When going about creating an open world game, it’s never easy to design said world in which the game revolves. You need to include NPCs, missions, plot devices and lots of other minute details.
And when your world is the Caribbean, with the game being Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, already the subject of tons of pressure given the sobering third game, it’s even more difficult.
Speaking to VG247, creative producer Jean Guesdon stating that it was correct about there being “a balancing act in creating an open-world. We cannot build a small world, because it would make the player feel restricted, it wouldn’t give the player this sense of freedom that is inherent to the pirate fantasy.
“At the same time, we do have to make sure that the player never has a feeling of emptiness, or boredom. That is why we are implementing a brand-new system called the Horizon system to our game. When you take out your spyglass, no matter where you are at sea, you should always see something beckoning to you on the horizon.
“It could be an ally that needs defending, it could be a brand new island to explore, it could be a whale that you could harpoon. Our world is truly the most varied of any Assassin’s Creed yet, and we want to make it as lively and eventful as possible. The variety of environments and the unpredictability of events will, together, make it a world that you want to explore”.
It’s an interesting system that we’ve seen in other games like Far Cry 3 and even The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to some extent. Will Assassin’s Creed IV be able to pull it off in time for its October 29th release for Xbox 360, PC, Wii U and PlayStation 3 (with next gen console releases happening in Q4 2013)? We’ll find out.
