I have logged in a fair amount of hours playing most of the assassin creed games in the series, minus assassin's creed liberty. As far as a series goes, I have always enjoy the combat, the graphics, the atmosphere, and the mechanics behind climbing gigantic skyscraping buildings. Despite enjoying all these things on each game, there has not been a solid game from this series, at least in my opinion, since the first one came out in 2007. For the first time since that original game that I fell so in love with, I feel like I am playing a new, different game, as oppose to a copy of the same game, in a different location, and no bang for my buck. Now enough on how this game has helped turned this series around, let's get down to the game and just why I feel it is a must buy for fans of the series.
You play as Edward Kenway, a pirate badass, who is nothing short of a blast to play. Whoever did the voice over for this character did one hell of a job, and I don't say that often when talking about voice over actors. Now keep in mind, he does have an amazing supporting cast of various different characters, that all have a certain feel and attitude about them. Yet, even taking away the supporting cast around Edward, this pirate super hero, is one of my favorite game characters I have ever played as and is truly a unique, rich character that you will want to learn ever last fact about. I don't want to give too much away about him, because finding out who is he and his role in the game is half the fun of the story, so let's move on to the game play surrounding this game.
Okay, so anyone who has played a game in this series, knows that the mechanics behind the sword fighting and counter attacking behind the series is one of the reasons it has been so popular, for so long. They do it once again in this game, with another great blend of moves and attacks at Kenway's disposal which make him an absolute blast to utilize. Fortunately for this game, unlike the others in the series, the environment is so brand new and so different than any of the other games before it that it allows for new things that have never been experienced happen.
The biggest of these new additions, is ship battles, ship travel, scuba diving, and basically everything on the sea. Black flag, has allowed the team at Ubisoft to create a whole set of objectives and places to explore that are only accessible via ship or while at sea. Firstly, it allows players to act like true pirates of the sea by allowing them to go boat from boat raiding resources that are necessary to upgrade your ship. There are also a group of resources that can be sold to make Edward a very wealthy pirate. Secondly, it has underwater treasure locations, were Kenway can drop down a diving bell which allows him to explore areas, as long as he obviously goes back to the bell for air. This are of the game is fun, because it allows players to sneak by sharks, explore underwater caves, and find necessary lost designs surrounding their ship. Thirdly, these ships allow for the game to be a beautiful, large scale, yet easy to access open world that acts like a true real world environment. On a side note, the sea also allows for Kenway to hunt various animals while at open water through the use of harpoons. These skins can help with upgrades, as well as make you stinking rich if you go after the right sea animals. Honestly, the sea and ship mechanics have made this game, and without them I really think Ubisoft would have put out another crap game, like it just did with rogue and unity.
Lastly, I would like to touch on the story. Now I don't like going into details concerning story modes, because I hate to be that guy to spoil something for someone, but I truly think this one is worth playing through. There are pieces that unfortunately, just like other games in the series, make it unbelievable and sometimes ungraspable, but compared to the last few games I couldn't have been more impressed. You gain insight into Kenway’s past through flashbacks that truly make you feel for this character that you are playing. You will also, as mentioned earlier, met a handful of characters that really make the story something unique and fun to experience. I can't talk any more about the story, I just can't do it, you go experience it yourself, for real!
Lastly, I would like some side notes on the flaws that are present in the game, although there are few. First off, yes under water exploration is amazing, yet Kenway has no weaponry while swimming, like literally not even a knife. You are kidding me right? The man could kill 30 people in a row, yet he can’t stab a shark with a knife? Secondly, I still think assassin's creed has not gone deep enough into weapon choices or armor choices. Now I don't know the exact numbers, but there are only a dozen or so main swords a player can utilize, as well as armor options available. Ubisoft, time to pick up your inventory game, get with the times. Lastly, despite an amazing story for about 90% of the game. The ending, like others in the series is crap, like just garbage. Like seriously, why can’t we just for once have a believable game, or a believable ending.
Honestly, despite these few flaws I really enjoyed my time spent playing this game. It has definitely allowed Ubisoft to have a comeback with the series, let’s just hope it doesn't take another 5 game until they get another one right. In closing I will list the biggest pros and cons I found from the game.
Biggest Pros:
-Gameplay could not be more fun.
-Open sea allows for a whole span of new things to experience and do.
-Edward Kenway is an amazing character to play as.
-The world is huge, beautiful, and at your tips for exploration.
Biggest Cons:
-Ending is once again awful.
-Lack of weaponry and armor options.
-No underwater weaponry available for the badass pirate, Kenway.
Thanks for reading my review, I really hope you enjoyed it. Check out this game, I really think it is worth the buy for any fan of the series or just any fan of gaming in general.