Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Okay, here comes a big one for you. One of my favorite video game series, Assassin's Creed, and the latest game in the series, Black Flag.

Black Flag is actually the sixth game in the series even though it's name suggests otherwise. The reason for that is Ezio Auditore, the protagonist (and one of the greatest video game characters of all time) who featured in three AC games, which were titled AC2, Brotherhood and Revelations. Assassin's Creed 3, that came after, featured a new protagonist and a new time period and now in AC4: Black Flag we also get to meet a new protagonist, named Edward Kenway. We also jump back in time from AC3 to the early 1700's and from North America to the Caribbean Islands. The new character Edward Kenway is actually the grandfather of Connor who was the hero in the previous game. Edward is a pirate who is mainly motivated by gold, women and rum (like a pirate, alright) but who then comes in contact with both the Templars and the Assassins and from that moment on he's life becomes a little more complicated.

I'm not going to go any deeper in to the story and the ending of the game (but it sure raises more questions than answers). I know many people did not really care for Desmond's story and the story about those who came before, but I actually loved that part and all the mystery surrounding it. Ubisoft has partly decided to downplay that part however, and focused more on the part that happens inside the Animus. And yes, that is the main part of the game and where you will spend most of your gaming hours. For me however, Desmond's story made the whole game bigger and it felt like you were part of something really big (saving the world big). I would have wanted more of the feeling  that the things I'm doing in the game (and inside the Animus) would have more of an impact  somehow and a real reason to keep playing. I did not really get that feeling and the ending, as said, did not really impress or give the satisfaction I would have wanted. 

That said, AC4 is still a great game. You know, gamewise. Gameplay has improved, graphics are spectacular (cant't wait to play it on PS4) the ocean, the tropical islands all look great and frankly, there isn't really any other game out there quite like Assassin's Creed.

I was not all that thrilled about the game taking place mostly at sea but int the end I actually liked being the captain of my own ship, gunning down enemy ships, boarding and looting them. It was actually fun and challening and a great change from sneaking around, following and assassinating people. Overrall I think AC4 is more challening than the previous games. You have to upgrade your ship to be able to pass certain missions and sneaking around sometimes feels very challenging. And the bugs do not help at all. For example when I was suppose to get the key to a warehouse from this guy, I killed him but somehow he remained standing up, and therefore I was not able to loot him. However I solved it by putting a barrel of gunpowder next to him and blew that shit up (he could see his house from up there, if you know what I mean). Yeah, but actually it was a pretty fun moment, so thanks for that bug:) 

It might feel like the glory days of the Assassin's Creed series are over, but still Black Flag and all the other games are great games and just the fact that you get to go back in time to different time periods in history and play as a badass assassin is enough for me to stay a big fan of the series.

Which time period and place should the next game be in? Can't wait to find out! Egypt or Japan sounds cool and I know it is a little out there... but I would at least someday want to see a contemporary assassin climbing sky scrapers or even a assassin in the future (with a laser hidden blade, whoa) That would be awesome! (but let's not get too carried away)

My rating for AC4: Black Flag is 8.5/10