Should you let this assassin shiver your timbers?
Iāve been a huge fan of Assassinās Creed from the beginning, but even I was disappointed with AC III. It lacked focus; the protagonist was uninteresting and forgettable while the game itself was marred with bugs that let it down. The saving grace was its ship missions and what a surprise…now theyāve made a sequel that focuses more on that success with Black Flag…
You play as Edward Kenway, a notorious pirate with respect from the likes of Blackbeard. Heās a better protagonist than Connor was, but still doesnāt quite match the quality of Ezio. The story will take you across the Caribbean through activities like plundering ships, attacking legendary ships, assassinations and many other side missions and collectables to find. The ship controls have been vastly improved from AC III and is more accessible. Thereās still a lot to be done on land so itās not all on the high seas, so donāt go expecting anything too drastic changing in the AC universe…it will feel very familiar, but improved.
Thereās a large emphasis on exploration in Black Flag with dozens of collectables, rare animals to hunt and treasure to find deep underwater. You gather resources for your ship by boarding other ships and stealing their supplies, but doing so raises your wanted level and eventually youāll be hunted on the open sea if you donāt bribe the harbourmaster, however the hunter ships do carry great loot for upgrades…so itās worth doing if you think you can survive the onslaught.
Multiplayer remains the same as before, but luckily the trophies arenāt hugely focused on that this time around. It would have been nice for them to add ship battles on the high seas, it would have been interesting and it feels like a missed opportunity to me. There are some co-op missions for multiplayer and a lab mode where you can design your own game types, but other than that its business as usual.
Visually, Black Flag looks great for the most part. The environments look stunning and I canāt wait to see the next-gen equivalent, but facial animations are a mixed bag and there are a few glitches to contend with as you would expect. Voice-acting is a lot better this time around; Edward Kenway is a more enjoyable character to play than Connor who I found to be a bit whiny. The music is also well done and fits the whole āPirateā theme.
The Verdict
While it has its flaws, Assassinās Creed IV: Black Flag is a huge improvement over AC III. Itās more enjoyable, the ship battles are well done and exploring the Caribbean is a wonder to see. Being a pirate has never been more fun, I canāt wait to see what Ubisoft do with the franchise from here but itāll take a lot to top this…
