The day finally came! Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag was announced on Monday, and the trailer looks awesome. ACIV's new main character, Captain Edward Kenway, is introduced by the legendary Edward "Blackbeard" Teafch as the best, most fearsome pirate in the West Indies. Talk about a great endorsement!
The trailer puts on a display of Kenway's fighting style and abilities, showing him using swords, pistols and of course the classic hidden blade to take down his enemies. Presented by Ubisoft as a more charming and charismatic person than ACIII's Connor, the trailer also reveals that Captain Kenway has a darker side, one that even Blackbeard doesn't dare ask about.
As many will have noticed, Edward Kenway shares a last name with ACIII's Connor Kenway. He is in fact Haytham Kenway's father and Connor's grandfather. Ubisoft is continuing to tell what they're calling the "Kenway saga", now through the eyes of this dashing pirate captain.
In Assassin's Creed III, there was a general feeling that Connor was too rigid, especially when compared to his predecessor, Ezio Auditore. Ezio became a favourite character for many gamers (including myself) with his silver tongue and flair for the theatrical. In contrast, I thought Connor Kenway's personality reflected his age a bit too well with his impatience, arrogance and naivety. With Edward Kenway, Ubisoft is returning to what worked in Ezio's personality, but they've also given him an underlying darkness to create some mystery. Ezio wore his heart on his sleeve while it appears there's more to Edward than first meets the eye.
A second trailer was released, titled "Edward Kenway, A Pirate Trained by Assassins", in which we see more fighting and also Edward steering his ship, the Jackdaw. In addition to his four (yes, four!) guns, two swords and hidden blade, he also uses a glass bottle to defeat an enemy. This may be suggesting that players will be able to pick up objects in the environment to use as weapons.
The game is set in the West Indies and Ubisoft claims it is the most expansive world they've created in a game. With next to no loading screens, players will be able to steer the Jackdaw to one of more than 50 island locations in the game, dive into the water and begin exploring. The three main cities in the game will be Havana, Nassau and Kingston, all with their own affiliations (pirates, British soldiers) and style. It comes as no surprise that sailing and naval warfare will be a big part of this game, IGN reporting that about 60% of ACIV's core missions will take place on land, leaving 40% for the open seas. I mentioned in a previous post that I found the naval missions in ACIII to be a bit tedious, but watching the trailer has left me hungry for more boarding of ships and cannon fire battles.
One of the new features of ACIV is the way mission objectives are completed. Players are now given more freedom in how they choose to complete the missions. An example is how defeating other ships will work; The goal will be to eliminate the other ship's captain and this can be done in many different ways. Edward can simply stay on the Jackdaw and take out his opposite number with a swivel gun or one of his own pistols. Should that fail, he can jump from mast to mast and attempt an air-assassination or just rush in, cutting down anyone who comes between him and his foe. Freedom and flexibility seem to be two aspects this game sets out to master and, if they succeed, Ubisoft will have created a masterpiece.
Finally, to continue telling the story of the modern day struggle between Assassins and Templars, Ubisoft has chosen you, the player. Not much is revealed yet, but you will be someone hired by Abstergo to research Desmond Miles' ancestors. Not knowing exactly how this portion of the game will work, I can't help but feel intrigued and excited to be a part of the story (even if it is on the Templar side).
The game's release date is set to 29/10/13 (31/10/13 in Australia), and Black Flag might just turn out to be the best Assassin's Creed yet.
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