Topic: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

[MysterD]

NEW -> 10/31/2013:
OWNet -> AC4: Black Flag - Console Reviews (except XB1).
IGN -> "The Best Assassin's Creed Games".

OLD:
RockPaperShotgun -> Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag rumored to be the title to next AC game - with a pirates theme.

[W7RE]

Every time a new Assassin's Creed game comes out, it makes me less interested in the series. I guess it's because I'd really prefer to play ALL the games in the series, and at this point I'm 3 games behind. (Brotherhood, Revelations, and 3) So now I'm behind by more games than I've played, and 2 of them feature Ezio, who I really don't give a shit about. Altair and his locales were way more interesting, despite the first game itself being seriously lacking.

[MysterD]

I'm in the process of playing Revelations - and yeah, it's still quite good, but it also has this feeling more so than ever that....it's just another AC game.
I don't know...it's just that AC2 improved so ridiculously much over AC1; and ACB was such a surprisingly awesome game with a bunch of new stuff and banked-out so quickly (ACB offered Recruiting NPC assassins to help you AND added a MP portion).

ACR felt like the first time...it didn't have a lot of new features to offer. While I really dig the new location and return of some characters, I don't care much for the new gameplay missions (Tower Defense and Desmond's Portal-like puzzles).

I really hope they don't run AC series into the ground annually and yearly...
...especially since I really dig the idea of AC going into the Pirates theme and would like to see them really expand the hell out of mission-types - especially w/ piratey-themed type of missions!

[idolminds]

I'm just skipping Revelations. Will probably get 3 when its cheap. Gonna see about 4. Pirates could be cool but...uh, what am I going to be climbing on?

[Xessive]

I think they're responding to the critics praise of the ship battle segments in AC3, which were ok but I'd rather not have a game built around it explicitly. I play Assassin's Creed games for the platforming exploration and the agile combat, not wonky vehicle sideshows.

Pirate theme is cool.. Imagine there'd be a lot of mast climbing.

Altaïr was by far the most interesting of the characters to me as well.

[idolminds]

Would be cool if they just spun off their own naval warfare game. Like a new Sea Dogs/Pirates of the Caribbean type game? That would be pretty boss.

[gpw11]

I think I'm just skipping the non- numbered games.  I also ended up skipping the last 1/4 or so of Assassin's Creed 2, but that's just me being lazy.

[idolminds]

You didn't miss much. I'll give you the short version:

Ezio: Itsa me, Ezio! I totally need to kill the pope after an epic battle!

*epic battle*

Pope: Ouch!
Ezio: Even though I have killed at least half the population of Rome that you somehow trained as guards, I'm going to be all moral and shit and not kill you, Evil Pope.
Pope: Thanks bro.

*SCIFI SHIT THAT EVEN EZIO SAYS WTF*

Fin.

[Pugnate]

Had Idol been a bigger fan of AC, he would have had multiple orgasms by now.

[gpw11]

You didn't miss much. I'll give you the short version:

Ezio: Itsa me, Ezio! I totally need to kill the pope after an epic battle!

*epic battle*

Pope: Ouch!
Ezio: Even though I have killed at least half the population of Rome that you somehow trained as guards, I'm going to be all moral and shit and not kill you, Evil Pope.
Pope: Thanks bro.

*SCIFI SHIT THAT EVEN EZIO SAYS WTF*

Fin.

Bahahaha

[idolminds]

Had Idol been a bigger fan of AC, he would have had multiple orgasms by now.

I just kinda got burned out on Ezio as a character. I'm sure after I play 3 I'll be all excited again.

Also, rumor no more. Ok, the piratey theme has me interested. But boy if you thought the white hood stood out before... Come on, Assassins, you need to literally get with the times.

[MysterD]

I just kinda got burned out on Ezio as a character. I'm sure after I play 3 I'll be all excited again.

Also, rumor no more. Ok, the piratey theme has me interested. But boy if you thought the white hood stood out before... Come on, Assassins, you need to literally get with the times.

Shouldn't the Assassin's outfit be a pirate-y color like....black?

[idolminds]

Ok, I sorta want it now.

[gpw11]

HOLY SHIT.  They keep on bringing me back into this series.

[MysterD]

PC Gamer -> Info on AC4.
PC Gamer -> 40% of AC4 is naval-based.

[idolminds]

Ok, I definitely want it now.

[MysterD]

And no PC gamer is surprised...

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag for PC to come after consoles
by John Keefer, Jun 20, 2013 12:30am PDT
Related Topics – Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Ubisoft, PC, Wii U, Ubisoft Montreal, PlayStation 4, Assassin's Creed series, Xbox One

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag will be out on October 26 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U on October 29, and will be a launch title for the next-gen Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Unfortunately, if you want to get a taste of the pirate life on PC, you'll have to wait even longer, and that should come as no surprise.

As has become routine for the Assassin's Creed series, the PC version will come "a few weeks after" the next-gen consoles launch sometime in November, Ubisoft game director Ashraf Ismail told ElderGeek (via GameSpot). The PC version of Assassin's Creed 3 launched almost a month after the console versions, while Assassin's Creed 2 launched several months after its Xbox 360 and PS3 counterparts.

"We're working hard on the PC version," Ismail said. "It's one of the main platforms we work on in the office. For our PC fans, don't worry. The game on PC looks phenomenal."

[MysterD]

Eurogamer -> AC4 Season Pass and DLC announced.

Ubisoft has revealed its plans for Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag's post-release content with the announcement of a season pass and a DLC campaign.

The highlight of the season pass will be nine-mission self-contained story entitled Freedom City, in which you play as protagonist Edward Kenway's first mate Adewale. Allegedly containing three hours of single-player content, the campaign will star a shipwrecked Adewale in Saint-Domingue as he rescues slaves and seeks vengeance upon his former captors.

Furthermore, the season pass will unlock additional single-player missions, weapons, skins, and collectibles, as well as more multiplayer characters and exclusive customisation options for your ship, the Jackdaw, via the Kraken Ship Pack.

While no price has been announced, the season pass will save players 20 per cent off purchasing all of its content individually. All of Black Flag's season pass DLC is due before March on PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC.

[MysterD]

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Console Version REVIEWS
(except XBOne version, which is under embargo for 2 weeks)

Scored out of 10:
EGM Now -> 9.5
GameTrailers -> 9.2
GameSpot -> 9
Eurogamer -> 9
OXM Online -> 9.0
OXM UK -> 9.0
GamerLimit -> 9.0
ZTGD -> 9.0
PlayStation LifeStyle -> 9.0
Edge -> 9
God Is A Geek -> 9
The Globe And Mail -> 9
IGN -> 8.5
Destructoid -> 8.5
GameInformer -> 8.25
NowGamer -> 8.0
The Digital Fix -> 8.0
Games TM -> 8.0
Push Square -> 8
Shacknews -> 8
Polygon -> 7.5
VideoGamer -> 7

Scored out of 100:
VentureBeat -> 85
GamingTrend -> 85

Scored out of 5:
Escapist Magazine -> 5 stars.
GamesRadar -> 4 1/2 stars.
Game Revolution -> 4 1/2
Joystiq -> 4 stars
Rev3 Games -> 4 stars.; PS4 vs. X360 comparison.

[idolminds]

I picked up AC3 for a couple bucks last week. Short version: Ran through it pretty fast. It had a bunch of weird problems. It does seem to be the weakest AC game.

I also got AC4 in the other day. Hooooooooly shit this game is AMAZING. Someone at Ubisoft took the Assassins Creed team and told them to make a new Sid Meirs Pirates!, and they totally did. Being able to run around a town doing all your typical AC town stuff, swim out to your ship, board and set sail, get into naval battles, reach another island where you can jump off and swim to shore and do more AC on-foot stuff...with no loading screen in between any of it? Amazing. It really feels like you have the whole Caribbean to just wander around.

If you haven't played this, then you need to play this. Don't worry about previous AC games. Just play this.

[Cobra951]

Sold!  I've been wanting to try this, and now I really want to.  I need to find it at a good price for the 360.  It's too expensive on XBL.

[idolminds]

I dont know if the deal is still up, but Gamefly was selling used copies for $13, which is where I bought it. Every used gamefly game Ive bought is in great shape, minimal wear if any, and original cases, instructions, and if they need codes then the codes are included and unused. End of the month they usually do sales to clear stuff out and I know they had both PS3 and 360 copies.

[PyroMenace]

I have been playing AC3 on and off for like the past half of this year but I finally finished it off today and I'm digging into AC4. So far it is sooooo much fucking better than AC3, looks fucking great, feels much better, and the story sounds so much more interesting.

[Cobra951]

I love it when things work out so nicely.  $17.99 is less than half of what the digital version is going for on XBL.  Even with a few dollars for shipping, it's quite a bargain.

[idolminds]

Haha, lucky!

[Xessive]

I don't know even know why ASsassin's Creed 4 Black Flag is an Assassin's Creed game.. It feels like the AC IP was forcibly jammed into an otherwise decent pirate game just to give it some context. It may as well have been its own pirate game!

[Cobra951]

I started on this today, and made it to Havana.  Heheh!  It's really close to home.  I knew it was about Caribbean pirates, but I didn't make the obvious connection.  It's a lot like looking at some very familiar places, like parts of old San Juan, and San Felipe del Morro, an ancient Spanish fortress built to guard San Juan from invasion by sea.  Lots of Castillian Spanish being bandied about too.  Here's my favorite exchange so far:  One guard says to another "I almost got my nose blown off."  The other replies "that's a shame; you would be a lot more handsome without it."

It feels very much like an AC game at this point--a highly polished one.  I know there's the whole pirate-galleon aspect to it, but I've only gotten a very limited taste of that so far.  I'm really looking forward to getting further.

[PyroMenace]

One of my favorite ones

[Cobra951]

Nice!  Can we choose which one they sing?  I got every one of the shanties from Havana.

I'm now out to sea, since late last night.  Awesomeness.  Made it to that first little island.  Some hunting and a couple of crafting upgrades.  That part felt like an easier Far Cry 3.  Nothing tried to eat me, though I imagine alligators and jaguars will be more aggressive than iguanas and ocelots.

[idolminds]

I don't think you can select shanties directly, but you can hit the "sing" button (left on the dpad) to make them cycle through the ones you have.

Yes, the other animals are more aggressive but still aren't too much of a threat. I haven't seen gators even come on land so its easy to just shoot them before hopping in the water.

[Cobra951]

You're right about alligators--easy.  But I was almost killed by 2 jaguars that attacked me in quick succession.  Managed to kill one, then another jumps me from seemingly nowhere.  I ended up running away and diving in the water with a sliver of health left.

The sailing is super.  Love it.  I've been island hopping, and doing no mission stuff at all since leaving Havana.  I managed to harpoon a shark, but this timed challenge with the white whale (from hell's heart, I stab at thee!) was way beyond my capabilities at this point.  The harpoons were barely nicking the damn thing, and I'd either run out of them, or it would crush the boat in 2 tail swipes.

I have Nassau all revealed now too.  My only real complaint so far is that they seem to have made the camera problems even worse than all the other games.  It moves in way too close during combat, and it's painfully slow to turn around, with the end result being a blind fight half the time when surrounded by enemies.  That sure doesn't help the button context issues, though I can at least understand those (few buttons, many functions).

[PyroMenace]

Yea the combat can be a bit wonky, Ive had issues when boarding ships and just the chaos of my crew mates and their guys being thrown at each other I have a hard time nailing counters or trying to get a combo off to kill a dude. I have a lot of health now so I rarely die but there are times where I lose a good bit of health.

[idolminds]

I have that same problem when boarding ships. Chaos and I can't see the guy just behind me coming in for the attack.

Harpooning is kinda fun. Luckily you can upgrade your harpoon damage, number of them, and that little boats armor pretty easily. Was one of the first things I maxed out in upgrading. Havent seen a while whale yet but I think those are based off some online feature that I currently can't make use of because patching the game would take days.

[Cobra951]

Yeah, Moby Dick (for that's what it is, really, even if they can't call it that) is some sort of a timed thing, with a different-color marker on the map, and a number of hours until the challenge goes away.  I figured it was an online thing.  It's gone now.   

I realized I had to move the story along to be able to upgrade stuff and get recognized as a ship's captain by those shops.  I can now get unto the captain's cabin too.  Nifty.  The ship-to-ship stuff makes my day.  So much piratey goodness.  I haven't had too much trouble so far staying back and taking potshots with the swivel and then my pistols, during the boarding stage.  I jumped across once, and yeah, what a chaotic mess.  I think I'll let the crew handle the rumbles as much as the game will let me.

[Cobra951]

Oh, man!  We can pummel forts from the ship and then capture them?!  What a rush.  Went in blind at a red spot on the map, not knowing what to expect, and damn!  Best experience in a video game in a while.  Traded fire, broke the defenses, then rushed in on foot.  Some swashbuckling later, the place went green, and immediately started gunning down the enemy ships nearby.  I guess I now own this slice of the ocean?  Makes me look at all those other red spots in a completely different light.

[idolminds]

haha yeah, attacking forts is awesome. Soon as I learned that it opens up the map I went and sacked 3 of them in a row.

The difficulty seems to be based on where you are north-south. North is easier, south is harder. I haven't attacked the more southern forts yet. Figured I should beef up my ship a little more.

[idolminds]

So about that white whale. I was hanging around an area attacking ships and a big white whale jumped out of the water. But...thats it. Sailed to that spot and there wasnt any harpoon mission or anything. It was like it was just decoration. I dont know what to make of it.

And if I have one tip to give people its this: If you see a ship carrying metal, attack it! I am constantly low on metal and its setting back my ship upgrading. I got lucky and ended up in an area where lots of british ships were spawning and a lot of them had metal so I was finally able to do some upgrades. The next story mission I had warned me that I should upgrade so...thats what I'm doing. Just need more metal! And now wood. But not cloth. I have so damn much cloth...

[gpw11]

Sooooo.....I should buy this?

[Cobra951]

Hell yes.  It's like 3 games in one, counting the Abstergo stuff.  And at least 2 of them (AC stuff & seafaring-pirate stuff) are huge.  Minor quibbles aside, I rate this one at the top of my gaming experiences.  I don't think I'm even a third into it, after playing heavily since Monday.  I'll be thinking about it all weekend, since I'm away from the Xbox.  July 4th and all that minor stuff.  

I've seen a white whale pop up out of the water too, but no opportunity to interact either.  There was another 5-hour+ whale event late last night, as I was about to quit the game.  So I missed that too.  I've upgraded the harpooning a lot, but it still takes me a bit of effort to bring down a hammerhead.  I have not seen a great white at all.  I need that for another health upgrade (I think).  I can't imagine how hard whales will be, if I ever get to one again.

So I made it to my hideout last night.  Looks like the middle tier (North to South) is open now too.  I sailed around there a bit, and did some exploring.  I don't know if I'm going to like the Fleet aspect of the game.  It seems like a throwback to decades past.  We'll see.  I barely got my feet wet there, so far.  One disappointment is that it won't let me sail freely to the North end of Inagua.  When I try, it just forces me into the menu, and then parks me on the main dock on the Southern bay.  I had such a tough time finding my way to the North-side chests and other goodies from the dock.  I finally found the way into the jungle that I traversed initially, but I didn't enjoy feeling so lost for almost an hour.  Heh.  A jaguar almost had me for supper too.

Oh, and I went after a legendary ship.  Haha!  Mistake.  Two Level-75 man-o-wars.  Absolutely no damage showed on them, even when I got a long time to pummel them before they took me out.  Tried 3 times, and on the 4th, I just turned around and went away with my tail between my legs.  I have all the hull upgrades except elite too.  This fight is treated as an event, and I'm guessing I have to pass certain gauntlet-like hurdles before the game will let me see any progress in it.  I'll try again after some more progress in the main game.

And if I have one tip to give people its this: If you see a ship carrying metal, attack it! I am constantly low on metal and its setting back my ship upgrading.

Same here.  I have no problem with other resources, but metal really seems scarce.  I sit there for a long time trying to decide what to upgrade next, because I know whatever I don't choose will have to wait a long while.  It seems the bigger ships are more likely to have it.  The schooners get me wood and cloth, but not metal.

[idolminds]

I'm having a lot more luck on the south side of the large central island looking for metal. Larger ships carrying 100+ metal. Not too hard to take down (though I am pretty upgraded already). The smaller escort ships I can sink simply by ramming them, and pulling up along side the big ships and letting hem have it with heavy shot they go down pretty quick. Maybe I got lucky, but I was piling up my metal down there.

Also, the underwater dives are a fun idea and look pretty but there are not fun. You move slow, you have to keep an eye on your air, there are sharks that act like patrolling guards that you can't kill...ugh. I don't even try do them "the right way"...beeline swim to chests or whatever it is I'm collecting. If I die who cares, it just puts me at the start and I can go after a different chest.