Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Ahoy, mateys! Lissen here, ye scurvy scum, as I tell a tale of olde Edward, the pirate assassin! I’m not actually going to write like that, but yes, it is a pirate assassin game. I mean, there’s just nothing like playing an over-powered assassin utilizing the same game mechanics from past installments, in a game that’s essentially based on a solitary yet strangely popular feature from the previous installment, right? Right. Sarcasm aside, I’ll admit that this is not a bad game. It is strong, engaging, and an all-around great journey; however, the franchise is evidently beginning to weaken more than ever.

Alright, so let’s get things straight. You’re a random unnamed fellow helping Abstergo Entertainment gather information from samples of DNA taken from Desmond Miles, the previous over-arching protagonist, in the present day. You step into the shoes of Edward Kenway, who starts off his journey by accidentally becoming an assassin after accidentally becoming a pirate, and inevitably falling into a lifestyle that struggles with morality and greed. In the end, and without spoilers, we are given numerous potential prospects for upcoming Assassin’s Creed titles, and nothing prevalent occurs to benefit the over-arching futuristic plot of the franchise. Nevertheless, it does manage to stand on its own as a stark and enjoyable experience.

As I stated previously, Black Flag utilizes the popular naval-warfare feature from Assassin’s Creed III. I’ll admit it’s an awe-inspiring feeling to see humpback whales jump out of the water, and it’s an action-packed thrill to immobilize, board, and capture an enemy ship, but it can be a rather grueling endeavor. The amount of emphasis spent on the ship is overwhelming. Unlike previous titles, the majority of your wealth and exploration will be spent on your ship and at sea. Although this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is a rather tedious feature. You are no longer building your already overpowered skills as a one-man army; instead, you are investing your endeavors into your ship so you can safely navigate and dominate the Caribbean. I mean, it would have been nice to navigate a warship, but then again, what pirate would abandon his first ship? Actually, I think it’d be quite pirate-like to steal a warship and ditch yours for an upgrade. Eh, oh well.

Despite naval exploration being as enjoyable as it is, I found the land exploration to be a bit lackluster. Cities and towns were small, often surrounded by lush jungles and large mountains that you either couldn’t explore or were given a narrow path to go through. The game is a bit more lenient on exploration and offers it up more quickly than its predecessor, but all in all, the emphasis on the open sea makes coming to land a dull affair at times. Although that may seem like a trivial observation, it creates a strange disassociation from the franchise: being a pirate was far more thrilling than being an assassin. Naval exploration allowed Edward to investigate old shipwrecks and deserted islands for treasure, go out on a quest to take down the White Whale, or even commandeer any unfortunate ship that happens to cross your path. Then again, your sole purpose for the majority of these excursions is to gather materials to further upgrade your ship, but that’s all part of a pirate’s life, right? You know, plunder and gore for riches and booty. Like cloth and wood. For the ship. Yeah.

Well, there are always Assassin’s Creed’s crazy kills. The combat mechanics haven’t changed very much. In fact, I couldn’t find much difference in them. Attack, parry, and remain unharmed is essentially the method. I’ve personally grown rather dull about the combat, but I’ll be honest and say that I found the aesthetic of violence in Edward’s method of killing to be enjoyably gruesome. All in all, there’s always the multiplayer too, but it’s only land-based, which means no naval warfare for a game about pirating assassins. Ubisoft introduced the Gamelab, which was marketed as a way to customize and create new game modes, but all it does is allow you to tweak the time, weapons, and abilities of current game modes. They also attempted to emphasize cooperative play, but the deathmatch game type still appears to be the most popular mechanic in the unpopular multiplayer.

In the end, Black Flag turned out to be a great pirate game and a decent Assassin’s Creed title. With my sarcasm as evidence, and the reiteration of the same game mechanics from previous titles, it seems, at least to me, that the franchise is beginning to weaken. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag stands on its own as a strong title with plenty of fun and excitement, but it loses its importance in the vague over-arching Abstergo story.