Discussion Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Single-Player Adventure Game

[Ben Coats]

I'm quite interested to see how AC 4 looks and plays. It DOES look very good if you ignore the obvious flaws in realism.
But as long as it is fun, they're definitely doing something right.

I'd be quite interested in someone from this community writing a proper review, with pros and cons.
Would be an interesting read for sure and we can use it as front page news and such.

im with you Pieter, as much as i like the realism of games such as AoPGoF Cutthroats Terror on the high seas, AC4 looks, like fun with the swimming, and all that stuff that AoP doesnt offer. ive never played any of this series, but just saw a trailer to AC4 yest, and im highly considering getting it. if its fun, then it will have been worth the $, if not ill sell it (if i can).

 

[Pieter Boelen]

There's seriously a lot of cool stuff in there. Just sooo sad that the AC-ish-ness really harms it.
The crazy fast-paced stuff and modern influences just ruin what would otherwise be an amazing pirate game.
It still looks like a good game and probably very enjoyable. But most definitely doesn't live up to its full potential.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

By the way, there are quite a bunch of specific things there that we have discussed before and that I definitely do quite like:
- Ability to take over a swivel gun and shoot at the enemy crew just before boarding.
- Freedom to climb into the rigging and get to the enemy ship that way.
- Have your crew sing sailor shanties.
- No reloads.
- Schematic treasure maps that have to be interpreted by the player, rather than being over-obvious.
(That still doesn't mean they're incredible brain-teasers though)
- Whaling looks potentially interesting; shame they skipped on that in the video.

Not so good:
- Ships are FAR too fast and manoeuvrable.
- Ship encounters seem extremely common in that video. Somehow those ships in battle also looked "unnaturally close" to me.
- Sticking to a single ship type and upgrading it from "crappy beginner ship" to "Supership, the Ship of Wood" at the end
Customization is good for sure, but realism does dictate that one ship cannot be suited to ALL purposes.
- Diving into the water from that high and hardly even submerging is just weird.
- On-screen display is far too modern and ruins the atmosphere. I know that is part of the AC concept, but that doesn't make it an actual good idea.
- The worldmap actually is NOT huge. Just Cuba and a few of the surrounding islands? With some made-up ones in addition?
That's a far cry from the entire Caribbean seen in certain other pirate games.
I AM willing to believe they managed to fill that limited worldmap with a lot of interesting content though,
which admittedly is more important than sheer size.

Long story short: Lots of potential indeed. But still..... not quite living up to it.

 

[Armada]

Good points there, though it's worth noting that, according to one of the behind the scenes videos, they do have reloads but only for entering the three largest cities in the game.
I think the game director said that was kind of hard for him to swallow, as he wanted a completely loading-screen-free world.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Nearly no reloads is quite an impressive feat as well.

 

[priatnia]

I was impressed how fast the attacked ship ..started to disintegrate, the rigging, the masts - from one shot, then on the second the board fell to pieces and it caught fire...This game must be set in Super Arcade mode.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I was impressed how fast the attacked ship ..started to disintegrate, the rigging, the masts - from one shot, then on the second the board fell to pieces and it caught fire...This game must be set in Super Arcade mode.

Very, very, very much so! Realism is something that goes right out the window with this game.
It doesn't even begin to try to be even remotely realistic.

 

[Armada]

Realism is something that goes right out the window with this game.

Except that it doesn't. They keep hammering on about "how pirates really behaved" and all the research they've done to make it "authentic".
And for the most part, I think there are quite a few realistic aspects to the game. Sailing just isn't one of them.
It's going to mislead so many people who don't know any better than the PotC films.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I wasn't referring to the promotion of the game and what the developers say about it.
But from what I've seen of this and other AC games is that it is about as realistic as your average cartoon.
Cartoons can be tremendous fun, well-researched and with a lot of appropriate atmosphere. But it remains a cartoon.

Indeed they do seem to be doing a brilliant job at confusing the holy crappaloni out of the people who don't know any better.
Shame, really. I wonder if the developers are lying on purpose or don't have much of a clue themselves.
They should advertise it as being a fun, action-packed and fast-paced game in a historical setting.
No need to claim realism and accuracy when that is not the case.
Clearly a lot of people don't care about that stuff anyway and the people who DO care just get annoyed this way.

 

[priatnia]

With such a ship as in the trailer, one can sink the combined British and Spanish fleets of the Carribean ... before running out of cannonballs ....

 

[Armada]

Clearly a lot of people don't care about that stuff anyway and the people who DO care just get annoyed this way.

Actually, I reckon that's not necessarily the case. The very fact that they're using 'historical accuracy' and 'authenticity' in their marketing suggests that people DO care about such things.
Realism does seem to be a big thing in newer games, as hardware allows for more realistic graphics than ever before.

I generally get the impression that many gamers do want to see more realism in games. One example is in the FPS genre. Call of Duty is often referred to as the most arcade-style triple-A shooter, and its nearest competitor, Battlefield, is considered more realistic. Fans of the latter often use this in arguments over which franchise is 'better'.
Call of Duty tends to sell better because it offers the most fast-paced action and instant gratification, thanks in part to its somewhat arcade-y mechanics.
However, even the most recent Call of Duty has been advertised as 'more realistic' than its predecessors, so clearly its developers want to cater for those who seek realism, in a bid to keep the top sales spot. Battlefield, by contrast, appears to be going slightly in the other direction (without compromising realism for the most part), but for the same reason.

And far away at the simulation end of the spectrum lies ARMA, reserved for only the most hardcore PC gamers with an interest in tactical shooters.
Do I even need to say that it hardly sells anything like CoD or Battlefield, or that its reviews are comparatively mediocre?

I think this demonstrates quite well that many games these days are trying to strike that perfect balance between 'realism and arcade' as we commonly put it.
That appears to be what's going on with AC4. Although the gameplay is clearly meant to be fast-paced and fun, there IS realism and authenticity there, but perhaps one needs to dig beneath the surface to find it.
[Insert buried treasure joke here. ]

 

[priatnia]

Realism doesn't equal fun. Silent Hunter - to set the torpedo proper takes you more than what you get from it. Same in russian tank games - too precise aiming to the point one cannot understand it. What is necessary is balance.

 

[Skyworm]

It depends on what players want, and players are ... different.

I have been playing silent hunter during the last month, and for me, it wasn't even realistic enough, so I installed a modpack that made it even more realistic. There *are* players who like it that way. Just because my way of having fun isn't the most common one, it doesn't mean I don't have fun with that. For some players, realism absolutely equals fun.

 

[Ben Coats]

It depends on what players want, and players are ... different.

I have been playing silent hunter during the last month, and for me, it wasn't even realistic enough, so I installed a modpack that made it even more realistic. There *are* players who like it that way. Just because my way of having fun isn't the most common one, it doesn't mean I don't have fun with that. For some players, realism absolutely equals fun.

i have SH4/5, i dont know how to instal mods, and ive never played the AC series but after watching a few trailers im going to give Black Flag a shot, if its not what they've been raving about, ill never buy another UBIsoft game again. BTW SH5 SUX!!! so i only play wolves of the pacific, just wish i knew how to add the mods to it, BestBuyGeekSquad did the upgrade of AoPCoAS to GoF.

 

[Armada]

With AC4 now available for current-gen consoles, reviews have started to appear on the net, and the response has been very interesting.
For instance, here's one review that pretty much mirrors what I think Pieter has been saying about the game. In short: an excellent pirate game dragged down by the AC brand.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Nice one! Seems fair enough. Only thing that is missing is a note on the extreme arcadey-ness.
But I suppose that is a given with the AC title and no longer is worth mentioning.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

That's not a very good review as they think the naval combat is the games strong point. That is what will keep me away.

 

[Armada]

Funny you say that, because I haven't seen a single review criticise the sailing or naval combat, yet.
Look at the summaries on Metacritic: even the lowest scoring review (at this time) praises the "dynamic sailing experience" and "naval battles".

I wonder, is this a good thing or a bad omen?
Still reserving my judgement until I play the game myself. Despite all the videos, I still can't tell if vital things (like WIND) actually affect... anything.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

If I recall from seeing AC 3 being played, wind did actually do something. Up to the point that PotC in Arcade Sailing Mode does, that is.
Eg. going into the wind does slow you down, but you don't start moving backwards.
I doubt if different rigging types make a massive amount of difference either.

Funny you say that, because I haven't seen a single review criticise the sailing or naval combat, yet.
Look at the summaries on Metacritic: even the lowest scoring review (at this time) praises the "dynamic sailing experience" and "naval battles".

Well, most people probably don't know any better in the first place.
And if it is fun, which I am willing to believe, why would they feel the need to criticize it

 

[Armada]

Oh... actually... this review seems to have cleared up the wind issue.
This excerpt sums it up:

[...] you don't have to worry about wind direction while sailing. Your boat steers like a car, which makes combat simpler.

I was about to say that even something equivalent to Arcade Mode in PotC would suffice, but apparently even that is too much to ask.

Now I really DO wonder what the heck those gameplay designers were thinking.
I mean, I understand the need to make things more fast-paced... but I'm sorry, a sailing ship unaffected by wind is NOT a sailing ship. It's a glorified speedboat.