Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

All in all, Assassin's Creed III Liberation is another excellent console-style release for the PlayStation Vita, and fans of the series who own a PS Vita shouldn't overlook it. It's not as full-featured as the console version, but it makes up for it with a more streamlined experience, an interesting main character and story, and plenty of unique gameplay ideas.

This is easily the sexiest looking, smoothest running and features packed open-world game on a portable. Yes, Liberation may not boast as many side-diversions as ACIII, but more than enough DNA from that GOTY contender has made the leap. PS Vita technical limitations are offset by the fact that we think Aveline's tale is slightly superior to the PS3 adventure. [December 2012, p72]

Liberation is 100% Assassin's Creed. After the "faux pas" of Bloodlines (PSP) and iOS titles, Ubisoft scores a prefect strike with this PS Vita spin-off, with deep gameplay and stunning graphics. After Uncharted Golden Abyss, Liberation could be one of the most interesting titles in Sony's handheld history so far.

This game is the next reason to buy a PS Vita – clever gameplay, nice graphics, more than a pure port. With more game like that Sony's handheld could become a success in the end.

Rough edges aside, it's a genuine portable blockbuster. [Christmas 2012, p.98]

While the team has definitely put in a good effort to use all the features of the Vita, a few technical issues weigh it down. Still, it is a unique experience well worth owning, especially for any fan of Assassin's Creed that owns a Vita.

For me, the biggest problem with Liberation is the story; it felt underdeveloped and stands as a missed opportunity. Despite that shortcoming, and a few technical issues aside, I really enjoyed being able to take what is essentially a full-fledged Assassin's Creed game on the road with me. While not essential to the canon, this game is worth playing for anyone who is a fan of the series.

Even though the visuals suffer in their tininess, none of the basic Assassin's Creeding is compromised. This is a full-blown counterpart to Assassin's Creed 3, with its own setting, style, character, and location. Bravo, Ubisoft.

It's not the revolution we were hoping for, bit it's easily the best portable Creed fix yet. [Holiday 2012, p.,70]

Liberation sounds just as good as it looks, with or without the use of headphones.

Despite not being quite as expansive as the home consoles versions, this game certainly deserves the attention of Vita owners. If we compare this title to other handheld entries, we can see how ambitious Ubisoft was in trying to translate the full Assassin's Creed experience on a handheld.

Assassin's Creed: Liberation is without doubt one of the best products on the PlayStation Vita.

A nice-looking, interesting Assassin's Creed Experience on Sony's handheld. If not for messy storytelling, random game-overs and a lacklustre multiplayer, it would have been a Vita classic.

The strength of Liberation is in its favored delivery of the story which truly represents an Assassin's Creed story in a unique and interesting way. Visually and audibly, the game is astounding, showing off the PS Vita's ability to maintain and perform on a similar level to its console cousin. Though the online is a major blemish and it has its fair share of technical issues, Liberation brings to the PS Vita exactly what fans want and more by showing that the hardware is more of a new way to do it rather than a hindrance.

At the end of the day, Liberation is the first true portable entry into the Assassin's Creed franchise, and thus, is naturally going to be a little rough along the edges. So long as you can deal with some technical limitations, you should enjoy yourself while you wait for Abstergo to craft more simulations for you.

Despite these problems, though, Liberation brings a hugely engaging and interesting gameplay mechanic to the series, one that's informed by the character herself. For that reason alone, it's impossible for me not to recommend this game.

Liberation delivers more of what we know, and mixes it up with new mechanics and an enjoyable minigame.

With an original story, sprawling environments, excellent use of the Vita's touch capabilities and tons of bonuses to find, it's sure to be a premiere game of the console for long to come. If the graphics were more refined and the story less disjointed, it would certainly rival the best the series has to offer.

An ambitious game which imitates the gameplay elements from the original series. Good graphics, interesting missions, three identities... but less than 10 hours of campaign, a poor multiplayer mode and so many fails in terms of programming. It definitely could have been better.

None of the worst problems are embedded into the core gameplay. Combat is fun, climbing and navigation works well, the story feels like a natural part of the AC universe. The tie-ins to Assassin's Creed III are minimal (mainly one mission near the end), but Liberation may hint at what areas the series is exploring next.

After Bloodlines, Ubisoft tries it one more time in a portable Sony device with Assassin's Creed III Liberation, hitting the jackpot this time with a faithful version of the saga which keeps its controls, mechanics, playability and open locations to explore with three different identities: Slave, Dame or Assassin. Great voice-over work and duration, it's a shame that its numerous bugs and glitches ruins one of the most impressive visual games on PS Vita.

Snappy and satisfying, though it loses something of the epic sweep of the home console Assassin's Creeds. [Issue#225, p.64]

The strong core of the Assassin's Creed franchise remains mostly intact here, but the truncated story makes Aveline's character development feel rushed and the twists much more predictable here. Liberation is solid game if you're on the go a lot, but it can't hold a candle to Desmond and his ancestors.

Liberation isn't the stellar, revolutionary experience I had counted on. They just don't do enough with the story or protagonist, the experience feels somewhat dull and lifeless at times, and the game can chug significantly. Still, I think it's critical to point out that in relation to other portable adventures, this is really very impressive.

Liberation could have been a fantastic game and a very worthy entry in the overall AC canon if it had been given a couple more months in the oven. As it stands, it's certainly an enjoyable romp and well worth playing for fans of the series, but the technical issues and sub-par narrative exposition really hold it back. Hopefully future handheld entries in the series will learn from the missteps here and create a true masterpiece.

For those who can't get enough, Liberation is a handy portable companion to Assassin's Creed III, but it is definitely a lighter experience both in physical form and in terms of content.