I just beat the game (yeah I'm late, I know). I have to say I really liked it. The story was gripping, probably my favorite in the series so far. I loved Connor; I don't get why people don't like him, sure he's not as cool as Ezio, but that's not a bad thing. Not every Assassin can be this suave badass, Connor was different and I liked it.
New York and Boston are cool locations to travel in. Though, they're sort of a pain to travel in, since the enemy AI is so damn aggressive.
I loved fighting through the Revolutionary War, the history geek in me was so happy. I wish there was a bit more of it though.
The soundtrack was great, easily my favorite of the whole series. I especially love the main theme.
I do have two big gripes though, the horse riding and the hunting. The horse riding is really bad, it's barely improve since AC2. What's so hard about making it similar to RDR's horse rising? That game made it fun to ride horses, the AC series makes it a pain. As for hunting, I HATE how you have to do a QTE when a predator attacks you. I don't usually hate QTEs, but this is just obnoxious. I really hope they change that in AC4.
All-in-all, AC3 is a great game and I'm not seeing some of the hate it's bern getting. Adam Sesslet compared it to Street Fighter III, it's something different that the fans didn't really expect so they're hating on it. Hopefully AC3 will end up like SF3 and overtime people will come to appreciate it. I give AC3 a 8.5/10, tying it with Brotherhood as my second favorite in the series after AC2.
I'm really excited for AC4, infect it's my most anticipated game of the year. But I hope Ubisoft doesn't abandon Connor and that we see more of him in the future. A ame set during the French Revolution would be nice.