Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a third-person action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and released in 2013 by Ubisoft. Similarly to other titles from the series, the game takes place both in the present and in the past, in parallel. The player plays an Abstergo Entertainment agent which helps his superiors in reading the past by reaching memories of the long-gone pirate, Edward James Kenway, through one of his descendant's genetic samples. The game is a sixth installment of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and the second that takes place in the colonial era.
Storyline
The game’s plot consists of two parts, one of which takes place in the year 2013 in Abstergo Entertainment lab, and the other in the early 18th-century Caribbean. Using a machine that allows reading memories of people’s ancestors, Abstergo agents are trying to reach the long-gone pirate Edward Kenway, as they believe he possesses the knowledge needed to turn the tide of the endless struggle between Assassins and Templars to their favor. Agents are following Edward’s life as he uncovers conspiracies reaching high-ranking people of both British and Spanish empires, but meanwhile, the player-controlled Abstergo agent finds out, that his superiors may not be telling him the whole truth.
Gameplay and game modes
The world presented in AC IV: Black Flag is open and free to explore. The main mean of transportation is a boat, the Jackdaw, used to travel between the scattered isles of the Caribbean, but when on land, the player travels on foot. It is possible to use the fast travel system to quickly jump between previously visited locations. Similarly to other titles in the franchise, the controlled character is able to easily climb the buildings and perform other parkour-like moves. The game offers a wide array of weapons to choose from and allows to hunt the animals lurking in the wilds.
The game focuses on a single player, but it also features a multiplayer mode for those seeking even more hours of gameplay after finishing the main storyline. Multiplayer is further split into multiple modes: manhunt, artifact assault, domination, deathmatch, wanted, and assassinate.
Reception
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag received very positive reviews, and was generally considered a direct upgrade from Assassin’s Creed III, from which the game took some working mechanics and polished them to the limits while throwing in some of the new ones to the mix. The naval setting, around which the whole game revolves, turned out to be the strongest point of the entire title. Sailing was already available in the previous installment, but it was utilized to a much lesser extent – now for the first time in the franchise, developers decided to focus on the ship-based exploration and set the presented events in the Caribbean, retaining the elements of a land-based one, for which the series is known for.
Summary
AC IV was one of the best-selling games of the entire 2013 with over 11 million copies sold worldwide. Among other noteworthy points of the game, critics mentioned engaging sidequests, a large open world, and amazing graphics. You can purchase AC: Black Flag key directly from verified sellers. The key can be activated on your account on the Uplay platform, from which it can be then directly downloaded.
