I remember the first thing I did when finishing the original Assassin’s Creed: finding out when the second game would be coming out. I wasn’t alone in this; my friends who watched me finish the game did the exact same thing on their Blackberries.
My oh my, how times have changed. I can’t remember the last time I touched a Blackberry and there’s a new Assassin’s Creed game every year. 2013 gives us Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and with it a new assassin and location. One that hopefully won’t be demanding to know where the game’s antagonist is at all times. Ubisoft’s booth at PAX East last month featured the game’s first public unveiling with an eight minute or so video featuring new “gameplay” and plenty of developer interviews.
Gameplay is in quotations here because, well, it looks like gameplay, but it was presented in a cinematic style. We saw no actual hands-on demonstration or anything with an in-game HUD. There were, however, a couple of interesting details. First and foremost, developers mentioned that “stealth is back.” Yes, that’s a direct quote from the video, one that several of my friends also scoffed at. They don’t necessarily believe that stealth was a part of the franchise in the first place, yet I’m excited at the potential to play a game that feels a lot like the original game. I’m not getting my hopes up for reconassaince missions or anything of the sort, but the prospect of playing an Assassin’s Creed game as if you’re an actual assassin again is something that peaks my interest. Personally, the game’s become a bit too action-adventure generic recently.
That sense of adventure won’t be going away, but this is a good thing. There’s a whole chain of islands and ocean to explore and where the plains of the colonies didn’t offer anything of interest other than some wild animals to hunt, there sounds like Black Flag will hold ample opportunities to search for treasures. If done right, this can be an exceptional addition to the game. Gamers haven’t been shy about showing their love of searching for collectibles. We loved jumping from rooftop to rooftop in Crackdown and have always adored scaling buildings in previous Assassin’s Creed games. Diving and searching for treasure should, in theory, be just as addicting. Here’s to hoping the rewards are tangible enough to make it all worth while.
One of the better additions to Assassin’s Creed III were the game’s naval battles. As you’d expect from a game about pirates and life in the Carribbean, there will be plenty more of those. In fact, you’ll get your own ship to upgrade as you play through the game. Naval combat is going to be a big focus for Black Flag. You’ll be able to spot many a ship in the ocean, have to decide if they’re friend or foe, and then make appropriate decisions.
Or you can be like me and just board every ship you come across because you’re an assassin who, like the honey badger, don’t care.
The Assassin’s Creed franchise still has plenty of potential after all these years and the video from PAX East offers a glimpse of what could be if that full potential is realized. We’ll find out if that’s the case this fall.
