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
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  1. Jerry4050
    Jan 13, 2014
    9
    It was an awesome start but a very underwhelming build up at the end, After two patches the game finally looked as good as the next gen games on my PC with the GTX 660 ti but it has frame rate issues in the jungle but outside in the sails it runs okay. I liked Edward more then any of the past assassins creed character but Ubisoft should of just made a stand alone pirate game with the mainIt was an awesome start but a very underwhelming build up at the end, After two patches the game finally looked as good as the next gen games on my PC with the GTX 660 ti but it has frame rate issues in the jungle but outside in the sails it runs okay. I liked Edward more then any of the past assassins creed character but Ubisoft should of just made a stand alone pirate game with the main character then making it as an Assassins creed game. I personally had fun in this game but if you dont care about the story too much, its a blast but I do hate getting out of the Animus part. I just hope they just make a good Pirate game and just forget about the Assassins Creed series altogether.… Expand
  2. RealGameReviews
    Dec 30, 2013
    8
    Play as kenway in this 8-bit action adventure. highly acclaimed game which will thrill you for hours. also there are pirates and who doesn't like pirates. This game is great and i recomend it to you if you read this
  3. Hochbichler
    Mar 20, 2020
    6
    Assassin's Creed IV: Black flag is the sixth major installment of the famous stealth action adventure series. I find the setting of this game is very interesting: the Age of Sail, the pirates, West Indies. The stealth/combat system (on land) gets boring and repetitive very quickly. The sailing side of the game is by far the best part of it, although even here would I welcome more shipAssassin's Creed IV: Black flag is the sixth major installment of the famous stealth action adventure series. I find the setting of this game is very interesting: the Age of Sail, the pirates, West Indies. The stealth/combat system (on land) gets boring and repetitive very quickly. The sailing side of the game is by far the best part of it, although even here would I welcome more ship diversity, more upgrades etc. The sea can also get a bit crowded for my taste at times. Naval battles are a lot of fun as is the whaling minigame (criticised by the PETA thugs, of course). Shanties are a brilliant idea and great collective items, specially in contrast to the useless animus fragments. The graphics is pretty good for 2013 game, but the colours seem a bit dull. The font is quite pleasant. The difficulty of this game can be a problem: objectively it is just too easy. The story is interesting for the first half of the game, then it gets partially ruined by pathos and SJW crap. The part of the game that takes place outside of the animus is interesting, but only to people familiar with the AC world/story. Sadly this game contains plenty of greedy microtransactions and equally plenty of SJW crap. Both single player DLCs are perfect examples of that.

    This is a game with a lot of appeal for me, but several unfortunate decision somewhat ruined the experience for me. Final Verdict: 60 %    … Expand
  4. AModernMyth
    Dec 30, 2021
    10
    I think Black Flag actually might be my favorite AC game, there's just something special about this game. Graphics, music, characters, locations, everything in this game just works wonderfully.
  5. TallGermanGuy
    Nov 29, 2013
    10
    I have played all of the games in this franchise, but this game is by far my favorite. AC3 was a little bit of a let down, but this game is fantastic. Ship combat is extremely fun and the graphics are stunning. I have had absolutely no issues with this game whether it is fps or screen tearing, and people that do should probably update their rigs. 10/10 because i found myself playing forI have played all of the games in this franchise, but this game is by far my favorite. AC3 was a little bit of a let down, but this game is fantastic. Ship combat is extremely fun and the graphics are stunning. I have had absolutely no issues with this game whether it is fps or screen tearing, and people that do should probably update their rigs. 10/10 because i found myself playing for five hours straight without a single minute of boredom. Anyone who has been a fan of the previous games, this is a must have.… Expand
  6. Tenshi-Ryu
    Nov 30, 2013
    8
    I've been playing the game basically non-stop since I bought it and I love it. I haven't come across any game breaking bugs yet and the game run smooth for me on highest settings (i7 3.4GHz, 12GB RAM, GTX 680 4GB RAM). This is how you're supposed to play a pirate game Huge open-world to explore, fight, trade and come up with other mischief. Tough I admit the trade part is pure basic, butI've been playing the game basically non-stop since I bought it and I love it. I haven't come across any game breaking bugs yet and the game run smooth for me on highest settings (i7 3.4GHz, 12GB RAM, GTX 680 4GB RAM). This is how you're supposed to play a pirate game Huge open-world to explore, fight, trade and come up with other mischief. Tough I admit the trade part is pure basic, but that's fine! it's a pirate game after all and no trading game ;).

    The only reason I'm not given 10/10 is because of the multiplayer mode. It's just some generic arena crap PvP/Co-Op. I was hoping for the same open-world style, where you can play with friends in a co-op fleet (or even PvP, for those that care about this I DON'T). As it is the 10 minutes I spent in multiplayer will be it. I'll just player it Single-Player, which is fine with me.    … Expand
  7. Elite_Reviews
    Nov 22, 2020
    9
    This game has all the best Assassin's Creed elements and then some more. Parkour/climbing feels better than ever, graphics are incredible for 2013 game and music is awesome. Black Flag has very likely my favorite soundtrack of whole series. It has huge map and many historical pirate-age figures like Blackbeard. Solid game, would very much recommend!
  8. TheGame_Reviews
    Feb 19, 2022
    10
    This might be one of the best games Ubisoft has ever made. Ship combat, likable characters, huge open world full interesting locations, islands and places to dive. Story is solid, mission designs are fun and main character is really cool. Parkour isn't Unity level (because it came before Unity), but it's still very decent. Music is one of the best in whole AC series. Would recommend.
  9. Kadirov
    Feb 9, 2021
    8
    В своё время зашла, была в ней какая-то романтика. Протагонист имел душу, в отличии от болванчиков в остальных играх серии. Для 2013 года и 4ой итерации серии - хорошо. Поэтому Black Flag - 8/10. Origins - 4/10
  10. d__b
    Dec 24, 2013
    5
    Basic of making next game in the series is improving on previous games. But Ubi managed to get it backward. Even if resulting game is still somewhat decent, it's still step backward in almost all areas.

    Even flag feature of this game sea combat, got wrose than in AC3. Even if combat system got expanded, it's irrelevant since sea fights are so easy now, and storms no longer cause waves    Basic of making next game in the series is improving on previous games. But Ubi managed to get it backward. Even if resulting game is still somewhat decent, it's still step backward in almost all areas.

    Even flag feature of this game sea combat, got wrose than in AC3. Even if combat system got expanded, it's irrelevant since sea fights are so easy now, and storms no longer cause waves big enough to matter(which was best part of sea combat in AC3, in my opinion). Yes, combat is enjoyable, but less so than it was in previous game. Also, "travel speed" at sea despite being "Animus-side speed to make travel fast" still maes most travels between points few minutes of boring screen staring.

    You remember hunting or crafting from AC3? Well, now hunting got reduced to "hunt 2 of each kind of animals, craft one thing per animal, forget about it". Harpooning is new minigame, I'm not so sure if it's good minigame, so in that case it might be good that you only need to do it few times per animal.

    Hideout present since AC2 is here too, it's big, but upgrading it is pretty much irrelevant, only serving as money sink. What's more, none of vanity collectibles actually affect any part of the world. You can upgrade your ship, sure, but it's like buying upgrades to yourself. Whole economy system present since AC2 is gone.
    Brotherhood gave us "your people", and here fleet takes this role, but it's bloody SimCity all again, play with "friends" or anything will take ages to do. Because Ubi couln't find good reason for their piracy-detergent of online requirement, they just turned part of game into "social" game.

    When you think difficulty hit rock bottom, here comes out another AC game to prove you wrong and define new bottom. In some cases, enemies will even ignore you murdering one of them right in front of them. Killing enemies with gun rarely makes anyone react at all. Only good change in that department is whistling now you have to whistle for a while before guard decides to og investigate, making picking them off one by one less reliable.

    Older games used to have optional missions that were one big jumping puzzle. If you strain youself, you might find one or at most two of those in this game. Historical places? Not in this setting. Beuitifull cities? Not in this setting. Huge buildings to climb? Not in this setting. Collectibles? Well, some are hidden. Most of them are at sea and main challenge is to not say "screw it" and not spend hours sailing from point to point to jump ship, swim to island, pick it up from ground, get back to sihp and repeat.

    Characters? Hmph. Your out-of-Animus character is nobody, he does not speak, has no motivation, could not find any mirror so not sure if he even has actual body. He's just getting used by everyone around him, like a tool. As for in-Animus... Ezio started as a rash youth, and grew. Connor started as kid, and grew a lot. Edward starts as badass without clear motivation or character, and remains as such pretty much whole game.

    Story there is no story. There is some pirating "do what we want" story, small Assassin substory, but overall, it's just "do random things and maybe you stumble across something relevant to this or that plot".

    It's PC version, ported from console, so optimization is terrible, and graphic settings are lacking. There is no gamma correction, so everything is so freaking bright that you just can't see some things during the day. But, at least they enabled mouse control so you can actually select tings on map with mouse, instead of moving map around to center relevant icon and select it.

    Overall, it's not bad game, if it was not part of AC series but standalone pirate game, it could be decent 8 or even 9, depending how "assassiny" elements of game would be substituted. But as part of series, it's worst Creed ever released. So far.    … Expand
  11. moidoid
    Nov 30, 2013
    10
    As a veteran of the AC series I am so glad that the mis-step of AC3 has not been repeated. The setting is lush and beautiful to play in and I'm enjoying the gameplay which is in part familiar but with a beefed up emphasis on sailing which I wouldn't have thought I would enjoy but have done. No problems with it running flawlessly for me on an AMD card in hi res for everything looksAs a veteran of the AC series I am so glad that the mis-step of AC3 has not been repeated. The setting is lush and beautiful to play in and I'm enjoying the gameplay which is in part familiar but with a beefed up emphasis on sailing which I wouldn't have thought I would enjoy but have done. No problems with it running flawlessly for me on an AMD card in hi res for everything looks stunning. Halfway through and enjoying it as much as AC2, the best in the series so far.… Expand
  12. fragman
    Nov 28, 2013
    8
    Your satisfaction with AC4 will be depending on what you want from the game. In terms of a successor to games like Brotherhood it may seem a little bit subpar since it isn't on that level story-wise. However the protagonist is an enjoyable character and I like the change regarding the Assassin's order-based main characters. Instead of one more installment of basically the same game itYour satisfaction with AC4 will be depending on what you want from the game. In terms of a successor to games like Brotherhood it may seem a little bit subpar since it isn't on that level story-wise. However the protagonist is an enjoyable character and I like the change regarding the Assassin's order-based main characters. Instead of one more installment of basically the same game it takes quite a different approach while still providing links to previous versions.

    The mix between the classic rooftop hopping from the early days and the nature parkour we know from AC3 gives the game a nice variety. You'll always have something fun to do and in my experience the most enjoyable thing in AC4 is leaving the main story behind every now and then and just go explore, hunt and sail the open seas. It is extremely nice to pull up next to a huge british ship and blasting it to smithereens. And while I really miss some mechanics from earlier games (like calling assassins to your aid), if you look at it as a pirate game it is completely awesome.    … Expand
  13. Subterra
    Dec 29, 2013
    0
    Game runs terribly on pc steer well away from this mess absolute rip off not even a moderatly high end pc can run this game at payable speeds its an absolute disgrace that they are selling the game in its current state dont buy
  14. tedur1
    Dec 2, 2013
    10
    To be honest, I have never played an assassin's creed game before, so if you are a die-hard AC guy, you may disregard my review as I cannot compare it to others in the franchise. I really enjoy first person shooters and I never cared for 3rd person games. However, I have to say that this game really blew me away. The graphics are absolutely top notch and I really enjoy the story. InTo be honest, I have never played an assassin's creed game before, so if you are a die-hard AC guy, you may disregard my review as I cannot compare it to others in the franchise. I really enjoy first person shooters and I never cared for 3rd person games. However, I have to say that this game really blew me away. The graphics are absolutely top notch and I really enjoy the story. In fact, they have put such a great effort into even the most minute details that I am shocked. For example, I speak Spanish as I have lived in Spain and the people in Havana speak with the Spanish dialect as you would expect within the historical context. The sea battles are brilliant and the game is just damn fun to play. I haven't finished it yet, but wow am I enjoying it. It has been a huge surprise and I highly recommend it to everyone, even FPS players. It does contain some similar elements to Far Cry 3, but it is a much better game. I can't tell you the last time, I just enjoyed a game for the scenery; which I often do when sailing in AC4.… Expand
  15. Vixremento
    Dec 2, 2013
    6
    Being a fan of AC2 and brotherhood I'd been rather let down with anything that followed and even with the over-hyped AC3 I got seriously burnt. I then waited...cautiously...for the Black Flag reviews and in general it all seemed to point out that they'd corrected their flaws and gone back a little to their roots. Is it true you ask?
     
      Well yes for some bits and sadly...no for the most    Being a fan of AC2 and brotherhood I'd been rather let down with anything that followed and even with the over-hyped AC3 I got seriously burnt. I then waited...cautiously...for the Black Flag reviews and in general it all seemed to point out that they'd corrected their flaws and gone back a little to their roots. Is it true you ask?
     
     
    Well yes for some bits and sadly...no for the most part. AC2 had you really involved and it made sure that you had to do a little more than just "point and shoot" so to speak. Black Flag comes along and introduces us to some more intensive ship control and ship battles that really do feel pretty good to take part in initially. Soon though you do feel that this "pirate-battle-ship-thing" is a bit flat and it starts to get quite boring pretty quickly so it's sad that it has such a huge focus in the game because it really stops being fun after the first two hours or so.
     
     
    Platforming it's just gone I'm sad to say. Every bit of navigation required now is only made more difficult by figuring out which bit of the map it is that you have to navigate around everything in-between that is just pointing and holding down the shift key to get there (and then sometimes you just can't "disconnect" because you've become a sticky monkey to anything that is not at ground level). It's fun right in the beginning but then you soon start to realise that there is actually no challenge to doing any of it.
     
     
    Combat: Pretty much nothing new here boring and as easy as ever (in fact it felt even easier this time around). Sure, you'll have to dodge a few grenades, counter (feels very much like Batmans counter-moves) and break defenses by using a key press...rather un-rewarding in the end especially when you know that a monkey could pull off the same moves.
     
     
    Once again I'm left rather disappointed (and I haven't even touched on the "future" bits that feel about as fun to play as just watching a clip of someone else play the game...hell even that would have been more fun!) and after having played through the somewhat long and fairly boring story I just didn't feel anything special about this game (I actually had to force myself to keep playing through it and all the time I kept thinking "maybe I should just re-install and play through AC2 or AC:Brotherhood again instead). With promises of an upgrade system similar to Far Cry 3 (sure, it's mostly true but pretty much damn boring and not very much required) and the usual "hunt" for collectables being slapped in there I eventually stopped because the game just become sooo long in the tooth.
     
     
    Ah well I guess I should have realised this after revelations that the game has just been effectively dumbed down to a more simplistic experience that what we were introduced to before in the previous titles...maybe I'm just getting old or maybe I'm just trying to expect too much when consoles dominate so heavily. My conclusion: if you loved AC2/Brotherhood and despised AC3/Revelations then give this one a skip. In the end this one looks pretty and plays fairly nicely with my PC hardware yet in the end it just feels overly simplified and too heavily story-focused without really giving too much of a damn about game-play.    … Expand
  16. Galaroth
    Dec 23, 2013
    10
    The last few Assassin's Creed games hasn't been so satisfying, but THIS one goes straight to the top on the list of awesome games! I really enjoyed this game and find myself still playing after completing the main quest, because i want to keep plundering, fighting and improve my ship. The main story line was extremely good. The entire game itself was incredible, everything in the game justThe last few Assassin's Creed games hasn't been so satisfying, but THIS one goes straight to the top on the list of awesome games! I really enjoyed this game and find myself still playing after completing the main quest, because i want to keep plundering, fighting and improve my ship. The main story line was extremely good. The entire game itself was incredible, everything in the game just makes sense, and is so well done.… Expand
  17. jaydi
    Dec 28, 2013
    9
    If you enjoyed Sid meiers Pirates as well as the AC series, then this game is a piece of heaven for you.

    When I was younger I played Sid meiers pirates and this has all the features of that wonderful title that I spend days off from work to play. Ship upgradeability, a fleet, simple trade, in addition to more management features from previous AC games but this time for ships in your    If you enjoyed Sid meiers Pirates as well as the AC series, then this game is a piece of heaven for you.

    When I was younger I played Sid meiers pirates and this has all the features of that wonderful title that I spend days off from work to play. Ship upgradeability, a fleet, simple trade, in addition to more management features from previous AC games but this time for ships in your fleet. Its pretty cool I wish there was tutorial however for these menus. I have been finding features by accident.

    As they did with Farcry3, ubisoft has created an enormous, atmospheric expanse to sandbox around in while taking bites off the main linear storyline. The ships are wonderfully portrayed, the emerald seas are rolling and unforgiving at times and the ship to ship battles, including boarding and harpooning are well done and intense. I spend most of my time at sea in this game. Knowing the ground based AC game is still always there is really a lot of game for your dollar.

    I give this game a 9 out of 10 it deserves it. Its addictive and fun.    … Expand
  18. danstew
    Feb 17, 2016
    4
    Not sure where to start. I seriously tried TWICE to get into this game, expecting to really enjoy it, as so many claim it to be one of the best ACs, along with the Ezio ones.
    But I simply can't, it wasn't fun for me.
    Let's go through it, starting with the good things: + Looks nice, both in town and at sea + Some nice new mechanics + The shanties your crew sings are a great touch and    Not sure where to start. I seriously tried TWICE to get into this game, expecting to really enjoy it, as so many claim it to be one of the best ACs, along with the Ezio ones.
    But I simply can't, it wasn't fun for me.
    Let's go through it, starting with the good things:
    + Looks nice, both in town and at sea
    + Some nice new mechanics
    + The shanties your crew sings are a great touch and made me smile a lot while at sea
    + Naval battles can be fun, even more so than in AC III
    + They did great with the pirate-history. Not as cliche as usual, no parrots on shoulders, no wooden leg and stuff on every pirate. I am rather certain I know the books they based this on, as a lot of the story-points of that subplot are rather correct, historically, and I liked that a lot.

    Now, the cons:
    - The story. This really sucks. So basically, you have the main character kill an Assassin he gets marooned with, kill him EASILY, and simply put on a bit of his outfit, becoming an assassin that way. So, this guy easily kills an assassin and kinda becomes one by putting out the clothes. Yes, he also has eagle vision, and I am sure there is an explanation that he secretly has the "assassin gene" or is the grandson of one, but before that was explained, I lost interest, it just feels weird and is rather sad, considering the previous games.
    - The main character. No personality, apart from him apparently being some kind of Jack Sparrow-type cool guy. I really liked Ezio, Altair, even Connor and Arno, but this guy, I couldn't care less about.
    - The missions. SOME tailing/eavesdrop/chase-missions can be fun. TOO many of them get frustrating and dull. Sail to a town. Talk to someone. Tail someone and listen to his conversation without being caught. Try again. Try again. Yay, checkpoint. Now sneak in and kill him. Rinse and repeat.
    - The "big story twist" about a certain person in game. This was so incredibly obvious from the start. I mean, how the heck am I supposed to believe no one noticed this (not spoiling it here) about a pirate, in a tightly-knit crew, on a ship, travelling, fighting, eating together for months? First time I saw him and heard him speak, it was so obvious, it was sad.
    - Diving. Nice change, maybe, but I never much liked diving in games, whether it was TR or this one. And here, it's mandatory - not only for a story quest where you first learn it, but also to PROGRESS. No, it's not optional.
    This "open world game" REQUIRED me to dive several times. Why? Because at some point, the game says "Stop. You can't do the next story-quest until you upgrade your ship". And to do that, you need to find blueprints, in some chest underwater. You can use the web to find out where. If you hate the diving (with overly aggressive sharks which attack you on sight and kill you quickly, while you don't have much breath in the first place), it sucks, because you won't be able to get those blueprints, upgrade your ship enough (thanks for giving me a choice there to try the blocked mission at least) in order to progress the story.
    - Your stronghold feels pointless and more like a money-sink
    - I don't think the game is well optimized. It works ok on my PC (W7, 16 gigs of RAM, i7, with a GTX 960 with 4 gigs of ram), but on the same system with an Nvidia GT 730, there were problems.
    - Still has some wonky controls, which sucks for jumping puzzles and chases.

    I am happy for those that truly think this is one of the best ACs, but I simply lost interest both times I tried to get into the game. The first time, it happened 3 hrs in (same repetitive side content, yawn, and another chase with no room for error there...one missstep, back to the checkpoint), the second time I played 6-7 hrs and then didnt wanna continue (see above, didn't wanna dive over and over to upgrade my ship just to continue the story).

    If this was a standalone pirate game with no AC added to it, like, I dunno "Davy Jones' Amazin Adventures" or "Swashbucklers of the Carribean", it'd be really nice, but as an AC game, it just isn't fun, and didn't grab me at all, sorry    … Expand
  19. RustyJames
    Nov 24, 2013
    1
    Booring! We saw all that stuff in AC3. In my opinion Ubisoft consider PC gamers as a bunch of silly children, again and again. The graphics just a bit better, than in AC3, but with poor tech support of PC, the lags and freezes appears even on the recently upgraded machines. But what is advice by Ubisoft? "HA-HA. Try again and buy the high-end system!". I'm tired of this ****
    But what do    Booring! We saw all that stuff in AC3. In my opinion Ubisoft consider PC gamers as a bunch of silly children, again and again. The graphics just a bit better, than in AC3, but with poor tech support of PC, the lags and freezes appears even on the recently upgraded machines. But what is advice by Ubisoft? "HA-HA. Try again and buy the high-end system!". I'm tired of this ****
    But what do you find at the game? Silly screenplay, as usual, 1-dimensional characters, as usual, a lot of extremely stupid mini-games, as usual. But the most annoying things are the missions, i suppose it's the worst game design in the series. After a couple hours it seems that you play replays type 1: shadowing and chase, type 2: annoying naval battles (the fun leaves after 3-4 battle), type 3: the robbery that appears to massacre.

    I hoped AC4 to be at least open-world game, but it fails, of course just a dead cities (like an exact copy past from AC3), with number of treasures and other "pirate" stuff...

    Music and sound are usual, quite ok, sounds like a lot of money wasted to something similar to "historical" or "original"...Actors are ok, but the dialogues, no doubt, was writen by the children and for the children...

    Controls in PC version are still headache since AC1, the alter-ego tries to irritate you at least 1 time per 2 minutes, especially when you're doing "cool parkour stuff"...

    It's the same situation again on PC, the series still have failed since AC2, which was a real step forward, so what can i say "use your assassin's abilities" and don't waste your time and money as "a fake pirate" in AC3,5.    … Expand
  20. JorisK
    Nov 30, 2013
    8
    When i played this game the first 15 minutes my morale almost hit rock bottom as the game gave me the idea it is simply 'just another assassins creed', but after playing 30 minutes i noticed that was far away from the truth.
    Yes, in general this is 'another' Assassins Creed but the pirating stuff in this game is so massive that you sometimes have the feeling the game doesn't feel like a    When i played this game the first 15 minutes my morale almost hit rock bottom as the game gave me the idea it is simply 'just another assassins creed', but after playing 30 minutes i noticed that was far away from the truth.
    Yes, in general this is 'another' Assassins Creed but the pirating stuff in this game is so massive that you sometimes have the feeling the game doesn't feel like a 'true' Assassins Creed game at all. This game is for 80% all about pirating which makes you simply forget all the Assassins stuff. Even the Abstergo intermezzo's are minimal and that says enough...
    The way Ubi set up the massive sea, the beautifull Carribean islands and scenery, the great sea battles, the huge amount of upgades to both Edward and his ship is just very well done, no doubt about it.
    This whole pirating adds loads of new stuff to the game and when looking back at the history of Assassins Creed, that is just what this game needs. Altough i don't like the fact they are overusing some old stuff from previous versions, this whole new pirating system makes me simply forget all of it.
    Another big plus is that this game is well balanced. As i said before, you need upgrades but the amount of resources it takes (money, wood, metal, etc) forces you to battle, hunt, kill, explore, fight and enter ships alot, causing loads of gameplay. I have been playing this game for loads of hours this past 1,5 week. My ship is still not fully upgraded and i'm still at 50% progression.
    I remember i threw away my AC3: Revelations CD as the game was simply rubbish but Black Flag is simply awsome. I love it and Ubi, well done.    … Expand
  21. Green_spy
    Dec 4, 2013
    10
    Ubisoft took all wrongs from AC3 and made them right.
    AC4 has a much more immersive and intriguing world. The naval combat and exploration are very enjoyable, mission aren't as repetitive and give you MUCH more freedom.
    Edward is also a very interesting character. You see him mature and become a better person. Character development is very good. Overall this game is fun and you will    Ubisoft took all wrongs from AC3 and made them right.
    AC4 has a much more immersive and intriguing world. The naval combat and exploration are very enjoyable, mission aren't as repetitive and give you MUCH more freedom.
    Edward is also a very interesting character. You see him mature and become a better person. Character development is very good.
    Overall this game is fun and you will find yourself spending much more time in it than you probably expected.     … Expand
  22. TwiggyMcSexy
    Dec 4, 2013
    10
    Best Assassins Creed game yet, its a new idea carried out perfectly for the Assassins Creed title. The exploration is endless and starts almost immediately after you start the game. I highly recommend you buy this game if you love Assassins Creed and limitless exploration and activities.
  23. DanielCorfour
    Nov 26, 2013
    6
    Assassin's Creed 4: 90% pirate, 10% assassin. To see a summary of this review scroll to the end.

    Ubisoft went ahead and did the obvious. They took, the best part of Assassin's Creed 3, really the only really good part, and made a game out of it. Literally, they retrofitted the game engine used in the previous title into this a new game, while barely adding or changing anything. This    Assassin's Creed 4: 90% pirate, 10% assassin. To see a summary of this review scroll to the end.

    Ubisoft went ahead and did the obvious. They took, the best part of Assassin's Creed 3, really the only really good part, and made a game out of it. Literally, they retrofitted the game engine used in the previous title into this a new game, while barely adding or changing anything. This whole game felt like an AC 3.1, rather than a new title.. which, I wouldn't have had a problem with, if they would have fixed the problems that plagued AC3, or actually gave us a good, satisfying story, like AC2, but they didn't.

    Assassin's Creed wasn't particularly good when it came to game mechanics, AC1 and 2 were kind of bad actually, instead, it was built by it's amazing storytelling, beautiful setting, and wonderful soundtrack. I still listen to Ezio's Family by Jesper Kyd from AC2. That song brings back a kind of emotions that I rarely feel with games. AC4, however delivers only one of these, the setting. I'm going to start by criticizing the story itself. It's terrible. First off, it has nothing to do with Assassins, they barely make a cameo appearance, both inside and outside the Animus. The whole game revolves around pirates, and that wouldn't be a problem, if it was a good story. And it starts out good, but then it gets riddled with plot holes, poor writing, scenes that don't make sense, and although they stayed away from the obvious parrot cliches, they added a bunch of them story-wise. The story does make a few twists, but most of them you'll see coming a mily away, and most of them don't make sense. There is no main enemy in the game, and most of the things that happen in the game make no sense. And if you were expecting a great ending.. don't.. it is terrible. The only plot-twist you won't see coming in this game is the ending.. they drop it on you out of nowhere, just when you were expecting the game would truly begin, and then they hit you in the face with a poorly done cutscene, and leave you confused.

    Here's a tip, dear Ubisoft. A story, every story, follows 5 basic steps, not necessarily in this order: Exposition, Rising Action, Progression, Climax, Ending. The 4th is completely missing, and the fifth leaves you confused, when it should leave you satisfied.

    Then there are the actual missions in the story. Boring, repetitive and most of them don't make sense. All you do is follow this guy, eavesdrop on that guy. And on rare occasions you kill someone. Missions involving ships can be interesting, but at times they are the same boring "follow that ship" nonsense. In comparison with GTA 5, or Red Dead Redemption, where every mission was unique and intriguing, here they are boring, unimaginative and repetitive. The same goes for side missions. Assassinations, Naval Missions and Templar Hunts. All of them are basically the same. If you did one then you did all, there's no point in continuing. You play through it once, but you won't want to play through it a second time.

    What saves the game is the beautiful and huge open world game, the side activities(not missions) and the naval combat. The setting is really amazing, although some fans of the series will find it irritating that you won't visit cities that much, only a couple times, and they are small with not a lot of things to do, the setting just didn't allow for that. Most of the time you will do what the game is all about: pirating. Naval combat is really fun, and it's been expanded upon a lot.: you can board ships, capture them, steal their cargo and send them to your fleet, you can attack naval forts and capture them. You can use those resources to upgrade your ship and so on. There are also underwater places you can explore, but there are limited, and in comparison with GTAV, where there was an entire open-world you could explore, here there are only ten locations, but it still looks great, and avoiding sharks and medusas is great fun. You can also raid plantations, which are a ton of fun... basically the side activities are really great, and make this game enjoyable, even though the story brings it down.

    In summary, it looks like this game was made just so Ubisoft can make more money off of the ship mechanics in AC3. Combat and land based mechanics are basically the same as the previous game, although they did need changing and improving. The game engine is the same as it was in the third title, with very little improvement, or change, when it, again needed it. And all of this would not be a problem if the game offered a good story, but it doesn't. The story seems like an excuse to sell an adapted version of AC3, and the story is driven by the game mechanics, and not vice versa. Luckily the beautiful setting, graphics and excellent pirate game save the game and prop up the rating to a 6/10. You can't help but feel, if they only spent a little bit more time, and wouldn't pump out a game every year, it could've been an amazing game.    … Expand
  24. Reidlos65
    Nov 24, 2013
    5
    Good game hindered by the Poorest PC optimization ive seen in a few years. Top of the line rigs hitting 45 to maybe 60 if your lucky? Nah don't think so. The game is fun and story is good considering this is outside the trilogy
  25. bobreviews
    Nov 24, 2013
    1
    Runs like absolute ass. Yet another console port, from ubisoft. Tons of boring sailing. Unnecessary bolted-on additions to the story. Pretty much par for course now from ubisoft.
  26. Lrv7795
    Nov 25, 2013
    10
    I have been a long-time fan of the Assassin's Creed series. Black Flag does not disappoint. What I look for in a game is how long I can play it until it gets old. I'm over 20 hours in, haven't beaten it, and am still having a blast. The only downside is tailing and eavesdropping missions, and even those include the new style of stealth Ubisoft has incorporated into the game. I love theI have been a long-time fan of the Assassin's Creed series. Black Flag does not disappoint. What I look for in a game is how long I can play it until it gets old. I'm over 20 hours in, haven't beaten it, and am still having a blast. The only downside is tailing and eavesdropping missions, and even those include the new style of stealth Ubisoft has incorporated into the game. I love the stealth system in Dishonored and Farcry 3, and Assassin's Creed IV comes close to the same level of quality. Now for the rest of the game. You will find yourself swinging from ropes and boarding ships with explosions around you, dual swords in hand, slicing up British to your heart's content. The combat has been made noticeably smoother and the same with the naval combat. There is so very little wrong with this game; it amazes me how critics take those small errors and take 20 points off of a game's score.… Expand
  27. andymac20
    Nov 26, 2013
    10
    Better story than the rest of the series better graphics and gameplay overall improvement and graphics are realy realy good played 27 hours not finishes story yet but one of best games played this year surprising with the amount of good games this year
  28. MontyDKoege
    Nov 26, 2013
    9
    Well I'm a long time fan of AC, but have been rather critical of some of the historical settings, which we have been presented.
    Where AC would have gotten a 7 this setting and all the new features has blown me out of the water.

    Best pirate game ever love sailing (instead of that irritating horse and discovering loads of secrets.
    Absolutely great graphics and wonderful ideas.
  29. Krius
    Dec 31, 2013
    10
    Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is the best part of ALL, 10 out of 10 even with "poor" pfs (i5, GTX690 average: 45fps) I'm sure that after 1st patch game will be optimized in 100%. THE BEST ADVENTURE, PIRATE GAME EVER
  30. Vampire
    Dec 5, 2013
    10
    I have nothing to say cause Ubisoft once again made an awesome game. This game just made me remain speechless. I still wonder how many people gave negative rating. It is a must have game and recommended for all the assassin gamers
  31. erfanj
    Dec 30, 2013
    10
    this year, with the release of the next AC game, ubisoft changed the way of its franchise. Assssin's Creed IV Black Flag was one of the best action adventures of this year and in every part, the game was perfect. The graphic had a lot of improvements and it was a way better than the previous title. The beauty of this world is amazing and it takes you to the world and you really feel thethis year, with the release of the next AC game, ubisoft changed the way of its franchise. Assssin's Creed IV Black Flag was one of the best action adventures of this year and in every part, the game was perfect. The graphic had a lot of improvements and it was a way better than the previous title. The beauty of this world is amazing and it takes you to the world and you really feel the world. The seas and every place in this game is beauty. The gameplay has a lot of improvements and it is more expanded and you really enjoy playing the game. New weapons, having a crew and a ship and plundering other ships, upgrading the ship and face stronger enemies, exploring and finding new places and are the beauties of this massive world. The world in Assassin's Creed IV is the biggest in the franchise and there are a lot of other side activities to do in the game. The story is a little far from the origin of the game but it is cool too, being a pirate in the high seas and have adventures in a lot of places...
    at all, Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag is one of the best games in the franchise and one of the best games of 2013.    … Expand
  32. JimCorbett
    Mar 10, 2014
    3
    I remember when Assassin's Creed was about story, sneaking, and planning. That time is long passed, and Black Flag is a prime showcase of that. The only reason this game could possibly get good reviews is because of blind fanboys upvoting the game simply because it's a pirate game.This is an action-oriented pirate simulation that has absolutely nothing to do with the Assassin's CreedI remember when Assassin's Creed was about story, sneaking, and planning. That time is long passed, and Black Flag is a prime showcase of that. The only reason this game could possibly get good reviews is because of blind fanboys upvoting the game simply because it's a pirate game.This is an action-oriented pirate simulation that has absolutely nothing to do with the Assassin's Creed franchise. The graphics are good but just about everything else isn't. Sound is terribly synced, especially when performing kills. The controls are slightly improved but still terrible. The optimization is beyond bad. The insane amount of context-sensitive controls and movements are incredibly frustrating, and have been throughout the whole series but Blag Flag just proves that Ubisoft has no intention whatsoever of fixing it. The story is laughable and will not interest you in the slightest and the modern day sequences are worse than ever. The gameplay is super repetitive with linear levels lining the campaign and a repetitive grind awaiting you at sea. This is the last straw for the AC series in my opinion. One of my favorite franchise has been ruined yet again by a a yearly development cycle and a greedy publisher. I'm not longer going to purchase this garbage and I highly suggest all of you do the same.… Expand
  33. Seryin
    Dec 16, 2013
    9
    This game loses a SINGLE point from me for its lack of PC optimization. As much as I enjoyed the Black Flag experience, I cannot ignore that. Ubisoft definitely needs to shift some focus towards making their games more enjoyable across a broader range of machines.
    Looking beyond the obvious optimization flaws for PC, everything else was phenomenal!
    AC4 carries over all the things that    This game loses a SINGLE point from me for its lack of PC optimization. As much as I enjoyed the Black Flag experience, I cannot ignore that. Ubisoft definitely needs to shift some focus towards making their games more enjoyable across a broader range of machines.
    Looking beyond the obvious optimization flaws for PC, everything else was phenomenal!

    AC4 carries over all the things that made the past titles a success, but it was the story of this installment that absolutely blew me away!
    However, I can't help but realize that if I did not have a prior knowledge of the Golden Age of Piracy, that I would not have been able to understand, or enjoy, the story as much as I did. For instance, several scenes seem to expect you to know what will happen next to someone considering the tone, even though the game never touches on it itself. I would have never known what happened to Stede Bonnet if it was not for my history class, and it added a lot of impact and drama to an otherwise uneventful moment.
    If you were already familiar with popular figures from the Golden Age of Piracy, like Teach, Rackham, Bonnet, Vane, Black Bart, and Anne Bonny, your going to be blown away by this re-imagining of their stories.

    Despite the enormous amount of entertainment I got out of this game, I definitely want to critique a few key points for the sake of future improvement; The Island that you consider home and can invest resources in to improve, Inagua, is just as useless and unrewarding as the Homestead feature from AC3. They need to do more with these places of interest; Spending 90% of the game on the high seas, it was extremely disappointing that the ship Haythem took at the beginning of AC3 was still more detailed than the Jackdaw. You cannot enter the inside of the ship, and the only recognizable and unique person in your crew is Adéwale from the upcoming DLC himself. It would have added much more depth to be able to have familiar faces on the ship to feel more connected to and protective of; And also, Kenway's Fleet. This trade/revenue system was similiar to the old ones, but tedious and boring compared to the trade system and assassins guild from AC3.
    Those were the 3 things I had really wanted more from in Black Flag; A more rewarding and innovative homestead feature; A better detailed crew and ship to sail with; And a less tedious Kenway's Fleet feature.

    ALSO: Multiplayer is still amazing to play in this installment. AC Multiplayer is an incredible and unique experience that too many AC players overlook.    … Expand
  34. Bad_Andy
    Jan 13, 2014
    10
    Probably one of if not the best game I played last year. Graphics are phenomenal, really do the Carribean justice, fun combat system, plot is entertaining, cool historical perspective.
  35. Motcritic
    Nov 30, 2013
    7
    While I don't like some aspects of this game, it's one of most fun games I ever played.

    Graphics are great, the towns look very nice, the landscape of both missions and islands is amazing, the sea looks nice enough and the waves behave very smoothly. The character movement is very good, definitely an improvement, you can connect most of the movement you want to make, rarely you will    While I don't like some aspects of this game, it's one of most fun games I ever played.

    Graphics are great, the towns look very nice, the landscape of both missions and islands is amazing, the sea looks nice enough and the waves behave very smoothly.
    The character movement is very good, definitely an improvement, you can connect most of the movement you want to make, rarely you will start to jump and grab places you didn't meant too.
    The missions are mostly well made and fun, and while some might say they are too easy, I think they are just fine because I like to go through the story, I hate bottlenecks of repetitive tries due to chance or difficulty, for the sake of being hard. Sea combat is fun. Boarding ships is fun if you roleplay them, don't go immediately to the goals and you will be immersed into nice visuals and combat.

    But this game has a lot of downsizes. Very easy naval combat, too easy, specially when attacking naval fortress's, the repercussions of pirating are basically none. Land combat is also extremely easy, its all about knowing what type of enemies you are facing and hit the according button, but, its fun, very fun, still way too easy. The map size is extremely small (caribbean islands packed into a 20km per 20km give or take) and the view ranges of enemy ships is ridiculous low, we are talking about having an enemy ship 50 meters away from you and they can't see you!! This game design choice obliterates the immersion of being at sea, the feeling of being alone, of spotting enemies on the horizon, storms are well made but they come and go in a minute, rogue waves and water tornados are just too easy to avoid. Due to the map being so filled with islands and ships, immersion is completely crushed.

    All in all, its a fun game to play, but once you play it the replay value is null, this means that for a open world game something went wrong when they designed it, kinda remembers me of Sleeping Dogs, making an open world that serves no purpose since only the missions have any value.    … Expand
  36. BiggJiggs
    Feb 12, 2015
    0
    This game is horribly unoptimized & barely playable. Ubisoft won't fix it because, "90% of PC gamers are pirates." If you have a PC that's as strong as a tank you can probably play this game. If not, you're SOL. It's barely playable IF you're lucky. FPS problems, constant crashes, freezes, I even had the game run at 0FPS. Yes, 0 FPS. It's a disgrace that Ubisoft has fallen so low that theyThis game is horribly unoptimized & barely playable. Ubisoft won't fix it because, "90% of PC gamers are pirates." If you have a PC that's as strong as a tank you can probably play this game. If not, you're SOL. It's barely playable IF you're lucky. FPS problems, constant crashes, freezes, I even had the game run at 0FPS. Yes, 0 FPS. It's a disgrace that Ubisoft has fallen so low that they would let themselves become so blinded by greed that they just flat out don't give a crap anymore.

    The controls are clunky, combat is streamlined to mash X constantly while hitting B every so often to block. You will not be able to run anywhere without climbing up a wall you didn't want to climb. Story is long, drawn out & boring. The tutorial alone is about 3-4 hours & it drags.

    The best part of the game is the ship battles, but the game is so terribly optimized that you will have freezes or crashes if there are too many ships on screen. I was in one battle where it was me VS 10 other ships & the game started running at 0 FPS. I thought it crashed, but nope. One frame just froze in place while the game kept running. I was impressed by this as I've never had a game run at 0 FPS ever before.

    While this game is called "Assassin's Creed" you will not need to stealth anywhere in the game other than for 'optional' syncs. The stealth mechanics are so drull & simple. It's like they went backwards entirely or they think everyone who plays their Creed games now are idiots (Which they must be if they keep buying this crap). You can be face first inside a guard's anus & they still won't notice you. It's pathetic.

    0/10. Don't buy this unoptimized half-assed port. Go play AC2 instead.    … Expand
  37. Kamalesh696
    Aug 20, 2019
    10
    A VeRy GrEaT PiRatE GaMe...With DisTinCt STuPyFying experience Game....WiTh VeRy GreaT Genre...
  38. ChoicestGames
    Feb 27, 2020
    7
    For fans of the Golden Age of Piracy as well as stealth action-adventures with a bit of naval combat thrown in, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ticks all the right boxes. The game also features great cutscenes, animations, mini-games, sea shanties and Ubisoft took the effort to resolve the game in a satisfactory manner (at least with respect to Edward Kenway's story). If you're not intoFor fans of the Golden Age of Piracy as well as stealth action-adventures with a bit of naval combat thrown in, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ticks all the right boxes. The game also features great cutscenes, animations, mini-games, sea shanties and Ubisoft took the effort to resolve the game in a satisfactory manner (at least with respect to Edward Kenway's story). If you're not into these sorts of games though (i.e. lots of grinding in order to upgrade your character and ship, as well as stealth being a mandatory requirement for success) you could find elements of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag frustrating: I know I did.… Expand
  39. KrunkTX
    Dec 3, 2013
    9
    This game is quite refreshing since the mild and gradual downturn (in my opinion) since ACII. I've played and enjoyed all the games in the series, and even enjoyed the newer style and fresh era of III, but am very happy they expanded upon what was actually so great about ACIII.... Naval Combat. The graphics are breathtaking and this era will be very hard to top because let's face it, whoThis game is quite refreshing since the mild and gradual downturn (in my opinion) since ACII. I've played and enjoyed all the games in the series, and even enjoyed the newer style and fresh era of III, but am very happy they expanded upon what was actually so great about ACIII.... Naval Combat. The graphics are breathtaking and this era will be very hard to top because let's face it, who doesn't dig pirates? The game is extremely engaging from the start, there is always something to do. If you find yourself with nothing to do, you either don't want to do anything, or aren't looking close enough. A lot of the in-game unlockable content (special armors/weapons) etc. can be obtained without progressing too deep into the main storyline so that you can actually enjoy those cool new toys. I really dig that because it seemed that in the past, they always left the best armor or coolest toys in the game only obtainable at the very end. The voice acting is some of the best I've ever heard in a game, hats off to that department for sure. The new massive open world is an absolute pleasure to explore, sailing island to island, jumping off of your ship to search each one for hidden treasure chests etc. The beautiful white sand/blue water carribbean beaches make me want to take a tropical vacation very soon!

    The only reason I'm not giving this game a solid 10 is due to the fact that at a certain point is sort of feels like a "grind" in the naval combat aspect, which looks to be what the game was mostly built around. If it would have been given a more evolving role where the combat felt "refreshed" it wouldn't be so repetitive sometimes(yet it is still strangely fun in a sense). They do attempt to do this with different ship classes/difficulty, but in the end, it still becomes a grind. Also, contrary to other reviews I've watched/read/seen it still feels rather sticky like previous games when in towns etc. There are still your typical bug issues, but with a game of this magnitude, I am not surprised nor offended. In addition to that last point being lost, the final and main reasoning would be of course the Desmond story (refraining from spoilers) and how the Animus back story is portrayed in this installation. I don't particularly care for it this time around, but I am curious as to how they plan to improve upon this or return back to the older style where we had two great storyline interwoven with each other.

    I do not regret my pre-purchase of this game at it's full price plus it's season pass on PC. I rarely if ever pre-purchase a game, even more rarely do I buy a game at full price. I usually ALWAYS wait for a steam sale, or a few months down the road. For how meaty this game is (a solid 40 hours PLUS), it's been worth every penny and I recommend it to not only TRUE fans of the franchise but fans of pirates/naval games alike!    … Expand
  40. Jonhuggs
    Jun 4, 2014
    10
    Great game and the best Assassin's Creed title to date. Open world, life on the high seas, taking down fat merchant ships mixed with the familiar Assassin's Creed gameplay with the running and climbing and sneaking. Visually on the PC it looks great and while I can't comment on the keyboard and mouse controls, it plays flawlessly with an Xbox 360 controller. Highly Recommend picking this title up.
  41. weazz1980
    Dec 2, 2013
    9
    I played the first AC and had a blast with it. Then i skipped AC 2 and 3, because of the same mechanics. But the setting in Black Flag with the pirates and ships was really interresting for me.

    What can i say? I played about 30 hours, cruising the seas, discover treasures, power up my ship and charakter, hunt sharks and wales, assassinate targets and not even giving a about the    I played the first AC and had a blast with it. Then i skipped AC 2 and 3, because of the same mechanics. But the setting in Black Flag with the pirates and ships was really interresting for me.

    What can i say? I played about 30 hours, cruising the seas, discover treasures, power up my ship and charakter, hunt sharks and wales, assassinate targets and not even giving a about the mainquest.

    I love the setting, the atmosphere, my ship, my crew... it's fantastic. And you always have the option to silently kill someone or running in, guns blazing and kill everyone in sight (maybe get rid of the snipers first :-)).

    On the other side, for me the controlls are a little bit clumsy. Many times my character didn't move to where i expected (especially on the hunt for shantis).

    So for me it's a good 9 out of 10. If you like pirates and you want a good open world game with lots of exploration, go and get the game!    … Expand
  42. dubeysiddhant16
    Nov 30, 2013
    9
    game graphics are better than the previews one as it is little bite left.ships play major role in game.we can sail ship as it as we want that thing was not in acr 3 ,can upgrade ships,new weapons,animals,more places and so on.....
  43. LiquidFrostbite
    Jul 13, 2014
    9
    Easily the best game in the Assassin's Creed franchise. After the low that was Assassin's Creed 3, I think most fans can agree that we were worried about the next AC being a disappointment, as well.

    Connor was probably the most disliked AC character to date, with his monotone, mediocre voice-acting and overall dull "must do right" character. Edward Kenway, on the other hand, brings a    Easily the best game in the Assassin's Creed franchise. After the low that was Assassin's Creed 3, I think most fans can agree that we were worried about the next AC being a disappointment, as well.

    Connor was probably the most disliked AC character to date, with his monotone, mediocre voice-acting and overall dull "must do right" character.

    Edward Kenway, on the other hand, brings a much lighter tone to the franchise, akin to Jack Sparrow.

    The story is great. The combat, crafting, free-running and everything else has all been revamped. I bought this game the day it came out and it has quickly become my favorite Assassin's Creed.    … Expand
  44. ADHGO
    Jun 26, 2015
    8
    Interesting Game with beautiful graphics, amazing sea and landscape details, wonderful characters details and textures, game play is good as well, and as usual it is an assassins creed game, fighting mechanics is poor compared to batman arkham, or shadow of mordor.
  45. Valay
    Nov 30, 2013
    9
    On my PC this game working on medium graphic settings and its looks very good. They fixed many mistakes and fails from AC 3... world is more attractive, battles on the sea are more spectacular and story is better than in any other AC game. Im really excited of this game and i dont understand people who giving "0" vote only because they havent moneys to buy good PC and they are playing onOn my PC this game working on medium graphic settings and its looks very good. They fixed many mistakes and fails from AC 3... world is more attractive, battles on the sea are more spectacular and story is better than in any other AC game. Im really excited of this game and i dont understand people who giving "0" vote only because they havent moneys to buy good PC and they are playing on old craps GJ ubisoft!… Expand
  46. behi8303
    Nov 11, 2014
    8
    Gameplay (of 10) : 8
    Story (of 10) : 8
    Graphic (of 10) : 8
    Sound (of 10) : 7

    Total : 7.9 / 10

    Total score is weighted average of four factors, respectively Gameplay, Story, Graphic, Sound.
  47. HafizulBariAdit
    Oct 5, 2017
    10
    This game is very fun to play. Everything looks very fine and colourful. Graphic is very good. Gameplay is fine no bugs or glitch on it storyline is also good.
  48. RomanGor
    Dec 14, 2019
    4
    Это просто унылая дрочильня, однотипные миссии, дерганая анимация, гг какой-то моральный урод, а про морские баталии я вообще молчу. Большего дрочева, чем морские сражения, я еще ни в одном асасине не встречал. Если что я прошел 1, 2 части и бразерхуд. Не знаю, чем 4-я часть всем нравится, как по мне, так унылое дно. Попробую себя заставить пройти ее до конца. И да, горите в аду юбики соЭто просто унылая дрочильня, однотипные миссии, дерганая анимация, гг какой-то моральный урод, а про морские баталии я вообще молчу. Большего дрочева, чем морские сражения, я еще ни в одном асасине не встречал. Если что я прошел 1, 2 части и бразерхуд. Не знаю, чем 4-я часть всем нравится, как по мне, так унылое дно. Попробую себя заставить пройти ее до конца. И да, горите в аду юбики со своим копировальным станком по производству дерьмовых ежегодных игр!!! Прошел до конца и могу сказать, что если бы вся игра была как последние 3 главы, то еще ничего. Но так как первые 3/4 игры - это настоящее дрочево, разбавленное тупорылыми морскими сражениями, то оценка только 4 из 10. 4 бала за красоту картинки и полную локализацию, с чем у юбиков никогда проблем не было.… Expand
  49. shauntmw
    May 14, 2020
    7
    I play this on UPlay, and play exclusively on the single player campaign only.

    First of all, let's talk about the technical issues that I have faced. The game is very poorly optimized. Despite having a moderately high-end PC, I still get a very bad lag and framerate issue. Disabling V-Sync improves a lot on the lag, but the tearing is too terrible to play with it disabled. There are    I play this on UPlay, and play exclusively on the single player campaign only.

    First of all, let's talk about the technical issues that I have faced. The game is very poorly optimized. Despite having a moderately high-end PC, I still get a very bad lag and framerate issue. Disabling V-Sync improves a lot on the lag, but the tearing is too terrible to play with it disabled.

    There are some software tweaks that greatly improves the framerate. One of them is D3DOverrider. Another is to disable one of the CPU core assigned to the game via Task Manager. Also, the game will suddenly hang when my connection is bad.

    Technical issues aside, the game itself is great! This game put some very heavy emphasis on naval warfare and navigation. Although I hated the naval scenario in the previous game, I totally loved it in this game! The world is huge and full of things to do. The story is great, and I really like that fact they finally minimized the "modern world" part and made it trivial enough for me to not care, and yet put enough interesting backstory into the hacking mini-game for me to explore.

    The stealth mechanic has improved quite a bit, but I don't really like the battle mechanic in this game compared to the older games. The enemies are too easy to kill, but sometimes the battle camera or controls are so bad that you will get killed just by 1 or 2 combos by an enemy, despite having full health.

    I hated the underwater area. It is so bad that I have given up on fully complete the collectibles just because I can't be bothered to play all the under water stages.

    I would have given this game a score of 9/10, but I have decided to deduct a few points because of the bad PC port.    … Expand
  50. EmoGuyGamer
    Jun 6, 2021
    9
    Graphics - 9/10

    Sound / Music - 10/10

    Story - 8/10

    How likable is main character / characters - 9/10

    World design - 9/10

    Conclusion - 9
  51. comicbookhero
    Jul 12, 2021
    10
    gioco super molto carino giocherebbe di nuovo e consiglierei anche ad altri
  52. Therules
    Aug 23, 2021
    10
    Easily best Assassin's Creed of all time, at least from modern ones, it's really good. Huge map, sailing, underwater exploration, so many places to discover, amazing soundtrack, good parkour, combat is better than previous games, likable main character, cool assassin outfit. Highly recommending.
  53. Kilio
    Dec 14, 2021
    10
    Lovely graphics, realistic movement, good story, stellar voice acting, terrible combat and mentally impaired AI.
  54. AgentLvi
    Dec 27, 2022
    8
    Great game. The story is decent. The scoring is great, visual is really amazing, the voice & sound is also amazing
  55. qzzzeee
    Jan 2, 2022
    7
    A very good game. Exciting sea battles. Assassins are few, the game is about them, but there are almost none. In general, it is a solid project.
  56. Iowntheworld
    Feb 15, 2022
    10
    Best Assassin's Creed game and one of the best games of 2010s, Sony movie-games can't get even close to awesomeness of this game.
  57. summernightz
    Mar 22, 2022
    10
    Combination of exotic locations, wonderful music and likable characters gives this game amazing atmosphere, that pretty much no other game has done this kind of pirate/assassin setting better.
  58. Pengion
    Nov 23, 2013
    0
    Auto saves don't work, unless you want to replay the beginning over and over and over again don't buy. Broken game, should never have been released as is.
  59. Cocopelicanul
    Nov 30, 2013
    10
    Don't listen to the haters AC IV has nice visuals great game-play (naval battles are very good) great story and a incredible ending. AC IV is a must if you are a gamer.
  60. tacomodo
    Nov 24, 2013
    2
    Nothing new to see here, move along. If you've played any of the other asscreeds, you've played this one too. They really should stop milking this dead cow. Graphics actually seem worse than before.
  61. Freez
    Nov 29, 2013
    10
    As much as PC gamers are neglected in the gaming world, this game is just as good if not better than the others...for PC. If you love the assassins creed series this is a must buy, if you own more than 1 im sure you have them all and know this already. Its really a shame corps don't adhere to PC gamers more than consoles, I guess more people buy consoles since the younger generation are toAs much as PC gamers are neglected in the gaming world, this game is just as good if not better than the others...for PC. If you love the assassins creed series this is a must buy, if you own more than 1 im sure you have them all and know this already. Its really a shame corps don't adhere to PC gamers more than consoles, I guess more people buy consoles since the younger generation are to amateur for PC skill but that shouldn't stop devs from making good pc games. heheh ya I said it, consoles are for amateurs. Any true PC gamer knows what I mean Anyways excellent game for PC, not a garbage port like so many others.… Expand
  62. Ralf
    Dec 5, 2013
    10
    My favourite game in 2013. Wonderful graphics, long playtime with a huge open world to explore. Beside the main quest lots of gameplay variations with mini games, hunting and much more.
  63. Ochetazinco
    Feb 15, 2014
    0
    In short this game is about pirates (I know, you already knew that)...that is the game that Ubisoft made, and they want to send a message: they want to outsmart YOU. Over at Ubisoft, The CEO thinks he's a pirate, along with the investors and their crew of henchmen, the board of directors, YAAAR! Every year they bring in their pirate booty from the poor fools who pay them for pre-orders.In short this game is about pirates (I know, you already knew that)...that is the game that Ubisoft made, and they want to send a message: they want to outsmart YOU. Over at Ubisoft, The CEO thinks he's a pirate, along with the investors and their crew of henchmen, the board of directors, YAAAR! Every year they bring in their pirate booty from the poor fools who pay them for pre-orders. All they have to do is force the poor crew (the programmers, the artists, the musicians, the historians, and all other people who actually do the work, but is never appreciated for it) to retouch a template from the previous year, then put it out as a new product...YAAAR! Me so Clever Boi. They plunder millions of poor fools and kids every year; AND apparently they've been to every bay in the seven seas, OR so it seems... BUT YET, They have NOT.... they missed one very important bay. One that makes them cringe, and their skinny feet tremble with fear. The one that makes them yell for their momma. The one that makes Electronic Arts seem like little babies crying for a penny. The one that makes the RIAA and the MPAA cower in fear. The one that makes them wonder why their share price tumbled last week. The one, the only.....THE PIRATE BAY...Thanks THE PIRATE BAY, you are a life saver, YAAAR!!… Expand
  64. Moza_m
    Nov 30, 2013
    10
    Although I wasn't a major fan of AC3, Black Flag is absolutely fantastic! They have focused entirely on gameplay to make it fun and exciting. NO downtime, quick action, mission to mission to sidequest in no time at all. It's the very best bits of all the past AC games made better, and rolled into one. Absolutely one of the best game's i've ever played. Well polished and awesome fun!
  65. Chris989
    Dec 24, 2013
    10
    I had played 2 of the Assassin's Creed games before this and found them...wanting. From annoying control issues to lack of variety, they seemed to fall short of the ambition.

    This game, however, is brilliant. Brilliant as in a brilliant work it has faults many of the same that plagued the earlier games; Running to chase someone? Let me start climbing a wall you don't want to. Trying a    I had played 2 of the Assassin's Creed games before this and found them...wanting. From annoying control issues to lack of variety, they seemed to fall short of the ambition.

    This game, however, is brilliant. Brilliant as in a brilliant work it has faults many of the same that plagued the earlier games; Running to chase someone? Let me start climbing a wall you don't want to. Trying a stealth mission? Allow me to make your character do stuff you don't want him to just so you are discovered. The side plot outside the "dream" is hackneyed and uninspiring.

    But.

    The main game is the "pirate" game I have been waiting for since excitedly unpacking my ZX81 33 years ago. Sure, the sailing isn't realistic but neither are the land based parts. There are "mini games" that would have constituted a full game 8 years ago from the ship fleet management to the whale/shark hunting.

    Naval combat is a joy to play and the missions, varied.

    Some missions are too difficult I find the stealth/following simply too hard, but the game has so much else going for it that it doesn't annoy me in the same way as, say, GTA IV did.

    So, despite its flaws, I feel it would be churlish to give this game anything less than 10/10.

    I bought BF4 shortly before this. The game I keep coming back to is this and I *love* the BF series.

    I am enjoying the plot and the acting is, in the main, of a high standard.

    I alt tabbed out of the game to write this review so I'm off back now. It does this perfectly too and so far (touch wood) hasn't crashed once.    … Expand
  66. explodr
    Dec 27, 2013
    0
    I bought this game because it was rated highly and I liked the premises of the other Assassin Creed games. This was a mistake. As soon as I started the game, I noticed the graphics were not really that great, although the framerate was also not spectacular. The voice acting was okay, but the talking animations were lacking. When I try to run, the sticky auto-climbing mode makes it nearlyI bought this game because it was rated highly and I liked the premises of the other Assassin Creed games. This was a mistake. As soon as I started the game, I noticed the graphics were not really that great, although the framerate was also not spectacular. The voice acting was okay, but the talking animations were lacking. When I try to run, the sticky auto-climbing mode makes it nearly impossible to stay on the ground. The fighting mechanics also feel slow, virtual, and only require one button pressed rapidly for the most part. It's like if Mirror's Edge's manual freerunning was replaced by a system that does the acrobatics for you; there's no skill involved, and I don't feel like I've done anything significant.… Expand
  67. Blackcompany
    Dec 22, 2013
    4
    A good open world pirate game that could have been better, hampered by the same tired, frustrating "mission structure" we see in every AC game. The constant need to do exactly as Ubisoft demands hinders the fun in exploring this visually gorgeous game world, and the frustrating mission types, such as Eavesdropping and Tailing, are far, far too frequent, and over-used. The weather system isA good open world pirate game that could have been better, hampered by the same tired, frustrating "mission structure" we see in every AC game. The constant need to do exactly as Ubisoft demands hinders the fun in exploring this visually gorgeous game world, and the frustrating mission types, such as Eavesdropping and Tailing, are far, far too frequent, and over-used. The weather system is also frustrating, as the developers tend to overuse storms on the open sea in order to make missions feel more "dramatic."

    Black Flag is a game that would have been far, far better, had it not needed the Assassin's Creed name attached at all. This is Assassin's Creed ruining what could otherwise have been a great pirate game.    … Expand
  68. 1ManAndHisDroid
    Nov 27, 2013
    9
    a) don't read the obvious fake 10s
    b) don't read the obvious fake 0s
    This game is great... I haven't bought an AC game since the 2nd one... Skipped AC3 and I have to say LOVE this... Like the reviews say it's less "in the real world templar assassin nonsense" and more pirating! Best pirate game I've ever played (and I've played a few!) Naval battles are really quite    a) don't read the obvious fake 10s
    b) don't read the obvious fake 0s

    This game is great... I haven't bought an AC game since the 2nd one...
    Skipped AC3 and I have to say LOVE this...
    Like the reviews say it's less "in the real world templar assassin nonsense" and more pirating!
    Best pirate game I've ever played (and I've played a few!)
    Naval battles are really quite spectacular (as are naval base attacks)
    It's just plain fun...
    And ignore all the fakery about not being optimised and all that jazz it looks stunning, plays stunning and if you have half a decent rig it'll be as next gen as it's going to get! (not quite the next-gen look I was hoping for but getting there!)    … Expand
  69. Lang15
    Nov 20, 2013
    9
    Great game! One of the best of the year. I didn't care for past couple of AC games, but with the open world sailing and pirating, it feels like a different game. I love just sailing around, the world is beatifully rendered on PC (AMD 7970).
  70. Atticas14
    Nov 22, 2013
    8
    Runs beautifully. With my GTX770 I'm getting easily over 60 FPS consistently. The world is beautiful traveling by see. The sea battle are great, and the story is the best I've seen yet out of an Assassin's Creed game. That said, it stills Assassin's Creed plus sea battles, you know what your getting here. The upgrades are awesome, with a FarCry 3 style system. I've put about twelve hoursRuns beautifully. With my GTX770 I'm getting easily over 60 FPS consistently. The world is beautiful traveling by see. The sea battle are great, and the story is the best I've seen yet out of an Assassin's Creed game. That said, it stills Assassin's Creed plus sea battles, you know what your getting here. The upgrades are awesome, with a FarCry 3 style system. I've put about twelve hours into the game and are no where near bored with it. I recommend it if you have a good gaming system to run it. I played it on PS3, but framerate was awful. I'm glad I got it on PC.… Expand
  71. OliverGrau
    Nov 24, 2013
    0
    I love the AC series and I would love to play the game. But hard lock ups keeps keeping me away. This game is no where near out of alpha stage, in the short minutes I've gotten to play the game has been a pain, it suffers from some really hard screen tearing even with VSYNC or adaptive VSYNC on. 0/10 unplayable.
  72. JTyran
    Dec 20, 2013
    8
    This was the one of the first Assassin's Creed games to interest me in a long time, visually the game is great looking and the detail in the world both on land and at sea is superb. I would have liked a variable difficulty setting though, even though I do not play 3rd person fighting games often and lack experience in them the combat is far to easy. Eddy can fight off whole packs of enemyThis was the one of the first Assassin's Creed games to interest me in a long time, visually the game is great looking and the detail in the world both on land and at sea is superb. I would have liked a variable difficulty setting though, even though I do not play 3rd person fighting games often and lack experience in them the combat is far to easy. Eddy can fight off whole packs of enemy soldiers with little difficulty, the same applies to the sea combat. At first taking on the larger ships like Frigates and Man'o'wars is challenging but once you get a firm of the combat and upgrade your ship you can single handily take on several Man'o'wars and their escorts. Only the four non respawning "legendary" ships provide a challenge after that.

    I would have liked some crew management options too, having to take care of the Jackdaws crew and their morale is strangely missing. Criticisms aside though the game is a lot of fun with varied missions and some really thematic set pieces like trying to slowly stealthily sail your ship down a narrow and foggy bayou avoiding watchtowers or fighting running battles through Havana and trying to escape back to your ship through a burning town as the Royal Navy bombard the port you are hiding at. There are loads of side activities to do like the naval assassination missions where you do everything from sinking ships to boarding a ship to kill its captain or escorting another ship past its enemies. There are various land assassination side missions too, some are in cities and others you have to sail to a lonely cove or hidden smuggling den.

    You can go hunting to collect items for crafting to improve Kenways equipment or make new outfits and hunt on both land at sea, there is a large multi part quest to collect items to unlock a unique piece of armour as well as many other collectibles with unique rewards. The highest end ship upgrades for instance need you to collect the plans and blueprints, you even need to use a diving bell and dive to ship wrecks for some of them. You can capture some of the ships you take and add them to your fleet, your fleet is a strategic mini game where you can send ships on trade or diplomatic missions and take part in turn based fleet battles. The fleet missions also earn you cash, collectibles and upgrade items. There is a huge amount of content in this game as well as the main storyline and I have got nearly 40 hours of gameplay out of it so far, even though I am only 50% or so through the main story so far so good. There are some interesting and iconic characters and the writing and voice acting is good.    … Expand
  73. gvazdas
    Dec 29, 2013
    8
    Being a massive Assassin's Creed fan since day 1 and after the massive failure of a game that was the previous one (Assassin's Creed III), I expected nothing from this game. Surprisingly, it succeeded pretty well and I must say it is one of the better Assassin's Creed games.
    The new locations and setting in general refreshed the game quite a bit. I'm sure anyone who's at least slightly    Being a massive Assassin's Creed fan since day 1 and after the massive failure of a game that was the previous one (Assassin's Creed III), I expected nothing from this game. Surprisingly, it succeeded pretty well and I must say it is one of the better Assassin's Creed games.
    The new locations and setting in general refreshed the game quite a bit. I'm sure anyone who's at least slightly into pirate history will enjoy this game (there are a few characters in the game that did actually exist in real life and were pirates), so I must give a bonus to the devs for, again, educating the players with some history.
    The graphics are amazing, albeit horribly optimized for my system, not to mention the sound design is pretty great as the environment sounds real, to put it bluntly. The shanties are a real fun time in the game they made me just sail and listen for at least a few hours in my total time of gameplay.
    Sadly, the game is still glitchy, which is excusable for such a massive game, with glitchy animations, skipping and missing sounds, not to mention the developers forgot to think about their dynamic weather system in cutscenes.
    The multiplayer is pretty much the same, with a few added things, but still as fun as before (hey, the SP is new, don't complain about MP as it's not the main factor in this game!)
    The only extremely disappointing thing in this game dumbed down mechanics. The AI has been dumed down and now acts very strangely especially in scripted missions so the missions would be easier for the player (distracting someone will only make the tailed person scratch their head and continue on, even if they're suspicious and paranoid) and although the ship fighting has been fleshed out, it has been dumed down as well cannon reload speeds are insane (3 seconds and you can spam your way out of any combat situation as well as no ship sail damage and cannon ammunition type selection), not to mention most ships are the same as the small ones design-wise (speed, weapons, etc, basically dumbed down so the incompetent player could win against a massive man-o-war) and the legendary ship variations make no sense (they can go faster than a jumbo jet, I mean, it's a legendary ship, that gives it a reason to?)
    Overall, I'd say it's a massive improvement over the previous game and definitely worth the price (it's fairly long and will take out at least 30 hours of your playtime and even more if you get addicted to the MP)    … Expand
  74. Banhammer0
    Dec 24, 2013
    7
    I tried to not feel disappointed on this one but I was. a lot. In some aspects Black Flag is an utter failure but in others it's amazingly well done and outshine the previous games in the series by far.
    The bad thing: Modern Abstergo plot
    I'm a fan of Assassin's Creed series and I think what they did with the plot is total BS. I'm talking about the modern-day plot not getting into    I tried to not feel disappointed on this one but I was. a lot. In some aspects Black Flag is an utter failure but in others it's amazingly well done and outshine the previous games in the series by far.
    The bad thing: Modern Abstergo plot
    I'm a fan of Assassin's Creed series and I think what they did with the plot is total BS. I'm talking about the modern-day plot not getting into spoilers here, it was absolutely terrible, both the idea and the execution of it. This was the most disappointing part.
    Another bad thing: GLITCHES, ARMY OF THEM
    Every part of the game is filled with minor glitches, patches fix a lot of them but it's super-common for camera to go crazy or the character having problems with scalling a 0,5 meters tall fence, or character falling to the ground in combat for no reason, or weapons clipping and animations desyncing...you get the idea I hope. It's just very rough on the edges.
    Last but not least: Controls
    It's obvious they are meant for consoles and they suck on PC. It's very hard to control character when free running or in combat. No target lock. Weird aiming (at least we finally have it implemented).

    Now to the good part: The World
    The world is HUUUGE. There are some reused assets but it's still a pleasure to explore new places and gather those little collectibles that I never cared about before.

    Also good: The visuals
    This game is beautiful and there is no denying of it, and it's pretty well optimized aside from some FPS issues, but I was able to almost max it out on GTX 570. Surprisingly good job Ubisoft.

    I'm not really going into details because you can google them...I don't care.
    Mixed feelings, best get it on sale.    … Expand
  75. Budget_Security
    Dec 25, 2015
    4
    After the fairly decent AssCreed3, and considering the many positive reviews for this game, I made the mistake of having slightly higher expectations than usual. This unsurprisingly led to some disappointment (yes, sadly going against the trend in most other reviews). But once I recalibrated my expectations to “standard AssCreed fare”, it was not too bad.

    The story is messy and silly.    After the fairly decent AssCreed3, and considering the many positive reviews for this game, I made the mistake of having slightly higher expectations than usual. This unsurprisingly led to some disappointment (yes, sadly going against the trend in most other reviews). But once I recalibrated my expectations to “standard AssCreed fare”, it was not too bad.

    The story is messy and silly. It has some good parts but most of it is mediocre - overall not as good as AssCreed3 in my opinion. I have the suspicion casual or younger gamers may like it more. It sorely lacks atmosphere when compared to games like Dishonored or The Witcher or films like 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. The script is full of plot holes (even more than usual). Half of the game is fairly serious and makes some sense, but the other half is silly and does not make any sense. This inconsistency harms immersion. The main character is decent, but does not quite have the charisma of Ezio or Haytham from previous games.

    The missions and gameplay built on the story are very bland and repetitive. Almost any potentially interesting story scenario is reduced to a handful of copy-paste follow/sneak/kill/eavesdrop gameplay designs. It seems like the devs were slightly lazier than usual - AssCreed3 missions were far from perfect, but still seemed slightly more varied and hand-crafted.

    The difficulty balance of the gameplay is poor. AI detection feels arcade and inconsistent. Stealth areas are severely overpopulated with guards, meaning you are forced to look at the minimap all the time to have any chance of avoiding detection. If you don't reload checkpoints often, open combat is nearly inevitable, which in turn is far too easy. This makes trying to play stealth frustrating, because the odds feel unfairly stacked against you, and it is always so much easier to just fight and kill everyone. But fighting gets boring quickly - you just spam attacks, then counter when prompted, and repeat that indefinitely.

    The sandbox gameplay has been brought to the fore, but like the main missions, it is very arcade, bland, and repetitive. The open world is large, but most places all look the same. Compared to AC3, there seems to be slightly less content overall, though still more than enough. The problem is a lack of quality, not quantity. Still things like naval battles and boarding enemy ships are novel for a while and work fairly reliably, which is more than can be said of naval battles in a Total War game (Shogun II etc). The sea shanties (songs) are a nice touch, and possibly the single best feature in this game.

    Graphics are the best yet for an AssCreed game, and the first in my opinion to just about match those of Crysis 1 (released 6 years earlier). The water out at sea looks particularly good. The visual quality does not hold up everywhere though - quite a few ugly meshes and textures here and there. The default settings are poorly optimised - you need to manually tweak the settings to get the best visuals while keeping the FPS high. Ship physics are decent and must feel amazing to the average console peasant, but if you have an eye for realism and have been on a real ship, it still leaves much to be desired. Your 150-ton brig behaves like it has the mass and manoeuvrability of a modern olympic racing yacht combined with the stability of a modern river ferry (complete with bow thrusters). You can sail straight into the wind with no speed loss. Enemy ships also handle like powerboats. In some ways the sailing physics were more realistic in AC3 - you could not sail into the wind, and it felt slightly more natural, though admittedly less reliable (momentarily flying ships etc).

    PC controls are as bad as usual. They are not game-breaking, but they do work against you - I messed up a lot of missions because my character would do the wrong thing like randomly climbing a wall. A few times just before successfully capturing a huge enemy ship, I would fall from a mast to my death due to glitched controls. The checkpoint system has its usual annoyances and reloads sometimes caused technical problems like missing quest items (requiring quiting to desktop and reloading). I encountered more bugs and glitches and generally rushed content here than in any previous AssCreed game.

    Overall, for me, AC4 is a mediocre AssCreed game that wasted a lot of potential. It is not a “bad” game, but it does not deserve any of the hyped reviews. I can only recommend it at the steam sale price.    … Expand
  76. taygor
    Dec 18, 2013
    9
    I have not played any of the previous versions of Assassin's Creed, but I have become hooked on Black Flag. The graphics are awesome and the story engaging, the only reason it doesn't get a 10 is because the missions and tasks become somewhat repetitive once you get into the meat of the story. Well worth the buy!
  77. wisefool
    Dec 2, 2013
    10
    This is one of the best pirate games i ever played and It's the best assassin's creed of all time. I humbly recommend this game if you're an assassin's creed & a pirate fan
  78. plotlesviolence
    Jun 29, 2014
    7
    I feel kind of weird liking this game when I absolutely loathed AC3, but I'll try and explain why this iteration kept my attention the whole way through.
    STORY/DESIGN: (5/10) - On the one hand, the story is boring, and there's no real climax/payoff at the end, it's just a-bunch-of-stuff-that-happens that seems to rely on player time investment to make us connect emotionally rather than an    I feel kind of weird liking this game when I absolutely loathed AC3, but I'll try and explain why this iteration kept my attention the whole way through.
    STORY/DESIGN: (5/10) - On the one hand, the story is boring, and there's no real climax/payoff at the end, it's just a-bunch-of-stuff-that-happens that seems to rely on player time investment to make us connect emotionally rather than an interesting plot. On the other hand, the main character is somewhat unique in that his major motivation is making money and he aggressively wants to avoid joining either of the warring factions. But the most important part of the story is that, unlike AC3, it is mostly unobtrusive.
    GRAPHICS: (9/10) - this is a gorgeous looking game in almost every respect. There's a good variety of environments, from period cities of varying elevations (to facilitate the freerunning) to deep jungle to tropical islands.
    GAMEPLAY: (7/10) - this is kind of hit-and-miss, depending on what the game asks of you. Each of the 4 gameplay types represents about a quarter of the experience:
    Ship-to-ship combat is good (7/10), kind of like space combat games if you couldn't move up or down, but what makes it interesting is a very developed, shifting 3D ocean that is constantly buffetting your ship and changing the angles. I also like how quickly you go from sailing to aiming a side cannon at individual enemie on a ship, then swing over on a rope and go straight into hand-to-hand combat. One nice touch is that you can sneak-swim onto an enemy ship that's otherwise overpowered for your ship, kill all the soldiers in hand-to-hand, then return to your ship and conquer the now weakened and crippled ship in one shot. What I dislike about ship-to-ship combat is that, other than size and flag color, basically all ships you fight are identical in look and structure. I feel like they could have designed more than one enemy for you. Additionally, it would have been nice to go below decks for combat, instead of just up the masts once in awhile.
    Freerunning (3/10) hasn't really changed from AC3, but the environments are quite a bit better and smoother, particularly in jumping from tree-to-tree. It's very intuitive, but it's still hold-down-a-button and point the analog stick, whereas any true platformer would require individual presses of the jump button. There's also a swimming mechanic for underwater side missions, which is cool, but slow and eventually gets boring.
    Combat (5/10) has a few new enemy types that often require a different button press (i.e. "stun") to defeat certain enemies, plus the ability to throw enemies (off ledges or into other enemies) instead of insta-kill adds another layer. And sometimes you have to press a button to grab a human shield just before you're shot. But it's still way too easy to be fun most of the time.
    Stealth (5/10) is still functional but not improved. It's still based primarily on moving between bits of grass and insta-killing anything that gets near. Your only other options are a berserker dart (makes an enemy attack his friends), hire dancers to distract guards, and a smoke bomb escape; that's fairly paltry compared to any other stealth game.
    DESIGN: (9/10)
    The game starts with you experiencing the major gameplay types (ship-to-ship combat, freerunning, stealth, then combat) all the in the first mission with only a few seconds of cutscenes intruding on that. There are FAR fewer enforced-slow-walk-for-plot-exposition parts than in AC3, though there are still some. Similarly, you spend very little time in the "future" world outside the animus, another great choice, although even this half-hour total was still the worst part of the game. I never even got to the sailing portion of AC3 because I couldn't tolerate the pathetic "platforming" and the fact that they buried the good stuff so late in the game, but AC4 understands that it is a game and puts its best feet forward. There are a bunch of side missions, and you never have to do any of them more than once if you dislike one. And if you just like open-ended missions where you get to a guarded target and assassinate him, there are like 30 of those as "assassin" side missions. So it's a long game (21 hours) but it held my interest long enough for me to beat it. If they could just make you actually press the "jump" button when they wanted you to jump and made the melee combat more challenging/interesting, this game could have been a 9/10 easily.    … Expand
  79. zaka80
    Dec 4, 2013
    8
    Positive:Fantastic Graphics Mixed:In Pc version the game have bad otimization
    Good continuation of the old stories
    Good Gameplay
    Innovative naval fights
  80. goodlordcz
    Dec 15, 2013
    8
    Assassin's Creed IV stands out in game play and environment, because it is based on pirate culture. Just sailing your ship around, boarding other ships and unlocking new stuff makes the game really fun to play. The story is still pretty good, but it doesn't really have anything to do with the previous games, like AC II. The Assassin order doesn't really have too much influence on theAssassin's Creed IV stands out in game play and environment, because it is based on pirate culture. Just sailing your ship around, boarding other ships and unlocking new stuff makes the game really fun to play. The story is still pretty good, but it doesn't really have anything to do with the previous games, like AC II. The Assassin order doesn't really have too much influence on the story, so AC IV is not exactly a sequel to the previous games. It also offers you some nice graphics, but the performance sometimes is really bad. You will need to have a really good computer to get to the max out of the graphics.
    AC IV has its bad moments, but it is still an excellent game that you should consider buying.    … Expand
  81. divyansh88
    Jan 14, 2014
    9
    well for me i found this game just pure awesome, but i still had a few problems like
    1. a bug at the ending
    2. the story wasnt as good as the old creeds, like enzio well he is the charecter in the francise, but for me edward
    the naval gameplay was epic and basically the backbone of the game, fighting machanics were set right and the sound track was awesome
    in conclusion must buy
  82. NoWanga
    Dec 13, 2013
    0
    This is my Multiplayer review.

    The development of the multiplayer with AC has been right in par with its single player, steadily decreasing. I first multiplayer had some issues, and as they resolved them over time they just created new ones. The scores are basically arbitrary, they make sense in theory until some gets 1200 points for poisoning someone in the first 2 seconds of the    This is my Multiplayer review.

    The development of the multiplayer with AC has been right in par with its single player, steadily decreasing. I first multiplayer had some issues, and as they resolved them over time they just created new ones. The scores are basically arbitrary, they make sense in theory until some gets 1200 points for poisoning someone in the first 2 seconds of the game, or getting 600 points for someones you literally runs right into them. Essentially AC multiplayer is Brink, a fantastic idea that never really landed    … Expand
  83. jspenillo
    Nov 22, 2013
    10
    This game is a lot of fun, and way better then ACIII. The more I play it the more fun I am having. I am slowly traversing the story because there are so many side things to do. Out on the seas sailing your ship its incredible! This game is Huge! Will keep you all sorts of busy. If you haven't bought it yet, I suggest you do! Maybe wait for a Steam Fall Sale (thanksgiving time?) or SteamThis game is a lot of fun, and way better then ACIII. The more I play it the more fun I am having. I am slowly traversing the story because there are so many side things to do. Out on the seas sailing your ship its incredible! This game is Huge! Will keep you all sorts of busy. If you haven't bought it yet, I suggest you do! Maybe wait for a Steam Fall Sale (thanksgiving time?) or Steam Holiday Sale (typically X-mas time)!!!… Expand
  84. kimdba
    Nov 24, 2013
    8
    Open world, sea battle, stealth move and in-game puzzles are things I like. Upgrading system is somewhat dry and not so "open world" thing.

    I spent whole weekend and now getting slightly bored. It is a great game but definitely not as great as Skyrim.
  85. Skilled_Seeker
    Nov 21, 2013
    10
    The best AC game yet. So much better than AC3's campaign. Large beautiful world to explore, variety in the gameplay with land sea and underwater and a seamless transition between these modes, lots to do and find. Missions are less linear gameplay wise and stealth is improved. Multiplayer game lab is an excellent addition.
  86. Mcwipenshiner
    Dec 25, 2013
    10
    I went into this game not expecting much, as in the past Assassin's Creed games were not as satisfying as I'd hoped. On the contrary, this game incorporates much more than just running around a city, climbing walls, and performing assassinations. Unlike it's predecessors, the game is actually very open and allows for the player to explore a vast world unseen in the franchise up to thisI went into this game not expecting much, as in the past Assassin's Creed games were not as satisfying as I'd hoped. On the contrary, this game incorporates much more than just running around a city, climbing walls, and performing assassinations. Unlike it's predecessors, the game is actually very open and allows for the player to explore a vast world unseen in the franchise up to this point. To be honest, I had lost much of my faith in the Assassin's Creed franchise due to it's previous lackluster titles, but AC4's Edward Kenway has restored hope for this series. The story itself draws you in and takes for a ride you would never expect. All in all, I would highly recommend this game to a friend, especially if you ever played and liked "Sid Meier's Pirates! 2".… Expand
  87. idohaker
    Dec 11, 2013
    10
    in my opinion the best assassins creed game in the franchise, although the game is bad optimized for pc i could run it on a 50-60 fps on ultra 1680x1050 with my r9 290, the story is well written, the game is dark and heavy, the gameplay is much improved, the characters are good, and the naval combat is better than ever, i loved ac3 and gave it a 10/10 and most of you didnt like my opinionin my opinion the best assassins creed game in the franchise, although the game is bad optimized for pc i could run it on a 50-60 fps on ultra 1680x1050 with my r9 290, the story is well written, the game is dark and heavy, the gameplay is much improved, the characters are good, and the naval combat is better than ever, i loved ac3 and gave it a 10/10 and most of you didnt like my opinion but for me ac3 is now 7/10 compared to this, but i am giving you a warning, this game is very bad optimized and i guess not everyone have a card like r9 290 or gtx 780 so if you have a low end card stay away from this game, i tried the game on my other pc with a low end card and it was very slow and unplayble, but for the end assassins creed iv is the best in the franchise and i reccomend it to everyone that have a decent pc that can run the game on 30 fps on any setting, (if you want to know check your card benchmark on ac iv in youtube)the best in the franchise in my opinion… Expand
  88. nwmk
    Dec 3, 2013
    8
    Just Assassin´s creed being Assassin´s creed...
    I thing the Black Flag is best Assassin´s creed ever with best story..
    Thank you Ubisoft.
    Blablablabla
  89. DGKONG
    Jan 9, 2014
    0
    ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE, Ubisoft has done NOTHING to fix the server problems, you get disconnected literally EVERY MATCH! The characters are just copy and pasted, and uninspiring.... Ubisoft has done nothing to help us PC gamers and could care less about us! DO NOT BUY!!!!
  90. cryhax
    Dec 9, 2013
    8
    This was great given the rapid release schedule of AC games but far from perfect. The naval elements and game play were spot on however it seemed like the story line was jammed in without tact. That's really the only issue with the game, fitting the main story line in with all the rest. There is _no_ concept of time in this game. Every now and then a character mentions how it's been 5This was great given the rapid release schedule of AC games but far from perfect. The naval elements and game play were spot on however it seemed like the story line was jammed in without tact. That's really the only issue with the game, fitting the main story line in with all the rest. There is _no_ concept of time in this game. Every now and then a character mentions how it's been 5 years that Kenway was captain without any reference to time moving prior to this event. Villain transgressions are lost somewhere along the way and you're left just running around killing people. 'Oh look it's that guy again from a while back, let's kill him for something!' Also, get ready for the ending... it comes almost out of nowhere. The percentage tracker on the main page said I was at 62% completion when the game ended thus nullifying any incentive to complete the optional objectives (which I was planning on doing, personally).

    Final note: For the love of god, do some google-fu about how to optimize this game for your pc specs. I went 75% of the way on garbage settings before adjusting the proper ones. It's much, much better visually and the controls feel smoother after.    … Expand
  91. Qieth
    Dec 22, 2013
    9
    I've been with Assassin's Creed since the blunder that was AC1. To see it evolve into such a comprehensive game over the years is an amazing experience. Black Flag offers more of the same. A lot more. And it's all pick and choose to do what you like. You can get through most of the game without having to deal with things you don't want to, but if you enjoy exploring the waters, there isI've been with Assassin's Creed since the blunder that was AC1. To see it evolve into such a comprehensive game over the years is an amazing experience. Black Flag offers more of the same. A lot more. And it's all pick and choose to do what you like. You can get through most of the game without having to deal with things you don't want to, but if you enjoy exploring the waters, there is plenty for you to see.

    The ship combat is very enjoyable. I didn't like the cumbersome ship combat in AC3, but it's very different in Black Flag. It's smooth, engaging and entertaining. The story is good, the characters are well written and the sheer scale of the world is mindboggling.

    It's like GTA with boats!    … Expand
  92. WestLil0
    Nov 26, 2013
    9
    A definite improvement in graphics! This AC is a mixture of Skyrim with Far Cry 3 you can't get bored. If you want to sail and fight on the seas, you can. If you want to travel on land and kill a few bad guys, you can. Lots of places to explore, including underwater. Some geography lessons are needed, though, since Havana in reality doesn't have mountains around it. I do miss the AssassinA definite improvement in graphics! This AC is a mixture of Skyrim with Far Cry 3 you can't get bored. If you want to sail and fight on the seas, you can. If you want to travel on land and kill a few bad guys, you can. Lots of places to explore, including underwater. Some geography lessons are needed, though, since Havana in reality doesn't have mountains around it. I do miss the Assassin story and continuity, but after playing nearly 30 hours I have only gotten 25% through, so not sure if it will resurface later. In addition to the main mission, the side missions and the assassination contracts keep it varied. This is the kind of game you can play several times without feeling it's repetitive. Great job Ubisoft. Looking forward to the next one already!… Expand
  93. Whiteloaf
    Nov 30, 2013
    8
    Easily the best iteration on the series in a while.
    Why?
    Because it features the least "assassin" gameplay of all entries in the series. Its no surprise that the AC gameplay formula has grown incredibly stale and the Naval battles provide an incredibly addicting way to break up that tedium. On top of that the game looks absolutely gorgeous with 4k textures and fantastic water design.    Easily the best iteration on the series in a while.
    Why?
    Because it features the least "assassin" gameplay of all entries in the series.
    Its no surprise that the AC gameplay formula has grown incredibly stale and the Naval battles provide an incredibly addicting way to break up that tedium.
    On top of that the game looks absolutely gorgeous with 4k textures and fantastic water design. This also makes the game fairly demanding, so dont walk in expecting a smooth experience on a middle to low end system, this is Ubisoft we're talking about, theyre not exactly the optimization experts (Worth noting, there is NO triple buffering. Use RadeonPro or the Nvidia alternative for a MUCH MUCH MUCH smoother framerate. Seriously Ubisoft, what the hell).
    Of course this is all from the perspective of someone who sat out the past 2 iterations in the series. If youve been an avid fan than from what I understand theres not much new in the gameplay department to keep you hooked. The melee combat once again proves to be bewilderingly easy as well, with the counter button being the quintessential win button.
    The story however is far more engaging than the usual assassin tripe of old games. Pirates make for far more entertaining and unusual scenarios than any other backdrop from the previous games, and I dare say I actually cared about seeing the story through to the end.
    The same can not be said for the new abstergo segments though, as the "Assassins creed" part of the story once again proves to be the worst part of the assassins creed series. If only it was never included in the first place...

    tl;dr:
    Pirates GOOD!
    Abstergo BAD!
    Graphics GOOD!
    Optimization BAD!
    Naval combat/exploration GOOD!
    Assassin gameplay Meh....

    Final recommendation: If you haven't played the last one or two its a good place to jump back in. Hopefully they'll spice up the combat in the next iteration.    … Expand
  94. akarnokd
    Jun 19, 2014
    8
    I pretty much enjoyed sailing the ship, the lots of collectibles. At first, the controls felt strange; I almost always pressed the right mouse button to run but in AC4, the free run is mapped to shift, which makes more sense now that I've finished the game. Good thing that now you can set markers via mouse clicks and don't need to switch to keyboard to hit enter once the marker isI pretty much enjoyed sailing the ship, the lots of collectibles. At first, the controls felt strange; I almost always pressed the right mouse button to run but in AC4, the free run is mapped to shift, which makes more sense now that I've finished the game. Good thing that now you can set markers via mouse clicks and don't need to switch to keyboard to hit enter once the marker is positioned via the mouse. Having only limited optional objectives definitely helps avoid the cursing words. The missions were heavy on the usual hide-follow-listen instant fail. Looking for collectibles in towns and cities were fun and now they show up on the map without the need to buy location maps; helps streamline the experience. Two tediousness I encountered were the swimming to shore and back and capturing enemy ships. Both were fun at first, but became slow and somewhat annoying later on. At least the Freedom Cry DLC recognized this and put boats onto shores so one can return to ship immediately.… Expand
  95. Basem101
    Nov 25, 2013
    9
    this game is amazing yes it is and could be the best game in the AC franchise but i don't understand this LAG problem no matter what i do it is there it would the experience much better but for it the gameplay is really good and the story too if you have a very pwerful PC then play this game if not you might not like it because of the problems in the end it is an awesome game and ithis game is amazing yes it is and could be the best game in the AC franchise but i don't understand this LAG problem no matter what i do it is there it would the experience much better but for it the gameplay is really good and the story too if you have a very pwerful PC then play this game if not you might not like it because of the problems in the end it is an awesome game and i would have given it a 10 out of 10 if they just fix this problem… Expand
  96. xTobyMc
    Nov 29, 2013
    9
    Once again Ubisoft have produced an outstanding game, one which I thoroughly enjoyed and can easily put on my top games list for 2013. I myself am a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed series, not necessarily for its combat and action packed world, but for the unique and mysterious storyline regarding Desmond Miles and the 'people who came before'. Throughout every Assassin's Creed game IOnce again Ubisoft have produced an outstanding game, one which I thoroughly enjoyed and can easily put on my top games list for 2013. I myself am a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed series, not necessarily for its combat and action packed world, but for the unique and mysterious storyline regarding Desmond Miles and the 'people who came before'. Throughout every Assassin's Creed game I find myself really wanting to know about the history of the first civilisation within the game, it truly is the one set of games I am completely fixated on.

    Assassin's Creed Black Flag was a nice addition to the series with its enormous and interactive world, with huge emphasis on being a pirate and sailing the seas with your new ship, the Jackdaw. As a personal note, I was not overly impressed with the naval combat, and neither was I in previous games. I found the naval side of this game to be slightly too much for my liking. For example, there's a few missions where you HAVE to upgrade your ship in order to proceed with the mission which includes taking down ships. I was forced to spend a few hours just roaming the seas outside of the main storyline just so I could find resources and attack other ships in order to upgrade my own and proceed with the main storyline. Upgrading your ship is a hassling and tedious process, one which I hope they don't include in future games. Aside from this problem though, the rest of the game was fantastic. I recently got a new GTX 780 graphics card, meaning I was able to max the settings out for this game on PC, and it truly does look phenomenal. I also found the game to be very long, which is a good thing. With previous AC games I have completed the main story within 2-3 days (yes, I like to play them pretty solidly!), but with this game, it took me around 4-5 days, mainly due to having to upgrade my ship all the time.

    As far as combat goes, there's no real change. The weapon system is still very much the same and there aren't any 'mind-blowing' additions. If you've played AC before, you'll fit right into the game without any issues. One thing I wish they'd do is bring more unique weaponry to the game, like they did in Assassin's Creed 2 (my favourite AC game). One thing I also loved about this game was the personality connection you gained with other characters. Black Flag really shows off a personal side to Edward (your character), and you develop strong relationships with other people throughout the game. This is by far the best way to captivate a gamer into a game, and with the great voice acting and facial animation, I felt very much like I was in the story myself.

    Overall I loved it, despite the few issues it has. QUICK NOTE: There is a small sequence after the credits, so don't quit the game before the credits end!    … Expand
  97. gerszom
    Dec 17, 2013
    9
    Definitely the best Assassin's game ever. Main character is much more convincing than Connor. I like the Pirates times better also. Gameplay is marvelous. Especially on see. This is one big innovation. Plot is quite nice, and You won't get bored. It is a pearl for every Pirates and Assassins fun. I miss good old Sid Meier's Pirates! this game is like a surrogate to me. I had many greatDefinitely the best Assassin's game ever. Main character is much more convincing than Connor. I like the Pirates times better also. Gameplay is marvelous. Especially on see. This is one big innovation. Plot is quite nice, and You won't get bored. It is a pearl for every Pirates and Assassins fun. I miss good old Sid Meier's Pirates! this game is like a surrogate to me. I had many great hours with Black Flag. And i don't regret even a minute playing this.… Expand
  98. Apojuice
    Dec 11, 2013
    10
    I have poured hours of gameplay into this game and feel like there is still so much to do. Long games that are of a good quality are rare to find nowadays. Assassins Creed 4 is a master in stealing your time. Once you take the helm upon your trusted vessel and throw caution to the wind as you and your band of pirates sail, plunder and drink your way through a gorgeous virtual recreation ofI have poured hours of gameplay into this game and feel like there is still so much to do. Long games that are of a good quality are rare to find nowadays. Assassins Creed 4 is a master in stealing your time. Once you take the helm upon your trusted vessel and throw caution to the wind as you and your band of pirates sail, plunder and drink your way through a gorgeous virtual recreation of the Caribbean. The graphics are gorgeous on the highest settings and the world never fails to completely immerse you every time you decide to captain the Jackdaw. The ship and ground sections are like playing two different games but they cross-over seamlessly as you can see when boarding another ship. The free-running is also much improved but it still suffers from being a bit imprecise at times. The Underwater segments are amazing and thrilling, a mix of treasure hunting and stealth parts. Overall I think this is my GOTY. I hope Ubisoft keeps this kind of innovation going because if they do, franchising Assassins Creed might not be so bad after all.… Expand
  99. BlackBear
    Nov 25, 2013
    9
    Amazing detail. Several hours of game play. Being a pirate through the Caribbean is amazing fun. Just when you think you have seen it all, Ubisoft makes it better.
  100. Dunk
    Nov 26, 2013
    8
    Gameplay wise, great fun, in particular the naval elements.

    Very poorly optimised for PC hardware though. As with previous A.C games, it's hugely cpu dependant, even if you have a pair of top end cards in SLI.
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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

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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]
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