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Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Preview

aiming element of shark baiting caused me
some problems. Things got a bit hairy and
it looked like the beast was going to fight
back, but thankfully I managed to (messily)
subdue it before any problems arose and
netted myself a valuable haul.
After this my demo overseer decided I’d
messed around a little too much and got
things back on track by transporting me to
a city location - although to my shame I do
not recall the city in question. The transfer
to a more civilised urban setting was in
distinct contrast to the privateer port and
hopefully this level of variation will extend
across the multitude of locations within
the game.
It was suggested that I try a nearby
assassination mission to test out the stealth
elements of the gameplay and I was designated a
target within a town square. I was starting to feel
like I had redeemed myself against my initial poor
showing and was confident and ready to go.
Sneaking across the rooftops, I was briefly spotted
by a nearby guard. Thinking on my feet, I pulled
a poison blowpipe from my available arsenal and
took aim on the guard. My instincts took over,
and I completely forgot about the lack of inverted
controls. As my missile sailed harmlessly over the
guard’s head (by about 12 feet) he began to call for
help. Panicking, I drew my sword and charged...
straight by him, off the edge of the rooftop and
into the square where my heavily-defended target
awaited.

A short and messy bloodbath later and my target
was dead. Along with about 10 guardsman. It
wasn’t how it was meant to be done, but it worked.
My time with Black Flag revealed the game to be very
much Assassin’s Creed by the numbers. The new
open world and the expanded ship combat is very
much welcomed by me, as the naval sections were
extremely well accomplished in its predecessor and
ended before I was ready to say goodbye to them.
On foot though, little appears to have changed in
terms of gameplay and mechanics. If you enjoyed
the previous Assassin’s Creed games and are happy
with more of the same, plus a little bit extra, then
Black Flag is for you. If you are expecting sweeping
changes then you will likely come away wanting.

Oh, and apparently the ‘tutorial’ aspect of the game
“Well,” said the Ubisoft rep, “I guess we aren’t going won’t last five hours this time. I asked.
to see any stealth today.”
Ross D. Brown
Assassin’s Creed Special Edition 2013

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