Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Review - Pirate this Game!

[Carpenter]

Wait, you weren't at all put off by the fact that you have to play a sociopathic killer?
I feel like you should have spent most of the review talking about that, not all of this gameplay and story nonsense. I feel like maybe you should have misrepresented sections of the game by taking certain things out of context. You don't even mention how disrespectful this game is to women.

I loved your GTA 5 review but I feel like you went soft with your review of this horrid murder simulator.

EDIT: One more thing, I'm sorry but I have to take issue with your score. 5 stars? So this game is perfect? Look it's good but it's not Dragon Age 2 good.

 

[Carpenter]

I know that headline was an easy joke, but I personally don't see it appropriate for The Escapist.

I agree here. The tend to be incredibly draconian when people so much as mention piracy in forums.

Draconian?
You keep using that word, I don't think it means what you think it means.

 

[lassiie]

so while watching this entire review, all I could think of was "Holy fuck it sounds like Sid Meier's Pirates with better graphics and gameplay" then at the very end he said just that, made me chuckle, good review Greg

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I know that headline was an easy joke, but I personally don't see it appropriate for The Escapist.

I agree here. The tend to be incredibly draconian when people so much as mention piracy in forums.

Draconian?
You keep using that word, I don't think it means what you think it means.

Draconian
1.
(of laws or their application) excessively harsh and severe.

Seems appropriate for the discussion. Maybe I overstated when I said "incredibly," but it's an accurate term.

 

[Carpenter]

I know that headline was an easy joke, but I personally don't see it appropriate for The Escapist.

I agree here. The tend to be incredibly draconian when people so much as mention piracy in forums.

Draconian?
You keep using that word, I don't think it means what you think it means.

Draconian
1.
(of laws or their application) excessively harsh and severe.

Seems appropriate for the discussion. Maybe I overstated when I said "incredibly," but it's an accurate term.

And what laws are harshly carried out on these forums when people talk about piracy?

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I know that headline was an easy joke, but I personally don't see it appropriate for The Escapist.

I agree here. The tend to be incredibly draconian when people so much as mention piracy in forums.

Draconian?
You keep using that word, I don't think it means what you think it means.

Draconian
1.
(of laws or their application) excessively harsh and severe.

Seems appropriate for the discussion. Maybe I overstated when I said "incredibly," but it's an accurate term.

And what laws are harshly carried out on these forums when people talk about piracy?

People have received temporary bans and probation for relatively minor offenses.

I'm really not seeing the problem here. Unless you're taking the "law" part as a literal term that cannot apply to rules.

 

[Carpenter]

I know that headline was an easy joke, but I personally don't see it appropriate for The Escapist.

I agree here. The tend to be incredibly draconian when people so much as mention piracy in forums.

Draconian?
You keep using that word, I don't think it means what you think it means.

Draconian
1.
(of laws or their application) excessively harsh and severe.

Seems appropriate for the discussion. Maybe I overstated when I said "incredibly," but it's an accurate term.

And what laws are harshly carried out on these forums when people talk about piracy?

People have received temporary bans and probation for relatively minor offenses.

I'm really not seeing the problem here. Unless you're taking the "law" part as a literal term that cannot apply to rules.

I'll be honest, my impression was that you were calling the social reaction (users reaction) to mention of piracy "draconian" so really I just misinterpreted what you said. My response was just me trying to somehow make my quote work.

I agree, the Escapist is very strange when it comes to the bans and probations. I have been threatened and put on probation several times because I disagreed with the "escapist staff" on several issues, respectfully I might add.

I also got suspended for mentioning my comment being removed for no understandable reason other than it annoying some random mod. Escapist seems to take a strong stance against people talking about moderation action but I've always been bothered by that policy on forums because it serves absolutely no purpose other than covering up unfair or harassing mod or admin action.

Fact is, as I said before, it's their shop and they are allowed to kick out whoever they want. They have a right to one day decide to ban anyone that's not white and christian if they feel the need because this is their place, but that doesn't mean it would be a smart thing to do and it certainly doesn't create a platform for open discussion and interesting conversation.

 

[guitarsniper]

the thing I loved most about the AC3 naval missions was that there was enough nuance that even I, as someone who sails real boats on a semiregular basis, could enjoy and get immersed. Good mechanic, glad they ran with it. Will probably buy at steam winter sale.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I know that headline was an easy joke, but I personally don't see it appropriate for The Escapist.

I agree here. The tend to be incredibly draconian when people so much as mention piracy in forums.

Draconian?
You keep using that word, I don't think it means what you think it means.

Draconian
1.
(of laws or their application) excessively harsh and severe.

Seems appropriate for the discussion. Maybe I overstated when I said "incredibly," but it's an accurate term.

And what laws are harshly carried out on these forums when people talk about piracy?

People have received temporary bans and probation for relatively minor offenses.

I'm really not seeing the problem here. Unless you're taking the "law" part as a literal term that cannot apply to rules.

I'll be honest, my impression was that you were calling the social reaction (users reaction) to mention of piracy "draconian" so really I just misinterpreted what you said. My response was just me trying to somehow make my quote work.

I agree, the Escapist is very strange when it comes to the bans and probations. I have been threatened and put on probation several times because I disagreed with the "escapist staff" on several issues, respectfully I might add.

I also got suspended for mentioning my comment being removed for no understandable reason other than it annoying some random mod. Escapist seems to take a strong stance against people talking about moderation action but I've always been bothered by that policy on forums because it serves absolutely no purpose other than covering up unfair or harassing mod or admin action.

Fact is, as I said before, it's their shop and they are allowed to kick out whoever they want. They have a right to one day decide to ban anyone that's not white and christian if they feel the need because this is their place, but that doesn't mean it would be a smart thing to do and it certainly doesn't create a platform for open discussion and interesting conversation.

Ah, I see the misunderstanding. I made no mention of the moderation, so I can see it.

And for the second part, I agree with your position completely. They can do exactly what they want and while for the most part they've been very good about it, sometimes letting things go would be better for discussion.

But we're getting badly off topic now. That's something that I can understand wanting to keep to a minimum.

 

[putowtin]

So what are people's opinions on the new protagonist? Is he as terrible as Connor or have they actually made a slightly likable character this time?

Still quite early in the game, but he's currently "A New Hope" Han Solo, before he see's the light.
(All about the money!)

Have to fix me ma's laptop tonight before I can get home and play some more.... does anyone know if slapping a band aid on a laptop counts as fixing?!

 

[Taronus]

5 out of 5 when ubisoft keeps a flawed combat system in a game series supposedly about assassination? If all reviewers have this kind of attitude on triple A games, perfect scores should mean perfect games, nothing will change and this part of the industry will keep stagnating.

 

[Erttheking]

5 out of 5 when ubisoft keeps a flawed combat system in a game series supposedly about assassination? If all reviewers have this kind of attitude on triple A games, perfect scores should mean perfect games, nothing will change and this part of the industry will keep stagnating.

It's been said over and over again that when the Escapist uses a five out of five score it doesn't mean perfection. It says that the enjoyment you get from the game will be exceptional.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/7149-What-Our-Review-Scores-Mean

And five out of five ratings shouldn't be used for perfect games. If they were, they wouldn't be used ever. Perfect games? They don't exist.

 

[MetalDooley]

Not sure about this game to be honest.Wasn't too impressed with AC3....

*reads review*

While Black Flag feels very much like an Assassin's Creed game, its gameplay reminds me more of Sid Meier's Pirates! wrought in glorious 3D.

 

[Frezzato]

God, am I the only one who wishes they had kept that stupid Animus out of the game entirely? To me, there's nothing wrong with making a game about specific periods in time, threaded together in an historical sense, pirates assassins through time, etc. I have issues with games like these, games in which one thing about the story just stands out as stupid or ridiculous. It happened with Infamous, the scene with

Spoiler

your "girlfriend" hanging above certain death on one building and eight strangers hanging from a different building. Choose to save your girlfriend and the eight strangers die, choose the strangers and your girl dies. Turns out that no matter which choice you made, your girlfriend dies; it's a lose/lose situation. And the bad guy of the story tells you it's selfish to want to save someone you love versus saving more people, in addition to you receiving some 'evil' points or whatever that stupid karma system was. Fuck that shit. There's nothing wrong with doing what's right for you. Saving the people you love is not evil. That plot point in Infamous could have been written by a junior high student thinking they were being "deep".

The Animus of Assassin's Creed feels much the same. It feels so unnecessary, and kept me from finishing the first AC believe it or not, and effectively turned me off of the rest in the series.

 

[anonymity88]

God, am I the only one who wishes they had kept that stupid Animus out of the game entirely? To me, there's nothing wrong with making a game about specific periods in time, threaded together in an historical sense, pirates assassins through time, etc. I have issues with games like these, games in which one thing about the story just stands out as stupid or ridiculous. It happened with Infamous, the scene with

Spoiler

your "girlfriend" hanging above certain death on one building and eight strangers hanging from a different building. Choose to save your girlfriend and the eight strangers die, choose the strangers and your girl dies. Turns out that no matter which choice you made, your girlfriend dies; it's a lose/lose situation. And the bad guy of the story tells you it's selfish to want to save someone you love versus saving more people, in addition to you receiving some 'evil' points or whatever that stupid karma system was. Fuck that shit. There's nothing wrong with doing what's right for you. Saving the people you love is not evil. That plot point in Infamous could have been written by a junior high student thinking they were being "deep".

The Animus of Assassin's Creed feels much the same. It feels so unnecessary, and kept me from finishing the first AC believe it or not, and effectively turned me off of the rest in the series.

The end of ACII was my nope moment, about the time they were saying that essentially Aliens did it, and then I had a fist fight with the pope. Ugh.

 

[Frezzato]

snip

The end of ACII was my nope moment, about the time they were saying that essentially Aliens did it, and then I had a fist fight with the pope. Ugh.

Holy crap. Please tell me you're not being serious. I mean, I know you're generalizing but is that really the gist of the ending?

 

[shrekfan246]

snip

The end of ACII was my nope moment, about the time they were saying that essentially Aliens did it, and then I had a fist fight with the pope. Ugh.

Holy crap. Please tell me you're not being serious. I mean, I know you're generalizing but is that really the gist of the ending?

Yeah, he's not joking. And then the end of Assassin's Creed III

Spoiler: Obviously spoilers for those who care

is a completely out-of-character moment from Desmond that results in him willingly releasing the pseudo-alien-god who holds all of the ideals the Templars championed (you know, the guys you just spent five games fighting the entire time) and effectively bringing about the end of the world. Or something. It kinda just ends with the world undergoing the whole "2012" disaster thing.

OT: I'm interested in ACIV just for the piratey bits. Sailing was easily one of the most fun parts from ACIII, and I couldn't give less of a toss about the plot at this point any longer, but it's been looking like a damn fine pirate game and we haven't had one of those in years.

 

[Darth_Payn]

So is it worth buying on PS3/360, or should we wait for the next-gen consoles?

No matter how bad Black Flags story can get, I highly doubt they can be as bad as that one bullshit optional objective in ACIII.

Which one? Charging down Bunker Hill (or was it Breed's?) trying not to get shot? Or chasing down General Washington's would-be killer and kill him before he gets his bodyguards? Quite a few of those optional objectives were nuts, especially on the Naval Missions.

 

[kailus13]

So is it worth buying on PS3/360, or should we wait for the next-gen consoles?

No matter how bad Black Flags story can get, I highly doubt they can be as bad as that one bullshit optional objective in ACIII.

Which one? Charging down Bunker Hill (or was it Breed's?) trying not to get shot? Or chasing down General Washington's would-be killer and kill him before he gets his bodyguards? Quite a few of those optional objectives were nuts, especially on the Naval Missions.

The bodyguard one. At least with the Bunker Hill one I knew what to do, even if the timing was a bit difficult. With the bodyguard one, I had to look up how to do it, and even then it took me about 20 times.

As for the naval missions, the one I found most difficult was sinking a fleet within two minutes in a fairly early mission. A later mission then told me how to switch betweeen shots. I felt kinda foolish at that point. I'd done it with the standard shot. Oops.

 

[Griffolion]

Oh wow. I wasn't expecting 5 stars on this game from the Escapist. It must be a great buy then. I must admit, AC3 was a massive disappointment, the worst of the series to me. Connor was a bit obnoxious, the story dragged and didn't really rope me in, the only redeeming quality was the naval missions.

My only reservation is that I'll be getting it on the PC, and thus will have to through U-Play. *Shudders*.