Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is an upcoming action-adventure game, and the sixth main installment in the Assassin's Creed series. A sequel to 2012's Assassin's Creed III due to the progression of the modern day storyline, the game will tell the story of Edward Kenway - father to Haytham Kenway, grandfather to Ratonhnhaké:ton and an ancestor of Desmond Miles. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag will be set primarily on and around the islands in the Caribbean Sea during the in the early 18th century, with three major cities consisting of Havana, Nassau and Kingston.

Development
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag producer Martin Schelling and Mission Director Ash Ismail both stated that they began the project in the summer of 2011, with a pirate game as their focus. Ismail also stressed that they aimed towards a more historically accurate take on the era, including staying away from the stereotypical image associated with pirates, such as parrots, Kraken and plank-walking. The pair also explained that because the game was so radically different than its predecessor and that the scope and open-world gameplay was so different from the previous game, they opted for the project to be a numbered sequel as opposed to a spin-off that followed in the footsteps of the last numbered game, Assassin's Creed III.

Ubisoft's Montreal-based team, in conjunction with 7 other studios from Singapore, Sofia, Annecy, Kiev, Quebec City, Bucharest and Montpellier – accompanied by a band of developers of Far Cry 3 – are working on the completion of the game, with each studio focusing on different elements.

Locations and navigation
About 60% of the game will take place on land; players can explore 50 locations ranging from fisherman villages, plantations, jungles, forts, islands, Mayan ruins and exotic Coconut Islands. Other activities include hunting, harpooning and exploring underwater environments. The game aims to blend between its land and aquatic experiences seamlessly, to the point where players can simply dive off Edward's ship, swim to the shore and explore the land, as well as dive under the surface to loot underwater ship wrecks.

Combat
Black Flag's combat has been upgraded to include free aiming. While previous installments relied on the game's built-in auto aim, in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, players will be able to just aim and fire, similar to other third-person shooters.

Dual-wielding weapons has also been implemented, with Edward being able to carry four flintlock pistols and be able to use them all together, chaining up to four gunshots into a combo of attacks to take down more enemies. Aside from the pistols and his Hidden Blade, Edward can equip dual cutlass swords and chain their attacks together. Other weapons include a blowpipe with multiple effected projectiles and rope darts. Stealth system has been stated to return and to be encouraged in the game. Full-on underwater combat system has also been developed for Black Flag, including animals such as sharks and whales.

Naval combat
The game will also include naval combat, with 40% of the story taking place on the water, which includes numerous side missions. After checking out a ship with Edward's spyglass from the Jackdaw's crow's nest and evaluating the information and statistics, players can launch an attack using various scenarios; one can simply shoot the opposing captain, board the ship by leaping from mast-to-mast and performing an air assassination, or charge into the fray to cut down the foe using Edward's swords. Players will also be able to exploit weather patterns, luring the opposition into less than ideal conditions such as dynamic storms, to their advantage. Naval combat also features a trajectory-based aiming system that requires knowledge of distance and the speed of an enemy.

Upgrades
Players will also be able to upgrade Edward Kenway's vessel – the Jackdaw – through pillaging, taking over enemy ships and completing missions, granting her with new weapons and abilities. Of these, weapon upgrades include round shot, heat shot, chain shot, mines, mortars, swivel guns and a ram. The crew of the Jackdaw can also be upgraded with new outfits, allowing for even more customization. The game will also have different enemy archetypes at sea that all behave in vastly different ways and require the player to have different upgrades to deal with them.

Memories
Instead of Desmond Miles, the modern day will be centered around the players themselves, who act as "research analysts" working for Abstergo Entertainment and reliving the memories of Edward Kenway through the Animus, by using William's DNA. Abstergo obtained his DNA when they captured him in the previous installment. The Animus will no longer constrain the players with its barriers whenever they attempt to interact with an environment the ancestor has not; instead tougher enemy ships will block the way, with the only way around them being to actually explore the world, and find things that can go towards upgrading the Jackdaw.

Other
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag will include many historical figures such as, Calico Jack, , and Charles Vane along with Blackbeard.

The notoriety system, which has been implemented in all previous Assassin's Creed games, has also been taken out of the gameplay for Black Flag.

The new "Horizon" open-world system will dynamically create side missions, such as merchant ships to rob, whales to hunt or pirates to rescue, dependant on an individual's playing style.

Multiplayer
The multiplayer aspect of Black Flag will include cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes from previous games, alongside new maps and new characters.

Marketing
Ubisoft has confirmed that as with its predecessor Assassin's Creed III, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag will have an additional 60 minutes of downloadable gameplay for Sony's current-gen and next-gen consoles.

Criticism
After this screenshot (right) was released, issued a statement condemning Black Flag as "disgraceful" as it "glorified" whaling.

A Ubisoft spokesperson provided this response to IGN.
 * "History is our playground in Assassin's Creed. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is a work of fiction that depicts the real events during the Golden Era of Pirates. We do not condone illegal whaling, just as we don't condone a pirate lifestyle of poor hygiene, plundering, hijacking ships, and over the legal limit drunken debauchery."

Trivia

 * Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is unique within the series in two ways; it is the only main game to have both a Roman numeral in its title and a subtitle, and it is the only main entry to have the historical element set before the previous one.

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