One month in, Assassin's Creed 3 still unplayable

[VoidWanderer]

Huh... I never had any of those performance problems on my PS3.

I know most of the complaints are due to the PC version, but I have given up on Ubisoft PC games since I can't get Heroes VI to play anything other than the first camapign without it crashing.

 

[shrekfan246]

Eh, it was pretty horribly optimized and I never stopped making comments about how nice it would've been to play it at a smooth 60 FPS, but I still played completely through it just fine, so I'd say calling it "unplayable" is a bit of a stretch.

But then, I've seen tons of PC gamers call 30-40 FPS "unplayable", so what do I know?

Most people having fps problems speak of 8 to 15 fps in problem-areas. While not technically unplayable, that pretty much feels like watching a slideshow.

I raided in World of Warcraft for three years with an average of 3 FPS, and was still consistently one of the top damage-dealers in my guild. That's watching a slide-show.

Granted, AC3 never dropped into the single-digits for me, but even drops below 20 FPS were few and far between. If my laptop's two-year old hardware could run it like that, you'd figure people actually concerned about getting 60+ FPS in every game would probably be even better off than I.

Like I said, it's a horribly optimized game and I won't argue with anyone who wants to complain about the framerate. I just don't like hyperbolic statements used to generate attention if they're not funny, and Assassin's Creed III isn't actually unplayable unless you are really physically incapable of playing a game that has dropped below 20-30 FPS, which is a condition that I've never heard of before.

It's a lot easier to play an MMO like WoW on low frame rates than games like Assassin's Creed, which rely on counter mechanics and timing. I'm happy playing Minecraft or Runescape, even RTSes at low frame rates. I'm not happy playing Lugaru, Counter Strike or AC with them.

You know, it only takes about three seconds for an entire raid boss encounter to go balls-up. Say a healer can't get a heal off on the tank in time because when you're playing with 3 FPS, your reaction time is going to be severely limited, so the tank dies and the boss ends up destroying the rest of the raid.

Or say an additional monster has joined the fight that one of the damage-dealers need to crowd control, but because they're playing at a low frame-rate, they don't see and react to the additional monster until it's already too late because it's in the middle of where everybody else is.

Or say the tank needs to reposition the boss for whatever of multiple reasons there always are, but doesn't get away in time so a super-nova of some sort ends up killing everybody. Or, slightly more likely with the more recent raids, a tank needs to use a cooldown to be able to survive a certain string of attacks, but because their frame-rate is so low, they miss it by half a second and end up being the reason the entire raid dies.

Sure, it's easy enough to just say "Oh, well, you shouldn't be trying to raid if your computer can't handle it" but then, that's pretty much the same as if I just said "Oh, well, you shouldn't be trying to play Assassin's Creed III if your computer can't handle it".

 

[Longstreet]

i JUST mentioned this in another thread but then came across this one.

I Don't seem to be having a FPS problem, its more control / aesthetic problems.

- Clunky controls. AC 1/2/B/R All had the same controls, why change / fuck it up now. Apparently they follow the saying "If it ain't broke still fix it and fuck it up"

- Crappy camera. Granted i'm only an hour in so it might change when you start playing Conner. But right now its just the wrong camera angle / distance for me to play properly.

- Sound. Its barely there or not at all. Got spoken language good, but surrounding sounds are fucked. Which sucks the immersion out of it.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

I think they are actually evil, as far as corporations go. True story: the poor condition of this game incensed me so much that I actually attempted to return it to Ubisoft, who flatly refused to provide me with a refund. They were, however, nice enough to direct me to the small print on their product that said the game came with absolutely no warranty whatsoever and was sold "as is." That is essentially legal speak for "we're keeping your money if the product doesn't work--sucks to be you!" That is evil. Most reputable companies don't disclaim their warranties because (1) they stand behind their products and don't expect them to break, and (2) if they do break, the companies believe their customers are deserving of a refund. Corporations like Ubisoft that don't offer warranties are basically warning you that they don't stand behind their product at all and you should purchase at your own peril. Well, lesson learned for me!

Guess that means Valve is evil. Afterall they have a no refund policy on Steam. The only game I've seen reliably get refunded was WarZ. Otherwise you're shit out of luck if your game doesn't work. Like Pride of Nations in my case.

Seriously man, every PC game you buy these days can't be refunded as a rule.

 

[Patrick Buck]

It hasn't got bad for me to be honest, but I am playing it on the xbox.

I have a had a few problems with the online however, but I'm pretty certain that that's just my internet.

 

[Subscriptism]

Don't get me wrong but isn't it Ubisoft that ALWAYS abuse the pc market?

 

[Bertylicious]

AC3 isn't THAT bad. It's just very... ordinary. Which is pretty damning when you consider it against the rest of their products.

I rate Ubisoft quite highly for their creative content.

It is, however, important to remember that Ubisoft is (or was) a French (or Quebecy*?) company and their business culture tends to be, how you say, "hands on".

*- Quebec is basically France with inferior weather. Also is it Quebecois? Quebecis? Perhaps I shouldn't Quibble about the small stuff.

 

[Shocksplicer]

I played on 360, and encountered:
Horses glitching all over the plact constantly.
Loads of clipping issues.
Triggers failing to activate, requiring a restart.
Boring Gameplay.
Terrible Story.

Ok, those last two weren't technically glitches, but still...

 

[Sefa Lagaaia]

I played AC3 on the 360 and while I don't have trouble with that aspect of the game (the frame-rate and all that crap) I've found my issues to be more with the actual games content, I have really enjoyed the AC story and games up until now I hate that the game is now more about why you have to kill these people rather than the actual assassinations themselves, I already know why they have to die, why is that AC1-Revalations have this formula down pact and now we're going to fuck with it? And the free running doesn't feel as free or lowing as it used to as all the buildings are pretty much the same size and shape with no revolutionary architecture that was present in the previous games to spice up the commute to every mission. Some may say that the trees are the most interesting part, I also disagree, boring, just run and never think motions, all I have to do is hold down RT and press A every now and then and I'm at my destination whereas in AC brotherhood for example I couldn't just do that because then I'd hurl myself off a building so high I turn into splatter art on the ground. So yeah, this is why I find AC3 to be unplayable. Also I find the story is garbage.