• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag |OT| Not Based on a DisneyLand Ride

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Anyone play any platform heavy tomb sequences ala the optional ones in the Ezio trilogy? Loved those prince of Persia sequences, and am kinda hoping this game has several tucked away on unexplored islands.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
God, I wanna play this so badly but I am waiting for the PS4 version.

Yea, I even revisited ac3 just to help with the wait. Gave up on that game after Connor became an assassin a year ago, but despite the usual complaints still holding, exploring the open frontier, doing the naval missions, and generally putzing around is still kind of fun. I hate the interface and general gameplay changes from Ezio though, but its doing an ok job making the ps4 launch wait easier. Just really shocking how long t did the ac3 to allow freedom to explore and perform all this side content.
 

Ezio

Member
I've had bad OCD in this game trying to get all the items in the city. Unlike AC3 where I just went through the main story and did little to nothing with side quests etc. Is it just me or does it seem hunting and getting chests etc. are going to matter more when it comes to currency. Stuff is expensive!

Not sure if I should spoiler then next part but I will:

For those later in the game, does hunting whales etc. actually allow you to make good upgrades for Edward? I just got the ship and I saw a little bit of the tutorial but really didn't pay too much attention.
 

AndyBNV

Nvidia
Cheers Andy, these look great. Just a quick question while you're poking around here. Is the Holiday Bundle you guy's are doing redemption on your site them codes to Steam/Uplay? (also please be Steam only.) Thanks in advance.

I don't know for sure, but I imagine it's UPlay, like Splinter Cell.
 

D-e-f-

Banned
MmBkPNZ.jpg

not sure how accurate this is lulz

First two are youtube captures, last one is direct feed. It's a bad comparison.

Will this be 1080p/60fps on PS4? Also, does this game remind anyone of Far Cry 3?

It's 30 frames on all platforms.
 

Scrabble

Member
So this is supposed to be good, right? Like better than 3? Might pick it up for PS4

I think it's really fucking good, than again I really enjoyed 3. It's definitely more fun and feels a lot more "gamey" than 3 did. It doesn't really waste any time building up and pacing its self, it just sort of throws you in and lets you have fun.
 
God, Edward's hair on the PS3 version looks so terrible. It's distracting sometimes in cutscenes because it looks like he put some playdoh on his head. :|

In any case, I'm a few hours in although I haven't done a lot of the story missions yet. Just been doing my usual Assassin's Creed-OCD where I go around completing everything before continuing with the main story. I really like the atmosphere, setting, and characters so far. Edward is miles better than Connor, and I don't even know much about him yet, lol. As others have said, though.. damn, is the combat too easy and kinda boring. I mean, there's still a bit of satisfaction in seeing some of the animations, but that only lasts so long before you realize you can chain kill enemies with ease.

I think I spoiled myself on watching some of those PS4 AC4 videos, though... Looking at how gorgeous it was on there and playing the PS3 version with the shitty sub 30 framerate is just terrible. It's really distracting sometimes when you are doing chase sequences in the first city. It's probably just me forgetting, but I don't remember previous AC games before AC3 having such framerate problems. I dunno.

------

Question - how do I know when I should be leaving the Animus to do missions? Is it automated like it was in AC3 where you exit after certain chapters are done?
 

Garland7G

Member
Playing the 360 version and aside from some framerate dips, it plays pretty solid. It doesn't actually feel like an assassin's creed game to me though, I mean, it does but it also makes a great pirate game. I'm having more fun with the naval stuff than I did in 3 and since upgrading the Jackdaw is expensive, I'm finding myself doing a lot more of this naval stuff than I thought I would.
Combat isn't too good, but it never was. Way to much stuff to collect too, while some is useful, most are there just for the sake of collecting. Instead of flags or feathers, its Animus fragments (I know you were dying to know).
Aside from those little nitpicks, the game is awesome. Sailing the sea's and looting ships is really fun.Also the Capn Morgan preorder outfit is amazing (been using it for awhile now lol)
Best Assassin's Creed game in years and I'm actually having a better time with it than I did playing AC2.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Does this game have any sort of townbuilding/shop opening like AC2/Brotherhood/Rev did? And did it go back to upgrading equipment/healing (non-regen heal)?

I haven't kept up much.
 

Teknoman

Member
God, Edward's hair on the PS3 version looks so terrible. It's distracting sometimes in cutscenes because it looks like he put some playdoh on his head. :|

In any case, I'm a few hours in although I haven't done a lot of the story missions yet. Just been doing my usual Assassin's Creed-OCD where I go around completing everything before continuing with the main story. I really like the atmosphere, setting, and characters so far. Edward is miles better than Connor, and I don't even know much about him yet, lol. As others have said, though.. damn, is the combat too easy and kinda boring. I mean, there's still a bit of satisfaction in seeing some of the animations, but that only lasts so long before you realize you can chain kill enemies with ease.

I think I spoiled myself on watching some of those PS4 AC4 videos, though... Looking at how gorgeous it was on there and playing the PS3 version with the shitty sub 30 framerate is just terrible. It's really distracting sometimes when you are doing chase sequences in the first city. It's probably just me forgetting, but I don't remember previous AC games before AC3 having such framerate problems. I dunno.

------

Question - how do I know when I should be leaving the Animus to do missions? Is it automated like it was in AC3 where you exit after certain chapters are done?

The ease of combat is the one thing thats soured me on the games. Trying to give this a shot on WiiU as well, and while it looks and sounds really good (and I really like pirates)...everything still feels too automatic easy...
 

Frillen

Member
So this is supposed to be good, right? Like better than 3? Might pick it up for PS4

It's significantly better than III. Both gameplay and graphics wise. The game just runs a lot better than III, and there's just a few glitches and bugs here and there, while III had a ton of them.

Beware though, most of the missions in the game are naval/sea missions compared to land missions. I think Ubisoft said there was a 60/40 split. This is not a bad thing for me though, that they try to expand/change the formula a bit. I definitely felt a fatigue after both Revelations and III, so a breath of fresh air is welcome in my book. Taking down ships to get resources, taking down forts and just cruising around is a lot of fun.
 

Shaanyboi

Banned
Was considering getting the WiiU or PS4 version, if I was going to play this at all. But just tonight, my girlfriend came first place in a costume contest at the EXP Gaming Restaurant here in Vancouver. One of the prizes she got was a PS3 copy of AC4. I guess we know which version we're playing!
PS4
 

Ambitious

Member
Anyone else having issues with the preorder code? I've preordered the PS4 version from Amazon UK. The Ubisoft page says the code is invalid. I've tried copy-paste and manually entering it, but neither worked. Now it says I'm not allowed to try again within the next 15 minutes and I should contact their support. But the support page doesn't load, sigh.

edit: It worked when I tried again after the lockout.
 

Quick

Banned
Are there any major gameplay differences between the PS3 and PS4 versions, or is it just a graphics upgrade?

I was going to wait for the PS4 version (whenever I pick up a PS4), but having played the PS4 demo, it didn't exactly scream "next-gen" to me. Since then, I've been debating on either waiting or getting the PS3 version soon.
 

Akai__

Member
Anybody else, who can't connect to the Ubisoft servers on Xbox 360? I can't control my fleet, because they are tied to the servers appareantly.

Don't understand, why developers keep doing this...
 

Clegg

Member
The story is the biggest disappointment. Still follows the usual Templars vs Assassins line, but it's quite disjointed in its execution. No real main antagonist like the Borgia's in the Ezio games.

The actual game itself is great and I'm enjoying it far more than AC3.
 
The story is the biggest disappointment. Still follows the usual Templars vs Assassins line, but it's quite disjointed in its execution. No real main antagonist like the Borgia's in the Ezio games.

The actual game itself is great and I'm enjoying it far more than AC3.

I agree. The story is not worth buying the game for but everything else is miles better then Assassin's Creed 3 ever showed.
 

ironcreed

Banned
It's odd. Part of me really wants to give this a shot and another part of me is not really ready for another Assassin's Creed. But these impressions do make me want to bite.
 

Tactics18

Member
So the ending is pretty... Interesting. And unusual.

I wonder if they'll stick with Edward (would be kind of odd after that mid-credits scene) for the next one or if we'll get a new protagonist.
 

Alec

Member
So the ending is pretty... Interesting. And unusual.

I wonder if they'll stick with Edward (would be kind of odd after that mid-credits scene) for the next one or if we'll get a new protagonist.

Seeing as how Edward dies in 1735 (Haytham would be 10 years old), I can't really imagine what else they could squeeze in there.

Is there a spoiler thread? -- Edit: Made one here.
 

AzBat

Member
Never played an AC game before. If I liked Red Dead Redemption, would I like this? Also, only have 360, would I be missing out on anything other than better graphics in the PC, XB1 or PS4 versions?
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Never played an AC game before. If I liked Red Dead Redemption, would I like this? Also, only have 360, would I be missing out on anything other than better graphics in the PC, XB1 or PS4 versions?

The Aveline missions are reportedly going to remain exclusive to the PS3/4 versions and PC DDE, but that's it.
 

Casanova

Member
My roommate and I are playing right now. I'm about 10% complete (it is a deceptively large game) and he was asking this question:

How does one check the current level of his/her ship?

fyi: I am not that far into the game yet, so I can answer the question for him. I am focusing on obtaining all collectibles and completing all side quests/missions, in each city, before moving forward in the game.

EDIT: Until this release, Assassin's Creed 2 has been the only game of the series to keep me interested. There's just something about AC4 and AC2 that I find similar, and therefore, enjoyable - though I can't quite identify the reason.
 

Leeness

Member
Hahahaha what the hell is with the subtitles in this game?

"I want Food, no Walls, the Wind at my back. I'll be back in one Year."

??? Does Abstergo not have proof readers? The subtitles were fine in all the other games.

Edit: HAHAHA okay it is just Abstergo, just got to the "real" world and the subtitles are fine.

Proof read your simulations, Abstergo.

This is actually really charming in a way lol.

Edit: About an hour and a bit in now and even though I was ~one of those people~ who enjoyed 3, this is a definite improvement. A lot more charm to it again (I love the look of Havana) that was kind of lost with 3.

And I like the real world stuff haha. Desmond's story got crazy so I'm enjoying the mystery and just simple hacking and finding weird emails again.
 
Dammit, I seem to have some glitch where a secondary indicator (telling me where an assassination target should be) that is indicating nothing and there is no way to get it to go away. The assassination target was on a ship, I chased it to land where the guy got out but then another ship took me out. When it reloaded, the indicator remained on the dock where the guy got out but he is nowhere to be found, not even on a ship again.

I better not have to start over but this indicator is really bothering me.
 

Hamlet

Member
Just finished the game found it substantially better than Assassins creed 3 (I may be a bit Biased as I love anything Pirate related) Story was a lot more satisfying and Edward is a much more likeable character than the dry dull Conner
Loved the ship combat nothing better than seeing a ship in the distance and then deciding might as well go take it
Combat was decent but can get a tad too chaotic when boarding a ship
I enjoyed the majority of the main missions but for the love of god Ubisoft stop with the ears dropping missions they aren't very fun to play at all
also not as much variety in the missions as i would have hoped for but the ship combat/characters more than made it up for me
Looking at my save file it took me 21 hours 25 minutes to complete the story with a 63% Synchronization
 
Got this yesterday and played through the intro - looks like I'm not alone in thinking this is the next true Assassins Creed game, and a worthy successor to AC2. Lets just pretend Revelations and AC3 never existed (Brohood - you can stick around).

Edward is already a more interesting character than Connor within the first sequence of the game.
 
Hearing how awesome Edward is and how this is the best AC since AC2/ACB makes me sad Aveline was stuck in a bad game. She's such a great character, would loved for her world to have been more realized that what the Vita could offer/Ubisoft delivered there.

So hard waiting for the PS4 version, especially being a Euro and it being even longer....
There's TV spots for it during like every break at prime time here :(
 

Amir0x

Banned
Ok guys, this is important!

I really was disappointed in Assassin's Creed 3. I loved Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood. Loved Assassin's Creed 1's assassinations, but thought it was flawed elsewhere.

But Revelations and 3 really gutted me on the series. However, I felt the naval battles in 3 were one of the sole redeeming factors.

I hate the storylines in all the games, they're fucking absurd. However, occasionally I do enjoy the actual historical backdrop and back-and-forth, as skewed as much of it is from actual historical fact.

I do not like busy work, unless the rewards at the end are great. My favorite element of any part of the series was Assassin's Creed 2 secret missions where you did all the platforming.


My favorite music track from any of the games is Istanbul from Assassin's Creed: Revelations, particularly skip to 1:45 and listen. The music is hauntingly gorgeous.

Will I enjoy Black Flag? explain in detail please! I trust you NeoGAF!
 
Ok guys, this is important!

I really was disappointed in Assassin's Creed 3. I loved Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood. Loved Assassin's Creed 1's assassinations, but thought it was flawed elsewhere.

But Revelations and 3 really gutted me on the series. However, I felt the naval battles in 3 were one of the sole redeeming factors.

I hate the storylines in all the games, they're fucking absurd. However, occasionally I do enjoy the actual historical backdrop and back-and-forth, as skewed as much of it is from actual historical fact.

I do not like busy work, unless the rewards at the end are great. My favorite element of any part of the series was Assassin's Creed 2 secret missions where you did all the platforming.


My favorite music track from any of the games is Istanbul from Assassin's Creed: Revelations, particularly skip to 1:45 and listen. The music is hauntingly gorgeous.

Will I enjoy Black Flag? explain in detail please! I trust you NeoGAF!

So this is a qualified yes.

I have 100% the same experience as you with the other games. I think our experience is common. The whole meta story with Juno is fucking offensively bad. The lack of intelligence with the general genetic memory concept is offensively bad. But when AC games are high camp, its lovely. That's what 2 + Brotherhood were - romps.

AC4 is a romp. It does the main stuff - action and running about, mission variety, upgrading - pretty much as well as 2 + Brotherhood. The setting hasn't been really fleshed out in a convincing way but its okay. The naval battles... are fun. Like, you just pick fights with fuckers and take what they own. Characters are fun. They don't rant. Templars and Assassins both are portrayed as rich white fools pontificating on the backs of slaves.. which is pretty refreshing.

Some things are bad. Brace yourself for meta-story stupidity that will now place the AC games in the universe of the AC games.. you'll see. Ubisoft also have NO idea how to run the companion app on iOS or the AC initiates website co-game stuff. The latter isn't even working yet. It's a mess. There's something called 'social treasure chests' that seem to be network-enabled - they don't explain how or why.

But AC4 is a romp. It is unqualified rompiness with a low bullshit factor. It lacks the artistry of 2, but it continues that fine tradition in a way that is unexpected. Don't come expecting complexity but its the best AC since Brotherhood, and if it had come straight after, the series would have not lost a beat.

I can say that having some idea of what your gaming taste is like after many years here, you will enjoy AC and feel it is worth it at full price. It is not unqualified. But it is a BLUE SKIES adventure with not-terrible story and fun characters.
 
Top Bottom