Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag sees Ubisoft follow up on the biggest AC yet with an instalment that takes to the seas and we've had a first look...
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag has to be a tricky game to show in its unfinished state. It’s sound mechanically and, as every instalment in this franchise does, it looks utterly gorgeous – especially on the next-gen machines (we saw it on the Sony PS4), whose processing power allows for increased visual immersion.
But in the end, Assassin’s Creed games live and die on their stories and the more its publisher Ubisoft gives away before the game’s release, the duller its edge will be by the time it makes its way into the consoles of its fanbase. Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag: Features
Perhaps this is why, for its hands-on event, Ubisoft opted to give T3 a taste of the changes to the Assassin’s Creed core gameplay, rather than risk spoilers.
Long time fans of the series will know that the central play mechanics of Black Flag remain exploration, stealth, free-running and combat with edged weapons. That’s been the case since the first entry in the franchise. The big change that Black Flag brings to the franchise is nautical navigation.  Those who’ve been paying attention since Black Flag was first unveiled in March of this year will know that the action has moved from colonial America to the Golden Age of Piracy. Black Flag plonks players into the boots of Edward Kenway, hooded assassin and fully paid up member of the republic of pirates. Since he’s the captain of a vessel named the Jackdaw, it makes sense that the players should expect quite some time at sea. Sailing the Jackdaw takes a bit of getting used to. Players take the helm by positioning Kenway behind the ship’s wheel. While the camera is positioned up close behind him, players can guide the Jackdaw with some degree of precision, which is useful for docking and pulling alongside enemy ships during naval battles.
Click the X button and the ship speeds up and the camera shifts behind it; effectively at full speed, the ship becomes the player’s avatar.
The degree of ease at which the player moves through the map is probably what necessitated the sheer size of it. Black Flag’s map is the biggest that has ever appeared in an Assassin’s Creed video game and, for the first time, players can traverse it from end to end without having to look at a loading screen. The map contains three full cities - Havana, Kingston, and Nassau – as well as a ton of hidden coves, jungle islands, shipwrecks and forts. And that’s just stuff above the ocean… Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag: Plot
Black Flag is set in 1720s during the post-Spanish Succession period. A lot of privateers and sailors at the time, we are told, suddenly found themselves out of work and began to turn to piracy in order to make a living.
Among them was one privateer named Edward Kenway, a brash, brutish, if slightly intelligent man who captained a ship called The Jackdaw. It’s this colourful rogue the players will be taking control of as they head out on adventure that’ll take them from Cuba, to the West Indies, to the Bahamas and dozens of places in between.
Ubisoft says Black Flag will also feature a lot of figures from the Golden Age of Piracy including Ben Hornigold, the gentlemen pirate, Anne Bonney, one of the rare female captains of the time, Calico Jack and Charles Vane, a pair of unrepentant psychos and Blackbeard, who needs no introduction.
Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag: Gameplay
For our time at Black Flag’s controls, we were allowed to peruse a small island – one of many in the game – upon which we were able to hunt, kill and skin a couple of animals.
We also took part in a spot of deep sea diving; Kenway was lowered down to the depths in a massive diving bell and we were then able to use him to scout for treasure in sunken wrecks.
We had to keep an eye on Kenway’s oxygen, which diminishes over time, but there were pockets of air to be found under barrels tied upside down at intervals to the ocean floor. We also had to keep a weather-eye out for sharks, which considered Kenway a rather delicious snack.
The hardest part of Black Flag to get used to was the nautical combat. In the couple of naval battles in which we partook, we found that manoeuvring the Jackdaw into position to take out an enemy vessel was slightly tricky. The tactic we were advised to use – and which proved most effective – was to pepper the target ship with cannon fire, and then use a rail gun to take out enemy crew members before swinging aboard and taking down enemies at close range. Kenway handles rather well. Players are able to outfit him with two swords, which are useful for breaking through enemy guards, or they can opt for a pistol and sword, which allows them a one-shot instantaneous kill on enemies up close. According to the developers, both Kenway’s arsenal and the Jackdaw’s abilities and weapons are all upgradeable and, over the course of the game, players will be able to convert both to their most lethal versions. Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag Multiplayer
We were given a brief look at the game’s multiplayer, which, much like the multiplayer of Splinter Cell Blacklist, plays out like a rather lethal game of hide-and-seek. In the game’s online mode tutorial, players are taught how to mark, stalk and dispatch their prey while remaining undetected, as well as how to evade any would-be killers.
We were also allowed a turn on the Wolfpack online mode, which fans will remember from Assassin’s Creed 3. If you’ve never played it, Wolfpack is a co-op match type in which four players target roaming groups of AI-controlled enemies and take them out in co-ordinated attacks. Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag: Verdict
What’s even more impressive, is the fact that Black Flag is scheduled for release this year – a turnaround time from AC3 that seems miniscule given the scope and breadth of what Ubisoft hope to accomplish with the game.
It’s certainly a new step for the series, gameplay wise, and like every Assassin’s Creed game, it looks absolutely gorgeous. We can’t wait to buckle a swash with Black Flag come November.
Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag release date: 1 November 2013
Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag price: TBC
Courtesy: T3 |
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