The remastered version of Assassin's Creed III is now available on the Switch after previously hitting other platforms back in March. This new edition of the 2012 third person stealth action adventure has a wealth of content for you to play through but it does come with some technical issues that might bring your experience crashing down to earth, much like the series' iconic rooftop dive jumps.
Set in the colonial period of the United States in the mid-to-late 1700s, you play as the assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton who must thwart the evil Templars' plot to take over the country during its infancy. This is where developer Ubisoft excels at re-creating that feel of the period and creating a great world for you to explore, complete with some appearances from historical American figures like George Washington.
The graphics on the Switch let down this great feel of the period and hamper the gameplay with the models in some areas feeling very bland and the whole game having rather dark visuals.
At times I felt it struggled to get 10fps let alone the expected the 30fps. Some of the animations look very dated which is a shame. It would have been nice to see some improvements to this as it would really enhance the player experience when playing with the Switch in docked mode. When playing in handheld you can barely notice these issues and makes the game a pleasure to play.
The missions are the same as the original games and have a great variety. Whether you're eavesdropping on conversations or taking out a few guards before going on a crazy spree to clear out an army of enemies before leaping off a high ledge to escape safely, there's no shortage of fun moments.
There were a few audio issues when cutscenes would transition, and while I thought this would fix itself or be confined one or two moments in the game, it happened too often and became old fast. I also had some very pixelated moments that ruined the immersion but this only popped up a few times with a lot going on in the screen. Still, many other similar games manage to handle this sort of thing fairly perfectly.
Overall, Assassin's Creed III Remastered is a bunch of fun and worth picking up thanks to the variety of content, but it is not without its issues. The setting adds a unique flavour to the AC formula, but the graphical hitches won't have you reaching for the Switch's screenshot capture button anytime soon. Still, the game does get bonus points for allowing me to enjoy it on the go.
Platform: Switch (previously released on Xbox One, PS4 and PC)
Price: £29.99
