Assassin's Creed IV :: Black Flag

 Exactly one year after the release of its previous Installment , Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag comes into the world with a flourish aiming to knock the teeth out of all gamers with its glorious gameplay . Being the Sixth installment in the series , Ubisoft has once again proved that it still  got what it takes to make a game even more better than the previous one . If you thought AC III  was awesome , wait till you start playing this .

Story ::

The story picks up where AC III left off , with Desmond Miles giving up his life in order to save the world from Extinction . Abstergo Enterprises Recovers his body and uses the genetic material present in his body to recover information about the location of an Observatory . You take the place of a un named character who comes to work in Abstergo and is tasked with getting more details about the Observatory by taking up the role Edward Kenway, Father of Haytham Kenway and Grandfather of AC III  protagonist , Ratonhnhaké:ton . Edward starts up as an ordinary sea loving worker whose greed for easy money and Riches pull him into the World of Piracy which was famous during the 18th century . Edward stumbles upon another Assassin on his way and and call it a coincidence or Destiny , ends up donning the Assassin's Uniform without earning it . Once he realizes the True meaning of it , he makes it his goal to earn it in the end .

Graphics ::

An AC game had never looked so bright and cheerful like this one. The First thing that you will notice as soon as you start the game is the Lush greenery of Forest and the mesmerizing Blue Depths of the Caribbean waters . God , I loved those moments when I could just jump into the crystal clear waters and swim by looking at the bottom where Crabs scuttle and Weeds wave :D . Thanks to Anvil Engine , the sea looks even more realistic with Waves and Dips that you had to consider when you fire your gun in a Naval battle . God ! this game is epic will be your thought when you take down a ship that is on other side of Wave Crest . Just Amazing :)

Gameplay ::

Gameplay is where AC always had proved its uniqueness . AC series was always praised for its climbing mechanics as it was the first game which allowed a player to climb any building of their choice in a open world Sand Box style game . And with the development of the series , the mechanic was even more refined to look fluid and a pleasure to play it for eg :: the Viewpoint synchronization or the lift Mechanic to take you up to the roof of the building in a second . Edward moves more or less similar to the same way AC III  Connor moved . With the ability to climb trees and rocks now , Edward is just unbeatable .

Connor of AC III

But where does Black Flag totally Rocks , Its when it comes to Jackdaw . Jackdaw is the name of Edward's Ship which he steals form a noble in a fight and later brands it as his own with his crew and personal touches . Jackdaw is not just for travelling from one Island to another but to dominate the Caribbean Waters with its impressive Cannons and Ram . Because keep in mind , the Ocean is not just for everyone to roam freely , especially Pirates . The Templars who occupy high positions in the British , Spanish and French Empires have conquered the entire Caribbean and keep it under their control . Now in order to venture safely you must avoid Restricted Zones in the seascape and skirt around them or take up the fort that is guarding the sector and claim it as your own . Its not as easy as it sounds . Jackdaw is just a small puppy when it comes under your control in the beginning  . Its upto you to turn it into a fearsome Mastiff that it is . Upgrades are now available for both Your ship as well as for Edward . Both requires money but upgrading your Jackdaw also needs Cloth , Metal or Wood depending on the section you are upgrading .

Now the Wood , cloth and Metal are hard to come by and can be got only by looting ships . The is where the game looks superb . We can even say that its the peak high light of the game .  Remember Pirates of The Caribbean , especially the sea battles between 2 ships at the climax, WEll you can do that in this game ;) Attacking a ship with your broadside cannons or Chase cannons , you wound it well enough that it becomes immobile . Once that is done you can begin boarding it , PIRATE style , like you saw in old Pirate movies . Best moment of mine for sure :)  . Once boarded you had to take down the Captain + a handful o Guards to make them give up . Once the ship is under control you can use it to repair the Damage your own ship had suffered or Release the Enemies and decrease your wanted level or send it to your Fleet . You also get Sugar and Rum in Loot which can be sold for money .

Boarding Ships 

Now you may feel disappointed when you went through all the trouble of Attacking and Boarding and found out you only got Sugar and Rum but no Wood and cloth which is crucial for upgrades . Believe me , I was pissed off at first , sometimes . But Later I came to know that the Spy glass you have can be used to find what a ship is carrying and its strength before attacking it head on . Quite useful . And Initially whenever you see a Man of War , a fair word of warning , just stay the hell away from it . These guys are like Big Brutes and can sink you in the blink of your eye. Not to mention the Legendary ships that occupy the 4 corners of the map . They look menacing and believe me , their bite is even more powerful . Even with your Jackdaw upgraded to the hilt , its difficult to take these guys down without a perfect Strategy .

Although  initially when you start sailing the Caribbean with your Jackdaw , you will feel scared and reluctant to cross the waters in fear that you may be pulled into battle , Once you start upgrading , you will just love the feel of Sailing in open waters . Especially when your crew starts singing a Shanty . It ain't the rock music you are used to hearing but still it soothes you :) .

Underwater Adventures ::

For the First time in an AC series , you get an opportunity to prowl underwater . Say hello to Diving bell ( deep sea diving as how it was done in olden days . God ! these guys are good in maintaining authenticity ) . And unlike the land , you can't prowl around or explore all over the sea ground . The diving bell can be dropped into waters at specific places, which will be filled up with treasure Chests and Animus Fragments . And who will be protecting this all ? Say hello to the Sea's most deadliest and most feared Predator of all time , SHARKS. God !! even now after years and years of watching JAWS i am scared to go under water alone . Man  these guys gives me the creeps . And they are vigilant like hell .

Protector of Deep 

You have to hide your self in underwater weeds or wreckages in order to escape from their field of Vision . Not to mention the Eels that sometimes make a grab for us underwater . God ! its a tense filled moment when you are in the deep down . Especially when your limited supply of Air seems to be going down . Thank god for our crew , they throw Air Barrels which contains Small pockets of Air that can be used to replenish our supply . Navigating through underwater has never been so much Fun and tense :)

Diving Bell 

I have to mention a level where you penetrate a Pirate's Cove / Assassination Contract Target . You will have to make your way underwater via  a Cave . Or shall we say a underground Mine that was later on swallowed by Sea .  Lets say its a underwater maze where you have to find a way out , in order to reach the cove . Damn ! you can imagine my surprise when a huge A**  Great White Shark prowled the Area just around a corner . At first I thought it had come in , without any idea as to why it was there and got stuck there , but later i realized that it was put there by pirates to avoid surprise attacks from Water ( Clever Guys ;) ) . But seriously that was a mini heart attack moment for me . I was completely frozen in my chair as well as in the game not even moving a muscle and holding my breadth until the Almighty crossed me .Phew !! Epic moment ever  :D

Air Barrels - replenish Air Supply  

Harpooning / Hunting ::

The Great White 

The game does bring back its hunting roots of Ratonhnhaké:ton . You can hunt all kinds of animals that are present all over the different islands and skin the dead corpses for its bone and Skin and use for upgrading your self or crafting new Dart Pouch , new dart or even another extra holster for a new gun . Edward can carry 4 at a time and can be used to chain shots together in cool combo .

Now when it comes to hunting in Waters , you need to reach a place where the jackdaw can drop anchor and Edward and a team of 2 go down in a row boat to bait the prey . It can be a Killer Whale , Great White Shark  , Tiger Shark ,  Bull Shark , Hammer head or blue whale . Killer whale is quite the tricky one as it charges at you from a distance and can cause you great harm . White Shark gives us quite a few scares by suddenly lunging up at us from the depths . All you have to do is to keep a look out for the bubbles that come up to the surface and just when your target breaches the water surface , throw the Harpoon at its belly . Whola , the harpoon is tied to your boat with the help of  a rope and so you are in for a ride as the beast starts pulling your boat along with it as it tries to escape .

And when you finally do finish of the beast , it will be lifted up into the ship , with huge amounts of cheers from your Crew members . I love these guys . I mean the round of applause and the cheers they provide EVERY TIME  when you get into the Ship and take the wheel is enough to make any guy giddily happy about these AI crew :D

Weapons and Combat ::

Pistols baby !!

Whats an AC  game without the infamous Hidden Blade, thanks to AC II where it was made dual ;) and this time or shall we say for the first time , the lead character will be capable of holding Dual Swords . God ! the possibilities of attacks and combo kills that you can get with this  is just so large that you will just forget to user other weapons in your stack . But still I missed an Alternate weapon in my collection . I mean in AC 1 , 2 and Brother hood series we had the small knife where the counter will be so brutal to look . AC III brought its unique Mohawk , kills which are done with that are just remarkably  exceptional . Not to mention the Free hand fighting techniques of Connor were just superb . When it comes to AC IV you just have the Dual swords and Hidden blades in your arsenal . You do have 4 guns , but that still doesn't equal the satisfaction you get from a close kill .

Dual Sword Prowess

You do get an opportunity to take down a enemy from above with your dual swords too .That was new . Other than that , combat wise the game was not that much . I loved AC III style of combat much more . You do have a Sleep Dart and Berserk Dart Blow pipe which can be used when you want to move in stealthily . And Smoke bombs to take care of Big brutes and Captains who just won t die . Rope Dart too makes a appearance near the end of the main missions. But again , its optional and most of the time you forget that they even exist at all .

Side Missions and Quests ::

Side missions are one thing that have to be mentioned . In the earlier AC series I had always avoided Side missions like a plague and continue on only with main missions , so that I can get a feel for the main plot of the game . And this was the first time ,  I got so distracted by the side missions that I forgot that a main story existed :D . Such was the variety and uniqueness that was present here . You just have so many interesting stuff to do , that you literally forget that there is a story to play , until the game reminds you to progress further in the Main story in order to unlock a certain thing that will be crucial for completing the side mission .

a ) Mayan Steale ::

One Such Side mission is The Mayan Steale you come across in remote corners of the Deserted Islands . Sometimes when you go in to explore a mysterious Island the creepy music that sweeps in , just rocks you and creeps you like anything . I expected some kind of weird or Mystic enemy to pop out of the bushes anytime. So back to the Mayan Steale , These are Mayan Statues that are present in the remote corners of the Map in deserted Islands. All you have to do is to climb atop one and solve the puzzle with your Eagle vision . Once you are successful , you will get a Mayan Stone as a Reward . Collecting 8 such Mayan stones will unlock a Mayan Door in the island of Assassins and you will get a fully armored outfit of the Mayans.

b) Treasure Maps ::

This is another superb side mission that just gnaws at your curiosity . Once you sync up a Viewpoint , your mini map will show a pic of floating piece of paper in the  near vicinity. Once you reach it , you will be able to search the Cadaver there and get a treasure map that has some vague drawings of the environments and with a X marking the spot where the treasure is supposed to be . Some co ordinates will be scrawled on the map that will tell you where the Environments will be located . Sounds Easy right ! Well guess again ;) . The twist is ,  once you reach the co ordinates , you will realize the co ordinates were not pointing  to a particular area but an entire Town . Bam !! .. Now its upto you to open your map , memorize some unique environment structures that are displayed on the map and match it to the environments as you run around the entire town . It is a huge task . But believe me,  when you do get to solve the mystery , even though the reward ain't that much , the Happiness you get is immeasurable .

c) Warehouses::

Looting Warehouses is another new venture that AC 4 can proudly speak off . This is another way of gaining Wood , Cloth or Metal used for upgrading your Jackdaw . Initial step is to enter into a restricted Area and to loot the key form the Guard unnoticed. Once that is done , you have to sneak up to the tavern and loot the S**t  out of it . Again this may sound easy , but The sharpshooters in the top of the barns and Watch towers make sure that its not so . They have a very sharp sight when it comes to identifying a target since they are in a good vantage point . Here is where your Sleep Darts and Berserk Darts are very much useful . But use them strategically as they can blow up in your face , tats a idiom by the way , not literal :D

Looting the Key form Captain 

d) Forts ::

Fort takeover is another new aspect in AC 4 if you need to roam the seas without being pulled into unnecessary naval battles . Most forts starts with 4 embankments that you need to take down . They have a heavy amount of firepower but rely mostly on Mortar . Best way to take them down is to move in close and quick and take them down with correctly placed heavy shots and with Swivel guns . Once the Fort Security collapses , its upto you and your crew to board the fort and kill its commanding Officer and take over it . Once you accomplish this , that area will open up in map with all the treasures and places of interest in the sector being marked on the map .

You do have the usual, save the Pirates from a British troupe that is attacking them, Assassination Contracts and Templar takedowns ( Which helps you in finding the six keys that are required for opening the Templar Armour that is present in your home town Villa ) . And the occasional Catch the papyrus ( in this case its a shanty ) or collect All Animus Fragments and loot all chests in the area / Town .

Pro's ::

1. Play once again as the mighty and invisible Assassin .
2. Hidden Blade Kills .
3. Beautiful Graphics that Strains ur Hardware when you crank it up but also runs fairly well in a medium level PC .
4. Caribbean has never looked so bright than in this game .
5. Impressive Side missions and endeavors that are too distracting that you end forgetting there is a main story for you to play .
6. Naval battles that just astound you and takes you back to the 18th century .

Cons ::

1. Main mission story line is better than AC III but not impressive .
2. BGM is a little simple , could have made it even more better .
3. The escapades into the real world by player character feels forced as always .

Overall :: An impressive game that has to be enjoyed by all . Especially AC fans are going to crazy over it .

Rating :: 9.5 / 10  ( Excellent )

Regards
Ram