Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag is another Ubisoft game set to take over every single platform in existence this holiday season.
I was told that everything in the game was designed with the idea to push the limits of the open world. In the demo I saw, that’s not too hyperbolic of a statement. Everything on display was to show how large the world was (note: HUGE) and also how the AI adapted to what was going on.
The first goal during the demo was to assassinate a set of twins. After the first one gets taken out, the other quickly runs to the docks. The person playing the game intentionally lets him escape onto his boat so that he now has to chase him down at sea. He jumps into the boat and takes off, no loading or anything. After a pursuit and a dramatic ship battle, he boards the ship and takes out the other twin. What is so great about the sequence is that none of the boat stuff has to happen. He could have taken him out on land or done countless other things. It really shows off just what this new Assassin’s Creed is trying to be.
After you take the ship the remaining crew members surrender to you. Then there are a few different things that you can do with them and the ship. You can send the ship to the companion app where it will gather materials, or recruit some of them for your own ship; among a few other options.
The person showing the demo sails for a bit and finds an island with a dead explorer on it. Turns out he had a treasure map and, using the companion app we look at the map of the world and find roughly where the treasure should be. I say roughly because he map is comprised of two drawings of landmarks.
We sail for yet another faraway island. This time the island has some hostiles on it and they are just randomly holding a few pirates hostage. It isn’t a quest or anything, just one of the many random events that you can choose to do along the way to your real goal.
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag looked very impressive and coupled with random dynamic weather I can see myself just sailing around for hours. This will be the ultimate seafaring game and there are also all the usual Assassin’s Creed trappings in addition to all that. It is worth noting that this demo was running on the PS4 and it looked very good.
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag will be released this holiday season for Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U, PS4, and Xbox One.
