Winner – Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation
Though there weren’t too many handheld games to play on the show floor, this version of Ubisoft’s biggest franchise brings a whole new dynamic to mobile gaming. Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation sees Ubisoft forgetting their previous poor handheld spin-offs and starting anew. Liberation is a unique game with a new protagonist and setting built from the ground up using the Anvil engine (the engine used on the home console series), and it definitely shows.
Liberation isn’t the best-looking game on the Vita I’ve seen, but it is up there with the greatest. The open world alone is a handheld marvel, but they didn’t just stop there. The controls are a perfect cross between conventional buttons and the Vita’s capabilities without being a gimmick, while gameplay remains mostly the same, with the addition of Liberation exclusive elements such as alligator wrestling.
If you own a Vita, you should pre-order this game and play Gravity Rush a few more times till its release. If you don’t own a Vita and Gravity Rush, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Tearaway, Little Big Planet Vita and Soul Sacrifice aren’t enough, Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation should be the tipping point because it brings a fully fledged home console game experience to the handheld.
Runner-up - PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
