Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Trailers, Screens, Oct. 29th/Nov. 1st Release)

[Felix336]

...the whole animus thing is lame.

If they ditch the weird future stuff I'll get this one

From IGNs preview write up:

Another stumbling point of the AC franchise: the modern storyline. Though an afterthought in the minds of many, the Assassin’s Creed saga focuses a great deal on the contemporary conflict between Assassins and Templars. Until ACIII, that part of the storyline was told through Desmond Miles. With Desmond’s story concluded, Ubisoft was left searching for another way to continue the tale in 2013. It’s doing this by making you, the player, part of the narrative. Though details were purposefully left vague, you are a person hired by Templar-controlled Abstergo Entertainment to research a pivotal moment in Desmond’s ancestry. You’re told to look into Edward Kenway – and away you go.

So it looks like they might actually be getting rid of it, or at least minimizing it to the point where it's mostly non-existent.


Also, for those who didn't like Connor compared to Ezio:

Edward himself seems designed, or at least destined, to stand as an answer or a contrast to Connor, which should please critics of the Assassin’s Creed III protagonist. While Connor was more firm, more stoic, more serious, lacking some of the vibrancy of his predecessors, Edward is intended to be more charming, clever and reckless. In fact, when Black Flag starts, Edward is already a pirate, one who is destined to encounter the assassins’ order.

Finally, for those concerned the series has become too linear/restricted:

That kind of flexibility lends itself to the entire mission philosophy for Black Flag. Ubisoft wants to remove some of the barriers that previous games created, leaning more on open-ended directives, something that lends itself more towards the (comparatively) simple assassination orders from the first AC game. Ismail described his approach as being less about hand-holding and more about providing basic objectives with flexible conditions for satisfying said objectives, which also includes refining game systems for things like detection and stealth, so players better understand how the game "reads" their actions.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/03/...-iv-black-flag

Everything is looking good so far, definitely hoping to pick this up on PS4, even if it's just slightly improved graphics/frame rate.

[itachi73378]

IGN interview

only short gameplay was shown
-new team
-development began in the summer of 2011
-written by the scriptwriter of Revelations
-no campaign co-op
-player will be an employee of Abstergo Entertainment, a subsidiary of Abstergo Industries
-no Desmond, but other characters will return
-something similar to the brotherhood of assassins will be back
-setting includes Cuba, Bahamas, Nassau and south Florida
-game includes jungles, temples, Mayan ruins, underwater ship wrecks and more
-a lot of work is put in improving stealth
-ocean combat and exploration center of the game
-Player can use a spyclass to spot ships with an overlay explaining weapons, treasure etc
-swimming and underwater combat is in
-hunting whales is possible
-no carefully crafted subtext or political intrigue
-Templars will be back
-enemy will be a collective of rival pirates
-certain islands will be difficult to access at the beginning of the game
-more tall buildings than in AC3

[ps3freak18]

IGN interview

Damn. I'm sold. This sounds like it is going to be great!

[TGO]

IGN interview

Sounds like AC:Liberation (the employee part)


Sent via Codec

[ps3freak18]

Sounds like AC:Liberation (the employee part)


Sent via Codec

I never got to play Liberation. Still haven't gotten my hands on a Vita yet.

[TGO]

I never got to play Liberation. Still haven't gotten my hands on a Vita yet.

It ok, not the best AC game, I guess ACIII distracted me from it
Sound quality is terrible though

Sent via Codec

[podsaurus]

Oh boy...I may need to re-assess my statement about not getting a PS4 right away

[GrandWazoo]

Oh boy...I may need to re-assess my statement about not getting a PS4 right away

Heard that. This might be an awesome game to break in a new system with.

[Serinous]

Heard that. This might be an awesome game to break in a new system with.

Definitely. Good cross-plat game for the PS4 to begin with

[Two4DaMoney]

Update: Customers who purchase Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag on PS3 or PS4 can download an additional 60 minutes of exclusive gameplay via the PlayStation Network at the game’s launch. We’ll have further details to share in the months ahead!

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/...o-ps3-and-ps4/

[Cyn]

You need to try one of the other games in the series, the core gameplay and exploration isnt justified in the first game its extremely repetitive and the gameplay elements feel rather basic compared to the later games. I only rented the 1st game at my library but it was so dull and repetitive that i forced myself to actually complete it so i could buy the later games by doing the 3 smaller objectives to get to the main mission. Its like that throughout the whole of that game. Honestly the only good thing about the 1st game mission wise is the last mission in the game

I've played a few hours of both AC2 and Brotherhood and neither seemed all that different to me. More cinematic, I guess. I quite like the combat, even in the first, it's just everything else is boring and the animus stuff kills any interest in the storyline.

[Hayzoo5]

Wow the underwater scenes look phenomenal.

[GrandWazoo]

Nice update Two4DaMoney, that is very good news!

[ps3freak18]

It ok, not the best AC game, I guess ACIII distracted me from it
Sound quality is terrible though

Sent via Codec

Hell I never even played 3. I wanted to but I played Brotherhood and Revelations close together and was honestly kind of burnt out on AC. I really want to play it now though. I'm sorry I missed out on it.

[GrandWazoo]

Hell I never even played 3. I wanted to but I played Brotherhood and Revelations close together and was honestly kind of burnt out on AC. I really want to play it now though. I'm sorry I missed out on it.

Don't be sorry, the fun factor on games don't expire You can play 3 when you feel like it and likely play for less now that it's been out for a while. No harm no foul. Plus, if you were burnt out before it was a good thing to wait. You will prob enjoy it much more now that you've had a break.

[Forcedme]

Then there's the fact to consider that a lot of people disliked (or maybe the correct wording would be "unimpressed by") ACIII. I personally think it's the best behind II, but yeah; that game seemed to have a pretty lukewarm reception from fans.

[ps3freak18]

Then there's the fact to consider that a lot of people disliked (or maybe the correct wording would be "unimpressed by") ACIII. I personally think it's the best behind II, but yeah; that game seemed to have a pretty lukewarm reception from fans.

I've heard many fans that share my exact opinions on the series (#1 AC2, #2 Brotherhood, #3 AC1, #4 Revelations), that think AC3 was the best since AC2. I'm sure I will have the same opinion. It just seemed to add more to it than the typical climb building jump to next building repeat.

@GrandWazoo- I guess I should look at it that way. No reason to force it. But I got a fever to play it now!

[Forcedme]

Ah. Well I'd agree with that ranking until III came along and took second place. Hopefully you enjoy it. I think the major gripe people had was with Connor not being the suave, great-minded equivalent of Ezio; which, when looking at the story in all its themes of manipulation and sacrifice for the "greater good," I felt was the point. But I won't spoil the story for you.

[admartian]

Ah. Well I'd agree with that ranking until III came along and took second place. Hopefully you enjoy it. I think the major gripe people had was with Connor not being the suave, great-minded equivalent of Ezio; which, when looking at the story in all its themes of manipulation and sacrifice for the "greater good," I felt was the point. But I won't spoil the story for you.

I don't think that was the main gripe at all. If it were, it wouldn't be so lambasted.

There were much more problems than just a bland character (to which I didn't really even have a problem with) would suggest. The whole game was just underwhelming. The scope of it all, and the actual missions.

Mission A: Get X to person B. Method of delivery? Walk/ride for 10 minutes, only to reach an FMV trigger point. Watch said FMV for 5 minutes, then do same thing over again.

Mission B: Get to trigger point. Watch FMV sequence. Chase said person (while battling the worst controls which haven't been fixed since the first) for 20 minutes. Confront and reach trigger point. Watch FMV. Sequence ends.

Repeat mission formula for most of the game.

The redeeming parts were the naval battles.

Good thing Black Flag is predominantly that (I hope) - or at least fix the ACTUAL GAMEPLAY of the series. Particularly the controls and mission structure and content.

[ps3freak18]

I don't think that was the main gripe at all. If it were, it wouldn't be so lambasted.

There were much more problems than just a bland character (to which I didn't really even have a problem with) would suggest. The whole game was just underwhelming. The scope of it all, and the actual missions.

Mission A: Get X to person B. Method of delivery? Walk/ride for 10 minutes, only to reach an FMV trigger point. Watch said FMV for 5 minutes, then do same thing over again.

Mission B: Get to trigger point. Watch FMV sequence. Chase said person (while battling the worst controls which haven't been fixed since the first) for 20 minutes. Confront and reach trigger point. Watch FMV. Sequence ends.

Repeat mission formula for most of the game.

The redeeming parts were the naval battles.

Good thing Black Flag is predominantly that (I hope) - or at least fix the ACTUAL GAMEPLAY of the series. Particularly the controls and mission structure and content.

Dev said 40% naval, 60% landbased. So it will be a big part of the game. I've heard nothing but great things about the naval battles.

[Forcedme]

All dat jazz

I agree with what you say, in regards to other's complaints with it, but I personally enjoyed the gameplay in this iteration more than any other one save, as I said, II. I think I was impressed with the overall package, and felt it elevated itself to a "greater than the sum of its parts" type of experience.

I guess it depends on how we as individual players perceive how these rigorous A to B moments are handled; everything you said could be attributed to Uncharted 3 as well, and THAT game was a critical and commercial powerhouse, and I hated it. AC3 is pretty much the same, yet I loved it. How we react to those nuances dominating the moments in which we have little to no control seems to be the major deciding factor in whether or not we enjoy the game. And AC3, for me, had more moments that I enjoyed than ones I did not.


EDIT: And I'm totally expecting Pirate's Creed to be the best one yet. I don't mind Ubisoft milking this particular titty so long as the game stays awesome.

[admartian]

I agree with what you say, in regards to other's complaints with it, but I personally enjoyed the gameplay in this iteration more than any other one save, as I said, II. I think I was impressed with the overall package, and felt it elevated itself to a "greater than the sum of its parts" type of experience.

I guess it depends on how we as individual players perceive how these rigorous A to B moments are handled; everything you said could be attributed to Uncharted 3 as well, and THAT game was a critical and commercial powerhouse, and I hated it. AC3 is pretty much the same, yet I loved it. How we react to those nuances dominating the moments in which we have little to no control seems to be the major deciding factor in whether or not we enjoy the game. And AC3, for me, had more moments that I enjoyed than ones I did not.

I just expect more from an open world game. If it doesn't hit those notes, then why bother adding all the filler with no killer. Pretty much what happened with GTAIV.

[Savage360]

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Fag to feature "Connected Single-Player" on next-gen consoles.

Source - http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/05/re...single-player/

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is a next-gen game (gasp!), and will feature a few new, special systems on console versions, such as a "connected" single-player mode, creative director Jean Guesdon says in an internal Q&A unearthed by All Games Beta.

"Next-gen versions will bring to the players new, connected features allowing them to feel that even if they remain 'single player,' it will be better to be a 'single connected player,'" Guesdon says. "I mean that next-gen Consoles will allow players to have a solo experience that benefits the presence of a huge community."

Guesdon doesn't go into detail about the connected systems. He does outline a few more tidbits about the game, including the "horizon system," which provides characters aboard the ship with "pirate opportunities," side-quests specific to an individual player's progress. Ubisoft has six studios working on Black Flag: Montreal, Singapore, Sofia and Québec working on single-player content, and Annecy and Bucharest developing multiplayer.

[Dave-The-Rave]

I bet they'll show of the PS360 version at their conference during E3 then they'll end it by saying something like "If you want to see something even more impressive don't miss the Sony/Microsoft conference" then they'll show the next gen version.

Ubisoft love doing that, and judging by the exclusive Sony content they will probably be at theirs.

[claud3]

All the info is all well and good and the news their will be no loading times at all on current and next gen consoles... I do not believe this at all

On the next-gen consoles maybe no loading times... But current gen is highly unlikely... With all the info out and the details that desmond is not in the game and you are DESMOND, this has me happy...

I hated desmond in all the games and i am glad to see him replaced by us and that should have been the theme through out the series or at least after AC2...