Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Pirates are awesome, and don’t let anybody tell you differently. From movies to books and now to video games, pirates will forever be that representation of a free spirit taking their own lives and making something of them by any means necessary. So it’s no wonder that the Assassin’s Creed franchise wanted to make use of them and add them to their impressive repertoire of historical figures. And you know what? It actually works. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is the series fully realized. The story is grand and epic, the gameplay refined, the visuals stunning as always, and it more than makes up for the disappointments that Assassin’s Creed III, though great, suffered in its launch.

The game immediately thrusts you into the life of Edward Kenway, a privateer turned pirate around the era known as the “golden age of piracy,” specifically the third and final stretch lasting from 1716 to around 1726. He also happens to be the father of Haytham Kenway and grandfather of Connor Kenway, the main characters of Assassin’s Creed III. Edward gets shipwrecked by a member of the Assassin Order, who on his way to Havana, Cuba to meet up with some important people and collect a big reward. But Edward later kills him and goes to Havana himself to collect the late assassin’s payment. Upon reaching the city and meeting with the assassin’s contacts, he soon finds himself caught in the middle of the war between the Assassins and Templars: the main conflict within the franchise. He figures the best way to collect a fortune from these two groups is to become a pirate with no loyalties except to himself and his crew, and so begins his adventure.

As for the modern day portion of the game, which has been established since the beginning, you no longer control Desmond Miles on account of him having a severe case of death in the previous installment. Instead, you now control a nameless, faceless employee of Abstergo Entertainment, a brand of Abstergo Industries that’s focused on making virtual reality video games based on collected memories from certain individuals with interesting ancestors. This section serves more as a small continuation of the story instead of further development for main characters, who are demoted to cameos and smaller roles this time around. There is a side story involved with collecting information for the Assassins from Abstergo Entertainment, but this only feels a little arbitrary and doesn’t really add much other than some moments of background info from the time in between games, to a few chuckle-worthy instances of meta-humor, where the game makes fun of itself as well as the franchise in general. Otherwise, it is written well and does serve to keep newer players in the loop, even if some dialogue pieces keep important information in the dark a while.

Where the narrative remains strong, however, is within the memories of the ancestor you play as, and Edward Kenway makes his case as a charismatic, swashbuckling rogue with a sympathetic side in the form of protecting those he considers both friend and family. He has a wife, and leaving her to become a privateer/pirate doesn’t leave much room for them to grow in a relationship. Seeing how they both develop within small flashbacks makes you feel sorry for Edward, as every bad decision he makes drives him away from the family he could potentially have. His growth throughout the game is nothing short of impressive, and almost echoes Ezio’s story in terms of raw emotion.

This kind of development can also be seen in the side cast. And what a cast this is. Along his adventure, Edward meets up with several historical pirates, all of whom existed, even if their stories are changed to fit the fiction of the series. You meet up with notorious buccaneers like Edward Thatch A.K.A Blackbeard, the most famous and fearsome of pirates; John “Calico Jack” Rackham, the designer of the famous Jolly Roger; Anne Bonny and Mary Read, two of the most famed female pirates ever; and many more including Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts, Charles Vane, Ben Hornigold, and Stede Bonnet. Every pirate is as ruthless and vicious as their legends suggest, but the writers decided to show them as what they truly were: honest human beings who fell into difficult times and saw no other options besides leading a life of adventure, greed, and anarchy. They’re painted with real human emotion and motive, a far cry from the bloodthirsty demons of the sea that many portray pirates to be, and the story is all the better for it, even if individual arcs tend to be done as soon as a character reaches enlightenment.

The game takes place around parts in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea. The main cities seen are Havana, Kingston, and Nassau in the Bahamas. The landscapes in this game are nothing short of breathtaking. You see the beach coasts of most ports and the cities, and you’re treated to some of the most beautiful vistas in any video game to date. From sheer rock cliffs pouring a waterfall over a beach, to straits beset with cliffs that would be a ship’s worst nightmare, and vast rainforests within many of the islands, this game is gorgeous in every sense of the word, and everything can be accessed on a whim, as the game features no loading screens between many islands, coves, and the ocean itself apart from the major cities, and even then, there’s no framerate drops or stuttering when this occurs. This game is a great example of how to make your visuals stable while retaining some level of constant playability.

Speaking of playability, let’s finally get to the gameplay, which is the best the series has ever had. The core gameplay is still standard of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. You base your moves around two styles: low and high profile. By using the face buttons, you’re able to control parts of Edward’s body corresponding to each of his limbs. In low profile (standard movement), these are used to blend into your surroundings, jump, and occasionally pickpocket innocent civilians for a few extra coins. This is best used when you have to sneak your way around guards, as the game places a high emphasis on stealth this time around. You can whistle to attract a guard’s attention before moving somewhere else, hide behind corners, and walk among the crowds to become incognito. You can even assassinate or knock people out from these positions, and there are plenty of vantage points to be found for the best tactical advantage.

High profile moves are where you find the most actions. When you press the free-running button and keep it held, you’re given the opportunity to trek across the landscape in style, while running the risk of attracting unwanted attention. You can climb up buildings, run across them in various feats of agility and speed, and kill guards at high speeds. Climbing has been improved upon since the previous game, however, as there are more buildings, trees, cliffs, and more to climb up and create your own courses to run through. The only issue with it is one that has plagued the series since the beginning, and that’s the questionable accuracy of the climbing itself. You’ll often run into walls that you want to climb but Edward decides not to, you’ll jump off a roof to another one only to be shoved off to the right or left through no fault of your own, and often there will be moments where you become stuck on a climb even though you see more points of articulation right overhead. These happen often, but are easily overcome and are only minor annoyances to fans of the series.

Combat remains same at a core level, but has been refined to feel more fluid and aggressive, as pirates were known for their guerilla style of warfare. Emphasis has been placed on attacking your enemies first while paying attention to counter-attack indicators as in previous games. You can easily take out the normal enemies with a combo string, but not all of them go down easy. There are smaller rogue-like enemies that can catch you if you run away, and will easily block your attacks unless you break their defense first. Brutes also become a threat, as they can easily ruin your combo, and will toss grenades now and again for added damage. The best tactic against them is to either sneak up on them, or break their defense and disarm them. Enemies will still attack you one at a time, which has been both a blessing and a curse since day one of the series, as it both simplifies and reduces challenge, while also giving you a fair chance to look like a badass.

A big change in this game is the increased emphasis on the naval gameplay first introduced in Assassin’s Creed III. You take control of the Jackdaw, Edward’s ship, often throughout the game as a means of traveling through the massive overworld’s ocean. Along the way, you’ll battle against thick fogs that hinder your navigation, furious storms that threaten to tear your ship apart, and vicious gusts of wind that steer you off-course in an instant. It’s a cohesive world, where you can sail from two islands and explore them without having to worry about a loading screen, apart from entering major cities or starting various missions. The world feels alive too, since you come across numerous ships sailing, whales breeching along the waters, and birds flying around to catch some fish no matter where you go. It all goes to show how much detail went into making sure there was plenty to do without a single break in between.

Apart from the regular story missions, there are numerous side activities to partake in. The most exciting thing is taking part in naval combat, which has been fleshed out considerably while also maintaining a streamlined approach for easier access. You have numerous weapons at your disposal such as cannons, mortars, fire barrels, and chain shots to try and take an enemy ship down. Aiming can be tricky since you not only have to account for your opponent, but also the dynamic dangers present in choppy waters, waterspouts, and the occasional strong gust of wind. Thankfully, the Jackdaw controls smoothly, and never fights against you in the thick of battle.

There are numerous enemy types to fight. You have small gunboats that are easy to manage, schooners who are fast and difficult to keep track of, brigs that charge towards you, frigates that get more powerful as you progress, to giant man o’wars that carry over one-hundred cannons that can rip your ship apart in seconds. There are even pirate hunter ships that chase you when your notoriety gets too high. You can board the larger ships once you deal enough damage to them, which require you to defeat a number of the remaining crew to fully take over. You then have the option of repairing the Jackdaw, lowering your wanted level, or sending the ship to Edward’s fleet, which can be sent on missions outside the world map, not unlike the assassin missions see in previous games.

You can upgrade the Jackdaw with the various resources you collect from taking ships down. Things like sugar and rum can be sold for cash, while wood, cloth, and metal can be used to increase the number of cannons on the Jackdaw, improve the strength of the hull, add a battering ram on the front, and even create different colored sails. You can even improve the strength of your whaling boat and harpoons, as well as buy different artifacts to decorate your ship.

Aside from the combat, there are other things you can do for resources and finances. You can take up assassination contracts for extra coin. Finding a wrecked ship along the expanse of the Caribbean Sea enables you to dive underwater to collect its sunken booty while avoiding sharks, moray eels, and the chance to drown. Thankfully, the game’s underwater controls are solid, if a little jerky at times when trying to round sharp corners or enter smaller areas. You can hunt for animal skins to upgrade Edward’s armor, weapons, and the amount of guns and ammo he can carry at once. Whaling and shark-hunting provides an opportunity to collect on more skins, but require you to go to certain spots to harpoon the giant beasts, which offer some challenge, but become simple due to their predictable AI patterns. You can take down naval forts to unlock more of the map, which can be just as tough as regular naval battles due to their enhanced firepower, but thankfully remain stationary.

There are numerous collectibles as well, such as treasure chests, messages in bottles that provide more insight into the lore of the time period, treasure maps that not only have large amounts of gold, but also give customization plans that you wouldn’t otherwise acquire on your own. There are even animus fragments and challenges that can be found to unlock cheats and multiplayer options.

Wait, there’s multiplayer? It was first introduced in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, the multiplayer of the universe remains as popular and intense as ever. You enter the lobby to create a match, join one, or customize your character with unlockable perks, skins, and various other options like emblems. Once you start a match, you can choose a map to play on, and one of three modes. The first is Manhunt, which is a cat-and-mouse type of game. You play on a team of four, and are given the task of either finding members of the opposite team and killing them, or hiding from the opposite team while they search for you. You earn points from either the style of assassination, the length of time you spend hiding—either alone or with your team—somewhere, or by assisting your team either by healing or with a kill. The team with the most points after two rounds (once as predator, the other as prey), wins the match.

The second mode is called Domination, which is essentially a free-for-all mode where the player with the most points wins. In both modes, you play on large maps riddled with hiding spots, climbable buildings, and even NPCs that can either aid or hinder you. In either mode, killing a target other than your intended one will result in a five-second penalty where you cannot perform a single action. You use your boosters to either toss money into crowds, create a disguise to confuse your assailant, and many more that can be unlocked by leveling up.

The third mode is called Wolfpack: a mode introduced in Assassin’s Creed III, and it’s a checkpoint-based co-op mode where you and three other friends are tasked with taking down specific targets in a given amount of time. You all seek out your opponent amongst the crowds, and behaves much like a story assassination mission would. You scope the place out, locate your target, and find the proper means of taking them down, sometimes with added bonus objectives to challenge your skills. There are no other modes included, so multiplayer is essentially the same, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

There’s really nothing negative to say about this game, aside from the large number of gameplay and visual glitches that can easily take you out of the experience, and the same predictable and easily exploited AI that the series has been known for. Other than that, this is possibly the best game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. The smoother controls in free-running and combat, the open-world naval experience that’s second to none, the compelling and interesting narrative with some of the most colorful characters, and a modern day story that, while not perfect, is still intriguing and at times funny in its meta-humor. This is the closest the series has gotten to achieving the balance it’s strived for since the beginning, and you’ll be hard-pressed to tell yourself that the previous games were any better as a whole than this one.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 (numerous bugs and glitches, predictable AI patterns, modern-day story is lacking)