ASSASSIN'S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG (X360)
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Publisher: Ubisoft.
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal. Released: October 2013. Genre: Action/Adventure. Other versions: XONE; PS4; PS3; WIIU; PC. Posted 2nd December 2014. By Shane Battams © 2014 |
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Trust me when I say this: I was the last person expecting to put Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag on a Game of the Year shortlist. Increasingly stagnant instalments and a particularly rough third game left me with a sour taste in my mouth when it came to this series, but this pirate adventure is the Colgate to brush off the taste. Ubisoft, simply, have knocked this one out the park, embracing what it means to be a pirate and doing so in style, with a beautiful world that is pretty much yours to explore. This could be the best instalment since since ACII, maybe even the finest of all.
Though trails of the current-world jargon remain in the story, most of your adventure is concerned with pirate-turned-assassin Edward Kenway, grandfather of ACIII protagonist Connor. Thrusted into a Templar plot when he accidentally kills a rogue assassin, he opts to assist the Assassin’s cause while hoping to gain some large plunder out of it. Edward seems to have gained a lot of his charms from Ezio, as despite often coming off as selfish and egotistical, you still can’t help but smile at his cheeky retort. It’s pirate attitude at its finest. The story isn’t hugely standout, but you’ll like the cast of characters you meet along the way, which makes latter sections of the game more emotional. The light-hearted tone is also welcome.
Though trails of the current-world jargon remain in the story, most of your adventure is concerned with pirate-turned-assassin Edward Kenway, grandfather of ACIII protagonist Connor. Thrusted into a Templar plot when he accidentally kills a rogue assassin, he opts to assist the Assassin’s cause while hoping to gain some large plunder out of it. Edward seems to have gained a lot of his charms from Ezio, as despite often coming off as selfish and egotistical, you still can’t help but smile at his cheeky retort. It’s pirate attitude at its finest. The story isn’t hugely standout, but you’ll like the cast of characters you meet along the way, which makes latter sections of the game more emotional. The light-hearted tone is also welcome.
You'll need a big steering wheel peripheral to replicate that
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Why can't all lovers of Funk just get along?
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An Assassin’s Creed game in name, Black Flag feels more like a pirate game – which is good, of course. Though previous games have relied upon a trio of platforming, swordplay and stealth, BF embraces sailing as the main component. Briefly touched upon in ACIII, a majority of your time is going to be spent controlling a ship, which feels comfortable to steer. Though some may argue that it makes Black Flag less of an Assassin’s Creed game, especially with hugely reduced platforming, it also makes it the freshest instalment in years. It is far more satisfying to sail around the huge world, exploring uncharted islands for treasure and rewards.
And smartly, Black Flag’s world is built around sailing. Much of the world is ocean to sail, but peppered among it is islands to explore. These vary: some are small patches of sand which contain treasure to collect, while others are large-scale locales which often contain story missions. The main locations never feel the same, giving BF a scale not seen from this franchise. Nightmares of drawn-out Wind Waker sailing sections may scare you off, but a travel speed allows you to sail across the island quickly, and once you discover locations, they can be warped to from your map. Exploration is fun, and rewards constantly keep you charting all the islands in the game, with each containing several rewards whether it’s chests of money, animus fragments or secrets such as treasure maps.
Of course, Black Flag still has story missions to play through, and though it has some irritations synonymous with the series, there is far more good than bad. Traditional missions come into play, such as tailing suspects and engaging in sword combat. Tail missions aren’t as frustrating, but can be tedious, while swordplay remains a bit underwhelming, though an increased focus on combo-interruptions makes it more challenging. Sailing, however, takes up a majority of the story, and Naval combat becomes a key component. Your ship has a variety of weapons, from standard cannons at the front and side to mortars and ramming power. Naval combat is exciting and potent, while capturing a ship by engaging crew on board is also intense. This makes a huge portion of the story missions exciting and fun.
And smartly, Black Flag’s world is built around sailing. Much of the world is ocean to sail, but peppered among it is islands to explore. These vary: some are small patches of sand which contain treasure to collect, while others are large-scale locales which often contain story missions. The main locations never feel the same, giving BF a scale not seen from this franchise. Nightmares of drawn-out Wind Waker sailing sections may scare you off, but a travel speed allows you to sail across the island quickly, and once you discover locations, they can be warped to from your map. Exploration is fun, and rewards constantly keep you charting all the islands in the game, with each containing several rewards whether it’s chests of money, animus fragments or secrets such as treasure maps.
Of course, Black Flag still has story missions to play through, and though it has some irritations synonymous with the series, there is far more good than bad. Traditional missions come into play, such as tailing suspects and engaging in sword combat. Tail missions aren’t as frustrating, but can be tedious, while swordplay remains a bit underwhelming, though an increased focus on combo-interruptions makes it more challenging. Sailing, however, takes up a majority of the story, and Naval combat becomes a key component. Your ship has a variety of weapons, from standard cannons at the front and side to mortars and ramming power. Naval combat is exciting and potent, while capturing a ship by engaging crew on board is also intense. This makes a huge portion of the story missions exciting and fun.
With the toilets finally in sight, Edward breaks into a sprint
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New settings mean Black Flag really makes waves. Sorry.
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When you consider all the content available in ACIV, there’s plenty to go around. The story takes up around 10 or so hours, but you’ll often find yourself distracted by other secondary missions, such as mopping up collectibles on an island or partaking in assassinations, Templar hunts and bar-room brawls. I hadn’t finished the story, and had 25 hours of gameplay racked up. Multiplayer also returns, but isn’t quite as exciting due to a lack of sailing in any of the modes. Many of the match types return from ACIII, but a Game Lab mode allows you to create your own custom set ups and even have them shared to other players should they be positively received. Wolfpack mode, a co-operative mode tasking you to kill targets within a time limit, also returns. It’s good fun, but still requires you to play with co-ordinated players. Those who enjoyed ACIII’s competitive stuff will find it enjoyable here, if suffering from untapped potential.
Black Flag also benefits from a great production. This is easily the best looking Assassin’s Creed game to date, with a beautifully detailed world which is bolstered by great lighting, good texture work and plenty of climbable objects in the environment. Characters sometimes lack this great detail, but this is only a major issue during certain cut-scenes. The ocean looks terrific too, which is important considering how much time you’ll be spending on it, with excellent reflection and a natural look to it. The frame rate is often buttery smooth, though can tank a bit during hugely intense sequences. The audio is great too, benefiting from terrific music – particularly the catchy shanty songs your crew sings while sailing – and solid voice work. Dialogue captures the feeling of being a pirate, with plenty of colourful language, though it thankfully avoids any clichés.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag represents one of the strongest instalments of this series in years, and a top candidate for game of 2013. Ubisoft Montreal makes sure you embrace the life of a pirate, making a game where plundering, sailing and treasure are your main focuses. The world is cleverly constructed around this, and it’s consequently the freshest Assassin’s Creed in years. Though some old issues remain, they are pushed to the background by excellent sailing and exciting navy battles, which thankfully take up a majority of the game. And with so much uncharted territory to explore, this will be spinning in your disc tray for plenty of time. If you’re looking for an adventure which brings you joy and excitement, few are better than Black Flag.
Black Flag also benefits from a great production. This is easily the best looking Assassin’s Creed game to date, with a beautifully detailed world which is bolstered by great lighting, good texture work and plenty of climbable objects in the environment. Characters sometimes lack this great detail, but this is only a major issue during certain cut-scenes. The ocean looks terrific too, which is important considering how much time you’ll be spending on it, with excellent reflection and a natural look to it. The frame rate is often buttery smooth, though can tank a bit during hugely intense sequences. The audio is great too, benefiting from terrific music – particularly the catchy shanty songs your crew sings while sailing – and solid voice work. Dialogue captures the feeling of being a pirate, with plenty of colourful language, though it thankfully avoids any clichés.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag represents one of the strongest instalments of this series in years, and a top candidate for game of 2013. Ubisoft Montreal makes sure you embrace the life of a pirate, making a game where plundering, sailing and treasure are your main focuses. The world is cleverly constructed around this, and it’s consequently the freshest Assassin’s Creed in years. Though some old issues remain, they are pushed to the background by excellent sailing and exciting navy battles, which thankfully take up a majority of the game. And with so much uncharted territory to explore, this will be spinning in your disc tray for plenty of time. If you’re looking for an adventure which brings you joy and excitement, few are better than Black Flag.
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VERDICT
Visual: 9/10
Audio: 8/10 Gameplay: 9/10 Longevity: 8/10 OVERALL: 9/10 |
PIXEL SECONDS: ASSASSIN'S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG (PS3)
Ubisoft found itself labouring through ever-decreasing circles with the three entries that followed Assassin’s Creed II, culminating in the disappointing, disjointed-feeling ACIII. Its expansive designed ultimately counted against it, dominated as it was by bloated, sparse-feeling landscapes that didn’t chime with the compact stealth adventuring the series thrived on. However, not only would the bold and brilliant Black Flag rejuvenate the series, it would prove arguably its finest moment. This time around, its epic scale would serve as a boon. Retaining the enjoyable hunting elements and building a network of explorable islands, smugglers’ coves and shipwrecks, discover and exploring new locations is a genuine thrill. The odd new feature here and there helps sure-up the platforming, whilst streamlined, less fiddly stealth antics fit Black Flag’s swashbuckling style to a tee. The game is defined by its excellent sea-faring elements, which follow protagonist Edward Kenway as he tackles British and Spanish fleets in the West Indies, investigates Templar plots, and goes island-hopping on treasure hunts. There’s easily forty hours worth of play in the single-player alone, and it’s compulsively addictive. A small footnote: the PS3 version handles this ambitious entry admirably, with impressive visuals and short loading times, though there are a few discrepancies that suggest it likely isn’t the definitive version. These issues mostly concern staccato enemy animations, occasional drops in the frame rate, and NPCs exhibiting strange behavioural patterns. Such troubles would be largely ironed out in time for the game’s excellent, purpose-built seventh gen successor Rogue, but there’s nothing that it should dissuade you from playing this incredible adventure. [9] – Tom Clare © 2019
Ubisoft found itself labouring through ever-decreasing circles with the three entries that followed Assassin’s Creed II, culminating in the disappointing, disjointed-feeling ACIII. Its expansive designed ultimately counted against it, dominated as it was by bloated, sparse-feeling landscapes that didn’t chime with the compact stealth adventuring the series thrived on. However, not only would the bold and brilliant Black Flag rejuvenate the series, it would prove arguably its finest moment. This time around, its epic scale would serve as a boon. Retaining the enjoyable hunting elements and building a network of explorable islands, smugglers’ coves and shipwrecks, discover and exploring new locations is a genuine thrill. The odd new feature here and there helps sure-up the platforming, whilst streamlined, less fiddly stealth antics fit Black Flag’s swashbuckling style to a tee. The game is defined by its excellent sea-faring elements, which follow protagonist Edward Kenway as he tackles British and Spanish fleets in the West Indies, investigates Templar plots, and goes island-hopping on treasure hunts. There’s easily forty hours worth of play in the single-player alone, and it’s compulsively addictive. A small footnote: the PS3 version handles this ambitious entry admirably, with impressive visuals and short loading times, though there are a few discrepancies that suggest it likely isn’t the definitive version. These issues mostly concern staccato enemy animations, occasional drops in the frame rate, and NPCs exhibiting strange behavioural patterns. Such troubles would be largely ironed out in time for the game’s excellent, purpose-built seventh gen successor Rogue, but there’s nothing that it should dissuade you from playing this incredible adventure. [9] – Tom Clare © 2019
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