Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Preview:

Like many, I fell hook, line, and sinker for Assassin’s Creed III’s refreshing Revolutionary War-era setting, only to be turned off by the Haytham switcheroo during the game’s opening hours. Thus, I should be wary of the next installment, but then dammit, pirates happened.

Edward talking to "Black beard".

Eye candy aside, what about the gameplay? After all, as Assassin’s Creed III proved, place does not a great game make. Here, the team at Ubisoft wants to break away from the hollow AC3 feeling that you weren’t really playing but instead a participant in a semi-interactive production.

To do that, lead writer Darby McDevitt says the team sought to return the game to its multiple-choice origins: “We went back to Assassin’s Creed 1 to see those [open-ended] setups.”

Daaarrr she blowws!! Stunning visual graphics!

To demonstrate, Ubi fired up a mission in which Assassin member Edward Kenway – first mentioned in a journal entry in AC3 – is tasked with hunting down a pair of brothers who are Templar associates. Kenway wanders through a seaside city plaza, finds the first target, and takes him out in full view of everyone. People scream, panic, and scatter – including the other brother, who runs away. Edward pursues him to the dock. The surviving sibling leaps aboard his boat as it leaves port.

Undeterred, Kenway dances across a rope line above the water to his ship, the Jackdaw, and takes the wheel. You can steer your vessel yourself and command attacks as well – which I saw firsthand as the Jackdaw caught up and ran parallel to the brother’s boat. Cannon fire is exchanged, sending up a cloud of volumetric fog that obscures your vision temporarily. Be careful, though: you can simply sink the ship if you want, but seeing how Edward is a loot-hungry pirate and putting it on the bottom of the ocean would negate any potential salvage or cargo value it has. And so Edward takes his foot off the gas, to use a thoroughly anachronistic term, and boards the ship.

Naval battles are now intense!

His crew joins him and suddenly an equally massive and impressive fight is waged on the deck of the burning, battered vessel. Your goal is still to kill the remaining brother, but you’ll be assigned random objectives when you board ships, too – in this case, killing 15 crew members.

The alpha target is terminated after Edward takes out a few snipers in the crow’s nest, then walk along suspended ropes and leap down onto him from above, using his body like an emergency brake as you plunge your blade into it.

With the battle won, you’ll have the option of sending the wounded ship to your fleet, or salvage it for materials in order to repair your boats.

Edward Kenway and his "Crew".

Meanwhile, myriad sunken ships mean you can swim around searching for underwater treasure, and you might find loot on the corpse of a half-crab-eaten sailor on a random sandbar. Plus, appreciated tweaks like no more hard desynching from the Animus if you’re spotted and a renewed emphasis on stealth (“Stealth is a major part of this game,” McDevitt says. “We really want to encourage infiltration and using your tools.”) should help Black Flag get Assassin’s Creed back to realizing its full potential.

Black Flag is an especially exciting proposition for pirate fans that were let down by the unfulfilled potential of 2012’s Risen 2: Dark Waters and the cancellation of Propaganda Games’ similarly open-world Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned in 2010. If Assassin’s Creed IV can put the “open” back in “open-world,” then the venerable memory-plumbing franchise might just reach its tallest heights yet.

"Ready the cannons!!" - Edward Kenway

The game will feature three main cities; Havana, Kingston, and Nassau, which reside under Spanish, British and pirate influence, respectively. The game will also feature 50 other 'unique' locations to explore, with a 60/40 balance between land and naval exploration. Assassin's Creed IV will have a more open world feel, with missions similar to those found in Assassin's Creed, as well as fewer restrictions for the player. The world opens up sooner in the game, as opposed to Assassin's Creed III, which had very scripted missions and did not give players freedom to explore until the game was well into its first act.The player will encounter jungles, forts, ruins and small villages and the world is being built to allow players much more freedom, such as allowing players to engage, board, and capture passing ships and swimming to nearby beaches in a seamless fashion. In addition, the hunting system has been retained from Assassin's Creed III, allowing the player to hunt on land, and harpoon in the water. 

A new aspect in the game is the ship the player will captain, Jackdaw. The Jackdaw will be upgradeable throughout the game, as well as having easy access to the ship when needed. In addition, a new underwater component is being added. The player will also have access to a spyglass, allowing the examination of distant ships, along with their cargo and strength. It can also help determine if an island still has animals to hunt, treasures to find or high points to reach for synchronization. An updated form of the recruit system introduced in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will also return, allowing Edward to recruit crew members. While Kenway's crew will remain loyal to him, and can be promoted to captain acquired ships, they cannot assist you in combat or perform long-range assassinations, as in previous games. Ubisoft removed this aspect of the brotherhood system, believing it allowed players to bypass tense and challenging scenarios too easily.

In the present day, at the Abstergo Entertainment — a subsidiary of Abstergo Industries — offices in Montreal, Quebec, players will engage in modern day pirating through the exploring of Abstergo's offices, eavesdropping and hacking, all without combat. As well, various "hacking" games, similar to previous cluster and glyph puzzles, will be present, that will uncover secrets about Abstergo.

Multiplayer has been confirmed to return, with new settings and game modes, though it will only be land-based.

Edward Kenway!

The Plot:

As is the case in previous games in the Assassin's Creed series, the story is divided into two intertwined halves, with one in the present day, one in a historical setting, and the events of each influencing the other. Although the present-day story had previously established that an Animus was required to view one's ancestors memories, the ending of Assassin's Creed III implies that Desmond's genetic memories have now been uploaded on to 'the cloud'. As such, the player's character is hired by Abstergo Entertainment to investigate a pivotal movement in Desmond's ancestry, the Assassin Edward Kenway. A notorious pirate and privateer operating during the Golden Age of Piracy, Kenway's story is set in the Caribbean, and mixes open-ended ship-based exploration with combat and land-based adventures on a number of Caribbean islands, as well as parts of southern Florida.

Edward Kenway doing the "leap of Faith".

THE VERDICT

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is a must anticipated game! The stunning visuals, gameplay and a new story arc for the Assassin's Creed Saga! This game is gonna rock the world!!

Here's a Trailer for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Official Assassin's Creed IV: Blackflag Trailer