8. Assassin's Creed III
Whether it was through series fatigue on the fan or developer side, AC III arrived to lukewarm receptions across the board. For gamers it was the first time we'd moved on from Ezio's titles in three years, and although the opening segment had within in a killer plot twist (you were playing as a Templar the entire time), it marked the first time AC truly started to feel like it could careen off the rails at any time. The aforementioned opening sequence went on for a good 45 minutes, which just felt like padding once you got to the meat of the tale; a brilliant narrative set during the American Civil War, but that cast you as the era-appropriately-named Ratonhnhaké:ton, or Connor for short. The problem came after all this preamble (providing the Haytham Kenway stuff hadn't made you run for the hills beforehand), as the game itself was the epitome of joyless busywork. AC III's story took a backseat as we were introduced to a Homestead-building mechanic that literally didn't go anywhere. Graphics and general performance were lower than ever, with texture-pop present at all times, frame-rates tanking the experience and the general feel of play just not offering anything new. An Ubisoft interview at the time described Connor as being such a fearsome warrior in battle, that "enemies didn't stand a chance" - a statement that made you question the very idea and point of Assassin's Creed as a stealth franchise.