Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PlayStation 4) review "Man, now I want to be a pirate again. And unlike previously, I'm older than 11. "

Released in 2013, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag continues that series’ style of running two plots. In the present, a person will deal with some degree of intrigue while regularly strapping themselves into a device called the Animus. That thing takes them to the past so they can relive the most important experiences in the life of a person who wound up playing a key role in various historical events that, unknown to the general public, played an integral role in the age-old conflict between the Assassins and Templars. Why? Because that conflict is still going on and the discoveries of those “long-ago” people often involved mystical artifacts that both sides would prefer to have in their hands — either to gain the upper hand, or at least to prevent the other side from moving a few steps closer to victory.

Now, if you’ve played the series to this point, you might be wondering about the modern day aspect. After all, Assassin’s Creed III closed the book on previous protagonist Desmond Miles. And so, Ubisoft switches to an anonymous new employee at Abstergo Entertainment. On the surface, Abstergo is a prolific creator of entertainment for the masses and the average employee probably looks at their Animus time as a chance to delve into past histories to create a foundation for creative minds to build a movie or video game around. However, when you dig a good bit deeper, you’ll find that Abstergo is a front for the Templars and their agenda to control the people. Using memories to create junk food entertainment is cool, but using them to find those artifacts in order to use their power to achieve their true agenda is light years beyond mere coolness.

As that anonymous employee, you’ll have a few out-of-Animus missions that tend to revolve around you doing little computer hacking mini-games in order to unearth information for a shady I.T. guy. The bulk of the game — and the part that’s far more interesting to discuss — puts you in the Animus, where you’ll live through the Golden Age of Piracy while controlling Edward Kenway, who just happens to have been the father and grandfather of III’s Haytham and Connor Kenway.

As a prominent (if fictional) pirate who hung out with Blackbeard, Black Bart and the rest of the pirates of the early 1700s, how does Edward fit into the entire Assassin/Templar conflict? Totally by accident. The game opens with a bit of poor communication leading to him killing a guy holding information that he was going to sell to a particular bidder for a large sum of money. Since Edward got into the piracy game out of a desire to get rich and truly provide for his family, this looks like a great opportunity, so he simply takes the identity of his victim and makes the delivery himself. And then, when he gets the impression that he can make even more money by turning on the bidder and his accomplices, well, it doesn’t take him long to change those plans.

One small problem. The guy he killed was a renegade Assassin. The bidder and his accomplices are Templars. And he’s completely clueless about any of this. Long story short, he winds up captured and put on a slave ship back to England to meet with Templar justice. Fortunately, he’s shackled next to a particularly physically capable slave and the two of them are able to pull off a two-man takeover of the ship, leading to Edward becoming a pirate captain and the former slave, Adewale, becoming his second-in-command. As far as future goals…well, that’s a bit murky. In his brief stint with the Templars, Edward heard of a place of great power only known as The Observatory and he feels if he can find it, he’ll wind up with all the riches he ever could want. The pirates in general are looking to maintain their free life, while the British are devising plans to put an end to their mischief. And both the Assassins and Templars are likely going to want to do something about — whether it be recruiting or killing — the unpredictable and greedy wild card mucking up their plans.

A person could divide the gameplay in Black Flag into two sections. A large chunk of it is mostly what you’ve gotten in previous Assassin’s Creed games. It’s an action game with a certain emphasis on stealth. You’ll trail people to meetings, listen in on conversations, sneak into buildings and kill or otherwise incapacitate enemies. To aid you in the latter, you’ll get all sorts of weapons and tools. Swords and guns are good for the direct approach to things, but a person can have all sorts of fun with some of those tools. My favorite was the berserk darts. Hit a foe with one of those and watch him suddenly assault his cohorts in a frothing rage while you’re nice and secure, hidden in tall grass. You’ll climb tall buildings to map out towns and settlements, allowing you to find all sorts of treasures and collectible items. You can partake in animal hunting, which provides components quite useful in crafting character upgrades. And, of course, you’ll get all sorts of missions requiring you to hunt someone down and kill them. After all, if the word “Assassin” is in the game’s title, you probably should expect to engage in a bit of violence!

Things are different when behind the wheel of your ship, as this game takes the naval missions of III and essentially builds an entire game from that foundation. There are all sorts of vessels traveling the waters that you can take on in battle to obtain the goods they’re transporting and then use the wood and metal you collect to add more cannons and armor to your ship, as well as improve the strength of your weaponry. As you explore the large open world of this game, you’ll eventually move on to capturing forts, which has the dual function of giving you the map of that fort’s region, as well as making that part of the ocean safer to travel.

All of which comes together to create a game where I could get lost in all the optional content, often going days where I’d completely ignore minor details such as how Edward did have actual missions to undergo. And you know what? That was for the best, as it meant I’d completed most of that stuff fairly early into the game’s story and was able to really focus on Edward’s tale without interruptions after a certain point.

Compared to previous games in this series, Black Flag had a tone that I’d call beautifully melancholy. The pirates’ community was destined to fracture due to how different guys had different ideas on what being truly free really meant, with some wanting to create their own little civilization and others content to be seafaring bandits. Edward’s charismatic personality only goes so far to disguise how, until late game character development sets in, he’s an amoral rogue with few concerns other than amassing a fortune, ignoring how even his closest confidants feel about that goal. In contrast, the Templars come off as less overtly villainous than in previous games, leading to more than one Assassin’s Creed “death conversation” where their final words are to rebuke Edward for being a short-sighted fool lacking in conviction. It just might say something about your “hero” when he explains to a slave trader who likely is his most reprehensible target that he is just trying to line his pockets and the dying man can only laugh and give a “So was I…” rebuttal.

The combination of addictive open-world action with plenty to see and do and an intriguing story featuring a lot of interesting characters trying (and failing) to realize their dreams kept me hooked for many an hour. Since I started playing through the older Assassin’s Creed titles a year or two ago, I’ve found this series to be a lot of fun and Black Flag has been the best of the bunch so far. The world feels larger and more interesting than that of III and there’s the added benefit of how nearly all of it becomes accessible the instant Edward claims his own ship. Add in the robust and rewarding action on the seas and this was a truly enjoyable way to spend a lot of my gaming hours.

Community review by overdrive (July 31, 2024) Rob Hamilton is the official drunken master of review writing for Honestgamers.