibility of moving a test ball and so on. True, complexity can arise only at the stage of development, losses are associated with random and possible unpredictability of physics. As a conclusion, quite interesting Miniyire several times.

Checkers. I hope this type of game should not be described, it is quite common in the CIS. Quite classic checkers with the most typical rules. Well, how typical.

Here you can open the window, because I will explain to you that there are differences depending on the country.

You see, for example, in Russian versions (which uses international principle) ladies can go to Anyone the number of cells, and simple checkers can beat in The reverse side. English the same checkers limit the ladies to move only in One cell and accordingly simple checkers beat only forward.

The last type and implemented in the assassin due to the context of the historical era.

The window can be officially considered closed.

But with other tublies, the situation is more interesting. Because you are unlikely to hear about them.

It would seem cool activity for lovers of board games. In addition to already familiar sets, little -known, even one might say, local views for studying.

Only now, even with such nicheism, there are problems.

There are two of them globally.

The first – Dysbalance of complexity. Curling And checkers pass relatively simple and, depending on the complexity, offer fair Challenge. There are problems with newcomers.

Suppose, Fanoron It was simply not fully mastered, because I played the same checkers for years, and I noticed this game for the first time only recently. But the mill … In it, on the lowest complexity, try to win, and then the coffin.

Everything boils down to find errors The only working tactics that can at least somehow deceive AI. And it’s not a fact that you can win .

On the forums you can find a sufficient number of messages from various users that they literally downloaded applications with a mill to watch the best moves, repeating for AI in the assassin. And you know what? It does not help.

Here we are not talking about the intellectual game, but about the mechanical. That is, all pleasure goes into negative meanings.

« So ignore the mill and play other tables, they are better, because after all?« .

So, if not for the second problem – The mill is everywhere!

A typical situation – the player enters the tavern, sees two stately men. Suitable for one, and he replies: «  »Brother, and I play the mill. Here, for 6 chips« .

Approaches another, and in response: «  »Sorry brother, I’m just playing the mill. On 12 chips« .

The player runs to another tavern, finds a new play on the map, only in the place of the bone is again a damn mill, but already 9 chips!

And in the last tavern there is finally located Fanoron, but … at the last level of complexity. And try to play at least some kind of hill over the mill ..

I only saw the checkers only twice, and then one of them on the bay of the Davenport estate. The uneven distribution of board games at the root kills the desire to try them. And it’s a pity, I would like to linger longer in them.

Chapter 2. Assassin’s Creed III and economic strategy

IN Assassin’s Creed Almost always, the economy played https://casinomagius.co.uk/ a fairly important role. Buying a new equipment, collection items – all this attracts the attention of the player and encourages him to study the world for, in fact, making money. Only almost everywhere this boils down either to a banal search of chests, or to a menu in which everything works on the principle of “poured money thoughtlessly, after a while I received more money”. Villa in the second part, the contracts of the brotherhood of the Assassins in the late games about Ezio, the fleet in Black Flag (although there is a nuance, but not global).

So how is it different ledger And pumping estates Davenport in a tricel from the previously indicated examples?

Answer – complexity.

I am sure that 90% of the players after the only encounter in the plot with Grossbukh never touched him again. Or one more time, but after 10 seconds they closed and accurately forgot about its existence. And the reason for this is quite understandable – interface Grossbukha unfriendly To the first set. Dozens of menu inside other menu, with the functions of which you still need to understand;Some resources, Some Craftsmen, recipes, Caravans, trade and many other points of logistics, the totality of which is so confusing the system that involuntarily rejects itself.

But it is worth sitting for more than 5 minutes in this system, as the structure becomes not so complicated, and Grassbukh turns from absolutely unfriendly rudiment into a potentially profitable opportunity.

So, what is the business development of the Davenport estate in a nutshell? Everything is built on buying and sales. The player produces goods or finds valuable resources, for example, animal skins, fills the caravans with them and sends the chosen merchant. We fix profit after a few hours.

All complexity lies in the first paragraph, namely, production. Since the idea came up in the Troundel to develop a full -fledged settlement from the estate (which I will talk about later), each resident has his own role in it and is responsible for its own resources. These are ores, wood, wool – in general, the most popular materials. Moreover, each settler must be pumped by completing his tasks in order to discover new opportunities.

But a simple sale of resources, of course, can bring money, but this potential will be small. But if the player starts to produce goods, For example, clothes, paper, Medicines, Noble beer And wine, then you can earn much more. The whole depth of the Grossbukh is revealed in the production, when the player needs to take into account the level of rolled artisans, the availability of the necessary resources and recipes, generally understand what can bring more pounds and which merchant to send it, because one, for example, boughts up clothes well, and the second does not against souvenirs.

And I have not yet mentioned various types of caravans. Sea caravans open many new merchants from different islands.

It sounds difficult? Yes, but incredibly involves such an entrepreneurial household in the process. You can fall into business for a dozen or two minutes, although it seems that 2 times less time has passed. The system is made very well to spend the time of the player without driving into boredom.

And it is also perfectly integrated into the main game. See:

Trite for business development, you need to develop your estate, And this is a large, albeit additional, layer of gameplay, very comprehensive in itself;

I want new ones recipes? I also like to search chests? Bingo! Get the relationship of recipes and chests;

Okay, the settlement, and the estate may change from this? Certainly! You can fill one of the rooms with the inventions of the great Benjamin Franklin , And their player receives, running after the corresponding sheets in Boston and New York;

And also Caravans may not reach their destination. Because they exist risks On the routes. How to reduce them? Capturing on land Forts, Fulfilling at sea Contracts.

Feel a deep relationship of video games for, at first glance, an unnecessary book? More than half of the player’s main actions can help his business.

So I think Grassbekh is an incredibly cool additional Assassin’s Creed III feature . Yes, I agree that interaction with production could still be made more subunitative. For example, a qualitative improvement could be the opportunity to immediately withdraw the player from the goods to the necessary resources, and not forced to independently search for many similar items. Especially annoying in moments when a couple more goods need to be created for the production of goods, and each needs their own resources. And there are problems with the balance, sometimes it’s more profitable to just sell animal skins than to produce something and spend more time.

But unlike board games, ledger not broken element, but more than organically inscribed and attractive unobtrusive activity. I would not refuse such a development of management and in other parts.

Chapter 3. Assassin’s Creed III and settlement

Let’s get back to the settlement and its development. In principle, this item against the rest of the rest looks strange, because it directly uses only the main mechanics of the game and actively advance. At least tags on the map. Therefore, I will try to briefly talk about this activity, mainly with emotions.

The development of the settlement – This is a separate miniser inside estates Davenport, Although other locations also affect. All the emphasis goes to complete tasks from new settlers, which open as the main plot passes. You perform their quests, develop a character for business, get new quests and so on until the final.

Interest is caused by municipality, sometimes interconnected between different branches of artisans. For example, a family of farmers who are going to give birth to a child. They require a doctor whom we pull out from New York. So the player is imbued with emotions to almost every settler, which is why they cease to be just functional blanks. In addition, there are events uniting all, such as the protection of the settlement from the loyalists or the funeral of Ahides, which are pierced on a mean tear.

Only this is all for the most part does not work.

The developers came up with the plots, and the normal production and variety of situations in the gameplay plan to be implemented forgotten. You look at these katsets! It is immediately evident where they saved on the budget. It is clear that this is purely additional activity, but besides laughter and Spanish shame, the flat stroke of the frame and oak animations do not cause anything. Rather, the sensation of indie development.

And yes, not all storylines inside the history of the settlement are interesting. And if they simply do not represent anything but conversations and quests in the spirit « Give me a subjugation« , Then this is not so bad.

Meet – Norris, Rudokop of French origin and Miriam, Hunter. Fold them, it turns out a romantic line.

In principle, making a good romantic line is not such a simple task as it might seem. Passing, background – quite. But the developers could not cope with this task.

What do we have?

A stately man in a hood approaches Norris, he says « Damn, I, I fell in love, in short, and I don’t know what to give (() () () () (((« .

A survey in the settlement leads to a bouquet of flowers. Connor himself climbs to the top of the local mountain, takes flowers, carries flowers, Norris with flowers.

The next quest. It turns out that this fool threw the flowers and rejected Norris. Connor climbs into the camp and for some reason examines the camp on the stealth in search of a gift. It turns out to be a knife.

The blacksmith makes a knife, Norris gives a knife, Miriam immediately shattered, love-carrots ..

And this non -juracy of events connects with the non -casual of quests and running around. So it turns out general boredom with similar quests.

In fact, for clickbeat and does not make much sense.

However, there is such a quest in the game as « Encyclopedia of a simple person« . The essence of this hypothetical book is to talk about a typical person without 5 minutes of free America and his life. And the quest is performed by … simple observation. Radunhanhada just notes some classes of settlers and … all. Nothing else happens. There are not even a quest awards. And although I have claims to, in fact, the existence of such a task, it is worth recognizing that this gives the motivation to pay attention to the fact that the settlement lives without your participation.

One of the features of the third assassin, which was mentioned in the marketing company, is that NPC live on their own schedule. And if you don’t really notice this in cities, then in the settlement – more than. Each only for the quest is spelled out by 4-5 activities, and it is worth noting the random events of the expensive. This can unite Assasin’s Creed III and Stardew Valley – the liveliness of the settlement.

Chapter 4. Assassin’s Creed III and dark dungeons ..

But where the player will not meet any liveliness, and to be more precise, only excessive Deadness – These are in deep catacombs of local cities, in which no one will hear your screams..

Although the plot acquaintance with them the player is not impressive at all.

But even here there are not enough conditions to understand why the catacombs were generally implemented, even if it is possible to know all its potential.

Please – here is the dungeon. It looks dark, but quite standard, after all, it was possible to run around unlit rooms.

But it is worth turning off the interface ..

The visual row and sound design are unscrewed at full power:

The lack of an embossed, a barely audible noise of the city from above, breaking through the monolithic blocks of stones. The heavy steps of the Assassin, which are spreading deep echo along the narrow corridors. Drops of water flowing from the ceiling and occasionally falling to the floor. And, of course, the all -consuming darkness, with which the lone light of a kerosene lantern copes with ..

Perhaps where the maximum is revealed to the lighting force of the remaster of the tricel, it is in the catacombs. Created To the terrible An uncomfortable atmosphere.

All this is complemented by an endless labyrinth with narrow corridors and a constantly changing vertical level due to the abundance of stairs.

This situation is put in such a contrast with everything the rest gameplay where the player feels himself hero, capable of understanding with dozens of soldiers.

IN catacombs The same speed Slow down, And Connor Can’t attack or climb the walls while holding a lantern in his hands. A feeling of helplessness is created ..

The possibilities of orientation within the dungeons are disclosed. It immediately becomes clear, and there are arrows on the walls, the possibility of ignition of torches and rats that run towards the exit. With a minicart in the corner of the screen, all these visual tips do not make any sense, without it the puzzle folds.

But well, the atmosphere is of course, cool, claustrophobes were checked out, but what is gameplay? Really just a walking simulator through the labyrinth in search of outputs?

Like yes, but not actually.

As part of the location and atmosphere, I think, the developers made the maximum possible variety of situations. At least starting with visual, since the tunnies, although they are similar to each other, are different. Somewhere these are whole stone walls, and somewhere they are already wooden and cracked, and instead of the floor, ordinary clay mixed with earth and sand.

But you are unlikely to interest you, I understand.

Repeatedly found Puzzles, spatial thinking. Most often it is a closed door, which can only be unit on the reverse side. You have to leave a lantern, and most often closer to the door, so as not to lose trite, and engage in extraordinary acrobatics. Somewhere you can find a barrel with gunpowder, put it to a stabbed passage, and blow it up to open a short passage. There are quite interesting situations, for example, the lifting of a lantern on an impromptu elevator and a corridor, the location of the platforms of which depends on the consistent use of the levers.

Exits are always accompanied by riddles. It can be standard mini-game with a hack, which, by the way, in Remaster-version left only here in the plot places, or a puzzle with interconnected locks of castles.

But especially among them, atypical interaction with the lantern is distinguished. I haven’t told you yet that the topic skipped here and there Masonov – The most famous secret community. On the floor you can find mysterious luminous panels indicating the output. A recognizable symbol with an eye in the center looks at different surfaces. And the quintessence of the topic is some exits to the surface, equipped as Logova. The essence of the riddle is the correct arrangement of four elements on the panel. Where to get tips?

From the texts. Texts of Masons.

They can be found in shelters in which lines are highlighted to help determine the position of the elements. As an example, an excerpt: “Whether the Christianity of Western countries or Buddhism of the Eastern lands” shows that the sign of Christianity is located on the left, and Buddhism, respectively, on the right. These are the most obvious tips, there are more complex examples.

For me, the most interesting fact was that these texts are based on real sources. For example, that passage was taken from a manuscript under the in -game name “regarding God and religion”, which is directly referred to 1 section of the Anderson Constitution, published in 1723, with a similar name.

About God and religion

The free mason is obliged to comply with the moral law;And if he rightly understands art, he will never be a stupid atheist, nor a Libertarian without any faith. If in ancient times the Masons were obliged to profess the religion of their country or nation, whatever it may be, then today it is more advisable to belong to the religion in which all people find consent, leaving their private opinions with themselves. This religion means that you must be a kind and right person, noble and honest, regardless of faith and beliefs. Thus, Freemasonry becomes the center of the Union, a means of reconciling and genuine friendship between people, which should remain constant goal.

AND. Regarding God and religion

The charter obliges Mason under any circumstances to obey and observe the moral law, and if he correctly understands the craft, he will never become a fool of an atheist or an unbelieving free-thinking. Since time immemorial, Masons have been persecuted in every country, all over the world, no matter what religion or people are talking about, and now it is considered appropriate to stay within the framework of the religion with which all people agree, leaving their own opinion with themselves;And thus remain faithful and kind people, people of honor and dignity, so that, regardless of denomination and beliefs, whether it be the Christianity of Western countries or Buddhism of the Eastern lands, they could easily be distinguished;And so Freemasonry becomes the center of the Union, a means of reconciliation in the formation of real friendship between people, which are separated by huge distances.

Of course, there would be a great metamies if all the lines were directly quoted from the originals, but still the scriptwriters themselves finished contextual clues for riddles.

As you can notice, I am infinitely delighted with the work of developers for seemingly ordinary dungeons, serving exclusively for opening fast movement points. And I believe that this distribution – And there is The main problem. The main function, in fact, kills all interest in the study of catacombs. I believe that it was worth separating this part of the gameplay completely from the rest of the content, turning into an independent story inside the game, into which no one calls. The player himself would find a random entrance to the catacombs and, led by a sense of interest, began to explore them. It would be possible to add some other notes from the Masons to create an isolated from the main plot. And, of course, a forced shutdown of the interface at the time of study.

Bonus head. Assassin’s Creed III and contribution to the future

As a bonus, I would like to speculate a little about the mechanics that were introduced in this part, and then developed in Black Flag .

You should not even talk about the sea component, because it literally has become a fourth selling feature, and as we can observe, not in unreasonably. You can mention the pages of Franklin, which were transformed into Shanti – the songs of the sailors, and began to fly, about the gods, along two routes, depending on which side the player came up!

But I’m talking about more interesting things. Firstly, this is the final of the plot about the treasure of the one-legged, where we find one of the treasures of Edem. There the player decides the riddle by the location of the passage. And you who played Black Flag, it does not remind you?

Yes, where in the third part a riddle is presented in a single copy, in Quadrickvel it is also turned into a full -fledged mechanic for finding Mayan amulets. Such a neat probing mechanic, I want to tell you.

And what about craft? Yes, in the third part he is, in the same Grossbukh. You can do there Double holster And Special weapon.

Maybe now some have shocked from such news.

And although it is worth admitting that the craft of the fourth part is more like Far Cry 3, I think that the movement in this direction in a series of assassins has gone from this part. You might say that they put an experiment.

And so I can characterize the entire third part . Experiments. Moreover, if according to the main mechanics, this evolution or, at best, light rethinking, then in additional activities a complete freedom For ideas. Seriously, imagine in the AAA-Igro the defective development of a settlement with a business component and a nearby athxopher-abrupt study of dark catacombs. Moreover, this carries exclusively side entertainments, which are more likely to the side of the plot.

For video games, the gradually emerging general disappointment from many elements is characteristic. This began to happen to me, but the discovery of additional activities breathed a new life for me into a tricel. Yes, all of them are far from the ideal, but this is not so important compared to the fact that I received new Experiences. That which does not allow to finally drown in, let’s cleanly, a rather monotonous basic gameplay.

Assasin’s Creed III-No, not the third, but in fact, the fifth of the truly great series, which has long gone beyond the struggle of the Assassins and Templars, but still clashes the absolute order and chaotic freedom in a secret war.