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

Bboy AJ

My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
I picked this up for the PS4.

I very much dislike AC games because I feel like it's repetitive. But I want to play a pirate sim. Am I good?
 

Burbeting

Banned
So, should I pick up this game or not? I enjoyed AC2 and Brotherhood, but were seriously burned by Revelations, and AC3 was just really dull game, so I didn't bother to play it through (still got it with PS+).

Pirate theme is quite interesting, but I'm not sure yet should I take the bait :p.
 

glaurung

Member
Oh well. Only $60.
Don't listen to the cynics. The game can be fun if you portion it out properly.

Obviously the average GAF member rushes the play through and tries to get a platinum trophy within two days of launch, gets utterly bored with the game and blames the game for his own misgivings.

Play it for yourself and form your own opinion.
 

Bboy AJ

My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
Don't listen to the cynics. The game can be fun if you portion it out properly.

Obviously the average GAF member rushes the play through and tries to get a platinum trophy within two days of launch, gets utterly bored with the game and blames the game for his own misgivings.

Play it for yourself and form your own opinion.
That's what I figure. I'll play in short bursts and enjoy the pirate life. It might get old and repetitive but I'll take my time getting there. The giant bomb quick look sold me on it.
 

BigDug13

Member
The story in this is basically: "I'm a pirate, fuck you, gimme coin."

I'm fine with that lol

Also I'm finding Initiates pretty buggy. Do they not give you XP for anything? When I first signed up it boosted me up like 8 levels but then reset back to level 1, 500xp. Even doing the challenges hasn't changed that.

Sid Meier's Pirates is basically "I kidnapped your family, good luck" and you're left hunting them down while also pursuing the pirate dream of treasure.

So really all I wanted was a sequel to Sid Meier's Pirates, and despite all the problems this game has, I think they did a pretty decent job fulfilling my desires on that front.

To be fair though, I've never played any other AC game and my only reason for playing this particular game was the Sid Meier's Pirates connection that the devs certainly included in AC4.

Honestly, Ubisoft could spawn an entire separate franchise called "Black Flag" and make it not "animus" related or connected to any other AC story and I would be completely fine with it.

As a Sid Meier's Pirates fan, game is fucking great. As I'm not an AC fan (due to no experience), I have no clue how the game holds up on that front.
 

abrack08

Member
Chose this over GTA 5 as my third game in Target's Buy 2 Get 1 deal. I realize GTA is probably better overall but I'm happy so far. I've been doing pretty much everything you can do in Havana before advancing the story and I'm having fun. It already seems 100x better than AC3, and I haven't even gotten to any of the ship stuff.
 

dex3108

Member
Also I'm finding Initiates pretty buggy. Do they not give you XP for anything? When I first signed up it boosted me up like 8 levels but then reset back to level 1, 500xp. Even doing the challenges hasn't changed that.


ACI is still in Alpha stage. Your XP is recorded but system is not showing it to you. Tech Team is working on solution.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
So while im waiting on my PS4 to finish Black Flag, im finally going through all of Revelations

Im not sure whether or not to be impressed by how they've made this into a full fledged game. They actually took the platforming side content from AC2 and Brotherhood and just made those missions into actual story missions in order to fill out the amount of content for the story haha, it literally makes up half of each sequence so far. On one hand you can tell how short the dev cycle for this was, but at the same time, its making for a really focused experienced lol
 

D-e-f-

Banned
So while im waiting on my PS4 to finish Black Flag, im finally going through all of Revelations

Im not sure whether or not to be impressed by how they've made this into a full fledged game. They actually took the platforming side content from AC2 and Brotherhood and just made those missions into actual story missions in order to fill out the amount of content for the story haha, it literally makes up half of each sequence so far. On one hand you can tell how short the dev cycle for this was, but at the same time, its making for a really focused experienced lol

Just got around to finishing it myself. I actually rather liked it. The platforming levels flowed really well. Especially since the platforming has never felt better thanks to the hookblade. I'm currently missing it a lot in AC III.
 

ironcreed

Banned
Oh, thank God. The only reason I was going to buy it.

Outside of the major cities, the entire open world is at sea, with islands, forts, caves, harpooning and diving spots everywhere. Ships of varying strength and better rewards are also everywhere. Even hunters for when you are wanted and Legendary ships to take on. You can spend hours just sailing a massive open world attacking and boarding ships with dynamic weather and waves adding an amazing atmosphere. Even sea life. Nothing else like it.
 
Now the hypes over. What reviews should I actually watch? I watched reviews for AC3 and that was a turd. So im a little wary of day 1 reviews.

General GAF consensus seems to be positive at least. So im tempted to get this for Xmas.
 
So Black Flag still keeps the AC3 change of having run/freerun as the same button, right? Does it have as many "unintentionally jumping onto random shit" problems at 3? I definitely preferred having "stages" of running, so you could let off the freerun button (without having to slow to a walk) while navigating tight spaces and such to keep yourself from accidentally latching onto things.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
BYzec9aIYAATyOH.jpg:large
 

spookyfish

Member
So, it's maybe been asked, but here goes: Do I have to complete the "trilogy" to get into this game, or can I start cold?

Thanks!
 

Lima

Member
Because it is so much more fun playing on that tiny screen compared to the big TV and surround sound. You people...
 
This has been stuck in my brain for a couple days. When Edward gets
marooned on the island with Vane it seems as though Vane has gone insane. How long were they on the island for? Their beards weren't grown but they lost all their clothes. How did they get to the island in the first place? And Edward managed to escape by luck when a schooner sailed into the same bay he was in?

Video games am I rite
 

SJRB

Gold Member
So, it's maybe been asked, but here goes: Do I have to complete the "trilogy" to get into this game, or can I start cold?

Thanks!

AC4 is the perfect entry-level game in the series because it doesn't have any direct ties to the previous games in terms of story - it's not a direct sequel.

So go for it!
 

BadWolf

Member
How important are the ship battles in this game? Would it be possible to play the game and ignore them for the most part or are they essential to progressing in the game?
 

MNC

Member
Is there really hardly any Abstergo stuff after the Abstergo Entertainment reveal? Like, no big crazy plot twists?
 
I was going to wait until I get a PS4 next year to get this, but I think I'm just gonna get the current-gen version. Is there any major differences between the PS3 and 360 version as for as performance goes?
 

glaurung

Member
How important are the ship battles in this game? Would it be possible to play the game and ignore them for the most part or are they essential to progressing in the game?
Traveling with the ship is pretty much a must. Some battles can be avoided, but you will need to clear some areas of unfriendly ships before you can make landfall.

So no, you cannot bypass ships battles altogether.
 

Alec

Member
This has been stuck in my brain for a couple days. When Edward gets
marooned on the island with Vane it seems as though Vane has gone insane. How long were they on the island for? Their beards weren't grown but they lost all their clothes. How did they get to the island in the first place? And Edward managed to escape by luck when a schooner sailed into the same bay he was in?

Video games am I rite

Vane had sort of gone insane, but was mainly just furious at Edward because of always trying to find The Observatory, which everyone else chalked up to myth. Vane held Edward responsible for their marooning. And I'm pretty sure that wasn't just a schooner that found Edward, it was the Jackdaw out looking for him. They ended up on the island because their ship was adrift without sails and eventually washed up on that island.

More about Vane's real-life marooning via Wikipedia:

Vane's final blow came after his ship was wrecked in a storm in February 1719, separating him from his consort, Robert Deal. One of the only survivors, Vane was washed up on an uninhabited island in the Bay of Honduras. Eventually a ship arrived, but unfortunately for Vane it was commanded by an old acquaintance and former buccaneer Captain Holford. Holford would not rescue Vane from the island stating:

"Charles, I shan't trust you aboard my ship, unless I carry you a prisoner; for I shall have you plotting with my men, knock me on the head and run away with my ship a pirating.[7] "

Before departing, Holford stated that he would be back on the island in a month, and threatened that if he found Vane still there, he would take him back to Jamaica and hang him. Another ship soon arrived and as none of the crew recognized Vane he was allowed on board. Unluckily, Captain Holford's ship met with this ship at sea, and the captain of Vane's ship invited Holford, a friend of his, to dine with him. While there, Holford saw Vane working aboard and informed the captain who Vane truly was. The captain quickly relinquished Vane to Captain Holford who locked him in his hold and promptly turned him over to the authorities in Jamaica. It is unclear why Vane seems to have been imprisoned for over a year before the trial. Vane may have been marooned longer than the few weeks recorded, or there may have been distant witnesses to gather once he was captured. Most likely his reputation had earned the disdain of pirates, royal mariners and the public at large and they wanted him to rot in gaol before being executed. During his trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to death on March 22, 1720. At his trial, numerous witnesses from merchant vessels captured by Vane testified against him, as did Vincent Pearse, Captain of the HMS Phoenix, who related how Vane had made a mockery of the King's pardon. When it was Vane's turn to present his defense, he called no witnesses and asked no questions. On March 29, 1721, Vane was hanged at Gallows Point in Port Royal.[8] He died without expressing the least remorse for his crimes. After death, his body was hung from a gibbet on Gun Cay, at the mouth of harbor at Port Royal, as a warning against piracy.
 

Alec

Member
Is there really hardly any Abstergo stuff after the Abstergo Entertainment reveal? Like, no big crazy plot twists?

Juno's husband volunteered for an experiment to help stop the First Catastrophe and it ended up killing him. Turns out that since his death, he has been continually getting reincarnated in the bodies of humans while being able to maintain his appearance and memories. He joined Abstergo to assist with powering up Juno-AI (or whatever it is) so she could rule over all humans like in the olden days.

That's about the biggest spoiler in terms of Present-Day stuff.
 

spookyfish

Member
Thanks for the replies. I've played most of AC1, but haven't made it through the series yet.

I'll snag this on Tuesday from Target or Amazon.
 

Alec

Member
Something I've been wondering:
When you try to assassinate Torres and it instead turns out to be his bodyguard, Edward acts like he had some history with him though I honestly can't remember him having any significant role in the story.

El Tiburón wasn't significant, but he was the one who knocked Edward out when the Templars first discovered that he wasn't an assassin.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Wow, Blackbeard is a complete psycho, guy is genuinely terrifying. His voice actor does a GREAT job.

Also - I just did a mission where I had to stealthly follow a gunboat WITH MY SHIP. It was so freaking hilarious seeing instructions like "stay out of the light to avoid watchtower detection", how the fuck can they not notice a massive ship sailing by 20 feet away?. The missions get more and more silly by the minute, not sure what the hell they were thinking with most of them.

And unfortunately most missions are still riddled with AC trademark jank. Now that the next generation of consoles has arrived I hope to god they get rid of that engine or rebuild it from the ground up.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
I'm starting to regret picking up this Billy Riley shanty.

O BILLY RILEY BILLY BILLY RILEY O BILLEY RILEY JOLLY JOLLY RILEY JO


You can "skip" shanties by pressing right on the d-pad. Subsequently you can press down on the d-pad to make them shut up altogether.

I don't think the game ever explains this, but it's mighty handy to know since some shanties are AWFUL.
 
Haven't played a Assassains Creed game since 2, didn't really like the the repetition. But considering picking this up on Ps4, how's the story aspect of the game? Not sure this is the launch game for me but I'm interested a bit
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Curious, will it be pointed out when I can leave the animus again? I left once for the introductory real world bit.

You can leave at any time, but there will be certain moments during the game where you leave the Animus automatically.
 

Roto13

Member
O BILLY RILEY BILLY BILLY RILEY O BILLEY RILEY JOLLY JOLLY RILEY JO


You can "skip" shanties by pressing right on the d-pad. Subsequently you can press down on the d-pad to make them shut up altogether.

I don't think the game ever explains this, but it's mighty handy to know since some shanties are AWFUL.

Yeah, I've been turning the shanties off and on again whenever they start singing that one. That's the only one that has really gotten on my nerves so far, though.
 

sangreal

Member
Curious, will it be pointed out when I can leave the animus again? I left once for the introductory real world bit.

Can't you always leave it? Go to quit (same menu for quitting the game)

Either way, they kick you out of the animus again after awhile
 

Leeness

Member
You can leave at any time, but there will be certain moments during the game where you leave the Animus automatically.

Can't you always leave it? Go to quit (same menu for quitting the game)

Either way, they kick you out of the animus again after awhile

Should be able to leave whenever you want. Quit -> Exit Animus.

Lol oh shit.

I never quit my game from there so I've never even clicked on Quit Game hahaha. Well there you go! Thanks!
 

Lime

Member
Do ships still start sailing immediately like they are cars or do they actually slowly build up speed like actual sailing ships?
 
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