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Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag review
Exceptional
by Arteeten

This is pretty much the best one. Hope Ubisoft can stop raping long enough to make that Pirates game based on the ship combat from this game.

Other reviews15

The best pirate game I've played so far. Soundtrack is great, especially the Shanties, Naval combat works really well. The only real downside are the story missions which are 80% tailing.
«Sit back and relax»
«OST on repeat»
Black Flag is an outstanding game that works more as a pirate game rather than an Assassin’s Creed game, however there are enough elements of Assassin’s Creed that it does not feel too foreign from the franchise. The main character Edward is one of the best in the series and his journey from selfish pirate to unselfish Assassin willing to take on his role as a father is a fantastic one that also has its slow moments. Although it is unfortunate that the moments directly involved with the Assassin Brotherhood feel like the games weakest moments the game feels more about Edwards journey about accepting the role of Assassin rather than showing his journey as one. The modern day segments are a bit slow but I do not mind them as much as others. Overall, this is a game I believe everyone should give a try.
«Blew my mind»
«That ending!»
Assassin's Creed game should have: good (= not bad) plot, challenging fights, good stealth, interesting characters. Black Flag doesn't have anything from this list. It is a funny pirate simulator but it really shouldn't be named "Assassin's Creed".
Best original formula Assassins Creed game.  Best played on WiiU, no joke.
The best pirate game out there
«Sit back and relax»
«OST on repeat»
Easily the best Assassin's Creed game because it's the least Assassin's Creed game out there.
«Time-tested»
«Underrated»
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was one of the first games i played on the next gen console (PS4). Black Flag is sort of a prequel to Assassin's Creed 3, but chronologically the "modern day" setting (2013) takes place after the events of Assassin's Creed 3. Black Flag, Rogue, Syndicate, Origins and Odyssey have hands down the worst "modern day" stories out of the whole Assassin's Creed series. You take on the role of a nameless, genderless, formless protagonist who works at Abstergo Entertainment. The giant mega corporation has hands in all aspects of the world including entertainment. So Ubisoft tried to go full meta, and failed, by having Abstergo use Animus technology to study stored memories and create movies, comics, books, tv shows, and video games based on the stored memories. The stored memories you interact with are the memories of Desmond Miles, specifically those of his ancestor Edward Kenway (the father of Haythem and the grandfather of Connor Kenway). Edward was a pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy (1650s-1730s) and falls into the Assassins-Templar war, while also trying to maintain his own goals and desires as he tries to stand with other famous pirates and create a pirate nation. The graphics still hold up fairly well, with some minor technical issues still present. The sailing and naval mechanics from Assassin's Creed are improved and make up a sizable portion of the gameplay (it is a pirate themed game after all). The world is pretty massive and integrates some new and familiar elements of this franchise surprisingly well. The story is very good and is seemingly focused (appropriately) on Edward and his decisions, failings and struggles. I do think there is a lot of narrative fat that could be trimmed, but I will praise the focus on Edward and his relationships that evolve and shape the game. The voice acting is wonderful. The gameplay is good, but very repetitive. The time period is a nice change of pace. At the end of the day, Black Flag is another solid entry in the Assassin's Creed franchise. After this game, however, the series falls on some rather uneasy grounds.

 Rating: 4/5
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This game is among the best games I have ever played hands down. I don't even know where to begin. Well I can start by saying really the ONLY complaint I have is that the game still shows the "hood pulling up" animation when the outfit has no hood but that is extremely trivial. The amazing thing about this series, especially in the later titles, is that it somehow manages to avoid repetitive between games. Even with the whole "coming of age" story that is present in a lot of these titles, it is different enough to make it interesting. The exploration in this game is top notch. There is a large emphasis on stealth in this game multiple times, while at the same time having intense sword and ship battles (those legendary ships anyone?). The online features that used to be present hurt the experience and frankly are completely unnecessary. I wish things like the white whale weren't tied to the online experience, but there are still workarounds. Having the fleet (sending ships on missions for resources) tied to the online experience makes even less sense. And the monetary value you get from that is marginal at best. All this said aside, easily in the top 10 best games I have ever played, especially in the last 10 years for sure. A must play.
«Blew my mind»
«Just one more turn»
I enjoyed this AC still and actually liked the pirate setting they chose, but this was the start of AC losing its appeal. There have been so many and I’ve played pretty much everyone before this so I was a bit fatigued even though I think they did a good job with this one.

Final Score: B+