Sunday, July 6, 2014

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

About a week and a half ago I found that the fourth Assassin's Creed game was on sale for a mere 20 bucks on the Nintendo store, so I downloaded it, and I have just beaten the game.

I've been a big fan of the Assassin's Creed games, though for the first time since the first game, I skipped a little ahead in the series. I definitely need to go back and finish III, though, as it looks like I missed some pretty huge developments.

Black Flag is set in the early 18th Century, during the "Golden Age of Piracy," and takes place throughout the Caribbean Sea. You play as Edward Kenway, the grandfather of III's Connor (though how many generations after Ezio remains a mystery.) Edward begins the game as a privateer who gets shipwrecked and accidentally gets embroiled in the Assassin/Templar conflict. After making some Templar enemies, you fall in with the great pirate figures of the era, like Henry Vane, Calico Jack Rackham, and Blackbeard himself, Edward Thatch (not Teach, though his name was always kind of a mystery.)

The sailing and piracy in the game is really well-designed. Not long after you start the game, you get access to the Jackdaw, which becomes your own personal pirate ship, and from there, you can upgrade the ship and take on Spanish and English ships. After crippling an enemy ship, you can board them, and once certain objectives are fulfilled, you can capture the ships for various purposes.

One of the amazing things about the game is how seamless it all is. With the exception of major cities like Havanna, Kingston, and Nassau, most of the caribbean is open to you, and whether you're jumping off to explore a tiny desert island or stepping away from the wheel to swing over to the ship you want to take, everything happens in the same physical space.

The plot is also strong, as Edward first acts purely out of self-interest, but learns to take responsibility for his actions. And it's populated with some memorable characters (Blackbeard is your bro, basically, and there's a young pirate named James Kidd who I won't say too much about.)

You actually don't spend a lot of time in the cities on the main quest, though many of them do have a fairly elaborate side quest that leads to the unlocking of one of two fancy sets of armor, as has been the tradition.

The game has a very rich world, with lots of collectables, and the ability to craft gear that will aid you.

My one complaint is that the modern-day plot in this one is a bit thin. Admittedly, most people seem not to care all that much about the greater AC arc, but I've always liked to see the context for what is going on in the series. With Desmond's story basically wrapped up in III (apparently,) you play as an anonymous employee of Abstergo Entertainment, which is basically a self-parody of Ubisoft. While Shaun and Rebecca make a little appearance, I wonder if they'll continue to play up the modern-era arc that has been going on for the first five games. Still, it does end on something of a promising note, albeit an enigmatic one.

But really, the main appeal of this game is that it's a hell of a pirate simulator. I know that III had sailing elements, but it looks like they really wanted to emphasize that in this game. I don't know if it's something they can shoehorn in to every AC game (the next one takes place during the French Revolution, so probably not) but it might be a good idea for Ubisoft to come up with a series of just awesome naval games.

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