Time flies. It only seems yesterday that Ubisoft launched Assassin’s Creed 3 last year, across a number of platforms. It’s a well known fact that some of the series elements have drained out but one cannot deny that Assassin’s Creed still has a sense of aura and charm about it.
We were recently invited to the first exclusive look at the next iteration in the series: Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. Assassin’s Creed 4 continues the Kenway bloodline but this time things are a bit different.
Protagonist and Setting:
The present day stuff takes place in an Abstergo facility. The player is in the Animus but Ubisoft did not showed this. Players will take the role of Edward Kenway who is the father of Haytham, one of the antagonist of Assassins Creed 3. Edward Kenway is a young, brash Welshman born to an English Father and Welsh mother. The game takes place roughly in 1713 in the Carribeans. Edward Kenway was in the Royal Navy at the start of the century, but turned to piracy.
He falls into the Assassin’s order by accident. His fighting style is ferocious and he fights with two weapons.Edward is an experienced privateer-turned-pirate, with a taste for danger and adventure. He is both a skilled sailor and seasoned fighter, but he fights for no cause but his own.
Official Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag trailer.
New Characters, Events and Organization:
Ben Hornigold, The Gentleman pirate is a confirmed to be present in Assassin’s Creed 4. So is Anne Bonny, considered equal to men. Other characters include Calico Jack and Charles Vane who are psychotic. As you might have already known, Black Beard is also present in the game.
In the meeting, a couple of events were shown including a scene where 42 Portuguese ships went against the Spanish armada The massive wreck of the Spanish armada and the marooning of Charles Vane, who Edward will be marroned was also depicted.
Weapons:
Players can find the following weapons in the game:
- Dual swords
- Multi-pistols
- Blowpipe with multiple effect darts
- The double hidden blades
- Rifles
- Single sword
- Knives and
- Heavy Axe
- The Rope Dart
Geographical Location:
The geography is around Cuba, The Bahamas and the coast of Mexico, with 50 unique locations with the world being bigger than Assassin’s Creed 3. There are no ‘maps’ that you choose from a menu, you literally get on your ship, which is called the Jackdaw and sail. The Jackdaw is fully upgradable. The game also includes jungles, Mayan ruins, forts and a pirate island called Nassau.
Gameplay:
The player can board enemy ships in real time, with your crew using grapples to pull you together. You can use a spyglass to scout the horizon and get an idea of what plunder the enemy has. You can jump across the ships or swim, the choice is yours. You need to be fast though, because your crew will die, and you have to recruit new crew members.
Freak storms can kill your crew, too. You can harpoon whales and use a diving bell to search for sunken treasure. There were sharks and manta rays too.
Mission wise, land missions will represent approximately 60% of the game and naval ones 40%. But if you take the global experience that players will leave with Assassin’s Creed 4 we’re more talking about 50-50.
Ship’s Control and Navigation:
The game will have a trajectory based aiming system where the player is challenged on reading the distance and speed of the enemy to get that perfect hit. This is the most basic element of the combat system. The ship will have 5 new weapons that all have their own unique functions and attributes.
Platforms:
The game is coming out on the Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U, PS4 and next generation consoles. Ubisoft Montreal is the core studio that is developing the game. They are also working with Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Québec for the Single Player and Ubisoft Annecy and Bucharest for the Multiplayer part.
Check out the first screenshots and art works from the game below.
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