10 Painfully Slow Openings That Nearly Ruined Great Video Games

Okay... so some, or many, might argue that Assassin's Creed 3 is not technically a great game, but there are plenty of aspects that make it at least good. For instance, the combat was wildly reworked from the previous entries in the series, as well as traversal, both adding dynamism and flair to a stale-growing franchise. In addition to those upgrades, the homestead mechanic made a welcome return, and was greatly enhanced. However, what wasn't so great was the excessive amount of hand holding the game did for you in the opening sequences.

While Haytham Kenway is a far more engaging character than main protagonist Connor, starting out as him sailing to America was a painful way to begin. The journey from England to America in the 18th century took about a month, and is exactly how long it felt to play it. Bumbling around aimlessly while 'investigating' a mutiny, going from below deck to above deck, and back again, then watching yet another cutscene was more lifeless than The Kingdom from AC 1.

Finally after a chase across the high seas - in cutscene again - you finally arrive in America. The open world, the side activities, the story! Yeah, no. The handholding doesn't stop there. The game refuses to leave you alone and just let you play until well after sequence 6, which is downright ridiculous.

All we wanted was to be a badass assassin and go about assassinating our targets, but Ubisoft thought that ambling around on an enclosed ship, entrapped by a thousand cutscenes was the way to introduce the fresh face of Assassin's Creed.