“Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” is the beautiful love child of “Sid Meier’s Pirates!” and the “Assassin’s Creed” franchise.
The game combines open world pirate roguery with all the trim and trappings that make up the “Assassin’s Creed” series.
It can be difficult to decide what to do. Do you want to go spear hammerhead sharks to increase your ammunition capacity or do you want to make some money raiding and pillaging? Every activity offers its own rewards that encourage you to explore the entire game.
A big selling point of the series has always been the environment. “Assassin’s Creed” made its name by creating sprawling, beautifully designed, living, breathing cityscapes. While cities on the map, like Kingston and Havana, offer some parkour potential, some fans of the series may find the lack of towers or flying buttresses troubling.
However, the true platform for freely roaming is the open ocean.
The map is a scaled down version of the Caribbean, including Cuba, the tip of Florida, Mexico and Haiti. While the larger settlements require load screens access, the entire ocean and tons of smaller settlements flow seamlessly together.
The transition from going from land to sea is simple, and the ship brings an entirely new layer to the game. You’re free to do whatever you want, however you see fit. At any time, you can step away from the wheel, dive into the ocean and swim.
Ubisoft took the naval battle aspects from last time and brought them to a whole new level. On the sea, every ship is a potential prize. As you purchase improvements, you’ll find yourself viewing that frigate or gigantic Man-of-War on the horizon as a target instead of a sign to split. Pull up next to it and watch your men throw grappling hooks across and open fire with muskets and pistols. Then put those assassin acrobatic chops to work and swing or jump across to the enemy deck and fight them to submission.
And there’s the little things that complete the game. Say you’ve just weathered your way through a harsh storm. You’ve lost men, swept from the deck by wind and water. As the downpour slows and you see sun on the horizon, your crew spontaneously breaks out in a mournful song to honor their friends lost at sea.
“Black Flag” is full of little moments like this.
While these little tracks are a relatively small part of the game, the sailors’ songs add emotion to the drudgery of a long voyage.
Every shanty page you chase down adds a new track to your ship’s playlist, which you can cycle through as your will. It’s a playful tool that adds to the authentic feel of the game. Some of them will give you chills.
The plot and the character development are solid. Edward Kenway has personality and an interesting character arch. Plot scenarios surrounding the missions are pretty organic and usually make decent sense.
Overall, “Black Flag” is a beautifully designed and amusing game that brings something new to the “Assassin’s Creed” world. Old elements are combined with a new world and characters to offer a wide variety of experiences within a single title.
The map is beautiful and its inhabitants feel alive. Combined with a game structure that encourages you to explore, “Black Flag” offers players hours upon hours of rewarding game play.
Rating: 5 out of 5
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