Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Xbox 360

I came into AC4: Black Flag with no real expectations, I had NEVER played ANY of the first AC games. I had heard about them, seen friends play them, and heard people talk about them, but I just had never played it. When I saw the open world set in the Caribbean during the age of Piracy, I was definitely intrigued and since BB was having a sale where the game was about 12.99, I figured I'd pick it up. Some might ask "How do I know what's going on if I haven't played the first games?" Well, in all honesty, I read the summaries of the other games on Wiki. I didn't want to play through several other games to play this one and while I would like to play the older games, I just wanted to jump into BF. However, the game feels like it has a re-boot feel to it as your main character, Edward Kenway, stumbles across the Assassins and ends up snaking his way into their inner workings. There's a healthy amount of exposition from his supporting cast that explains things fairly well (their mission, goals, etc). I'm only about 25% into the game, so I still have quite a bit to go in terms of the plot, but from what I've experienced so far, the plot is very exciting and engaging. You're on the move, attempting to foil the plans of your enemies, the Templars, and there are lots of side plots along the way too. Where the game excels though is in its open world. I really cannot express how HUGE this map is. There are over 50 islands to explore, some no more than a small beach with a tree in the middle of the ocean, while others are huge, engulfing worlds that beg for exploration. And explore you can! These islands possess hidden secrets, like treasure maps, chests to be looted, cargo to be raided, and other items of interest. One slight issue I had though is that some islands look to be designed so that you can't get onto them, which is fine, but several times I found myself circling an island to find an access point only to find nothing. That's not really a glitch, just sort of "Ah! I wanted to explore!" feeling of disappointment. Still, like I stated, with over 50 islands to search for goodies, you won't get bored. Also, the sea exploration aspect is the true gem of this game. It takes a bit of time, but once you finally acquire your own ship and take to the open sea, you'll be delighted to see how great the game looks with your sea shanty singing crew and first mate to keep you company and help with attacking enemy ships. The open ocean has it's own secrets, like cargo and stranded people floating at sea, and animals such as whales and sharks for you to harpoon. The ocean can be dangerous too as you'll randomly encounter strong storms which make steering your ship a challenge. These storms often produce water spouts and huge rogue waves which can damage your ship and toss several of your crew overboard without a problem. However, the highlight of owning your own boat is without question being open to wage open naval warfare on those who get in your way. Your ship is customizable to an extent, meaning you can add more canons, cargo holds, mortars, etc, and even add different sails and ornaments to your deck. You can purchase these upgrades by selling loot you've stolen, so it quickly becomes a game of: attack ships + steal their stuff+ sell their stuff + buy upgrades = do it again. It's incredibly addicting. Several times I've been made my way to the next mission and upon seeing a ship in the distance, decided I'd just "go after one more ship" before going back to the story. Yeah, right! I soon found myself a few hours later, still attacking passing ships. It's addictive fun! It does take some time to develop a good attacking strategy and it's only helped by adding more canons, armor, etc, but once you have your attack plan down, it's good fun. The naval controls are smooth and respond with ease and precision. One problem I encountered occurred during some fights with ships where I wouldn't be able to access certain areas of the ocean map. I'm not sure if they were locked due needing to explore them, or if they were just limiting my movements during combat. Either way, it made things a bit complicated and I had to adjust. But still, there was a moment when I was fighting a handful of ships during a storm and I had to avoid a few rogue waves, two water spouts, all while fighting enemy ships. It was a moment of pure adrenaline and excitement, and the game is filled with them. I do have one complaint and this deals with the controls. When running around as Edward, your character will instinctively grab onto ANYTHING and attempt to climb them. This is fun when you're running around rooftops or forests, but sometimes, it gets to be an issue. For example, say I just want to run from end of the boat to another. I would hold the RUN button and he would run, but he would also grab anything/everything he was near an attempt to climb them. This habit can quickly turn annoying because sometimes I just want to run and not grab every ledge, statue, brick within a two foot radius. As I understand it, this is a common complaint about the AC games, so I guess it's just part of the history. It can be a problem, but when the control system works, it's a lot of fun. In closing, if you're a fan of the AC games, then you already have this game. If you're on the fence about it, I suggest you check it out. The open world pirate setting is highly addictive fun and engaging in naval warfare is a great time. The graphics, sound, and story line are all top notch. Pick it up. You won't regret it.

If you've enjoyed any of the previous Assassin's Creed games, you'll want to pick this one up. Explore the islands and underwater shipwrecks of the Caribbean, rule the seas with your upgradeable ship, unlock the secrets of the First Civilization, assassinate the ruthless men of the Templar Order. Ubisoft continued the crafting theme of Far Cry 3 in this Assassin's Creed installment. A fairly lightweight system, hunt a few deadly predators and then upgrade your characters outfits and weapons. Unique to AC4 is harpooning various whales and sharks as a means of acquiring crafting material. Your ship is upgraded with money, metal, wood, and cloth -- all of which can be plundered from the multitude of other ships crowding the surrounding waters. Oddly enough, the Assassin order plays its smallest role in this edition, with Assassin training/missions replaced with a Fleet management mini-game that provides a similar gameplay experience. Your own character is not even an Assassin for the vast majority of the game, but also only from a storyline perspective -- all of the skills are present and so the gameplay will be familiar to a veteran of the series, and it's at its most refined. With only a few exceptions, each mission was a blast to play and strive for 100% synchronization. No collectibles can be missed, and there are plenty to chase, so it's a rich and yet stress-free ride for even the most hardcore of completionists. Highly recommended!

Excellent addition to the AC universe. Continues the story with a novel approach…you are working for Abstergo Entertainment! However, the controls are still slippery and imprecise. For example, I would often line up a jump only to watch Edward vault off in the wrong direction. Still reduced to occasional "button mashing" for fights, despite my attempts at precision blocking/parrying. Much improved naval adventures compared with AC3. I enjoyed sailing around the Caribbean and pirating/pillaging. Great way to earn money and supplies. However, I did not enjoy much of the underwater scenes (albeit, a small portion of the overall game). Swimming controls were AWFUL (imprecise, awkward and just plain BAD) and the number of sharks, eels, urchins and jellyfish bordered on ridiculous. Note to developers: no jellyfish is actually poisonous on the top of their dome-like "head"….so why did I keep getting stung? The "real world" adventures of wandering around Abstergo are mostly enjoyable and advance the overall storyline very well. However, there is one major drawback: computer hacking. Most of it involves a new spherical puzzle that is challenging yet fun, but there is another mini game that can best be described as a bastardized version of "Frogger". The problem with the Frogger mini game is simply that--as games go--Frogger is quite awful and has nothing to do with "hacking" a computer. Hopefully the developers of AC5 (or AC4a) take this into account and improve the control scheme, jettison the Frogger and either improve or eliminate the underwater experience. Worth your money or a long rental on Gamefly.

Taking the AC franchise into the Caribbean was a stroke of genius, and the game's concept does not disappoint: the excitement of sailing a pirate ship on the high seas while your crew sings shanties is addicting, as is preying on fat merchant vessels for treasure and resources. The storyline is quite fascinating, and the main character's ambivalence toward both assassins and Templars is exactly as you would expect from a treasure-centric opportunistic pirate. It's fun to play, very entertaining, and provides many hours of main story gameplay as well as numerous collectibles and side missions. My one complaint here is a pronounced difficulty in controlling the main character motions; he frequently tends to get "hung up" on certain terrain and/or objects, and can be difficult to manipulate at times during a chase or evasion, which can be quite frustrating. But other than this minor issue, this will likely become a replayed favorite in our game collection. Highly recommended.

This has been one of the most entertaining games I have played period. The cities are varied and fun. The world is huge and filled with so many things to do! And I actually enjoyed the side missions and activities so much I have been wanting to do all of the side stuff. The ship battles are absolutely fantastic! It is a blast to take to the gorgeous seas and raid ships while trying to avoid storms and enjoying the detailed waves and unique feel of the water. The upgrades are numerous and I died many times going up against powerful ships or too many. So that challenge was great. Highly recommend this game if you are new to the series, enjoyed AC 3 or even did not enjoy it. I will be getting this game on next gen too.

This is one of the first games in a long time that had me racing back to my console to play more. The plot is amazing. The music and sound effects make you feel like you're actually in the Caribbean with a number of castaways. Flora and fauna adorn the landscape along with multitudes of NPCs giving the game a realistic feel. The addition of a mobile app adds a new level of gameplay in which the user can complete missions, amass wealth, and collect artifacts while on the go. I can literally play the game on my phone on my lunch hour and have extra in-game cash when I get back around to the game itself. It's great for people with busy lifestyles that don't allow for day-long gaming marathons. Get. This. Game.

It looks like this game was made just so Ubisoft can make more money off of the ship mechanics in AC3 which was arguably the best part of that game. Combat and land based mechanics are basically the same as the previous game, although they did need changing and improving. The game engine is the same as it was in the third title, with very little improvement, or change, when it, again needed it. And all of this would not be a problem if the game offered a good story, but it doesn't. The story seems like an excuse to sell an adapted version of AC3, and the story is driven by the game mechanics, and not vice versa. Luckily the beautiful setting, graphics and excellent pirate game save the game and prop up the rating. You can't help but feel, if they only spent a little bit more time, and wouldn't pump out a game every year, it could've been an amazing game.

I enjoyed the story and game play. A good job pulling in the story line from the previous games. They did seem to have fixed some of the twitchy running issues from the last game, and the targeting system works much better. Also liked the improved naval combat controls. What drove me nuts was at every story break when you jump to the future, I was bombarded with how awesome pirates are ... I'm starting to not like pirates. The sailing and sea battles got very old and extremely repetitive. I would have given this game more stars but capturing ships got real old real fast ... even though they are great cash cows, especially the bigger ships. Was really looking forward to this game. I was not disappointed with gameplay, or graphics. Only slightly disappointed with the pirate story, a little un-epic but not horrible, better than a lot of games that have come out recently. I was disappointed with virtually all aspects of the "Pirating" and most of the sailing. Ship combat is entertaining but capturing ships gets boring and formulaic. OK, I know I'm downing the sailing and oceanic combat... but it was fun, it just sucked up waaay to much of the play time. I would rather had more assassin play time, after all it is "Assassin's Creed" not "Sailor's Creed."