Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

 PC
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3161 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,500 out of 3161
  2. Mixed: 438 out of 3161
  3. Negative: 223 out of 3161
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. tufekciero
    Mar 12, 2021
    6
    BRONZ zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
  2. summer_2021
    Jul 12, 2021
    10
    сјајна врло лепа игра би се поново играла и такође препоручила другима.
  3. Para_Normal
    Jul 12, 2021
    10
    game super sangat bagus akan bermain lagi dan juga merekomendasikan kepada orang lain
  4. coldblueyes
    Jul 12, 2021
    10
    lojë super shumë e bukur do të luante përsëri dhe gjithashtu do t'u rekomandonte të tjerëve
  5. mustado
    Oct 21, 2022
    5
    jogo da ubisoft (isso é um defeito). mas a historia é razoavelmente ""boa""
  6. Izoeros
    Apr 25, 2022
    8
    qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq
  7. DaGleese
    Feb 10, 2014
    8
    Although I'm not a fan of Assassin's Creed games in general, I really enjoyed this one.

    The best parts of it were when it was at it's furthest from the usual Assassin's Creed gameplay (i.e. Ship battles, plundering, sieging forts, sailing the seas, hunting for buried treasure. IMO if this game had just been a separate game to Assassin's Creed it would probably be a 10.    Although I'm not a fan of Assassin's Creed games in general, I really enjoyed this one.

    The best parts of it were when it was at it's furthest from the usual Assassin's Creed gameplay (i.e. Ship battles, plundering, sieging forts, sailing the seas, hunting for buried treasure.

    IMO if this game had just been a separate game to Assassin's Creed it would probably be a 10.

    Unfortunately it loses the 2 points from perfection due to the mandatory Assassin parts. Missions where the game has you follow people while listening in on their conversations without being spotted proved tiresome the second time they showed up in the game, but unfortunately they had a tendency to show up a lot.

    The free running system works most of the time, it's a damn sight better than it was in Ass Creds 1 (The last installment I fully played through before this one). But it still can be quite frustrating. You have a tendency to jump on to the wrong things 20% of the time. This can be EXTREMELY frustrating on missions where accurate movements are paramount because you cannot be spotted, or you have to chase someone and one false move means them getting away and retrying the mission.

    The story was entertaining, and on the whole I really did enjoy this game! If anyone has ever played Sid Meier's Pirates!(tm) and thought to themselves "Man! Imagine a mixture of this with Grand Theft Auto!" Then you would be doing yourself a disservice not to pick this game up, because that's exactly what this is. An open world sandbox with a linear story that offers more content to the player that is willing to explore the world that the game has to offer.

    (One thing to note on the PC version only, I ran into a game crashing bug roughly half way through the game where I was unable to continue. I googled it and found boards full of people dating back to 2 months previously that had all had the same issue, and Ubisoft had STILL not patched it at that stage... I was fortunate that a user on the Ubi forums posted up a workaround file for it, but it really doesnt reflect well on Ubisoft releasing their game, and leaving it with a game breaking bug for 2+ months after hundreds had reported it to them... Just food for thought, and perhaps a sign that it's a good idea to hold off buying Watch Dogs until we know it's running flawlessly as well!)    … Expand
  8. jb0nez
    Feb 23, 2014
    9
    This is DARN FUN, well-developed, high quality game. The graphics are gorgeous, the story line is compelling, there's tons of side stuff to do to burn away hours of your time. It IS repetitive in the side missions and the little accomplishments like collecting Animus fragments and shanties are boring as hell -- but you don't have to do them. Buy now and you won't regret. I don't know whatThis is DARN FUN, well-developed, high quality game. The graphics are gorgeous, the story line is compelling, there's tons of side stuff to do to burn away hours of your time. It IS repetitive in the side missions and the little accomplishments like collecting Animus fragments and shanties are boring as hell -- but you don't have to do them. Buy now and you won't regret. I don't know what the neg reviewers are smoking but they need a new connection. Gfx look gorgeous at 2560x1440 highest settings.… Expand
  9. FrodoFraggins
    Sep 9, 2023
    10
    The perfect AC game imo. After this it starts feeling tedious. This is the only game in teh series where I love doing lots of side stuff.
  10. kindzadza
    Jun 2, 2015
    9
    Amazing soundtrack, so glad AC series shifted from lame music of Jesper Kyd to Epic Orchestral style music. Good Job Ubisoft. (Had to oppose those trolls who apparently liked lame compositions by Kyd which i absolutely hated, but i guess its a matter of perspective and you kids cannot judge the game by music which apparently only you cant handle)
    Anyway besides that this game simply out    Amazing soundtrack, so glad AC series shifted from lame music of Jesper Kyd to Epic Orchestral style music. Good Job Ubisoft. (Had to oppose those trolls who apparently liked lame compositions by Kyd which i absolutely hated, but i guess its a matter of perspective and you kids cannot judge the game by music which apparently only you cant handle)
    Anyway besides that this game simply out shadows the series gives you hope that something good can come out still. I think this game to its predecessors is what AC2 was to AC1. It simply makes you forget about real world and get lost in the world of Caribbean full of pirates. Occasional bugs here and there but they don't irritate you at all, and sometimes they simply give you laughs. I wish my Laptop could handle graphicks on higher settings, but even if you crank up medium setting, you still ge to admire the effort Ubisoft put in improving their engine. (Water looks almost as real as crysis 3 cudos Ubi). Im not even third way through the story (which is intriguing and very interesting) but I already put almost 50 hours in this game just exploring the amazing world. Also Kenway Fleet is terrific and gives a fresh new perspective to assassin training that AC Brotherhood introduced (instead of rescuing assassins you raid powerful battleships to make your fleet stronger). Oh most importantly the game also has areas where you have to solve puzzles and climb through very beautifully crafted caves (this is where AC3 blew for me). there is also harpooning treasure hunting, fort raiding, MEGAShip battles, etc etc etc. Kudos Ubisoft    … Expand
  11. DeAnt
    Feb 17, 2014
    8
    You know what: This game upsets me in so many ways. They have this really impressive graphics engine that is soooo poorly optimized. Crossfire still doesn't work. But it has improved slightly. Frame-rates can get low but the frame times remain quite consistent for the most part. This game is gorgeous though even on a single 7850. The story has been somewhere between absurd and really good.You know what: This game upsets me in so many ways. They have this really impressive graphics engine that is soooo poorly optimized. Crossfire still doesn't work. But it has improved slightly. Frame-rates can get low but the frame times remain quite consistent for the most part. This game is gorgeous though even on a single 7850. The story has been somewhere between absurd and really good.
    BUT I only have to ask myself one thing: Do I feel like a bad ass pirate when I play this game?
    Yes. Yes I do.    … Expand
  12. Dvoraak
    Mar 8, 2014
    3
    Started out decently enough except right away you're climbing towers.... Tried to get passed that in the interest of fairness. Then, once the game really started, it stayed true to the AC form..... Climb a tower, fight a crowd. Really? After so many iterations they can't get passed this formula. Granted, I'm only an hour in but it's likely to be the only hour I give. They could'veStarted out decently enough except right away you're climbing towers.... Tried to get passed that in the interest of fairness. Then, once the game really started, it stayed true to the AC form..... Climb a tower, fight a crowd. Really? After so many iterations they can't get passed this formula. Granted, I'm only an hour in but it's likely to be the only hour I give. They could've (should've) shown me something new early on. Not just a new setting and steering a boat..... and climbing towers. Maybe AC should be called Tower Climber.… Expand
  13. psychok9
    Feb 5, 2014
    10
    Of all the assassin's creed, I've played, this is the best of all. Not boring like the previous ones, and has a different style of play for every aspect of the game and the naval battles are awesome! The pirate atmosphere then make it fun!
  14. Diablo92
    Nov 17, 2014
    9
    I will start by saying sword fights and ship battles are very cool. Graphics look good for a game like this. It's better than unity. The looting and such are cool, upgrades, crafting is nice but the difficulty is so tough, you can spend 5 minutes sometimes in an easy sword fight. The bugs don't get in the way of gameplay, plenty of settings for just about everything. The chess game isI will start by saying sword fights and ship battles are very cool. Graphics look good for a game like this. It's better than unity. The looting and such are cool, upgrades, crafting is nice but the difficulty is so tough, you can spend 5 minutes sometimes in an easy sword fight. The bugs don't get in the way of gameplay, plenty of settings for just about everything. The chess game is awesome.

    Here's something I just cannot get away from. Some mission's will have you chase down someone throughout a city, objects and little seller's, hideout buildings and ladders, etc. sticking out into you're running path makes you're character grab a hold of everything he gets close to and starts climbing it like a monkey and you've lost the person you were chasing after. I like how you can jump around like a monkey all over the city but it can get annoying when you're character wants to climb onto everything and doesn't want down.

    Giving 9/10.    … Expand
  15. Mad0ne
    Mar 2, 2014
    10
    I have had great doups about ubisoft games since they fail sometimes but this game.... while having some terrible tearing issues and Vsync doesnt work properly, it's still the best game I have played for long time!

    Last time I had that gread experience was HL2.
  16. matty_o
    May 14, 2014
    3
    Just stop making Assasin's Creed games already. Ubisoft have completely stuffed it up from AC3 already and this is no better. The nerve to take out the best part of AC3 (seafearing) and make it the premise of AC4 is just plain lazy and admittant to how bad the game is. Don't be fooled by the great graphics. The idiot-system where the player will climb over objects and laddersJust stop making Assasin's Creed games already. Ubisoft have completely stuffed it up from AC3 already and this is no better. The nerve to take out the best part of AC3 (seafearing) and make it the premise of AC4 is just plain lazy and admittant to how bad the game is. Don't be fooled by the great graphics. The idiot-system where the player will climb over objects and ladders unintentionally still exists. Yes, sprint and parkour are again the same fking button! Furthermore the completely unnecessary "keep close, don't be spotted but hurry up" missions begin within the first 30 minutes of the game already. What is this, an arcade game? I preferred AC1+2 with open world, thank you. There is no saving the franchise, it is a shocking mess. Rather remember the good old Desmond, Altair and Enzio.… Expand
  17. santerino
    Jan 26, 2014
    9
    First i hear it was:"another pirate game,like another movies with pirates,boring!!!".but this game was a fresh air from old AC series.is like Farcry 3 with pirates.
    the gameplay is not perfect but fun,especially on islands and on the sea.the graphic have some problems because the game dont have triple buffering,but i can handle it and now its ok.
    Overall good game and very entertaining,a    First i hear it was:"another pirate game,like another movies with pirates,boring!!!".but this game was a fresh air from old AC series.is like Farcry 3 with pirates.
    the gameplay is not perfect but fun,especially on islands and on the sea.the graphic have some problems because the game dont have triple buffering,but i can handle it and now its ok.
    Overall good game and very entertaining,a good surprise for every gamer.    … Expand
  18. ghost2512
    Jun 12, 2014
    9
    Assassin's creed franchise has taken a recent nosedive in terms of quality with revelations and AC III ..but this game has restored my faith in the series.. the game takes itself lightly and deviates from the assassins vs templar plot.. the best part of black flag is its naval combat and customization of the ship with good aesthetics and upgrades. its has a perfect balance with land andAssassin's creed franchise has taken a recent nosedive in terms of quality with revelations and AC III ..but this game has restored my faith in the series.. the game takes itself lightly and deviates from the assassins vs templar plot.. the best part of black flag is its naval combat and customization of the ship with good aesthetics and upgrades. its has a perfect balance with land and sea exploration with beautiful visuals. there r wide variety of activities to do other than the main story which i feel is repetitive in some parts of the story..… Expand
  19. TimW001
    Jul 19, 2016
    9
    I recently picked up this game at the Steam Summer Sale having never played a previous AC game. I've absolutely loved it. It's a wonderful and fun game. I've played other pirate games but this one is the best of them all. The cities, the scale, the sea battles - all are great! I highly recommend this game for every gamer.
  20. Sickbeard
    Apr 2, 2014
    1
    I would give this game a great review, if Ubisoft could get their **** together. Uplay is total trash, and them hanging onto it is a cancer upon the gamers. Countless people have lost save files as a result, and the fact that Ubisoft hasn't a) tried to fix it, or b) fired up a local countermeasure (like saving the files locally in an easy to find folder), is a disgrace and a shame.
    When I    I would give this game a great review, if Ubisoft could get their **** together. Uplay is total trash, and them hanging onto it is a cancer upon the gamers. Countless people have lost save files as a result, and the fact that Ubisoft hasn't a) tried to fix it, or b) fired up a local countermeasure (like saving the files locally in an easy to find folder), is a disgrace and a shame.
    When I buy a game, I do so in the hopes that I can play it and finish it. But then that I can pick it up again a couple months later and play around some more. If I want to restart a game, I'd like it to be by my own discretion.    … Expand
  21. eelegendo
    Jul 11, 2015
    0
    For AC4 if you type in google "AC4 climb, the first thing to appear is "windmill" >> with the pc controls it is almost impossible to make it, the character, if on the windmill's vane, just lets go and falls for any button, the camera is in an odd angle and you can't see what you're doing. I wouldn't give a f.ck, because there were lot of stupid things in AC before, I would just skip, BUTFor AC4 if you type in google "AC4 climb, the first thing to appear is "windmill" >> with the pc controls it is almost impossible to make it, the character, if on the windmill's vane, just lets go and falls for any button, the camera is in an odd angle and you can't see what you're doing. I wouldn't give a f.ck, because there were lot of stupid things in AC before, I would just skip, BUT this is a part of the main quest, so either you climb or you can't continue. Therefore I give this title a 0. If you put a glitch into the main quest and you not patch it, your game is worthless.… Expand
  22. PowerGamer
    Jul 5, 2021
    7
    A 2021 review for a 2013 game. I enjoyed this game for many hours, got to 53% completion, but gave up on it in frustration. The game has some major issues from a 2021 perspective.
    1) No native widescreen support. You have to use someone's 3rd party patch.
    2) The UI is very cumbersome. The UI is mind numbingly unintuitive from a 2021 perspective. 3) The controls are bad. It's hard to    A 2021 review for a 2013 game. I enjoyed this game for many hours, got to 53% completion, but gave up on it in frustration. The game has some major issues from a 2021 perspective.
    1) No native widescreen support. You have to use someone's 3rd party patch.
    2) The UI is very cumbersome. The UI is mind numbingly unintuitive from a 2021 perspective.
    3) The controls are bad. It's hard to switch weapons, even knowing how to switch weapons to begin with. A lot of the controls make no sense.
    4) The graphics are dated. To be expected for a 2013 game, but it's worth pointing out.

    If you are PC gamer and after playing AC Odyssey, I wouldn't go back further than AC Origins. Even though this one is rated as one of the best. Ubisoft still sells the game but they don't bother at least updating with a widescreen patch, etc.
    Wait till there is a remastered version of this game if it ever happens.    … Expand
  23. Kempol
    Feb 10, 2014
    9
    pirates,ship battle and customizations, treasure hunting, diving, hunting sharks, this game got everything
    and not only that this game have the best feature if you compare it with other games. the details is awesome! the developers did a good jobe in making this game.
  24. Jeicobu
    Jan 30, 2014
    8
    i hated assassin's creed 3. this game is awesome... almost hurts to know that i almost didn't buy this because of the disappointment that was AC3.
    Summary: Pirates, Yarr!, Fun ship battles, good main character, still linear inn missions, okay/good story, and wish there where more "legendary/bosses" to battle.
  25. Mahdiar
    Dec 12, 2015
    8
    Gameplay : 8
    Graphics : 9
    Story : 8
    Sound : 8
    **********************************************************************************
    Overall : 8
  26. Jackl3
    Dec 11, 2013
    5
    Excellent atmosphere.

    After playing all the Assassins Creeds, this felt a little different but not enough. After destroying a few ships, seeing the same surrender animation, the same faced enemies... it's breaking the immersion. Terrible re-used and over-use of the same cut-scenes/animations. Nothing changes, nothing is a challenge. Missions are the same as usual. Combat is    Excellent atmosphere.

    After playing all the Assassins Creeds, this felt a little different but not enough.

    After destroying a few ships, seeing the same surrender animation, the same faced enemies... it's breaking the immersion.

    Terrible re-used and over-use of the same cut-scenes/animations. Nothing changes, nothing is a challenge.

    Missions are the same as usual.

    Combat is still so-so.

    5/10 in my opinion.    … Expand
  27. thegameon1
    Feb 28, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. the game is awesome but these stupid ubisoft or ac developers specifically do not know how to write games for multicore computers, or too lazy to optimize it for pcs because consoles have 4 to 8 cores and they run fine there but when it comes to pc it only utilizes 2 cores other 2 cores jus chilling at 40% or less. i dont know why is it so hard for them to fix their engine or the game. counter strike source or global offense doubles the fps by enabling multicore rendering and there are many OLDER games can do that where Assassins creed never was able to, bravo, u guys got the dumbest coders. game is filled with bugs also and fps locked at 62 fps and it barely runs at that and i a have i5 750 4.0ghz with gtx 670 sli pc. im giving 6 because game is not smooth at all it stutters and **** all the time.
    AC developers say that they have been working with nvidia for a while now and it runs like **** on nvidia cards lol really? at which part of the game you guys work together exactly ? how to ruin the game part?
    gpu run at 85 or 88% the most in sli mode and thats if youre lucky. You guys cant even utilize powerful cards of course the game will run like crap.    … Expand
  28. dsj556
    Dec 29, 2014
    6
    This game is great as long as you don't play the main storyline. Lots of tailing missions. The ship to ship combat is pretty cool and one of my favorite aspects. Graphics are amazing as with every modern game. Story didn't hold my interest despite trying to watch all the cutscenes. You can tell this game was pushed out to make more money as with a little bit more time invested itThis game is great as long as you don't play the main storyline. Lots of tailing missions. The ship to ship combat is pretty cool and one of my favorite aspects. Graphics are amazing as with every modern game. Story didn't hold my interest despite trying to watch all the cutscenes. You can tell this game was pushed out to make more money as with a little bit more time invested it could be amazing.… Expand
  29. Dulkan
    Feb 14, 2014
    9
    To tell the true, this is a pirate game with Assassin's Creed brand. What most of us really enjoyed was the naval system. I'm a bit bored of running on roofs and stuff of the previous games, so it was a really surprise to see how good was to set sail on this game.
  30. REDPhantomPie
    Dec 10, 2013
    9
    When I first saw the trailer, it was epic and make me wanna play it more. And when i played the game, it was awesome, the gameplay, the graphics and stuff but there is something about the PC version is that it's not optimized for the PC so I get lags and have to play it on low graphic settings. But all in all, the naval combat, combat, stealth, storyline, gameplay was awesome. I say it's aWhen I first saw the trailer, it was epic and make me wanna play it more. And when i played the game, it was awesome, the gameplay, the graphics and stuff but there is something about the PC version is that it's not optimized for the PC so I get lags and have to play it on low graphic settings. But all in all, the naval combat, combat, stealth, storyline, gameplay was awesome. I say it's a must buy.… Expand
Page:

Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Best PC Game of 2013
15
#15 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
16
#16 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. GameCritics
    Mar 5, 2014
    60
    Ironically enough for a game which centers around the concept of genetic ancestry, however, it continually lets itself down by refusing to break away from its own tired and worn-out heritage,
    Read full review
  2. DarkZero
    Jan 16, 2014
    90
    Fans that were bummed out by Assassin’s Creed III will most likely find Black Flag to be a welcoming return to what they love about the series, with a great story, amazingly crafted world and smart additions to the sailing that make it a refreshing part of the Assassin’s Creed formula.
    Read full review
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Dec 30, 2013
    90
    Makes up for the failings of AC3, delivering a fantastic, engaging open world experience. [Jan 2014, p.78]
See all critic reviews »