14 DAY TRIAL // 
Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation delivered a spinoff experience based on the much bigger Assassin's Creed 3 of 2012, shrinking it down to the level of the PS Vita handheld console. The game was quite successful, managing to tread new ground in the series by portraying a female assassin of African American descent and a clever story.
Now, in order to make sure that all fans are able to experience the great game, Ubisoft has remastered it in high-definition for full-fledged platforms like the PC, PS3, or Xbox 360.
Promising to deliver a greatly improved action adventure game with better visuals, tweaked gameplay, and different enhancements, does Assassin's Creed Liberation HD manage to fulfill its mission or should it stick to the shadows? Let's find out.
Story
Assassin's Creed Liberation HD innovates in many ways in terms of story, with players controlling Aveline de Grandpre, a young French African girl who enjoys a good position in New Orleans, as she is the daughter of a rich merchant. Even so, she isn't unsympathetic to the slavery and the troubles endured by her fellow Africans and has joined the Assassin brotherhood in order to help those in need and make sure that the Templars don't establish a foothold in Louisiana.
Aveline goes through a lengthy and quite complex adventure that shines some more light on the war between Assassins and Templars, as well as the ways they treated the New World. There are quite a few twists and turns and, in classic fashion, Aveline meets a wide array of friendly and not so friendly characters along the way, including Assassin's Creed 3 hero Connor.
The story still bears the marks of being designed for quick bursts, as missions aren't that long and quite a few characters are introduced in quick succession. This leads to a lot of confusion if you're not paying attention or if you don't feel the need to look into the character bios that are added in the Animus database. Even so, it's quite good and there are more than enough new elements that should delight hardcore fans of the franchise.
Gameplay
Assassin's Creed Liberation HD is very much an Assassin's Creed game, as players are treated to an action adventure experience with a distinct focus on free running around environments, dodging guards, and killing targets.
Unfortunately, the fact that this was designed in parallel to Assassin's Creed 3 means that some of its mistakes transcended, including the all too often chase sequences, which are way too annoying and were pretty much scrapped with last year's Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag.
There's also a bigger emphasis on stealth this time around, especially since Aveline can employ the silent blowpipe to kill her foes. Unfortunately, the AI is still a bit erratic, detecting you even if you're sneaking up behind them, or failing to notice you if you're standing in front of them.
By far the most impressive and intriguing gameplay mechanic is the Persona one. Aveline can wear three different costumes in the game, in the form of the Assassin one, in which she can do everything from free running to killing but is more conspicuous, the Slave one, with which it's easier to blend into the crowds but you can only perform stealth kills and free run, and the Lady one, which allows you to bribe or flirt with guards and move around with almost no problem, except that you can't free run.
Switching between these personas is done at special dressing chambers, which can be bought in the form of buildings. Quite a few missions will require you to change costumes, but a few at least give you some choice when it comes to either being a slave or a lady.
Combat is pretty good but the AI is a bit too eager to attack you, as they'll start their strike before you can finish killing one of them off. This is confusing, to say the least, as the animations don't sync. The chain kill that used the Vita's touchscreen is still present but you just use the thumbstick or mouse.
Free running is quite good in the new game, particularly when it comes to traversing the Bayou using trees and rocks. Another great exploration mechanic is the canoe, which makes traversing the swamps around New Orleans much easier.
In terms of locations, there are three main ones, namely New Orleans, the Bayou, and some Mayan ruins, but only New Orleans is a truly fleshed out city filled with citizens, activities, and more.
Even if Ubisoft bragged about giving Liberation HD a proper amount of polish, there still are some issues, including Aveline's body parts clipping through the environment or occasional moments of lag, not to mention the AI bugs.
Graphics and Sound
Of course, one of the major aspects enhanced for Liberation's release onto other platforms are the visuals. The game looks much better than the PS Vita experience, from the level of detail, to the quality of the textures and much more. Even so, it's not exactly the prettiest experience out there, especially when compared to the stunning Black Flag. Still, remember that it was originally envisioned for a portable platform, and expect quite a lot of pop-in issues, especially when it comes to buildings or textures.
In terms of soundtrack and voice acting, Liberation HD fares much better. The orchestral score is great and quite varied, depending on your location and time period. The voice acting also sounds more crisp and clear, even if some of the French or Spanish accents are hilariously over-the-top.
Conclusion
Assassin's Creed Liberation HD is a successful re-release of the PS Vita game, managing to deliver the experience to many fans who missed out on it the first time around. Even so, don't go in expecting something on the same page as Black Flag, as its graphics are much poorer, while the gameplay still needs some upgrades and polish.
