[Games] Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Originally I wanted to write about Assassin Creed III, then it turns out that Assassin Creed IV is not far along from being released. Guess I made the right decision. Assassin Creed IV: Black Flag was released a year after the third series and they actually not too different. In the third series, you get to jump around rooftop and trees, hunt animals for skin and trade, more side-quest, make weapon and stuff, also you got to captain a ship. That right, you get to be a captain, engage in ship-to-ship fight and some ship boarding action. You could even have your own homestead mansion and build your own small village. By doing quest of course.

But the difference between the third and fourth series is more with size of the map where in Assassin Creed III your could explore the surrounding area around New York and Boston, while in Assassin Creed IV you get to explore the whole Caribbean Sea. Its so huge.. somewhere around the middle of the game you would just use the 'Fast Travel' options.

I guess most of the games nowadays are heading toward open-world kind of genre or something, especially with the success of game DLC with Fallout 3, Skyrim, Mass Effect, and others. Anyway, like all other 'open-world' game, Assassin Creed is also riddled with bugs, especially with the third series. You see, that's why I waited for Assassin Creed IV. Though I finished playing Assassin 3 anyway. But yeah, there are some features in the third series that I really wanted it to be fixed in Assassin IV, pistol dual wielding. Did they fixed it? Not only its fixed, but now you can wield up to four gun!! Wohoo~ Nice!

Now before I get to the game-play, there is something that caught my attention. The main character, Edward Kenway. The voice actor for Edward Kenway is actually Matt Ryan. But when I first saw and heard him.. he REALLY looks like Chris Hemsworth. He even sounded like him, I kid you not. I don't know whether it was intentional or coincidence, but it was really interesting, a nice add up. Because Chris Hemsworth play the role as Thor, so in a way, Vikings originally a pirate or raider in the old time. So there is an image, right there. You get to play as the Viking Thor pirating ships and assassinating people while lecturing about liberty and freedom by bombarding English and Spanish's fortresses with your ship's many-many cannons and mortars.

Story wise, the game plot is kind of screwed up, I think. I totally lost track of the story line right after Assassin Creed III. Because supposedly the world should ended after Desmond died or something. I dunno. Juno appeared and told them she could save the humanity from the apocalyptic solar flare eruption and what not, then Minerva appeared too and told them that is all a lie where Juno only seeks to free herself and have no intention of saving humanity. They argue for a time, and Desmond choose to 'off' himself to give a fighting chance for humanity. In short, this is Mass Effect all over again about cycle this and cycle that. Truth to be told.. it would be much easier without the Animus thingy, it completely complicated the whole thing with the story on the past and the thing they doing in the present. Its like.. the world was about to end and you were busy playing assassin in your mind. In Assassin Creed IV, I shit you not, Astergo-the Templar corporation, were busy making movie and games from the Animus. 

Putting aside the story line. the game is quite enjoyable. And by enjoyable, I mean if you could stand the internet connection requirement. You could play it offline of course, but.. there are certain features that you wouldn't be able to use such as the 'Kenway's Fleet' feature. Its not exactly important, but you would be exploring the whole game all by yourself instead of sending your recruited ships, which can be very tiring and time consuming. So all in all, Ubisoft finally accept that some people won't be able to online all the time, so made the game still enjoyable with full functionality, with the exception of the fleet of course. Don't worry, its really not that important.

Just enjoy the game panoramic view, experience the thrill of ramming your enemy's ship, sail through fine weather and sea storm, and don't forget to catch yourself some sharks and whales. Yes, you can catch whales. Its.. exhilarating.

If Skyrim gives you Dragon to hunt, then Assassin Creed gives you the White Whale.