I've just about wrapped up my time with Assassin's Creed III. I've done just about everything possible in the story mode. Finished the main story, fully upgraded the homestead, completed every naval mission, liberated every fort, collected every feather and almanac page, looted every chest, unfogged every inch of the map, and liberated every district and colony. I do have some unfinished club challenges and I am clueless about the hacking epilogue, but it is safe to say my time is done with the game for now, until DLC is released. I've played a few rounds of multiplayer, which is just as fun and fresh as Brotherhood and Revelations were. I still plan to play the multiplayer more, but here are my final thoughts on the game with NO spoilers:

- There is A LOT to do in the story mode. I'm almost 2 full days in and I still haven't done everything. The game is massive with plenty of stuff to do, most of which is very fun and challenging.

- Exploring colonial America is just as interesting and exciting as I thought it would be. Meeting the likes of George Washington, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, Ben Franklin, and Benedict Arnold was very cool, as was scaling faithful representations of colonial New York and Boston.

- Connor's story was very well done and interesting. See, he fights for his Indian village, which is caught between the crossfire of the British and the Patriots, leaving them clueless as to wondering who to side with. Turns out, nobody really cares about them and Connor then has enemies on both sides of the war. But the bigger enemy for him is the Templars, the rival order of his new found brotherhood, the Assassins. He has a personal vendetta with the Templars as well, which makes things more interesting. The main story basically is about Connor assassinating each Templar boss. So if you were under the impression that you would be fighting with the Patriots against the British, you are mistaken. You can have fun and take down a many Red Coats as you please, but both the British and the Patriot armies have enemies of Connor's inside them. For the most part, I liked the story and most of its characters, especially Charles Lee. However, the resolution after the climax is awful, just like every other Assassin's Creed game. You don't get to see Washington, Adams, Revere, or your tribe again, or witness any other significant moments from the war. Great story that suffers from a bad ending.

- Desmond's story has most likely come to an end, and a bad one at that. Not sure what the ending means for the series future.

- The gameplay is bittersweet. The fighting animations look awesome and the counter attack is finally mastered. Climbing trees and three story (max) colonial houses is pretty cool, but you will miss the European buildings. Assassinating continues to get better, but it lacks the emphasis the first two AC games had. Now the bitter: bugs and glitches. This game has a ton of them that will distract you from having too much fun. You want to chase a badguy? Too bad, the one-button-free-run will have you climbing nearby buildings and fences. Want to jump out of a hiding spot to the right? Good luck not going left, backwards, or forwards. Just poor execution, really.

- Ubisoft put a huge emphasis on hunting, and it kind of backfired on them. It is very well done and plenty of fun to go on hunting expeditions in the frontier, but it does get old, especially if you have played Red Dead Redemption before. Been there, done that. Ubisoft clearly spent too much time on hunting when the time should have been used to fix the number of bugs and glitches.

- Presentation is also bittersweet. The open world looks cool with no frame-rate or texture issues unlike Skyrim. The battles look awesome with a huge sense of depth. So graphics are pretty good, with the exception of minor glitches, like dead guards standing. The audio is very, very bad. The voice work is nice, but the dubbing, background music, volume, and sound effects are all awful. You can't hear what certain characters are saying, sometimes their lips don't move, the background music during cut-scenes is out of place and too loud. On top of that, every footstep sounds exactly the same in a repeating pattern. Run 1,000 meters on foot and tell me I'm wrong. Certain cannon shots and sword clashes are missing sound effects too. The pacing is very awkward as well.

- Believe it or not, what saves this game is actually something brand new. Yes, the sword and hidden blade combat is very fun at times, but the naval gameplay is where it's at. I really hope Ubisoft perfects this gameplay and makes it the main gameplay aspect of a spin-off Assassin's Creed. Pirates, anyone?

- Overall, the giant expectations I had for this game were not met. I had fun with the game and it is very good, but it's hard to believe the Ubisoft 'B-Team' made two almost as good game in Brotherhood and Revelations in less time than it took the Ubisoft 'A-Team' to just make this one game. Very good, but not great. Flaws keep it from greatness.

- I give Assassin's Creed III an 8.5/10

-----------------------------------

Now that AC3 is on my shelf for now, I can try to knock some games I've been putting off from my queue. There's 10 PS3 games I either haven't finished or haven't started yet. And I want you all to help me decide (or recommend) which one I should get after first:

- Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves - Played halfway through, lost all progress. I could tell that it was the worst of the three Sly games, but still pretty fun. Need to finish the Sly Collection in 'time' for Sly 4, coming out early next year.

- Mortal Kombat - Picked up this game on Black Friday for a super low price. Had a lot of fun playing 2 player with a group of friends, but is that all its good for like every other fighter I've played? Or should I check out the story mode and take my (bad) talents to the ladder?

- Rage - Similar to Sly 3, I lost all data halfway through, but I sold it for $30. I picked it back up for a cheap $12 used. I have fond memories of the first half, so it wouldn't be a hardship to replay it for the second half. But the texture issues scare me.

- LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 - Played the first one, loved it as a huge Harry Potter fan that I am. Brother bought the sequel last year, says it's just as fun.

- LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes - Played through half got bored with smashing bricks and was overwhelmed by the open world. Worth finishing?

- Grand Theft Auto IV & Episodes - Looking like the front runner, especially given my hype for GTAV. About halfway done as well, so far, so good. Even if it's dated and repetitive.

- Fallout 3 - You can never be done with the wasteland. I love Fallout. Still have some of the DLC left and a couple of side missions. But boy, does this game suck time away from you. Nearing 200 hours. Sheesh.

- Deus Ex: Human Revolution - This was an impulse buy early this year, for such a low price and high praise. Never touched it, should that change yet?

- Borderlands 1 - Another impulse buy, that I kind of regret. Heard it's only fun with online partners, and they are all playing another FPS with a similar title. You know, Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

- Bioshock 2 - Want to beat it before Infinite, so far, pretty good. Just doesn't nearly live up to Bioshock 1 and that distracts me. A lot.

-------------------------------------------------

Have you played Assassin's Creed III yet? If so, tell me what you thought of it. And be sure to recommend me a game from my long queue, that will only grow by Christmas. Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, I know I did. As for some personal news, today I passed my road test! I've been nervous that past week about it, and it turned out well! Huge weight off my shoulders. Thanks for reading and please comment

- Dylan