Assassin's Creed: BlackFlag

[BenSt]

I didn't see a topic for this so here we are.

I purchased it back at Christmas time but didn't have a lot of time until now to play it... I am hooked!

I havn't enjoyed an AC game as much as this since ACII. ACIII the gameplay was just dreadful, and I am glad they changed some of the movement to be more like earlier games.

The storyline so far is compelling, and like the original games, continues that idea of an outcast trying to effect change. I love that Edward Kenway is, obviously, of Assassin's stock...but is regarded as an outsider to the Assassin community. The ABSTERGO storyline is quite interesting as well, I just wish they could balance the two out and give both worlds as much to do in.

Any other players here? What do you think?

 

[Lenny]

I've been playing it on and off since Christmas, and I find that I'm suffering from the Elder Scrolls problem - I've clocked more hours than I care to admit, and I'm not particularly far into the story... but the hulls of my enemies line the ocean floor five high!

The ship side-missions were my favourite part of AC3 (followed closely by carrying an axe into battle), and although I have to say I was skeptical, when BF was announced, that an entire game could be built around the side-mission, I think Ubisoft have done a brilliant job.

I'm in the same boat (wahey!) as you, in that I haven't enjoyed AC this much since AC2.

 

[ralphkern]

I think it's by far the most compelling AC game. Kenway is an interesting character and it's not often I feel compelled to buy a computer game sound track but this one was so good I had too.

You might also like the TV show Black Sails. A very similar tone and many of the characters are the same.

 

[Glisterspeck]

I played it through soon after release, and loved it, synching everything except the Legendary Ships (those beasts are tough!). ACIII, I synched maybe half of the story, abandoning it not long after the main mission was complete.

I actually don't like the SC-FI frame story with these games, though I appreciate the game mechanics that it allows. Less time spent in the present, the happier I am, though. The most irritating bits for me were the hacking missions in the present. Ugh. I remember quitting one of the Splinter Cell games because you HAD to do a hacking side mission in your home base.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I played it through soon after release, and loved it, synching everything except the Legendary Ships (those beasts are tough!). ACIII, I synched maybe half of the story, abandoning it not long after the main mission was complete.

I actually don't like the SC-FI frame story with these games, though I appreciate the game mechanics that it allows. Less time spent in the present, the happier I am, though. The most irritating bits for me were the hacking missions in the present. Ugh. I remember quitting one of the Splinter Cell games because you HAD to do a hacking side mission in your home base.

Yes, I have to admit that ACIII was a bit of a slog. I did all the missions and side missions but some of the full-sync objectives were so difficult, especially the naval ones.

I like the sci-fi element and Desmond's story although he is no more than a cypher, really. I think it would have been better if you could choose when to come out of the Animus instead of being forced out at certain times. One thing I loved was the irreverent history lessons from Shawn in the encyclopaedia and my first playthrough was very stop-start as whenever an entry was flagged up, I would press select to read it and invariably have a giggle.

However some of the trophies are just too difficult. Nine Mens Morris or Fanorona for example. And those godawful trading things. I think I got about 80% of Benjamin Franklin's wafty pages before thinking <bleep>.

I recall when the game came out there was a lot of negative reaction to the naval missions but I loved these, and they're now held up to be one of the great successes of ACIII.

As far as Black Flag goes, I'm waiting till I can afford a PS4 and then I'll pick that game up. I'm more interested in Unity, though, as the Renaissance period suited AC so well, and I'm hoping the French Revolution may herald a return to the kind of historic periods Ubisoft do so well. ACIII really missed the lyrical beauty of Florence and Venice, and I don't think it helped that Jesper Kydd was not responsible for the score in III.

pH

 

[Glisterspeck]

pH,

When I picked up ACII, I still had my PS3. Ended up not really playing it much at the time, but now wish I could, as I've been led to understand it's the best of the series. I bought it for Mac, but haven't got a controller to sync, and as much as I love Mouse and Keyboard for FPS games, it's not great for me for third person.

I sold the PS3 a while back. Played Black Flag on my Wii U, which I picked up to replay Zelda Windwaker with the enhanced graphics (awesome, by the way). I'm pretty sure I'll be picking up a PS4 when Watchdogs comes out. Am very much looking forward to that game!

 

[Phyrebrat]

pH,

When I picked up ACII, I still had my PS3. Ended up not really playing it much at the time, but now wish I could, as I've been led to understand it's the best of the series. I bought it for Mac, but haven't got a controller to sync, and as much as I love Mouse and Keyboard for FPS games, it's not great for me for third person.

I sold the PS3 a while back. Played Black Flag on my Wii U, which I picked up to replay Zelda Windwaker with the enhanced graphics (awesome, by the way). I'm pretty sure I'll be picking up a PS4 when Watchdogs comes out. Am very much looking forward to that game!

Hi Glisterspeck,

I didn't even realise you could get these games on Mac (or PC for that matter)!

I'm a PS kinda guy - I wouldn't mind a Wii but my friends have them and I don't think I could justify the cost for the amount I would actually play on it. I have a PS2 which I keep connected for the Battlefront, Burnout and SSX games, and I inherited my brother's Xbox 360 (spit, spit spit I only kept it so I could play Alan Wake) so I don't feel another console would be needed. I can imagine mouse and keyboard would be horrendous for AC. I recall the old days of playing TIE Fighter and X-Wing on my 486 with a mouse. What a nightmare! (Although I did spend £100 getting a steering wheel and foot pedals when I bought Pod Racer on my Pentium 3 and that was a blast!)

Yup, Watchdogs is on my list, as is the new version of Last of Us for PS4, and Destiny whenever that's released.

AC2 and AC brotherhood are beautiful, transporting (transport-ative (??)) games. There were moments when I got goosebumps. Truly artistic! And Ezio is so much more charismatic than Altair and dead-wood Connor.

pH

 

[Glisterspeck]

Yeah, they usually port the AC games at some point. For a long time, when I was playing way to many FPS games, I only played on my Mac. Quake 3 Arena, UT, Battlefield, but more than anything, Return to Castle Wolfenstein as I got heavily into mapping for that game.

I always get the latest Nintendo system whenever they release a Zelda game, as that's my favorite. Metroid is up there too. So basically, at one point or another, I've had all of the Nintendo consoles released in North America. I used to have a PS3 but sold it to focus more on writing.