Developer: Ubisoft
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag – Review
Ahoy matey! Here we are with Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Hoist the flags, prepare the cannons, and sharpen your blades for some mind-blowing naval battles and stealthy assassinations.
Story
The Assassin’s Creed franchise is well-known for its deep storyline during several historical eras. The battle between the Templars and the Assassins rages on, and this time we’re taken back to 1715. This century is like the Golden Age for pirates as they are ruling the Caribbean seas. These bandits were capable of paralyzing several navies and disrupting international trade. Pirates could multitask as well, because next to the mentioned activities, they had time to plunder the rich.
The game revolves around Edward Kenway. This fearsome but cocky young captain and pirate has a thirst for money and fame so he can return home as a wealthy and respected man. This vision of life has something to do with a woman – naturally – but you’ll have to find out the details while playing. Captain Edward isn’t the only important pirate around though, there are others worth mentioning as well, like Blackbeard and Calico Jack. At the beginning of the game, you almost get murdered by an assassin, but your skills prevail. When you change clothes with your assailant, you get thrown into an ancient conflict that might be the downfall of the pirates.
Graphics
It was quite hard to evaluate the graphics in this game because the quality is … hard to assess. When you roam the world and sail your ship, the graphics seem really fine. Even when you gaze at the horizon or synchronize your environment, the scenery seems very detailed and decently finished. These beautiful graphics change when you’re going in close-up or when you get a cutscene. The faces of the characters are far from finished and seem kind of angular. There don’t seem to be a lot of facial expressions, and when there are, they lack the power to really convey the feeling.
Next to the quality of the graphics, you can feel that the developers did their best to reconstruct an adequate and lifelike world. This really gives you the feeling that you’ve been teleported back to the 18th century. If you want to get back to this time, just leave your Animus and enjoy the modern and tight style the Abstergo Industries building offers.
Sound
The music in Assassin’s Creed IV is plainly said: marvellous. Each specific area has its own track, but the tune changes when you’re in danger or doing a stealthy mission. This gives quite some variation while playing, and you’ll never get bored. The voice-overs are decently done as well, and each voice really fits the character.
Another addition to the game is the several sound effects. When you’re fighting with your enemies, you can hear blades clinking, shots being fired, and your slain enemies dying in pain. If you’re entering a ship, your crew follows, and you get fired on by just hearing them fight. Sailing the seas is a joy as well: the sound of waves crashing into the ship, the seagulls flying by, and the songs of your crew reverberating across the deck.
Gameplay
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a historical action-adventure game with a lot of free-roaming possibilities. The new aspect of this game is the exploration of the seven seas with your fleet. The story is told by completing the main missions. This can be as Edward Kenway in the Animus or as – uhm – yourself in the Abstergo Industries building. Your capabilities extend to DNA research, next to piracy, others will ask you to hack into computers and get data from Abstergo. You’ll learn that in time. One ability you have from the start is the Eagle’s Eye. This option grants you the possibility to target and lock on to a maximum of ten ‘enemies’.
The game also contains several side missions. If you ever feel like you want to do something else, just complete an assassination and earn some money. Or you could go on a safari on the numerous islands and hunt for some rare animals. This gives you some extra possibilities, but I’ll come back to that later. You can also try to find all the lost treasures and fragments scattered across the different cities and lost islands. As you can see, you won’t get bored for quite a while. This game is the biggest one from the series, with around 50 unique locations.
Hunting animals isn’t only good for some distraction of the main story, but also for getting several ingredients to make your own items and upgrades. You can increase your health and make new ammo pouches, for example, so you have an advantage in battle. If you don’t feel like spending time killing animals, you can also buy the hides at the local store. The same goes for your wardrobe. Changing clothes might be fun to do, and there is quite an offer available. Shame you can’t make them yourself, although it would probably blast your reputation to smithereens.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is mostly popular for the addition of ships and naval battles. This gives a nice twist to the game. The controls are very easy, and every gamer will be a captain in no time. Although having your own ship is nice, you’ll also need to have a crew and maintain the fleet. Well, these problems can be solved by recruiting sailors in taverns or from the commandeered enemy vessel. Maintaining and improving your fleet requires construction materials. You can find these on the mentioned confiscated ships, or they can be floating around on the waves. Long live fishing garbage out of the sea!
When you think the possibilities are almost ended, think again! You’ll even get your own isle to explore and develop. You might call this your home base, as you can always return here to get some new crew members or just to chillax for a bit.
The game also gives you the chance to take over some trading routes. This is a nice feature, because you can deploy some ships of your fleet on some missions, while you continue exploring the seas and killing enemies. For the gamers interested in this aspect, there is even better news. Ubisoft developed a ‘companion app’. This app can be installed on your tablet and is an extra asset for the game. With this app, you’ll have an interactive world map, the Animus Database, the trading routes and the option to check treasure maps on a second screen. A cheer for modern technology!
We’ve discussed the single player mostly, but you’ll have some fun in the multiplayer mode as well. You get the chance to do some co-op missions, or you can test your skills against other pirates. There are several game modes like ‘Deathmatch’ or ‘Assassinate’, but also more tactical modes like ‘Artifact Assault’ or ‘Domination’. Some of the titles are straightforward, but if you need any help with the game modes or with your character, you can always take a look in the Game Lab. This Lab is newly added and gives you the possibility to change about 200 parameters of your character. The sky is the limit, I would say.
There is a small negative point in the game though. When you put on the subtitles in English, the text contains several words that start with a capital letter. It might be okay at the start, but it gets quite annoying after a while.
Conclusion
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a really nice and solid game that makes you wish you were Edward Kenway yourself. The graphics from close by are sometimes angular, but the environments and faraway gazes make up for this. The sound is spectacular and is a real addition to the game, but the most fun part is the gameplay. There are so many possibilities and facets that you won’t get bored soon. The only thing I can say is: buckle up and get ready for some glory (and rum!).
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Review,
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