Summary [10 out of 10]

Much superior installment compared to its predecessor, improvements in most areas where Assassin’s Creed III failed and more of what worked best (collision detection, clipping, Naval Combat). The game is a high seas action rush that brought back a joy and interest in pirates that I haven’t recalled since being a kid going to Beaufort, North Carolina or playing Sid Meier’s Pirates! Top to bottom this is a vast environment that is full of side activities that make a worthwhile stop over on your way to complete the main quest, I never felt pressured to rush through the storyline, it was a nice change up to be able to take your time exploring and return to the main quest when you had your fill of pirating, exploring, diving, harpooning, climbing, hunting, etc.

What It’s Like:

Elements of both Far Cry 3 and Assassin’s Creed III are present in the game. The engine previously seen in Assassin’s Creed III has been polished to a shiny interface that is finally at an acceptable level for the franchise again. To me I saw more of a Far Cry III influence on the graphics and your interaction with them, in part due to the environments being similar in tropical nature. If you had beef with certain elements of Assassin’s Creed III you really need to check out IV, it completely restored my faith in the series.

The Great:

Naval combat: The best part of Assassin’s Creed III returns, as should be apparent from marketing the game is geared towards the Golden Age of Piracy. The naval combat is greatly expanded upon and improved to a vast degree in Assassin’s Creed IV. With a variety of ships that can be challenged to battle and variety of weapons at your disposal (chain shot, heavy shot, round shot, mortars, fire barrels and of course ramming). Like any great combat you need to improve your skills and armor before taking on bigger challenges and the Jackdaw is no exception.  You will need all your pirate wits about you as you use stealth, guile and many cannon balls to take down different classes of ships until you can board a Man O’ War as easily as riding a bike.

Storyline: Not being an assassin from the gates lends tremendously to the story of this game and it is a bit of a relief to play as a character set out to forge their own destiny but in turn it is the essence of the character that is formed. Edward Kenway starts out life as a man seeking his fortune through less than scrupulous means and slowly begins to mature to become a seasoned privateer and eventually an assassin. The narrative and characters really take on a life of their own, specifically the interactions with Blackbeard and Mary stand out as some of the best I can recall in recent memory for video games. The modern story intertwines quite nicely with the past and still manages to have enough connectivity tissue to the previous installments to keep the overall Assassin’s Creed narrative. It’s worth completing all the hacking/note finding challenges as you get some glimpses into the past of previous characters and more information on the beginnings of the Animus project.

The Score: The music of this game is beautifully crafted, it helps put an emphasis on emotion and creates an immersion into the cities you are exploring. A great example of video games continuing to bridge the gap between larger productions and themselves. A score that is so powerfully intertwined with the narrative always enhances the experience. This was one of my favorite tracks.

The Good:

Companion Mobile App: An essential tool for the hardcore AC enthusiast and anyone enthusiastic about mini-games. It always felt that time spent managing the fleet from inside the Captain’s cabin was time wasted by not being on the high sees. So to be able to manage this outside of the game and sync up progress and collect money via a quick jaunt to the cabin was by far one of the best uses of a mobile game app in quite some time.

Upgrades: Your character, ship and hideout have upgrades that can be purchased. Hideout upgrades will help lower costs of in game activities in terms of hiring Pirates, Hookers and Pirate Hookers. Upgrading your person increases your armor and ammo caches, this is done via hunting and harpooning. Ship upgrades can be completed by gaining supplies from plundering warehouses, pummeling unsuspecting ships into submission. These can be easily overlooked or stacked too high in favor of person or naval combat, the benefit of utilizing the companion app really helps to offset the cost of these upgrades so you can spend more time stabbing things of various natures.

The Bad:

Weapons: Seems like they took a bit of a backseat in this game. Good to see the throwing knife back, but there is not a huge selection and variety as seen previous games. Dual wielding is pretty sweet but I do miss the heavy swords as seen in previous Assassin’s Creed installments. The guns do vary a bit but tend to mostly have aesthetic difference and not a whole range of functional variation. I know during the time period firearms were not as developed as they are many years later but it seems like a bit of a cop out.

Underwater diving: An inventive and interesting side activity, however the controls seem extremely wonky during this missions. I can appreciate trying to create a sense of weightlessness but this just felt like I was trying to figure out what to do with a drunk sailor and not get devoured by sharks or surprise eels.

Conclusion [10 out of 10]

Assassin’s Creed IV was a much need entry into the franchise to help bring things back around to what was established in Assassin’s Creed II and built upon in it’s expansions. Solid gameplay and combat, a mini game that helps generate income to enhance and ease your gameplay experience through strategy and chance. Granted this is only a port to the Xbox One and Playstation 4 I feel like this is a great addition to their catalog and is only the tip of the iceberg of what future Assassin’s Creed titles can be on these system and I for one am excited about Assassin’s Creed again.