Is Assassin's Creed 3 worth playing in 2025?

Assassin's Creed 3 was released back in 2012 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Many in the gaming community have mixed feelings toward this game, as some love it for its protagonist and storyline, while others bemoan its slow pacing and clunky parkour.

Over the years, the title has seen some appreciation for the things it introduced to the franchise, such as naval combat and dynamic weather. However, with time, it is possible for any piece of media to feel outdated.

This article will look at Assassin's Creed 3 to see if it is worth playing in 2025.

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Assassin's Creed 3 has a great story and protagonist

Connor Kenway is a great protagonist (Image via Ubisoft)

After the success of Ezio as a protagonist, Ubisoft needed a new face for Assassin's Creed 3. This is how we got Connor Kenway, an assassin whose motivations are built on the death of his mother because of the colonial power. While his journey of revenge and freedom makes him an interesting character, he fails to reach the heights of Ezio due to a lack of charisma.

The narrative here covers multiple decades and explores the American Revolution and its secrets well. However, it also suffers from pacing issues, especially in its opening hours, which can make the game feel slow in the beginning.

This is because Assassin's Creed 3 makes the players play the first three sequences as Haytham Kenway (Conner's father), which slows down the narrative significantly.

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The gameplay can feel clunky at times

The parkour here is limited to trees most of the time (Image via Ubisoft)

Assassin's Creed 3 builds on the gameplay mechanics of the previous entries in the franchise. The combat here feels more refined, with the fights still based around counterattacks but with smoother animations now involving dual-wielding. These make the enemy encounters feel fluid and brutal, but the overall gameplay can still feel simplistic in comparison to the more recent Assassin's Creed games.

Parkour is a mixed bag here since players won't spend a lot of time on the rooftops. This can make the movement in urban areas slower, but the game tries to fix that by allowing the protagonist to climb and jump across trees. While this is a fresh take on parkour, it can feel clunky after a while, and the player might soon start missing the rooftop action of Assassin's Creed 2.

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Performance and visuals

The game still looks good but is stuck at 30 FPS (Image via Ubisoft)

While the game is over a decade old, it still looks amazing across all platforms. The setting brings out the best in Assassin's Creed 3 by showcasing different terrains, such as the snowy urban lands and vast green forests. Although there are no modern-day enhancements, such as Ray Tracing and DLSS, the game still manages to look good all these years later.

However, the title is unfortunately locked at 30 FPS across all systems. Even the remastered version only bumps up the resolution to a full 1080p without increasing the framerate to 60. This can feel jarring to modern players who are accustomed to playing the latest games at high framerates.

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Is it worth playing in 2025?

Assassin's Creed 3 is worth playing once in 2025 (Image via Ubisoft)

Assassin's Creed 3 is worth playing once in 2025, especially because of its protagonist and a story about freedom. While the first three sequences can feel a bit slow, the rest of the game has better pacing. Connor, while not as charismatic as Ezio, still manages to leave a positive impression with his motivation.

The gameplay, on the other hand, can feel clunky, especially if players are familiar with the more recent games in the series. The visuals also hold up well without any modern enhancements. While the framerate is locked to 30 FPS, it shouldn't be a factor that pushes people away from an amazing story.