Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag
- Thread starter Ritterkreuz
- Start date
Skyrimosity
Well-Known Member
I love the Assassin's Creed Franchise, however the makers are beginning to (as of Brotherhood and definitely AC3) ignored their namesake. ASSASSIN! I knew that AC3 probably wasn't going to be my favorite after the E3 trailer where the guy playing A. Took a Musket B. Killed 3 People (though while running was cool) C. Blew up the powder room. I mean... there's just not much assassinating really going on unless you completely force yourself by all means to make sure nobody spots you. And that requires one amazing Concentration and Perception Skill level (which I just made up as a vague Skyrim reference. Don't hate me.)
Subtle
An Unexpected Ally
Am I the only one felt as if AC3 was actually an accomplished game? Sure, it was missing some things which could have improved, but by no means do I feel as if it was a bad game. It had a fantastic flow to the fighting and free-running, the graphics and the ambience were astounding, my only complaint would have to be the story. I feel as if it were, as some people have said before, a little half-baked. I finished the story and I literally put down my controller and said "That's all? What's going to happen now?". I think they could have really improved on it because it started feeling much too repetitive and there was not enough variety.
One thing I really liked were the naval missions and the Ancient Mayan Ruins mission. The jungle in-game was absolutely AMAZING! Matter of fact, all the missions were you have to sail in more tropical areas were amazing.
Overall, AC3 was good, but it could've been better. The parts in which it excelled were to scarce, and the parts which weren't to great were to numerous. I have a strange feeling that AC3 was a setup for AC4. I think it was more of a "fill the gap" space for a whole new different style of AC games. I have great feelings for AC4, but I'm sad to see my favorite assassin until now go.
Anybody else think Connor was a great assassin?
One thing I really liked were the naval missions and the Ancient Mayan Ruins mission. The jungle in-game was absolutely AMAZING! Matter of fact, all the missions were you have to sail in more tropical areas were amazing.
Overall, AC3 was good, but it could've been better. The parts in which it excelled were to scarce, and the parts which weren't to great were to numerous. I have a strange feeling that AC3 was a setup for AC4. I think it was more of a "fill the gap" space for a whole new different style of AC games. I have great feelings for AC4, but I'm sad to see my favorite assassin until now go.
Anybody else think Connor was a great assassin?
ShenziSixaxis
Article Writer
I have mixed feelings about AC3. As a game I think it's pretty damn good, but as an AC game I think it's bordering terrible.
AC3 marks the end of an arc, and what could have been the end of the series if they wanted, but it is very different from the other games. Connor doesn't even remind me of the other two playable characters in any way while I feel like Altair and Ezio sort of fed off each other.
Now... I also want to point out that the original gameplay system that went from AC1 all the way to Revelations was dumped in AC3. This is... extremely jarring, but I think I understand why:
The AC1/2/B/R system was pretty reliant on user input. If you wanted to jump, you can to press that button. If you wanted to attack or dodge or free run you had to press or hold a button. In AC3 it's EXTREMELY automated and unrealistic.
In AC2, if you wanted to leap-jump or whatever that move is called to climb over a bare spot of a building, you had to manually do that. In ACB and ACR it was a bit automated but not enough to make me rage, but in AC3 the player's character practically flies up the damn building. Besides the fact that there's no real flow to moving on buildings and trees and whatnot, climbing in AC3 was very... boring and lacked any reward. It is honestly faster for me to just run through the streets than to run on rooftops and do everything I can to stay on them.
Combat in general in AC3 feels nerfed. It's extremely easy for me.
I feel like Connor is also a very unlikable character. He's not a BAD character, just... unlikable. He acts and thinks like a child but fights like a man and irks me terribly. At first it's cute, like when he was learning about notoriety from Sam Adams, but then it just gets to the point where I want to kill him and drop the game (like, uh, GETTING ARRESTED???????).
And that's not even covering how un-brotherhoodly the game feels when it comes to Assassins in general. I understand that they were nearly eliminated but... why would Achilles not teach him of the creed? We're not really fighting for the cause of the Assassin brotherhood and the creed and for freedom like the order did before; we're just... fighting because a boy wants to save his people despite it very clearly never going to happen, not because he's an assassin and wants to fight for the good of all. That's how I feel.
So for me, AC3 is a good mainstream game that was dumbed down so most anyone could play it but boring and irritating for some/most serious AC fans and/or good gamers.
AC3 marks the end of an arc, and what could have been the end of the series if they wanted, but it is very different from the other games. Connor doesn't even remind me of the other two playable characters in any way while I feel like Altair and Ezio sort of fed off each other.
Now... I also want to point out that the original gameplay system that went from AC1 all the way to Revelations was dumped in AC3. This is... extremely jarring, but I think I understand why:
The AC1/2/B/R system was pretty reliant on user input. If you wanted to jump, you can to press that button. If you wanted to attack or dodge or free run you had to press or hold a button. In AC3 it's EXTREMELY automated and unrealistic.
In AC2, if you wanted to leap-jump or whatever that move is called to climb over a bare spot of a building, you had to manually do that. In ACB and ACR it was a bit automated but not enough to make me rage, but in AC3 the player's character practically flies up the damn building. Besides the fact that there's no real flow to moving on buildings and trees and whatnot, climbing in AC3 was very... boring and lacked any reward. It is honestly faster for me to just run through the streets than to run on rooftops and do everything I can to stay on them.
Combat in general in AC3 feels nerfed. It's extremely easy for me.
I feel like Connor is also a very unlikable character. He's not a BAD character, just... unlikable. He acts and thinks like a child but fights like a man and irks me terribly. At first it's cute, like when he was learning about notoriety from Sam Adams, but then it just gets to the point where I want to kill him and drop the game (like, uh, GETTING ARRESTED???????).
And that's not even covering how un-brotherhoodly the game feels when it comes to Assassins in general. I understand that they were nearly eliminated but... why would Achilles not teach him of the creed? We're not really fighting for the cause of the Assassin brotherhood and the creed and for freedom like the order did before; we're just... fighting because a boy wants to save his people despite it very clearly never going to happen, not because he's an assassin and wants to fight for the good of all. That's how I feel.
So for me, AC3 is a good mainstream game that was dumbed down so most anyone could play it but boring and irritating for some/most serious AC fans and/or good gamers.
Benthos
Proud Mer
I am a HUGE AC fan and I loved most of the games, even Revelations which got more negative than its predecessors but ACIII is the one that really got to me. I was super hyped about the game, wishing the release date would come sooner, wanting to play it and be astounded, the start of the game was terrific, they upped the graphics as well like usual, they advanced the storyline for Desmond and his ancestors, I was even shocked at the big twist they reveal not too far in the game... but please, as a warning below, it will be pretty negative but it's not uncalled for toward the game. This is from personal experience and I will use proper English and won't swear.
They clearly did take the most positive thing of the game that didn't give too much trouble as opposed to the REST of ACIII. I suppose they really did read the reviews people gave it and why ACIII didn't win game of the year award. It was nominated, sure, but it didn't win it. I for one would agree that it should NOT have that award because there are very few games in ALL the games I have ever played that frustrated me as much as that game. The map is barely readable, they removed many of the helpful markings, the game itself has many bugs that cause you to land in limbo - including the naval missions, the main character didn't get nearly as much development as the others even though he had a terrible experience like Ezio did, and we don't even get to enjoy watching him train like Ezio did in ACII. The one character we know the most and build a liking to wasn't even the main character, I don't want to spoil anything which is why I didn't go into details about the story, but there are some holes there as well.
The enemies are one of the worst as well, they're the red coats, obviously, but one thing that really bothered me, you start off playing Not-Connor, he's straight from London, he's got the accent, the looks, everything, he disguises himself as a Red Coat, then you're on a mission to infiltrate a Red Coat camp like the previous games did about infiltrating enemy strongholds or restricted areas but guess what, back then there were reasons why they would grow suspicious of you but in this game they didn't even think as to why the enemies in this game should be suspicious at this point, perhaps if they just gave one quick audio clip or cut scene of a guard telling the others there's a murder nearby of an ally and someone or some folk have stole his/their clothing like in the previous games, it would've been alright and I would've easily have passed this off... You're not going to a singular post which would've been expected to be alone or perhaps you're doing something suspicious at night but you're in a CAMP most likely during the day where there are MANY red coats all around you, you look, sound, strut, fart, and puke all signs of Red Coat beside the fact that you're not one but they wouldn't know. How should they know? This isn't today's military where you have a CAC or Military ID card, if you say anything loyal toward the King, look the part of a Red Coat, walk like them, everything, they're going to assume you're among them. This isn't anything of "I never saw him before" or "he didn't come here on my ship" and that would cause suspicion, they would arrive on many ships and people then were careless enough to assume you were an ally unless you were of a different race, spoke a different language, dress differently, had an accent not like theirs, or anything else that was obvious.
I understand, make it a challenge, but it must be justified, every previous game starting on ACII, most enemies of the common guard would succumb to the "Counter" action button during a fight, in ACIII, only ONE kind of Red Coat would succumb to it, everyone else will not. You might as well not use it in this game because it would prolong the battles. Sure, there's the argument where it's said: "you're an assassin, you're supposed to be stealthy", but there are times where you can not be stealthy and the game tells you to go into fights on the street or you just do it because it was fun. Here, it was jumbled, the enemies took far longer to kill, there were no reason as to why Red Coats would be on the roof tops, there were times action commands would not register while fighting, lagging, frame rate would drop dramatically, character dialogues would repeat, you'd be stuck in limbo even in the action scenes, etc. It's terribly inconvenient when the menus have been changed around where you don't even have the quick wheel anymore. I recall even the first game had a quick wheel for your weapon selection, sure you didn't have the D-Pad quick select but at least you could still quickly select and then get back to the action. Here in ACIII, you must pause the game for it, Revelations even handled better with the dual weapon wielding. I can see what they were going for but it wasn't executed as well as it should've. The worst part about it, the game made me want to remain outside of the Animus and not want anything to do with Connor's missions. That isn't because Desmond's story was better or the action was better (which it was handled better) but because of the fact that I didn't want to do anything with the Red Coats, majority of the time I was trying to pull off the human shield trick (the one they loved to advertise before the release) it didn't work. I would be in the proper position, hit the proper button at the supposed appropriate timing and nothing. Lastly, I have yet to play the DLC I got with the purchase of the game. I don't even want to play it, that's how against the game play I am. As stunning as the visuals are and how terrific the idea it is to go to ruins, I still don't wish to bother.
Anyway, there are still good things about ACIII, don't let this post keep you from wanting to try it out, you're the one going the play it or has played it so it's YOUR opinion about it not mine. You're free to ignore this review of it just as much as you're free to listen to it. I will say the naval scenes were beautiful, they handled well and only one time did I have an actual problem with it (which was a bug that caused me to remain in limbo and I wasn't the only one who went through it). Now that we see a game revolved around it and you play as a PIRATE? Count me in, this will surely be fun and hopefully will clean up the issues that ACIII had.
They clearly did take the most positive thing of the game that didn't give too much trouble as opposed to the REST of ACIII. I suppose they really did read the reviews people gave it and why ACIII didn't win game of the year award. It was nominated, sure, but it didn't win it. I for one would agree that it should NOT have that award because there are very few games in ALL the games I have ever played that frustrated me as much as that game. The map is barely readable, they removed many of the helpful markings, the game itself has many bugs that cause you to land in limbo - including the naval missions, the main character didn't get nearly as much development as the others even though he had a terrible experience like Ezio did, and we don't even get to enjoy watching him train like Ezio did in ACII. The one character we know the most and build a liking to wasn't even the main character, I don't want to spoil anything which is why I didn't go into details about the story, but there are some holes there as well.
The enemies are one of the worst as well, they're the red coats, obviously, but one thing that really bothered me, you start off playing Not-Connor, he's straight from London, he's got the accent, the looks, everything, he disguises himself as a Red Coat, then you're on a mission to infiltrate a Red Coat camp like the previous games did about infiltrating enemy strongholds or restricted areas but guess what, back then there were reasons why they would grow suspicious of you but in this game they didn't even think as to why the enemies in this game should be suspicious at this point, perhaps if they just gave one quick audio clip or cut scene of a guard telling the others there's a murder nearby of an ally and someone or some folk have stole his/their clothing like in the previous games, it would've been alright and I would've easily have passed this off... You're not going to a singular post which would've been expected to be alone or perhaps you're doing something suspicious at night but you're in a CAMP most likely during the day where there are MANY red coats all around you, you look, sound, strut, fart, and puke all signs of Red Coat beside the fact that you're not one but they wouldn't know. How should they know? This isn't today's military where you have a CAC or Military ID card, if you say anything loyal toward the King, look the part of a Red Coat, walk like them, everything, they're going to assume you're among them. This isn't anything of "I never saw him before" or "he didn't come here on my ship" and that would cause suspicion, they would arrive on many ships and people then were careless enough to assume you were an ally unless you were of a different race, spoke a different language, dress differently, had an accent not like theirs, or anything else that was obvious.
I understand, make it a challenge, but it must be justified, every previous game starting on ACII, most enemies of the common guard would succumb to the "Counter" action button during a fight, in ACIII, only ONE kind of Red Coat would succumb to it, everyone else will not. You might as well not use it in this game because it would prolong the battles. Sure, there's the argument where it's said: "you're an assassin, you're supposed to be stealthy", but there are times where you can not be stealthy and the game tells you to go into fights on the street or you just do it because it was fun. Here, it was jumbled, the enemies took far longer to kill, there were no reason as to why Red Coats would be on the roof tops, there were times action commands would not register while fighting, lagging, frame rate would drop dramatically, character dialogues would repeat, you'd be stuck in limbo even in the action scenes, etc. It's terribly inconvenient when the menus have been changed around where you don't even have the quick wheel anymore. I recall even the first game had a quick wheel for your weapon selection, sure you didn't have the D-Pad quick select but at least you could still quickly select and then get back to the action. Here in ACIII, you must pause the game for it, Revelations even handled better with the dual weapon wielding. I can see what they were going for but it wasn't executed as well as it should've. The worst part about it, the game made me want to remain outside of the Animus and not want anything to do with Connor's missions. That isn't because Desmond's story was better or the action was better (which it was handled better) but because of the fact that I didn't want to do anything with the Red Coats, majority of the time I was trying to pull off the human shield trick (the one they loved to advertise before the release) it didn't work. I would be in the proper position, hit the proper button at the supposed appropriate timing and nothing. Lastly, I have yet to play the DLC I got with the purchase of the game. I don't even want to play it, that's how against the game play I am. As stunning as the visuals are and how terrific the idea it is to go to ruins, I still don't wish to bother.
Anyway, there are still good things about ACIII, don't let this post keep you from wanting to try it out, you're the one going the play it or has played it so it's YOUR opinion about it not mine. You're free to ignore this review of it just as much as you're free to listen to it. I will say the naval scenes were beautiful, they handled well and only one time did I have an actual problem with it (which was a bug that caused me to remain in limbo and I wasn't the only one who went through it). Now that we see a game revolved around it and you play as a PIRATE? Count me in, this will surely be fun and hopefully will clean up the issues that ACIII had.
ZPfor3
Arch-Mage/Harbinger in Training
I'm still working on AC1! Arrrgh. I'm actually feeling overwhelmed that yet another AC is coming out already... I may have to stop playing Skyrim for a while and start focusing on this franchise. So many games, so little time.
:O you shut your mouth...... Jk
Benthos
Proud Mer
They're actually very short games, what they do to prolong them are side missions and collecting achievements/trophies. I've completed ACIII in a couple of days (a few hours of gameplay each). ACBrotherhood and ACRevelations are very short as well, ACII was probably the longest one that took me from starting the game and finishing the main quest even AFTER beating it before.I'm still working on AC1! Arrrgh. I'm actually feeling overwhelmed that yet another AC is coming out already... I may have to stop playing Skyrim for a while and start focusing on this franchise. So many games, so little time.
Chowder138
Proud member of PAHAAA.
Damn it, that horse.
ShenziSixaxis
Article Writer
I still can't get over how bad the horses are in AC3. It feels like they were making the game and a month before release someone remembered the other games existed and that there were horses and made a comment and everyone went 'oh plops' and spent a night making them.
You know, to generalize an exaggeration.
You know, to generalize an exaggeration.
Minstrel
Queen of Evil
Am I the only one who thinks that the Assassins Creed series have lost there roots a bit here?
I must admit that I have only player AC Brotherhood and ACIII the whole way through (as well as playing a bit of ACI) but even so I can see the huge contrast between AC Brotherhood and ACIII. I feel as if the game is not so much about being an Assassin anymore and fighting for the order, but instead it's more about going into long and poorly executed chase sequences after men that don't really have anything to do with what you're fighting for. There is so little chance to actually be an assassin in ACIII and makes me sad to see a game loose itself so much. I know someone else has said something along these lines already, but what happened to the order? What happened to assassin recruits with their Armour and missions to go to? When I need backup I want a man (or woman) in the creed's armor to come in and help me because they believe what I am fighting for is right. I don't want a butcher who is only helping me because I saved his family from eviction to roll in, try desperately to fend off some red-coats, and then run off after nearly being killed.
To be honest there is so much I want to say about this game and how it has lost itself but there is no point in mentioning nearly every sequence in the game and talking about how badly though out they are. What happened to you Assassins Creed?
On a side-note I am looking extremely forward to the release of ACIV. It looks to me that the order has been rebuilt and we are putting and a story-line that was quite honestly beginning to drag behind us. By the looks of the trailer it seems that we are finally going to get some good'ol fashioned backstabbing done.
I must admit that I have only player AC Brotherhood and ACIII the whole way through (as well as playing a bit of ACI) but even so I can see the huge contrast between AC Brotherhood and ACIII. I feel as if the game is not so much about being an Assassin anymore and fighting for the order, but instead it's more about going into long and poorly executed chase sequences after men that don't really have anything to do with what you're fighting for. There is so little chance to actually be an assassin in ACIII and makes me sad to see a game loose itself so much. I know someone else has said something along these lines already, but what happened to the order? What happened to assassin recruits with their Armour and missions to go to? When I need backup I want a man (or woman) in the creed's armor to come in and help me because they believe what I am fighting for is right. I don't want a butcher who is only helping me because I saved his family from eviction to roll in, try desperately to fend off some red-coats, and then run off after nearly being killed.
To be honest there is so much I want to say about this game and how it has lost itself but there is no point in mentioning nearly every sequence in the game and talking about how badly though out they are. What happened to you Assassins Creed?
On a side-note I am looking extremely forward to the release of ACIV. It looks to me that the order has been rebuilt and we are putting and a story-line that was quite honestly beginning to drag behind us. By the looks of the trailer it seems that we are finally going to get some good'ol fashioned backstabbing done.
ShenziSixaxis
Article Writer
THANK YOU. I've been feeling off about AC3 and now AC4 for those reasons and couldn't really put my finger on it.
Altair and Ezio(though mostly ACB-ACR for him) feel like actual Assassins, as they fight not for themselves but for the brotherhood and its creed. Connor just joined because he was directed to and because it was a way to fail to save his people. Connor... doesn't fight for the Assassins. Remember the creed? Nothing is true, everything is permitted? No? That's because it wasn't mentioned anywhere in AC3.
AC4 looks... eh. I'm not incredibly interested yet, and the gameplay trailer greatly reminds me of Far Cry 3(without having ever played it, to boot). Not sure if this is a good thing or not. We'll have to see.
Altair and Ezio(though mostly ACB-ACR for him) feel like actual Assassins, as they fight not for themselves but for the brotherhood and its creed. Connor just joined because he was directed to and because it was a way to fail to save his people. Connor... doesn't fight for the Assassins. Remember the creed? Nothing is true, everything is permitted? No? That's because it wasn't mentioned anywhere in AC3.
AC4 looks... eh. I'm not incredibly interested yet, and the gameplay trailer greatly reminds me of Far Cry 3(without having ever played it, to boot). Not sure if this is a good thing or not. We'll have to see.
Ritterkreuz
Active Member
Yeah, those seem to dominate the newer games, and with III those chases became frustratingly difficult. I gave up on the game altogether when I realized that I simply wasn't enjoying it anymore.
Nocte Aeterna
Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Film
I hope the protagonist is as promising as Ezio.
Chowder138
Proud member of PAHAAA.
I was a big fan of AC until Assassin's Creed 3 came out. That literally killed all my motivation to even play it.
Ah well, at least I got space for Skyrim that way.
Revelations was... well, bad. AC3 was disappointing.
But Black Flag looks freaking awesome.
Rimfaxe96
Well-Known Member
I was a big fan of AC until Assassin's Creed 3 came out. That literally killed all my motivation to even play it.
Ah well, at least I got space for Skyrim that way.
Revelations was... well, bad. AC3 was disappointing.
But Black Flag looks freaking awesome.
ACR disappointed me but held itself floating on the water thanks to the Altair sequences and the nice atmosphere. And the part where he chases that one fella awaz that tries to molest Sofia (that one who was with his sister at the beginning of AC2, forgot his name though).
AC already was laid in a coffin thanks to Ubisoft's endless greed to make money with it and then simply not caring anymore (the Facebook game was pretty nicely done, and shortly afterwards abandoned), AC3 only hit the nails in it. Loved Haytham but one character alone cannot rescue an entire game.
