While there was plenty of missions left in the Frontier, I spent most my time exploring. Sure, there was stuff that could be done, but I could also just ride around on my horse killing Red Coats, and that's exactly what I did. I discovered that when you're roaming through the forest, it doesn't take long before you run across a group of enemy soldiers. Luckily, groups of enemies pose a problem you can solve it a few different ways.

While I could have just run in swinging my tomahawk at the two Red Coats I snuck up on, I decided to climb a tree and get a better perspective. I equipped the rope dart and fired it into one of the enemies before leaping off the back of the branch, leaving him to hang. As soon as I hit the ground I switched to my pistol and fired one shot into the remaining soldier, then I jumped on one of their horses and rode off, completely unscathed.

This really demonstrates the different approaches that you can take to combat and just how differently things can play out based on the smallest changes. It leaves things open for the players to decide how they want to interact with things, and I feel like that might just be the best part of Assassin's Creed 3. It's always been that way, but the fluidity of changing weapons and less of a reliance on countering in combat makes for better overall combat. That's a change that I can get behind.

When I was finally done messing around on the frontier, I made my way to Boston. Now, this isn't modern day Boston by any means; in fact, it's barely a city. It's a major shift from the sprawling cities that we've seen in previous Assassin's Creed games, as you can reach the top of nearly any building and see all the way across the city in a few short climbs. That's not a slight against the game by an means, in fact, I'd say that it's an improvement. It makes you much more aware of your surroundings while you play, because you can see anything at all times, and that makes it easier to plan out your course when running through the city.

It also seems like there's more detail along the environments. There's just more stuff to grab onto, I don't think that I ever encountered a point where Connor didn't have anywhere to go; he just kept moving at all times, and that kept the experience flowing at all times. These more dense and confined areas work out better in the end and make Assassin's Creed 3 a more refined experience.