Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag

cherryghost

Mods apologies if this was posted already but a quick scan around seems like there is not.

There was a mention that someone saw the name on a plane last month when a a woman was doing a PPT presentation, now we have this:



I'm excited over this than the last few AC games to be honest

richymcdermott

Despite how poor revelations was and ac3 doing some interesting things yet felt dated and boring bout halfway through , i hope ac4 does not make the same mistakes but judging from how quickly this seems to come out it may very well be.

Btw there is only one pirate



:pac:

Pushtrak

Yeah there's going to be an AC4. This year. Not starring Connor, and in a new location.

Adyx

Pushtrak wrote: »

Yeah there's going to be an AC4. This year. Not starring Connor, and in a new location.

Starring Henry Rollins maybe?

MitchKoobski

"We put a lot of money into those ship battles. We may as well get another game out of it."

Pushtrak

AC4 was already announced.

johnny_ultimate

The lesson this series needs to learn: less is oftentimes very much more.

There was stuff to like in AC3, but it was buried under so much unsatisfying bloat. And that bloat - including the story itself - often felt shoddily stapled together. Focusing on the naval battle stuff is a good first step

Not having a ten hour long prologue would be a good second step.

Creamy Goodness

A glimpse into the future:

Assassins Creed 2015: black pirates ops 3

Pushtrak

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The lesson this series needs to learn: less is oftentimes very much more.

There was stuff to like in AC3, but it was buried under so much unsatisfying bloat. And that bloat - including the story itself - often felt shoddily stapled together. Focusing on the naval battle stuff is a good first step

Not having a ten hour long prologue would be a good second step.

The problem with AC3 wasn't about it having too much or too little, it was that it wasn't tied together in a cohesive way. The aspect of building up a team of assassins wasn't exactly dealt with very well. I didn't even figure out how you do it until fairly far in the game. Also, the main character had no character. The voice actor was very dull.

cherryghost

Pushtrak wrote: »

AC4 was already announced.

Aware of that but the Black Flag rumours circulating lately certainly wasn't announced.

Alactric

MitchKoobski wrote: »

"We put a lot of money into those ship battles. We may as well get another game out of it."

Hell why not, they were easily the highlight of the game. Now. Sailing the high seas ala Wind Waker / Pirates! with real time boarding mechanics. That would be the best thing ever.

Josey Wales

As I said in the other thread about this I'm already on board. Sorry for the pun.

The naval missions were a real highlight in ACIII so I happy to see it return. More missions where you have to board other ships and explore islands will surely be there. I guess it is coming out on current-gen hardware which will be a shame. Unless they release it in Feb/March 2014 for next-gen and release Watch Dogs in November.

GottaGetGatt

I actually loved the naval aspects of AC3, so i dont mind the idea.They just better end the story.Sick of it dragging on at this stage

Josey Wales

I just read some more info on this game and there is a screenshot out there too.

The main characters name is Edward Kenway, father of Haytham Kenway from Assassin's Creed 3.

Link

Corkfeen

Josey Wales wrote: »

I just read some more info on this game and there is a screenshot out there too.



Link

They should start with the great grandfather of Edward, there can be twenty hours or so of boring mechanics. Followed by changing the mechanics with a new generation for the last five hours.

Mickeroo

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The lesson this series needs to learn: less is oftentimes very much more.

There was stuff to like in AC3, but it was buried under so much unsatisfying bloat. And that bloat - including the story itself - often felt shoddily stapled together. Focusing on the naval battle stuff is a good first step

Not having a ten hour long prologue would be a good second step.

Yeah I kind of felt like I was halfway through the game by the time it even really started, though I did like the storyline overall.

I was kind of hoping for a couple of smaller games as Connor before a full on AC4 comes out, like they did with Brotherhood & Revelations, but I guess that's not possible now that

Desmond is dead

Penn

Mickeroo wrote: »

Yeah I kind of felt like I was halfway through the game by the time it even really started, though I did like the storyline overall.

I was kind of hoping for a couple of smaller games as Connor before a full on AC4 comes out, like they did with Brotherhood & Revelations, but I guess that's not possible now that

Desmond is dead

It was certainly possible. Desmond's part in Revelations was so minor that it could pretty easily have been written out altogether and just had an Ezio/Altair game. Could definitely have just a Connor game.

Again, the series is just suffering from overkill and being rushed. New features or sections of gameplay don't change the fact that the story is being stretched wafer thin, and the core gameplay has barely changed in 4 games.

Sarky

It'd be nice if the game managed to focus on actually assassinating people instead of managing farms and mansions.

Ridley

Mickeroo wrote: »

I was kind of hoping for a couple of smaller games as Connor before a full on AC4 comes out, like they did with Brotherhood & Revelations, but I guess that's not possible now that

Desmond is dead

Would be surprised if

Desmond didn't get uploaded to the Cloud one way or another

.

"Black Flag" seems to scream spin-off at the moment. Suppose it's already started with Liberation, but it would be a shame if the numbered titles stopped being used for moving the franchise forward.

Not that I'm against the spin-offs. Happy to spend more time in the world. Hell, I was hoping for a

reveal that Haytham survived and the potential of a Assassin/Templar alliance

would be the basis for the next Connor story and a further tease the modern day storyline. It just seemed that the

Juno

arc would be something for the next console generation. Assuming AC4 even bothers to address it considering the fillery Revelations and unsatisfying finish to AC3.

GottaGetGatt

From Finishing AC3

It gave me the impression that the Assassins were no more than a tool in that goddesses plans to take over the planet.SO the possibility of an Assassin/Templar alliance is possible. Haythem seemed to be the only one in AC3 that made sense and Connor was just an angry brat hell bent in revenge throughout the game.It would be interesting if they explored how Hatham had an assassins blade.Was he an assassin turned Templar or did he receive it from his father?

ScumLord

Pushtrak wrote: »

The aspect of building up a team of assassins wasn't exactly dealt with very well. I didn't even figure out how you do it until fairly far in the game.

I think it was chapter ten before I remembered the Assassins. Going back for them now and still haven't trained them up enough for them to do missions. That happened to me with all of the assassin games though. I don't know why I keep forgetting them, they can be fairly useful.

Penn wrote: »

Again, the series is just suffering from overkill and being rushed. New features or sections of gameplay don't change the fact that the story is being stretched wafer thin, and the core gameplay has barely changed in 4 games.

I don't see why they put so much effort into making a new game. the maps are so large they could base a cheap DLC in that map.

snausages

I reckon this'll be like GoW: Judgement. Consumer apathy will kill it, there won't be any more Ass Creed after this (thank god).

Cillo rs200

I actually loved the naval battles in AC3 so if this has more i'm probably in! Story wise it will probably be a convoluted mess. They could really do with taking a break for a while. AC games are getting really stale in my opinion. Also there's a map for the new game online now...

http://kotaku.com/5987172/the-other-side-of-that-supposed-assassins-creed-iv-poster-is-a-map

Josey Wales

I am always amazed at the amount of negativity that the AC series is getting over the last few months. For me AC:III was one of the two best games of 2012. I will gladly buy and play a new AC game this year or early next.

Zero-Cool

I still need to put some quality time into AC 3 and finally finish it. I hated Revelations and found AC 3 really boring (so far), I am intrigued by the Black Flag map and the Assassins symbols. Wonder what they are hinting at.

http://kotaku.com/5987172/the-other-side-of-that-supposed-assassins-creed-iv-poster-is-a-map

Seems like items ar hidden around the map.

Also Ubisoft said they will release more info Monday

We will be announcing all the details of Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag on Monday March 4 at 6pm CET. Stay tuned for more.

johnny_ultimate

Wish they would have taken a year off - I don't really see how they can make a really meaningful, polished improvement over its predecessor with such a tight turnaround (although its safe to assume they had a B-team working on this for a while). A full 'numbered' sequel just seems too soon - it will hopefully have enough new stuff to shake off the constant threat of over-familiarity this franchise flirts with.

LuckyFinigan

Gamestop put up the cover art.

calex71

So it's Assassins Creed 4 Arrrrrrr me hearty

So the devs are oblivious to the criticisms of previous games and insist on milking the franchise for all it's worth, really surprised this has IV in the title though, so maybe it will change, that said this close to the end of the current gen of consoles it reeks of throwing one together using the existing engine and tools to cash in.

Penn

Anyone else foresee multiplayer naval battles?

Pushtrak

calex71 wrote: »

So the devs are oblivious to the criticisms of previous games and insist on milking the franchise for all it's worth, really surprised this has IV in the title though, so maybe it will change, that said this close to the end of the current gen of consoles it reeks of throwing one together using the existing engine and tools to cash in.

I'm not going to make much of it being called 4, and not 3 something. It'll have a different main character, that's why it is 4. With 2, they made more games using Ezio, but decided against doing more out of 3. I was let down by 3, really. Was hoping for more from it. Am not going to get too optimistic about 4. Though it'll be summer before I get to try any of the Washington DLC.

Josey Wales

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

(although its safe to assume they had a B-team working on this for a while)

But if this is the same 'B' team that gave us AC: Brotherhood then bring it on.

Zero-Cool

Josey Wales wrote: »

But if this is the same 'B' team that gave us AC: Brotherhood then bring it on.

Yeah but if it's the same B team that brought us Revelations, they can keep it!

Remember Assassins Creed 2? That was class!

kearneybobs

http://kotaku.com/5987529/assassins-creed-iv-black-flag-is-the-next-assassins-creed-ubisoft-confirms-now-about-that
Interesting read on the quandary that Kotaku found themselves the other day. Probably a talk for another thread but they were shown AC4:BF a few days ago and even though the tips flew in they found themselves in a difficult place with regard for those tips.

Cillo rs200

Haythams (Sp?) dad is the protagonist. He was a pretty cool character so it might be good! although i am confused as to how he became a templar if his dad was an assassin. Unless that's a plot point, if it is it could be interesting actually.

GottaGetGatt

Cillo rs200 wrote: »

Haythams (Sp?) dad is the protagonist. He was a pretty cool character so it might be good! although i am confused as to how he became a templar if his dad was an assassin. Unless that's a plot point, if it is it could be interesting actually.

Haythem was the only one who made sense in AC3

Cillo rs200

Agreed, Connor was a joke.

Josey Wales

Just got an e-mail from Ubisoft with a link to a site with the debut trailer. Will be up in 4 days.

Link

Testament1

I didnt mind Revelations too much but obviously it was a patch on AC2 or Brotherhood. Still havent played AC3 yet. In fact havent played my PS3 in a year now due to it being on the other side of the planet!

Mickeroo

Much rathered Revelations myself, they got rid of a lot of the pointless side missions and tasks that just pissed me off in Brotherhood. Story was better too.

Hope they get rid of the optional objectives in the next one. Turned some of the missions in 3 from enjoyable to hair pulling/controller throwing tedium.

Josey Wales

Mickeroo wrote: »

Hope they get rid of the optional objectives in the next one. Turned some of the missions in 3 from enjoyable to hair pulling/controller throwing tedium.

I can see how that would be frustrating if you were trying to achieve 100% synch. I always give up on that once I fail the first optional objective.

Ridley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keQHQ2HyGNU

Leaky ship.

danthefan

I love the setting. Probably will buy.

thorbarry

Ridley wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keQHQ2HyGNU

Leaky ship.

Looks awesome. Conor was boring compared to Ezio, Edward looks like a fun character which I think makes a big difference, especially because 2 and Brotherhood were so good. Altair stunk up Revelations

YouSavedMyLife

thorbarry wrote: »

Looks awesome. Conor was boring compared to Ezio, Edward looks like a fun character which I think makes a big difference, especially because 2 and Brotherhood were so good. Altair stunk up Revelations

He looks like fun? He looks like a ruthless, bloodthirsty, psychopathic murderer.

Yousef

So wait, they're actually going back in time?

That makes zero sense!

I thought the whole premise of the story was Desmond reliving past events to piece together the full picture of what it is he is supposed to be doing. Then why would they go back in time to Haythems father? Unless this is Haythems other son in the Caribbean during the 1800's, it's pretty much a throw-away title thrown together to squeeze what they can out of the franchise. And I suspect it is because Connor already buried the artifact and Desmond found it which concludes that no other assassin since the late 1700's had it in their hands and thus, no story. So yeah, this will probably be a branch off of sorts....

The pirate setting intrigues me but there are also so many other great settings to utilise such as the wild west (although RDR probably has that nailed down), Revolutionary France, Victorian London, the Russian overthrow of the Tzars and the fall into Communism, WW2.

I'd also say those graphics are next gen.

Ridley

Yousef wrote: »

So wait, they're actually going back in time?

That makes zero sense!

I thought the whole premise of the story was Desmond reliving past events to piece together the full picture of what it is he is supposed to be doing.

Since Desmond's story is more or less done, the franchise is pretty much freed up for however they want to

deal with Juno being on the loose

.

Josey Wales

Maybe it is time a mod removed the word 'rumoured' from the title.

Some pictures have linked.



There are more here.

GottaGetGatt

Seems that they are sticking with a lot of elements from AC3,tree running,naval combat etc.Anyone know what the story is about?.From the pics it looks like it might have something to do with the Mayans or Aztec ruins.

COYVB

kearneybobs wrote: »

http://kotaku.com/5987529/assassins-creed-iv-black-flag-is-the-next-assassins-creed-ubisoft-confirms-now-about-that
Interesting read on the quandary that Kotaku found themselves the other day. Probably a talk for another thread but they were shown AC4:BF a few days ago and even though the tips flew in they found themselves in a difficult place with regard for those tips.

comes with the territory. Know. About this one since November and couldn't acknowledge it to a soul

Potential-Monke

Assassins Creed + Pirates. If this isn't a fantastic game, then the dev's will have seriously screwed up!

Yes, it's probably too soon for another one, but it will be bought by the millions. The public did not like Connor, but thought the Naval bits were great. So they got rid of Connor and set the next game on the sea (more or less). Edward seems to be badass, so hopefully his character can live up to that. I'll be buying it anyway.

Funny that the video is up on YouTube but still not on the official site.

5uspect

I've been trying to get back into AC3 this weekend and its just an exercise in frustration and tedium. Unless this new game actually has assassinations, functioning controls, and a usable interface I won't be buying.

I'm actually tempted to play the first game again just so I can actually do a proper assassination.