After Assassin's Creed III thought the franchise was over for me. The boring repetitive story of Connor pulled me who had no interest in that world with their ancient gods, problems related to the sun and the constant struggle between Templars and Assassins. Moreover, the mechanical they called so much attention in the adventures of Ezio were at that time more problematic than pleasurable, which left me with the feeling that I had spent most of my time fighting the controls to be able to perform the simplest task.
But, surprise, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag makes good decisions, turning away several points that are central to the series. Instead of needing repair mechanical adjustments, AC IV reduces its importance in implementing other more interesting place. If the presence of large cities is essential for you, then the new game in the franchise you can represent a setback. Spiritually it is still fitting in the series, but mechanically is the most different of all. In my case, Black Flag captivated me precisely because it is less Assassin's Creed than I originally expected.
Do not get it you will not pass a good time climbing buildings, walls and trees, jumping over unsuspecting victim and ending their lives with hidden blades on your wrists. All information required for Assassin's Creed are Black Flag, they are just less constant and relevant than before.
The reason for this is the importance given to the ship we rule the Jackdaw, and the time spent on the ship. Instead of focusing on two or three major cities, Black Flag has a large map, but composed mainly of sea with islands and small villages found now and then. Even the largest of its cities, Havana, is not nearly the size of urban centers previously seen.
This exchange is the smartest decision in Assassin's Creed IV, and each time the game imposed me to chase someone or hear someone else's conversation furtively, I wondered why they did not completely rid of those parts - by far the more boring stuff from around the title. As in Assassin's Creed III, Black Flag insists these types of missions far more than it should and there is no moment in which they are pleasurable. There is a lot of trial and error involved in understanding what the best way to be traced and which offers greater opportunities for stealth process. Moreover, the information obtained is bland, with only context in goal at hand and not something bigger. It does not help that, especially in the larger cities such as Havana already mentioned, it is common that the frame rate drops to single digits - at least on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Moreover, the whole aspect of "parkour" series needs serious revisions since, at this point, it has more frustration than fun. The simple act of walking straight is sometimes a challenge and it is common in our pursuits random character decides to climb a wall and not the one we wanted. Failure can be an integral part of the experience of playing a video game, but only when we feel the guilt of error is in our hands. Everything is so automatic in Assassin's Creed, especially with regard to the platform, that when things go differently than expected there is no better prepare us for what does not happen again. There is no way to become better when the error is the game and not the player.
None of these problems are seen when we are sailing. The game is eye-catching when you're gliding through the water and everything looks new and fresh. The silence surrounding our ship, broken only by the singing of our sailors transported me to that world several times and it is hard to imagine any other media that is able to acclimatize ourselves in another reality so strongly.
For the first time in a while secondary activities Assassin's Creed offer a tangible purpose. While buying new swords and pistols to Edward Kenway, the protagonist, is still a waste of time because of the ease of melee combat, enhancing the capabilities of the Jackdaw is a desire that had the entire game, from beginning to end. Each strongest cannon acquired or extra storage capacity is the time direction, gradually increasing their ability to cross the seas without fear of any opposition to appear. Because of this, secondary activities which by themselves are not very interesting - how to follow maps that indicate buried treasures or dive and explore the wreckage of sunken ships - end up being rewarding because it is through them that we got many plans for improving the ship to maximum. And as much as without realizing suddenly pass to defeat war vessels and strong without problems, the four corners of the map are rondados by "legendary ship" that early in the game can - literally - beat us with one blow. In fact, even having reached the end of adventure and bought almost all the improvements of the ship, I still could not beat any of them. Yet.
Mixed with this is the fact that pirates are simply legal. Nothing against the backdrop of the American War of Independence and its historical figures, but pirates, your lifestyle and mysticism around their deeds are more captivating than the achievements of George Washington. However, while I appreciate Black Flag leave the feud between Templars and Assassins aside most of the time to focus on a personal narrative - much of the story revolves around Edward's desire for gold rather than any larger ideal that life - it fails at some points in its history almost as much as the gameplay within cities.
There is a conflict in the plot that, despite well-written and acted out lines, is poorly told from beginning to end. Temporal jumps are not made explicit, the motivations of the characters are weak and now and then they change personality without any reasons. Moreover, every time Assassin's Creed IV tries to implement its historical events as they arise pastiches facts. They are not actually forced to ride with Paul Revere in Assassin's Creed III, but known moments in history such as Blackbeard placing wicks hits on your hat or Anne Bonny and Mary Read "appealing to their bellies" are nothing more than winks actual facts, unnecessary to the plot of the game. The poor quality of these hours is more evident when contrasted with moments of surprising sensitivity, such as the death of one character in particular that even days after finishing the game, even back to mind from time to time.
Perhaps there is no greater proof of how good it is all part of sailing in Black Flag because even with so many things that could have been better, nothing diminished my desire to return soon to the ship and explore the seas again. It is shocking how bad stretches of AC IV sometimes reach a level that made me disbelieve that have been accepted to go public. But at the same time, those that succeed are good like few things can be. In a way, the parts that least resemble Assassin's Creed are the best Black Flag, which made me wonder how much better this game could have been if it had completely disentangled from the series.
It may have its frustrating parts and pieces that will make you exclaim "what the people who made this game were thinking?" But the end of all, what will remain with us is how useful it was to navigate and upgrade your ship, and desire to return to the seas again.
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