Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag

[Necromancer]

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It hasn't been long since the release of Assassin's Creed 3, but here we have an announcement of Assassin's Creed 4! There isn't a lot of information about this game quite yet, but I'll share all I've heard. First of all, this game will be released for PC, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3. There is speculation about an eventual Xbox 720 and Playstation 4 release, but there isn't any solid information about that quite yet. Now, let's move onto the character and the setting. This is the first Assassin's Creed game that will be moving backward in time. In Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, we will be playing as Edward Kenway, the father of Haytham Kenway and the grandfather of our beloved Connor from Assassin's Creed 3. Edward will be adventuring through the Caribbean in the early 1700s. The box art, the setting, and the name of this game all indicate in one way or another that this game will be a heavily naval-based, pirate-themed game, but I'm sure we'll have big cities and buildings for climbing as usual. The only other information we have right now is that we'll hear a lot more about Black Flag on Monday, so keep your ears open...​

 

[Tyloric]

JUST LET IT END, GOD DAMMIT! THIS HORSE IS JUST A SKELETON BUT YOU STILL KEEP BEATING IT!

 

[Dark Drakan]

Ubisoft have turned Assassins Creed into a cash cow now & they keep milking it & the milk has started to go sour. I always like the look of the games & they are always presented well & look great but then you play them & are always left underwhelmed. Ive purchased most & it seems the more they make the more disappointed I am. ACIII 'looked' great and I was really looking forward to it, then played it & found it to be rather dull & ive been bored throughout. The trailer for Black Flag looks great & I will admit it got me thinking 'Wow this could be great.' but then ive thought that every time & been let down every time. I love the engine they use for the game & it has masses of potential but I dont think Assassins Creed does it justice & its always much to restricting.

 

[SelfAppointedGunslinger]

I wonder if Blackbeard will be in this one? Just a thought...

EDIT: Didn't see the trailer until now, looks like Edward Teach will be making an appearence then.

 

[Tsuyu]

To play Devil's Advocate: Pirates are friggin' awesome. They could've picked a far worse theme and setting.

 

[Dark Drakan]

To play Devil's Advocate: Pirates are friggin' awesome. They could've picked a far worse theme and setting.

I quite like the setting but surely it means there's going to be a lot of time spent on the water and on the deck of a ship. In a game designed around a free running and climbing mechanic that could be risky. Also potentially dull lengthy periods of travel to get anywhere. One thing that was a real pain in ACIII also, hopefully they learn a lot from their mistakes in that.

 

[Walker]

...I'm playing through AC2, really enjoying it, then I read this thread. AC3 sucked? And you all are living in fear of AC4?

I'm cautiously optimistic about this, and for one reason: one of my favorite things to do in any game with vehicles (like, say, Halo) is to go super-sneaky and get in my opponent's rear and rip them a new one. Y'know, boarding a Scarab with a Banshee or a Hornet and ripping them apart from the inside.

In AC2, I've had fun driving crappy little boats around Venice and sneaking up on buildings and ships that are as immobile as buildings.

I could see this being really fun if they get the balance right.

Plus, I get to be a ninja-Assassin pirate! Yay!

 

[Dark Drakan]

...I'm playing through AC2, really enjoying it, then I read this thread. AC3 sucked? And you all are living in fear of AC4?

I'm cautiously optimistic about this, and for one reason: one of my favorite things to do in any game with vehicles (like, say, Halo) is to go super-sneaky and get in my opponent's rear and rip them a new one. Y'know, boarding a Scarab with a Banshee or a Hornet and ripping them apart from the inside.

In AC2, I've had fun driving crappy little boats around Venice and sneaking up on buildings and ships that are as immobile as buildings.

I could see this being really fun if they get the balance right.

Plus, I get to be a ninja-Assassin pirate! Yay!

Mainly because in ACIII for an Assassin game you dont do much assassinating, there is much more open conflict & the combat has been changed. It flows better but it can be really frustrating pulling off what you want to do & with heavy enemies, light enemies & enemies with guns all swarming you it can be hard to counter effectively. There isnt really much sneaking & they tried to incorporate a sort of half arsed stealth system that sometimes doesnt work.

Found myself killing loads of enemies then being swarmed by more straight away then running & finding a printer to remove my bounty & repeating.

 

[Walker]

Well, that's depressing. At least I won't be buying it new...

 

[Dark Drakan]

Well, that's depressing. At least I won't be buying it new...

Most irritating thing ive found is the side quests are mostly pointless & dull & it takes an age to get anywhere. I mean the levels are big & you can fast travel to some parts but there is always a section that requires you to run back to somewhere. I know that the games premise should require it for the most part but at the end of a mission is it really necessary to make you have to run back to your Homestead etc to get another mission every time? When it can take about 15mins each time to get there after a handful of times in a row it is so pointless & tedious. I dont want to spend half my time running to somewhere to get a mission then having to run most of the way back too before having to go from Homestead to another sort of middle location & then finally back to the location/city of the mission each time.

 

[Tsuyu]

So... it is heading down the Metal Gear route. Less focus on the original core concept (sneaking and assassinating) in favour of more dumbed down hack n' slash.

Why am I not surprised....

 

[Dark Drakan]

So... it is heading down the Metal Gear route. Less focus on the original core concept (sneaking and assassinating) in favour of more dumbed down hack n' slash.

Why am I not surprised....

They made the systems themselves deeper & more complex but not necessarily for the better. Over complicating things doesnt add the sense that the systems themselves are any better off for it. I mean I know they were trying to showcase the new engine & how it can render much more things on screen at once & if done right it could have created some epic battles. However when getting surrounded by enemies constantly & some context sensitive group kills seeming to happen at random times rather than being based on skill it can cause you to be swarmed. When fighting multiple opponents when some counter your counter every time, some shoot at you so you have to grab an enemy as cover & some you cant hit with standard attack & have to kick them first it can be hard to juggle between all the moves. Especially when you are aiming to counter a heavy attack from one person & someone else jumps in & aims a quick attack that hits you before it & they deflect it then you get hit by heavy attack.

Combat was always easy with the instant kill counter but they could have balanced it instead of effectively removing it entirely & only allowing you to throw enemies to one side constantly. Just end up with a constant stream of thrown enemies & you trying to kill them when they are downed or if lucky triggering a cut-scene where you kill multiple enemies but its out of your control.

 

[Necromancer]

When it can take about 15mins each time

15 minutes? You must not be using fast travel correctly. It never takes that long to get anywhere for me.

 

[Dark Drakan]

15 minutes? You must not be using fast travel correctly. It never takes that long to get anywhere for me.

You can fast travel to major story locations & to the towns but travelling back to the house through the middle wooded location you cant. You have to ride horse all the way back, no fast travel option to get back through the sort of middle 'hub'. You can only use them once you've used a main icon to travel to the frontier; then the other icons will be available for use once you get there but not beforehand. Soon as you have reached the end of that you can again fast travel, there are bugs involved in them too & forums are filled with threads about it.

 

[Necromancer]

It just doesn't seem like it takes very long to fast travel to a region and then fast travel to another point within that region once you're there. Sure, it's somewhat inconvenient, and it would be a small and easy thing to fix, but it's never seemed time consuming enough to really be bothered by it.

 

[Dark Drakan]

It just doesn't seem like it takes very long to fast travel to a region and then fast travel to another point within that region once you're there. Sure, it's somewhat inconvenient, and it would be a small and easy thing to fix, but it's never seemed time consuming enough to really be bothered by it.

I have found that amongst many things to be irritating, I cant be bothered with any of the tedious boring side quests & hunting is dull too. Having QTE's to take down the dangerous animals was a bad idea & takes away all the threat they should have held. I just want to get the story done now so I can move onto something else, enjoyed Desmonds parts but I think Connor was a poor character overall.

 

[queenofdisco]

Don't read this if you like bitching about Spoilers
Speaking canonically what are you guys thinking the story could be? Because for me ACIII ended it all, with a very spectacular cliffhanger Stopping the world ending, releasing Juno etc. Yes the ending could have been better, but I personally liked it, the only way I can see us playing as this new assassin is if we take on the role of Desmond's father due to desmond biting the bullet so to speak.

And what will the modern day plot be about? Finding a new artifact to lock juno away again? Wiping her from the Ancient alien computers? Bringing down the templars? Who the frick knows, I'm slightly disappointed they've turned it into a cash cow but I can only hope its a bit more Ezio styled with a true assassin rather than Connor who imo sucked major ass. Also anyone wondering what's with the sub title with a new sequel, abit weird no?

 

[Necromancer]

Don't read this if you like bitching about Spoilers
Speaking canonically what are you guys thinking the story could be? Because for me ACIII ended it all, with a very spectacular cliffhanger Stopping the world ending, releasing Juno etc. Yes the ending could have been better, but I personally liked it, the only way I can see us playing as this new assassin is if we take on the role of Desmond's father due to desmond biting the bullet so to speak.

And what will the modern day plot be about? Finding a new artifact to lock juno away again? Wiping her from the Ancient alien computers? Bringing down the templars? Who the frick knows, I'm slightly disappointed they've turned it into a cash cow but I can only hope its a bit more Ezio styled with a true assassin rather than Connor who imo sucked major ass. Also anyone wondering what's with the sub title with a new sequel, abit weird no?

Well, the subtitle seems obvious at first. They named it Black Flag because it's about pirates. That does seem a little too obvious though, so I don't know. The pirates thing is my best guess for now. As for the story, it has to be some type of assassins VS Juno thing, but I'm wondering how the templars are going to factor into it. The whole Juno thing, plus the fact that the templars were majorly crippled by the deaths of Daniel Cross and Warren Vidic, both make me think that Juno takes center stage as the antagonist, putting the templars in a more minor role, yet still a very significant one. As for Desmond, it seems like I'm the only one who thinks he's still alive. They wouldn't just kill off the main character of the entire series like that.

 

[Zjuggernaut]

I have a dilemma with Assassins Creed after Brotherhood.. I want to like it because it's Assassins Creed, but I can't. Revelations and Assassins Creed 3 broke my heart.

I'll still be buying Black Flag, I've played the rest so I might as well..

 

[Necromancer]

Revelations and Assassins Creed 3 broke my heart.

Why is that? I mean, I've heard plenty of criticisms of AC3, but nothing that could be categorized as heartbreaking. And really? Revelations? That might be my favorite Assassin's Creed game of all.