I had a chance to look at more extended naval battles that showed even more promise than the ones that I saw last month. Not only did these involve a larger amount of ships than I'd seen before, but they had deeper objectives, which is something that I was worried about previously. It's good to see that naval combat in Assassin's Creed 3 isn't all about sinking as many ships as you can and calling it a day; there's also escort missions and even land vs sea battles that add variety into the mix.

I still haven't encountered any of the naval missions that allow you to board an enemy's ship and use ground combat to take over the ship, but from the way that the combat performed on land, I have high hopes that it will be equally fun on the high seas.

I did encounter a very different type of mission at Fort Wolcott though, as I stealthily infiltrated the fortress (Connor is an assassin, after all) and destroyed it so that it could no longer be used by the English. This ended in an amazing sequence that had the fort falling apart, fire destroying and breaking beams and floors as I dashed toward the water.

There was a time limit on the Fort Wolcott mission, but it was fairly generous considering that I didn't encounter much resistance along the way. As you might expect, it ended with Connor doing a swan dive off the edge of the cliff into the water below just as the building was exploding. It was both technically impressive and refreshing to see that Connor can do other things beyond his typical all-out assault missions.

Assassin's Creed 3 is impressive on many fronts, but I found it to be the most fun just getting lost in the world around me. There was always something to do, nothing ever felt forced, and I could just wander around and come across missions when I felt like it. That's something that recent Assassin's Creed titles have been missing and something that I welcome back with open arms. With all I've played of Assassin's Creed 3 so far, I still only feel as though I'm just barely scratching the surface. With only a little over a month left before its October 30th release, we can't wait to get out hands on the full game and continue exploring the Frontier with Connor.