Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag review

[capcom_suicide]

I gave up after many hours because for me the missions just were too Dull. My mate (who is a JRPG fan) loved the fact he felt the game allowed you to grind and build up your ship and character before progressing storyline. So I can understand that for some this is a good thing.

[MrKirov]

Loved the exploration, main missions were utter ****e.

The stealth mechanics just aren't good enough for a stealth game, and after 6(?) iterations there's no excuse.

[Brad]

Same as Cappers. Just got bored.

[Guts]

Right, got a question for you folk. I have the North American PS4 version of this game (I guess it is Canadian, it has both French and Spanish all over the cover!). Can I buy a season pass from the UK store, and this will work fine? This would be much simpler than having to buy a US one.

Even simpler idea: Don't buy a season pass at all.

[Uli]

anyone completed this game? i've already put about 10 hours into the poorly designed story missions and just wonder if it gets any better towards the end? also, is it worthwhile collecting the Mayan stones?

really enjoying the naval combat and the trading part of this game. i just wish this was a fully fledged pirate game without the need of stealth, just focussing on combat and exploration. the tail and eavesdrop missions, which make the bulk of the story missions, are a real pain in the ass and i wonder how Ubi got away with so many good reviews.

[EvilBoris]

I finished the Story..

It suffered the same as the last few AC games have, the plot isn't interesting enough to make me want to play until nearer the end when it starts to tag in the modern day sections more frequently.

There are some kinda sections, which are certainly very atmospheric there is one where you stealth your ship through a bayou and run around in a storm killing guards which is very cool.

I'd say if you aren't enjoying it at this point then you probably won't enjoy the rest. They've really stretched the game out and the travel between story missions in the ship further slows down the pace when you may actually want to proceed further

[Guts]

Story is pretty much totally forgettable crap like in every Assassin's Creed with the clunky mechanics, the missions don't get much better (or challenging).

[Neon Ignition]

I'm fairly looking forward to AC5 now its def back to basics. Never understood the love AC4 gets, one of the weakest entries without doubt for me

[EvilBoris]

I think there are aspects of it that work really well, the Ship Boarding for example is very cool.

But as a game about assassination, it seems to be distinctly lacking.

[Uli]

thanks guys. i think i will stick with the game as long as i am enjoying the naval combat and the ship upgrading.

although if it's true that the matrix style modern world interruptions will become more frequent i guess i might not see the story's end. i hate these parts, Ubi should just get rid of them as they pull you completely out of the experience and are just dull to play.

[nonny]

I finished this a while back. The current world stuff doesn't intrude too much. There are some sections where it's fairly lengthy but it doesn't detract too much from the main experience.

I'd place this as possibly the second best AC game to date. The open world pirate setting is glorious and all of the mechanics they've introduced work well but I was saddened to not see some core aspects of older titles make a return. The main omissions being the tomb/vault puzzles, there practically aren't any in this besides a few key sections.

The underwater parts aren't really a substitute either even though they are well executed. I really wanted to see some massive puzzle sections and would have scored this a 9.5 if it had any. As it is it's a solid 8.8 all things considered.

If you're new to the series check out AC2 if you can. It's the best by far. Nothing will ever beat some of the puzzles in that game (scaling the Duomo in Florence).

[Uli]

yes, AC 2 is a masterpiece in every regard, it ranks as one of my all time favourites. did you play Brotherhood? i still haven't touched it but heard it's a decent addition to the AC2 story line.

[Guts]

Brotherhood was a solid game, it was nice seeing Rome in all it's glory and climb the Colosseum etc. Even if it was basically AC 2.5.

Revelations (was that it's name?) was totally forgettable and the point where AC started to really feel like just a by-the-numbers, yearly cash grab. I honestly can't remember anything about it, even though I played through it.

AC 3 was also pretty much s***, but at least I remember some parts of it. Not worth buying though. Also special mention for the dullest main character ever.

[Neon Ignition]

I was fine with AC3, a little too repetitive and slow to get going but I'd play it over AC4's dull shipping and eavesdropping fest anyday. The series peaked with Brotherhood for me, refined AC2. Amazing Revelations dropped the ball so fast

[Uli]

glad to hear Brotherhood stands in such high regard.

as for Black Flag's story, i really think Ubisoft should think about hiring expert writers for the next instalment. i've made it to this infamous observatory and found it's basically

->Open Spoiler<-

just a projector stuffed in a skull, hidden in a far to big boring metal cave

! then after this amazing revelation they let

->Open Spoiler<-

Mary, who is for me the best, most fleshed out character in this game, die for no other reason than to make Edward think about his miserable lifestyle and greedy ambitions?

that's really just lame.