Roaming the frontier - first impressions

[PZ]

Landscape: the view from a distance is spectacular!  However, some of the smaller coniferous trees up close seem almost like solid tin Christmas trees (you can't brush aside the limbs).

View points: I have only encountered tree view points (the ones that need to be synchronized to reveal map details), and each of the three so far were exactly the same.  Careful on these because it is relatively easy to fall off! 

Game: there is plenty of wild game ranging from rabbits to bears with everything in between.  I found (and stole) a horse in one of the villages and started riding cross country.  I encountered a deer along the way and wondered a moment too late if I could hunt from horseback like the Sioux did when chasing buffalo.  :-()

Feathers: like in one of the prior AC games, you collect feathers that are typically in birds nests high in trees.

Treasure chests: I found one on the map and when I went there the map icon was high on a hill.  When I went to the spot, the HUD indicated that the chest was below me by 10 meters!  I looked all around but did not find it; I wonder if there is a hidden tunnel entrance  ????

Combat: the animations are way cool, and I am now fighting with a knife in left hand and tomahawk in the right, Mel Gibson style as in the movie The Patriot.

Snow: sometimes just a faint dusting on the road, and other times up to the horse's belly when off the trail.  The sun was over my left shoulder and illuminating the horse, which was standing in thigh-deep snow.  The detail in the snow was good enough to believe as being a high definition photograph of the real thing.

[JRD]

I found that treasure chest if this is one close to a fort in the Frontier! Once you get to the point where the chest should be you are close to a river... get closer to the water and follow it to the west. You'll find a foggy cave entrance... you have to swim a bit, then you'll find it very easily after that! I didn't even had to pick the lock!  :-X

I only reached one viewpoint... a high tree... pretty cool!  8)

[durian]

I'm considering to getting this game at Xmas. Frontier is the main reason I'm interested in this game.

[PZ]

I think you'd probably like it.  Open world, much like FC3, but your ability to fight is orders of magnitude better because you have only primitive weapons, and will get up close and personal.  Free running through the trees is lots of fun.  In fact, I really like all parts except the chase sequences and the linear missions, but that is the case in almost all games I play.

[durian]

I think you'd probably like it.  Open world, much like FC3, but your ability to fight is orders of magnitude better because you have only primitive weapons, and will get up close and personal.  Free running through the trees is lots of fun.  In fact, I really like all parts except the chase sequences and the linear missions, but that is the case in almost all games I play.

Chase sequenses are my main concern as I hate this kind of missions. Can you approach the assassination missions in various ways ?

[PZ]

It depends on the mission; some are quite linear like in FC3, but much more interesting nonetheless because they are more realistic in my opinion.  In other areas of the game you can choose to do missions any way you like.

Here's an example of a chase mission:  you are to chase a target through the streets of Boston (or New York, I can't remember).  Quite likely you fail the first time, and then try again, but using a different route or technique.  The solution to this one is to not follow the target but to take a shortcut and cut him off - however you need to repeat the same sequence enough times to recognize his route.  I can live with this kind of mission (even though I do not particularly like them) because I experienced it in AC2 and above.  At least there is a solution.

The chase sequence I have a problem with (and caused me to give up the game in disgust) is one that is absolutely corridor, only you have to repeat the chase time and again to discover exactly where you need to make a slight turn, larger turn, or 90-degree turn as you weave your way through the woods.  The worst part is that it is through a heavily wooded area where the trees block you like invisible walls (I can't really determine because the time limit is so short that I don't have time to explore).  The thing that irritates me about these timed chases are that as you are running through them, and make the slightest mistake, you instantly realize it with full recognition that you might as well stop in your tracks because you know you will need to repeat the task yet one more annoying time.

I'm positive I'll return to the game once my irritation at this kind of mission subsides because the rest of the open world nature is really spectacular.  In particular, I like finding and liberating the forts, some of which are in the cities and others in the frontier.  I like the ones in the frontier because they are not on the map and you discover them while riding through the wilderness.  The forts are true open world activities because you decide everything about your method of attack, and there in no ridiculous time limit.  I really hate time limits, which are the one thing that will cause me to dump a game.

One thing that Ubisoft did in the two prior AC games was to institute a percentage synchronization system in which you would achieve 100% synchronization if you completed the timed event in the required time, but you could continue even if you failed the timed event - this would result in 50% synchronization.  This would at least allow you to get past those annoying timed events and continue the game.  I thought this was a fantastic compromize - satisfy the adrenalin junkies that are not happy unless they are ready to pass out from the rush, and the impatient gamers like me that are playing for an entirely different reason. Unfortunately Ubisoft decided not to do this in AC3 (at least in the mission I left the game).

Personally I wouldn't give a rats a$$ to achieve 100% synchronization if it only meant that I had completed timed events.  My sole motivation in playing open world games is to thoughtfully plan my method and then execute it flawlessly.  If I fail it is only my own fault, not some random foolishness that I have no control over.  I have absolutely no desire to be on top of the leader boards to achieve recognition for being the luckiest gamer (or most persistent gamer) to complete the game.  You can probably guess how many times I repeated a timed event to achieve 100% in the AC games.

Spoiler

You got that right - zero

[durian]

Thanks for your input. Timed events and chase mission are annoying but timed chases like the one you described sounds absolutely frustrating may cause me to kick my TV and throw controller away  :-()

FC3 has timed missions but fortunately they're very easy.

[PZ]

My pleasure; to quote Vaas:  "The definition of insanity is repeating the same event over and over each time expecting a different outcome"