ACIV: Black Flag More Pirate, Less Assassin

I'm a little ways into this game now and this is the first Assassins Creed I have really played since the original. Got into the second game a bit but never completed.

My problem is the core mechanics of the game really aren't any better than they were in the first game. Sure they made the free running smoother, but still not good enough to not frustrate me in every single mission. Chase sequences are annoying because you can't guarantee you will climb when you want or jump when you want. It is just chance.

Stealth is a joke. I just played a mission where I alerted most of the guards and then hid in a hay bale and one by one killed guards when they came close enough. I murdered 3 people without one guard noticing.

He was standing right next to every person I murdered.

Why do we give games like this high ratings when the core mechanics are broken? Stealth isn't fun, chasing people isn't fun, eavesdropping isn't fun and so far the only connection to other games in the series is that you are some guy who's job is to go through these memories from Desmond. It would be so much better if we never left the pirate part of the game. It's much prettier there!

If someone asked you what you do in this game, what do you tell them? "You stand in bushes and kill people when they come too close." Sounds super fun to me.

Now I do enjoy sailing and ship battles and the ability to upgrade your ship. If this game revolved around only pirate things and dropped the poor assassin stuff then it would be so much more fun. Open world pirate game, multiplayer ship battles, a home base to upgrade and a more in depth sword fighting system. Doesn't that sound more fun?

Curious to see who else thinks this or thinks the game is fine the way it is.

I love the game because I like to explore and find treasures and what not. I'm fine with the kill missions. It was a tad harder for me to get into earlier Assassin's Creeds, but maybe I was depressed by the setting. A enjoy this setting 100x more.

It has problems sure, and stealth as a whole needs an overhaul in this new generation. When you can kill someone right in front of someone else, and they do not notice because it's just outside their field of vision, even though they are looking directly at you, it kind of breaks immersion. But for every set like that, I find scenarios where everything I know just comes together so smoothly that I just sit back and think "damn".

It does need some fine tuning though, for sure.

I've said this before, but the biggest problem with Blag Flag is the Assassins Creed licence.

It would've been a great pirate game on its own right, but it got brought down a notch by the terrible stealth bits and weak sci-fi story that are hallmarks of the franchise.

I haven't started on ACIV, mainly because I'm still working on ACIII and getting that completed and getting everything I can for it, but I do know what you mean by the immersion breaking. In Splinter Cell Conviction, I've killed guards silently in front of others. They act surprised and then continue on like nothing ever happened, making stealth far too easy.

i had a blast playing this game personally, felt more of an AC game than AC III did

I disagree, AC4 is great. You would have to play more than just the first AC to appreciate it. I have played every single one and I tell you there are major differences. New weaponry, just to name one, double swords! Free running is a lot better, and so is climbing. Its so much smoother, and the executions in AC4 are a lot more elaborate than any of the others. A lot better than in AC1, where nearly every kill feels the same.

It's starting to catch on for me. It's been a long time since I played brotherhood, but something colors my perception of the way Edward Ezio and all of these guys move.

I think I'm more used to the way eastern devs program 3rd person action (or at least on the western side United Front Sony: Santa Monica, and Ninja Theory), because theres less latency.

(it makes me think, I would've caught this thief by now if I were Bayonetta. Even without my powers)

In most all cases with refined 3d action, you absolutely know it wasn't the game and that your reflexes need a bit tuning up. in AC sometimes I feel like I have fly paper on my hands, the way I stick to ledges and accidentally dive in nearby bushes when I'm trying to give chase.

Maybe its more reliance thumbstick programming. They don't need any more functions beside move and look. and theres the automatic switching of modes. Not every dev can refine that type of 3rd person action to the point there's little to no lag in your fight. Wheras in capcom and namco style, you have to hold down a specific button first to trigger certain modes. Either you make the hit or your enemy does. There's not as much of that awkward friction that causes you to expose yourself to a follow-up.

The climbing was improved in AC III, but where you were suppose to go and where you actually went sometimes was very frustrating. Sure it happens in this game aswell, but not as often. The game also has the biggest maps since Brotherhood. Revelations was more story driven and a little smaller in scope. But they went back on the formula and made the series good again in my book

Yeah the pirate stuff was awesome, but the Assassin's Creed combat and stealth are still extremely mediocre. Combat is simple and easy so being discovered in stealth doesn't really matter because you can easily go rambo on an entire army. The stealth isn't even that in depth at all.

I feel it doesn't help having played a series that does these two mechanics, but in a whole different league of quality. I'm talking about the Batman Arkham series. Combat is far smoother, and while it's still easy to win, it's difficult to master the scoring system which adds a great deal of skill and depth to the mix (you also have far more moves and mechanics thrown into the mix). Also stealth is something you have to stick to. When confronting armed guards, going rambo will get you killed extremely fast. The stealth is a lot better due to the armory of gadgets you have to creatively dispose of your enemies. The fear mechanic is also a nice touch.

Assassin's Creed is just a bit behind in its own mechanics. Let's hope the developers see the new generation as an opportunity to really advance the series.

Oh sure. I can see it. Seeing the huge waves on the ride to Nassau, the climbing and stalking zone hits come together more often when I need em to do so. All in all it works for me so far. Just took a bit of a settling down. I almost wish Edward had a famous call or tarzan yell everytime you jump a ship, but then I wanted the same thing for Jason Brody when doing kills from above.

I must confess though, before i recently started AC4. I went on my habitual slash fest with Devil May Cry 4 in Legendary Dark Knight mode. I kept trying to remind myself these are different games.
Ummm....yeah. Don't do that. Two good things that don't go all that well together.

@platinumking320: Believe me i was sceptical of this game when i started it after playing AC III. The AC series converted me into liking Open World Action games. So it was frustrated with that game a lot. It's good to see they did a lot of stuff right with AC IV

The series gameplay has been rather stagnant for years, but it isn't bad enough to get in the way enough. The games are what they are at this point.

I think I'm in the minority of people that hates the naval battles in AC4! I feel having to go and upgrade the jackdaw before certain missions is just too much of a grind and then when your ship is finally strong enough to complete the mission, you've forgotten a lot of the story. There are too many characters and the majority of them are pretty forgettable.

I much prefer the stealth and platforming missions, and when I'm doing these missions are taking place it reminds me why I love the series so much. I just feel there aren't enough of them now and that makes this game too inconsistent. Personally I feel that for anyone who prefers the pirate stuff there should be a Black Flag spin-off, but I'm hoping the next Assassin's Creed cuts back on all of that massively, I don't mind the occasional pirate mission or two, but I feel this game has far too many of them!

i liked it way more than in AC III, where i didn't even touch it outside the main missions