Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Review

VinWarrior · March 30, 2014

One of this year's hottest hits on the gaming market was Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, a tale of debauchery and death as gamers around the world donned the swords of the infamous Pirate Edward Kenway, but they were soon to discover his secrets and an emotional journey in the seas and shores of the West Indies. Sounds like an interesting plot on paper right? Well, the real question is if Assassin's Creed IV is truly one for the history books it takes after, or just another annual action game that doesn't deserve an ounce of attention. Find out the answer below!

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So, I would like to start off by saying Assassin's Creed IV is visually stunning, from purple-violet skies on the midnight sails through the sea, to shining sunny days spent looting on the game's breathtaking jungles and shores, to even blistering winds and rains as you swing from ship to ship battering your enemies down with sharp quick blades and heavy cannons. You can expect this on both Next Gen and Last Gen, as playing the game on the PS3 only lead to slight graphical issues that were barely noticeable. You'll never be muttering to yourself, "Wow this game looks great for an original Xbox game!" when playing Assassin's Creed IV. The game even manages to keep it's stunning cutscene graphics in-game, as you'll never feel age with the game.

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Next, we look at story. Without spoiling anything, you start out as the Pirate Edward Kenway, and are tossed ashore, where you are pushed into an intriguing plot of twists and turns involving the assassin order, as Edward fights for his own desires, making great friction in the game between him and other Assassins. Through-out the first three quarters of the game, you don't feel at all disappointed, rather, it's quite the immersive and adventurous narrative. The game immediately switches gears in the last act, and it just amps you up as you can't help but give a round of applause to Edward, and as well, it hits an emotional chord that you never expected from a game about betrayal and killing for your own goals. After playing, you sit down, pause for a moment, and ponder as to Edward's origins, and you'll become fixed on Edward's driving points, but the game has one scene that I refuse to spoil, that shows when it immediately brakes and does a right turn, this scene could be watched for hours on end and it's meaning could be wondered for years before we can decipher it fully, it succeeds as one of the most breath-taking events in a game I have seen in a long time.

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Now, the actual gameplay. It keeps its familiar button mashing system, a tad disappointing to some, but just the flexibility and pure righteous fun of it kept me playing more. Ship to ship battles are hands down the most fun side activities to do in a game in 2013. Just the thrill of seeing this huge hulk of a man o' war, putting in all of your effort and speed, and taking it down is enough to make this game well worth $60. Money and Crafting play a huge part in upgrades, and you'll spend hours going around collecting items and cash to upgrade your ships, weapons, and character. This can get tedious at times, but it's satisfactory when you finally do it. In the end, the most innovative mechanic added was the whaling system, which I know received quite a bit of fire from PETA, though I think this is hilarious fun to fool around with. The biggest slap in the face the game has to offer is in it's ridiculously downgraded hunting, where it seems as though they just didn't have the time to bring back or improve upon the old system, as this was likely left until the last minute, and forced to be rushed out of the door by Ubisoft's publishing team.

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Getting past that, we have multiplayer. Now I wasn't a fan of Assassin's Creed II's multiplayer, and Assassin's Creed IV follows the same system, so it's a mixed bag for me. I give them massive credit for adding the ability to make modes, and for having a polished multiplayer though. It feels very bland and uninteresting, nothing is driving you to keep playing. There's no real fun communication and large scale actual fighting, which doesn't at all fit Black Flag's massive battle system in the single player, though it does go along with the lines of traditional Assassination, so I give it credit there. Multiplayer needs to have more of a replay value, otherwise it is going to continue downgrading the games.

So wrapping it up, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is an incredible game, with a few flaws, but it's overall value far exceeds that of most $60 titles in 2013. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag earns an:

8/10

Expect more reviews in the upcoming future, until then, thanks for reading and leave your thoughts on the game below!

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