Assasin's Creed 3 (360) very buggy!

[whooleytoo]

Anyone else playing AC3 on the Xbox360?

For me, it's been horribly buggy. The game froze on one of the early checkpoints (when leaving the opera house) and corrupted the save game, so I had to start a new game.

When playing one the board games, it repeatedly wouldn't let me place a 3rd piece to get 3-in-a-row. I thought there might be a rule that you can't get the 3-in-a-row in placement mode, but then my opponent did the precise same move no problem; beating me several times.

Most annoyingly (minor spoiler!) in the quicktime-event piece where you're attacked by wolves, the quicktime-event keys don't appear on screen!! I must have played through it 20 times trying to kill the wolves, so I checked on Youtube to see how it's done, and only then I realised that the key-sequences are meant to appear on-screen. Don't know how I can play through, may have to start the game from scratch and hope it works this time.

 

[0098386]

Have you downloaded the day 1 patch yet? I know my PS3 downloaded one, and I haven't encountered those bugs.

 

[skottichan]

I've heard from friends on the 360 that these issues are persistent. I'm sure Ubisoft is working on a fix.

 

[whooleytoo]

Thanks for the replies! Yeah, I had already downloaded the patch. I was quite surprised to see a patch already out when I first fired up the game.

I think the Quick Time Events buttons missing might be due to turning off some of the HUD options. I always turn off the SSI option, I hate having those indicators over guards' heads. After I turned all the HUD options back on, QTE buttons did appear at a later QTE event, so that may be it.

Some sections of the game are virtually unplayable without these QTE buttons - you shouldn't be able to accidentally turn them off. I must have died 30+ times trying to kill those wolves, before realising your sword and blades are disabled. I eventually got past it by turning and away, then sneaking up on them with a pistol (luckily, I had exactly 4 shots!).

Likewise, I was playing through other stages on horseback and noticed the gameplay slowing down for some reason. Now I realise they probably were other QTEs.

 

[gmanist1000]

I've heard from friends on the 360 that these issues are persistent. I'm sure Ubisoft is working on a fix.

I bet they are. I'll probably pick it up once another patch is released.

 

[whooleytoo]

I just confirmed, if you turn off the SSI (Social Status Indicator, the yellow/red indicators over guards' heads), then you don't get the QTE buttons either. Which means every time you're rushed by a wolf, you die. Reported it to Ubisoft (probably the 100,000th person to do so, but better to be safe.. )

 

[MRU]

Other than the bug with quicktime events how's the game otherwise though ? any good ?

Still thinking of picking this up on the Wii U (seeing as most of the launch titlesI was going to buy are delayed till 2013)

 

[whooleytoo]

Other than the bug with quicktime events how's the game otherwise though ? any good ?

Still thinking of picking this up on the Wii U (seeing as most of the launch titlesI was going to buy are delayed till 2013)

Very different, IMO. They've made some fairly sweeping changes (so far).

In terms of storyline, very good. It has a good strong story with interesting characters and developments. The downside of that, initially at least it's far more linear. You can wander around the city and the countryside, but apart from the main quest-line there generally aren't many other interesting 'quests'.

The city is quite different too. The streets are far wider and more spread out (perhaps because of the ability to ride horses?) which means you can't free-run around the rooftops as much as you can in previous AC games. They've done a good job of enabling you to free-run in the treetops in the countryside, but the downside is you have to follow given paths, you can't liberally hop from any tree to any tree. Horse-riding in the countryside is a pain too, as it gets stuck on every rock, bush, tree...

IMO, when free-roaming, the city in particular is a bit dull, brown and uninteresting - perhaps partly because it's so spread out. When in the missions though, it's far better. There are a lot of interesting side tasks (as opposed to 'quests') and mini-games.

What's impressive is I'm quite a bit into the game, and new activities are still popping up; which I like, it keeps it quite interesting.

 

[MRU]

Very different, IMO. They've made some fairly sweeping changes (so far).

In terms of storyline, very good. It has a good strong story with interesting characters and developments. The downside of that, initially at least it's far more linear. You can wander around the city and the countryside, but apart from the main quest-line there generally aren't many other interesting 'quests'.

The city is quite different too. The streets are far wider and more spread out (perhaps because of the ability to ride horses?) which means you can't free-run around the rooftops as much as you can in previous AC games. They've done a good job of enabling you to free-run in the treetops in the countryside, but the downside is you have to follow given paths, you can't liberally hop from any tree to any tree. Horse-riding in the countryside is a pain too, as it gets stuck on every rock, bush, tree...

IMO, when free-roaming, the city in particular is a bit dull, brown and uninteresting - perhaps partly because it's so spread out. When in the missions though, it's far better. There are a lot of interesting side tasks (as opposed to 'quests') and mini-games.

What's impressive is I'm quite a bit into the game, and new activities are still popping up; which I like, it keeps it quite interesting.

Thanks Whooley

 

[Carlanga]

Very different, IMO. They've made some fairly sweeping changes (so far).

In terms of storyline, very good. It has a good strong story with interesting characters and developments. The downside of that, initially at least it's far more linear. You can wander around the city and the countryside, but apart from the main quest-line there generally aren't many other interesting 'quests'.

The city is quite different too. The streets are far wider and more spread out (perhaps because of the ability to ride horses?) which means you can't free-run around the rooftops as much as you can in previous AC games. They've done a good job of enabling you to free-run in the treetops in the countryside, but the downside is you have to follow given paths, you can't liberally hop from any tree to any tree. Horse-riding in the countryside is a pain too, as it gets stuck on every rock, bush, tree...

IMO, when free-roaming, the city in particular is a bit dull, brown and uninteresting - perhaps partly because it's so spread out. When in the missions though, it's far better. There are a lot of interesting side tasks (as opposed to 'quests') and mini-games.

What's impressive is I'm quite a bit into the game, and new activities are still popping up; which I like, it keeps it quite interesting.

Nice, they say the game map is a good size, how does it compare w/ the small Revelations map. Also, in what spot of how good the game is would you put it? Before or after Brotherhood?

 

[whooleytoo]

Nice, they say the game map is a good size, how does it compare w/ the small Revelations map. Also, in what spot of how good the game is would you put it? Before or after Brotherhood?

Much bigger I'd say. The city (Boston) is similar, perhaps bigger; but there's a big countryside outside which Revelations didn't have.

Revelations was - to me - a much better 'sandbox'. A very cool, interesting city that's fun to run & climb around in. The wider streets and lower buildings of Boston just make it a far less interesting city in that sense. There doesn't seem to be as many shops/banks/smiths etc. to interact with either. To be honest, much of the time I found it tedious wandering around, when not on a mission.

OTOH, AC3 has a strong, clear plot with assassination targets that are known from fairly early on. (I can't even remember what Revelations plot was about, and I only finished it a couple of weeks ago). The scripted missions are very nicely done; and there's excellent variety in them.

For me, AC2 was the best (in terms of variety of missions, the stronghold, the collectables), with Brotherhood not far behind (a bit of repetitiveness crept back in, with the Borgia towers..). Personally I don't like AC3 as much yet. It's more "Colonial America Simulator" and less fun. That could very easily change though.

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Oh FFS. The save-game is corrupted again; the console freezes every time I try to load it. Have to start all over again, for a 3rd time. This is ridiculous...

 

[Carlanga]

Much bigger I'd say. The city (Boston) is similar, perhaps bigger; but there's a big countryside outside which Revelations didn't have.

Revelations was - to me - a much better 'sandbox'. A very cool, interesting city that's fun to run & climb around in. The wider streets and lower buildings of Boston just make it a far less interesting city in that sense. There doesn't seem to be as many shops/banks/smiths etc. to interact with either. To be honest, much of the time I found it tedious wandering around, when not on a mission.

OTOH, AC3 has a strong, clear plot with assassination targets that are known from fairly early on. (I can't even remember what Revelations plot was about, and I only finished it a couple of weeks ago). The scripted missions are very nicely done; and there's excellent variety in them.

For me, AC2 was the best (in terms of variety of missions, the stronghold, the collectables), with Brotherhood not far behind (a bit of repetitiveness crept back in, with the Borgia towers..). Personally I don't like AC3 as much yet. It's more "Colonial America Simulator" and less fun. That could very easily change though.

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Oh FFS. The save-game is corrupted again; the console freezes every time I try to load it. Have to start all over again, for a 3rd time. This is ridiculous...

Thanks for your input! I'm gonna wait until BF and see if it becomes cheap like any AC game usually does by BF time. My backlog is huge so I don't mind waiting.
Very interesting points! I saw in the previews that you can take 'side missions' in between doing a mission, I think that is their way of breaking up the game so you don't have to go climbing from one place to another to find stuff to do. Plus hunting and ship fighting.
That is good to hear, I do agree ACII has been the best of the series and AC Brotherhood close behind.

As for the game saves, I would just stop playing the game until they bring out the patch. Hell, Revelations was still freezing my PS3 on the Desmond missions when I was playing it last month though.

 

[whooleytoo]

Yeah, maybe I'm sounding overly negative. It's an incredibly impressive game in its scope. The hunting I thought was a bit of a chore; the ship fighting (I didn't want to mention it, in case it was a spoiler) is good fun, if a little 'tacked on' to the game. There are board-games you can play in-game too, as in Red Dead Redemption, which are good fun.

On the save games, it turns out the game wasn't corrupted. The console did freeze every time I tried to load it. But when I created a new game, played for a while, then loaded the old save game, it loaded fine (thankfully!). The game does freeze often though, particularly in the ship map.

And I got a reply from Ubisoft regarding the QTE buttons - they consider it correct behaviour. If you turn off SSI (to get rid of the icons over peoples' heads), the QTE buttons don't appear, but the QT event still occurs. So when you're rushed by a wolf and try to draw your knife, you'll won't be able to and will die with no idea why. Weird...

 

[silentownage001]

Arghhhh. I was doing the courier mission in the Frontier, the one you start in Concord. I delivered the letter in Concord about 100 meters away from where you start. I then headed north to deliver the second letter. Then fast traveled south to the harbor to deliver the third. I then fast traveled back to Concord to head East for the last one. I open the map and was momentarily confused until I checked my log book.

The second and third letter glitched. I had to deliver them again. So I head east and deliver the letter then fast travel south. Behold, the letter I just delivered was not "delivered". So I delivered the one near the harbor and went off to New York in frustration. Shockingly when I fast traveled to the New York entrance the letter near the harbor had not reappeared.

One more thing, who the hell came up with these optional objectives? They get more ridiculous as the game goes on.

I'd rate the games AC2 > Brotherhood > Revelations > AC > AC3. AC2 had Carnivale, da Vinci (under different circumstances) and the first time flying the flying machine. Best one.

 

[whooleytoo]

Can't comment on the courier missions, I never really bothered with them. If I see an envelope on the street nearby I go talk to them, but I never paid any heed to whether I've made any progress or not.

One more thing, who the hell came up with these optional objectives? They get more ridiculous as the game goes on.

Hah, I very much agree. To me, most of the optional objectives take the fun out of the main missions, so I'm ignoring them more and more. 'Win a battle, but don't kill anyone'. Or 'Sneak into the camp, but in the most awkward, unrealistic method possible'. It's like they're goading the player to play differently, rather than playing 'better'.

 

[AlyseM]

I never like the non-numbered games. For example brotherhood and revelations didn't feel like new games to me, but extended assassins creed 2 games. The number games is where the hard core story is.

 

[silentownage001]

Hah, I very much agree. To me, most of the optional objectives take the fun out of the main missions, so I'm ignoring them more and more. 'Win a battle, but don't kill anyone'. Or 'Sneak into the camp, but in the most awkward, unrealistic method possible'. It's like they're goading the player to play differently, rather than playing 'better'.

So far for me the worst was the end of sequence 8. Don't let any bodyguards die and kill 2 militia men.

Ubisoft really messed up on this game. Trying to liberate North New York. Found a map for the missions. I think they decided to take such a different approach to keep it fresh they just ruined it instead. This game needs more viewpoints.

 

[skottichan]

Ran into a fun bug on the PS3. I'm trying to liberate South Boston, and the last part of the chain is to eliminate a specific target. I've tried every possible way, even tho I watch the target die, it never counts. So, I'm stuck.

 

[whooleytoo]

So far for me the worst was the end of sequence 8. Don't let any bodyguards die and kill 2 militia men.

Ubisoft really messed up on this game. Trying to liberate North New York. Found a map for the missions. I think they decided to take such a different approach to keep it fresh they just ruined it instead. This game needs more viewpoints.

The sequence 8 optional objective was one I just ignored. The thing is often if you ignore the secondary objectives, the main objective becomes very easy.

The one I thought was ridiculous was a little earlier, where you're chasing someone through crowded streets and narrow alleys, but the optional objective is to not bump into anyone. A bit like making an omelette without breaking any eggs..

I don't know if I'd say Ubisoft messed up. They certainly gave the game a much stronger main storyline and added a lot of game tweaks. I do think that outside of the main storyline the cities are a bit bland and many of the side-tasks a bit weak (chasing the pages, delivering letters etc.)

 

[Weaselboy]

The one I thought was ridiculous was a little earlier, where you're chasing someone through crowded streets and narrow alleys, but the optional objective is to not bump into anyone. A bit like making an omelette without breaking any eggs..

Agreed. I think that was called "Chase Hickey." I got about three steps before I bumped into somebody and that optional objective was wrecked.

Overall, I like the game, but some of the optional objectives are odd. I have completely stopped even trying to grab the almanac pages.

 

[silentownage001]

After a few tries for chasing Hickey I just went on youtube and then did it my first try.

Not sure if a glitch or not but I have lost my bait and snares a few times and even my arrows. I had full bait and snares and a few arrows and they disappeared. Has happened a few times with the arrows.

On the next game I hope
-more viewpoints, enough to give you the entire map
-go back to the old full sync system where you just had to do one thing. Those didn't really force me to play a certain way. Like complete a mission in a set time or don't be detected. Sometimes annoying but not like this
-release it without so many glitches

Otherwise I quite like it. Although, anyone notice sometimes Conor talks really weird? Really choppy at times.

 

[silentownage001]

How wonderful. I finally completed Encyclopedia of a Common Man. Didn't get the achievement. Did some Googling and checked my logbook. Then the Animus Database. The Farmers are not in the database despite being completed. So now I can't get it.

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/...-3-patch-coming-next-week-fixes-tons-of-bugs/

That article lists all the bugs that will soon be fixed. It mentions the Encyclopedia. Hopefully it works. Otherwise...

 

[MRU]

I see there is a massive patch coming to solve these bugs your facing. I've ordered it on PC so it should be up to date with the new patch from day 1..

 

[whooleytoo]

Had another instance of the 'repeated freezing when loading save game' issue. Luckily - as above - loading another Save Game, then going back to the main Save Game works.

Also had a bug where I needed to loot a character's body, but the body disappeared and the HUD marker was hovering over nothing; though restarting the mission worked ok.

Had another funny one were two Achilles in the mansion. Maybe they're trying to out-do Skyrim's Louis Letrush...

Finished the storyline last night, have to say I still think it's a little dull. Some great missions, story and characters, but the cities are a bit brown and bland; they don't have buildings as big or interesting as the other ACs, and because they're so spread out the 'free running' element is more awkward/weaker.