With the rather lackluster sales of the PlayStation Vita in comparison to its home video game console counterparts (Especially here in Australia), it was inevitable that Ubisoft would be forced to release Assassin’s Creed Liberation on other consoles eventually. A year and a couple of months after its near-simultaneous release alongside Assassin’s Creed III, the game and its contents have now found a new home on the PlayStation 3, Xbox360 and PC entertainment systems. Given the “HD” part of its title, the game has seen an improvement across the board, but can a title that was built with the requirements of a portable console in mind and the limitations / features of the Vita system be able to hold its own a year later?
Video game series that are released annually tend to come across as being “sameish” most of the time, which Ubisoft to date has managed to avoid quite well with the introduction of new features in each and every installment – most notably Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag which drew from what made the series great in addition to a number of engaging pirating mechanics. Unfortunately while the series has been making its way forward, Assassin’s Creed Liberation feels like a step backward as despite having an interesting female protagonist doesn’t make much of a mark in any other criteria.
Storyline
Unlike other installments in the series there is no “real world” component to Liberation, instead putting you in the shoes of an unknown person playing through the first Abstergo Entertainment game, something that more detail is put into during Assassin’s Creed IV. Liberation takes place after the French – Indian War and features the series’ first female protagonist Aveline de Grandpré, an Assassin who was adopted at a young age after her mother mysteriously disappeared in the marketplace. Many years later after becoming inducted into the Assassin’s, she embarks on a quest that involves the clashes between her different lifestyles, the slave trade of the era, the search for her missing mother and the ever-present war between the Assassin’s and the Templars.
Despite featuring a promising protagonist, the plot seems to suffer because of the games original portable release. While there are some interesting events throughout that if expanded upon might have made this a shining installment in the series, you never seem to be treated to anything more than short, occasional snippets of the story which are then separated by tasks which on some occasions ruins the consistency and flow of the plot. I often rant about games that don’t take into account that players may only have a short trip on the bus to whip out their Vita (an example being Persona 4 Golden which can easily take a couple of hours to complete a dungeon), but I don’t think Assassin’s Creed is a franchise that belongs on a portable device if it is going to be hindered by limitations such as requiring short bursts of gameplay or storyline. Unfortunately despite later releasing the game on home video game consoles, their decision to port rather than rewrite huge chunks of the plot didn’t have any benefit in the storyline department.
Design / Music / Voice Acting
Every installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise has brought improvements to the visual department, and while Liberation may not look as flash as the recently released “Black Flag” chapter, many of the visuals have been redone from the original release and sits quite suitably with the standard set by Assassin’s Creed III in 2012. The character designs were nice to look at, and New Orleans as a hub locale was also pleasing and “with the time”, featuring improvements to the textures to ensure they looked prettier on the big screen.
Unfortunately the improvements were not comprehensive, with many of the visual bugs that spontaneously reared their head during regular gameplay within the original release still appearing in this port. The same can be said for the draw distance and character animations which also take a hit in comparison to earlier installments and are two factors that should have been at the top of the list when porting this game over.
Fortunately the music and voice acting departments are a strong suit of Assassin’s Creed Liberation, featuring a relatively strong soundtrack and coupled with authentic sounding voice acting for the era and location.
Gameplay
For those familiar with the series (Note: I wouldn’t recommend Liberation as your starting point in the Assassin’s Creed universe), the gameplay mechanics should be familiar and easy to just pick up and play. The games action-based combat and stealth-oriented mechanics make a return with only a few amendments, with the combat system still relying on a mixture of different weapons / tools, attacking and countering. There are two different types of areas to visit in-game, New Orleans which is a populous location with buildings to scale and a number of human targets to work with and/or assassinate that require a proactive but stealthy approach. The second more similar to that of Assassin’s Creed III is the rural environment of the Louisiana Bayou which comes with many climbing / free-running opportunities, water navigation via canoes and still an ample supply of fighting opportunities.
While weapons and mission types pretty much carry over from earlier installments, one of the new features is a “Persona” system, where Aveline can suit up in one of three different sets of attire – each with their own limitations, benefits and distinct infamy level. To give you an example between the three, the “Lady” Persona severely limits her ability to run, attack or climb, however allows her to charm guards and access areas that she might otherwise not be able to access without sneaking. On the other hand she has the opportunity to adopt her Slave Persona which also limits her proficiency in battle but allows her to blend into certain environments and incite riots. The balance between the two is her Assassin persona which generally follows the general play style with an emphasis on combat and climbing. It is an interesting system that is used well, however feels more forced upon the player rather than giving them the option to complete a mission using whatever persona they wish.
The biggest flaw with Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD is that while it comes with many of the features that the series has become renown for, it was a very short experience at only a dozen hours in length and lacks much of the replayability present in other installments on top of being far too easy. While later installments have introduced other gameplay systems, collectibles or challenging 100% Sync Goals to keep you enticed by the game for longer, once I finished I had no desire to continue playing. A real shame as it had a lot of promise…
Final Word on Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD
At the very least it is safe to say that the HD edition of Assassin’s Creed Liberation trumps the original Vita release in terms of visuals, and takes away some of the gimmicks used to embrace the unique functionality of the portable console. While it still makes for an overall decent gaming experience and I don’t personally regret putting in the hours I did, it felt like nothing more than a watered down experience of what we have come to expect every year as a solid action-adventure franchise. It’s not bad…. just pales in comparison…
… and this is sad…. as a separate numbered installment I could have seen Liberation showing a lot more potential. That being said, it is considerably cheaper than other installments so that trade-off may make it a worthwhile purchase still.
