Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag preview
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is the next game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, coming hot off the heels of Assassin’s Creed III. This time however unlike Assassin’s Creed II: Brotherhood and Revelations we won’t be sticking with the same new protagonist. Instead we are leaving Connor Kenway to jump into the boots of Edward Kenway, Connors grand father. Instead of dealing with the American Revolution and the Native Americans we are jumping on a boat to loot and plunder across the Caribbean, as Edward sails his ship under the pirate flag. Unfortunately the Templar and Assassin war has reached the Caribbean and threatens to destroy everything that the pirates have worked hard to build for themselves, thus Edward takes up his sword to protect everything that he and the other pirates hold dear.
The open world of Assassin’s Creed III was something of a let down, the game had a massive scope with large cities to explore, and a even larger still untamed wilderness in the Frontier area. Unfortunately large open areas aren’t enough on their own, and unless I had to go through the Frontier I steered clear of it in favour of finding the closest fast travel location to my destination. Assassin’s Creed III was the 5th console release in the series, which meant I had spent five games running across rooftops and while the climbing and parkour was still enjoyable tedium had set in. Luckily it seems Ubisoft understands and has removed the free running sections to get from city to city instead you’ll be sailing your ship called The Jackdaw from port to port in the Caribbean sea. Like the past Assassin’s Creed games since AC2 you’ll find the need to explore areas, they were the tombs of past Assassin’s in AC2, in Brotherhood you explored the Romulus dens, in Revelations you made your way through set pieces to find the discs that allowed Ezio to see the memories of Altair. This time is no different except your exploring the depths of the ocean in your diving bell.
The naval combat from Assassin’s Creed III was a great addition to the franchise, and was enjoyable and interesting to play each time. Depending on the ship types you were forced to employ different strategies to take out certain ships all the while making sure another vessel doesn’t take advantage of it while you bombard another. While you battled Templar vessels it was hard to tell what kind of vessels were what, and whether or not you could board the ship, luckily Edward has a spyglass that allows him to take critical intel on the ships before he engages. You’ll be able to dock at varied locations throughout the game, like the busy city’s of Havana and Kingston to city places like Nassau which has become a safe haven for pirates to dock their ships and set foot on land.
You won’t be the lone pirate in the game, much like the past games you’ll find famous historical people throughout the game, pirates like Blackbeard and Anne Bonny.
If you finished Assassin’s Creed III you know that Desmond is in no shape to jump back into the Animus, he isn’t reliving his ancestors memory in this game. This time you are reliving Edward Kenway’s memories, the epilogue in AC3 hinted at this when your dumped back into the animus at the end of the game. Instead the Templar run Abstergo has since opened up its entertainment division, and you get to be their employee, as you go through QA on the game to bug test it before the product is shipped out worldwide. If you’re worried about what happened to the supporting characters that have been with Desmond since the start of Assassin’s Creed II don’t worry they return in this game as well.
Assassin’s Creed IV is due out on October 29th on the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Wii U, 360, and presumably Microsofts new console.
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