So, I think I'm about a decade behind everyone else with the Assassins Creed franchise... A few years ago, I had a look in at the original Assassins Creed, but I had found it to be crazily dated, despite being intrigued by the story itself! In the end, I found that there were too many little things that made it not that much fun to play so many years after launch (most games don't age well, it isn't just the graphics, it is the UI and gaming mechanics that are stuck in the past and can't really be updated and modernised). One of the biggest turn-offs was the interactive cut-scenes... I really really disliked that! I tend to like my cut-scenes to be passive, a reward to view and not be constantly on the lookout for a QTE event.

So, I've now skipped ahead to Assassins Creed 3 (Brotherhood), in the hope that I can jump into the franchise without losing too much of the backstory... but far enough ahead without being frustrated with the UI/mechanics.

Sadly, there are still some really annoying bits here and there that have made it a nightmare to even get through the tutorial and first level!

Of course, the first annoyance comes with the Ubisoft launcher/registration. I had the game on Steam, and still that requires that the game is registered to the Ubisoft launcher, and that the Ubisoft launcher is logged in and running when the game is running. So, no problem to register the game with my Ubisoft account... more annoying was the fact that the game servers seemed to be down or offline. A quick google around revealed a quick and easy fix... take the Ubisoft launcher offline. Not a big problem... but then, why the hell did I need to have the Ubisoft launcher running for the DRM?!?!!?!? ARRRGH! Sometimes, these things punish the actual legal purchasers of the products instead of the freeloaders...

So... now the game is running, but there is much in the game that is still built around consoles... with game controls and all of that being either weirdly difficult in placement. At least the prompts (so far) seem to be right... Oddly enough, there are cut-scenes and loading times that are weirdly long in execution. This is an old game, and I have a decent rig with SSDs... this shouldn't be happening. Loading screens, not so much of a problem... it is only on the order of seconds... but cut-scenes pausing to load during the playing of the scene? That is weird... or am I missing an interactive moment?

... and to the MOST annoying part in the last day of trying out the game. There is this cannon section in the FIRST mission. Well... before we get to this point, there was a part leading up the cannon where you would just get stuck and glitch on a wall whilst climbing. I tried a few times... but in the end ended up googling, because I thought that I was trying to go up an inaccessible path. Nope... restart the game and computer until the glitch clears. Let me tell you... that isn't much fun. Talk about immersion breaking... or is that a clever fourth wall breaking moment in keeping with the AC storyline?

... back to this cannon section. You fire the cannon and destroy the enemy siege engines until the villagers can flee... this should be pretty damn easy. However, I kept failing! Okay, I know that I'm getting slow in my old age... but I'm a pretty decent gamer, and this should be a walk in the park. However, I figured, I just needed to be better...

... after failing multiple times (and then suffering the slow reload...), I started to think that there might be something else at play!

... and yep... in the time critical sections of AC Brotherhood, if you have a high refresh rate on your GPU (over 60Hz) then the game plays out quicker normal... meaning that you will WAAAAAYYYYY too slow in comparison to the game! So, I have a fast refresh monitor (144 Hz), and so that was what my GPU was pushing out! So, I was getting slaughtered time-wise!

So, jump back out of the game to change the settings in the Nvidia control panel. Application control and frame limit to 60Hz, Vsync off for good measure. Jump back into the game... pass on the first try!

Seriously, this shouldn't be an issue... GOG do a great job of updating and maintaining much older games, and Ubisoft should be ashamed of this. It is a known problem, and this should be fixed in a patch. However, I know that Ubisoft won't give a crap... the money cart has moved on, and this will never be fixed. But it does leave a bad taste in this gamer's mouth!

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