Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2658 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,006 out of 2658
  2. Mixed: 448 out of 2658
  3. Negative: 204 out of 2658
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. danield80
    Jun 28, 2020
    7
    The sailing part of the game is perfect, entertaining, satisfying.
    The part on foot is worse than in other older and newer ac games. Too simple "run from-bush-to-bush" sneaking, easy combat. Uninspiring assassinations. Most of the missions are "tail" and "eavesdrop." The story is being incessantly interrupted by some "I don't care about" present day chapters.
    Pity, considering the on sea    The sailing part of the game is perfect, entertaining, satisfying.
    The part on foot is worse than in other older and newer ac games. Too simple "run from-bush-to-bush" sneaking, easy combat. Uninspiring assassinations. Most of the missions are "tail" and "eavesdrop." The story is being incessantly interrupted by some "I don't care about" present day chapters.
    Pity, considering the on sea missions are awesome, the graphics are great (for 2013). Ubisoft should've made a new IP only about the sailing. But that wouldn't make that much profit as ac game would do.
    7.7/10    … Expand
  2. barren_sky
    Dec 14, 2013
    6
    I've tried every Assassin's Creed game, and generally walk away very disappointed by the poor mission structures and repetitiveness of what's asked of you. I've never been able to push myself to finish a single one.
    That said, this game is a real love/hate for me. I hate most of the campaign missions, where you sneak along behind someone to listen to their conversation, or chase someone    I've tried every Assassin's Creed game, and generally walk away very disappointed by the poor mission structures and repetitiveness of what's asked of you. I've never been able to push myself to finish a single one.
    That said, this game is a real love/hate for me. I hate most of the campaign missions, where you sneak along behind someone to listen to their conversation, or chase someone through the game's glitchy and often infuriating "parkour" system. But I love the high seas bits. The sea shanties sung by your crew, the intense battles, the feeling of wanderlust. I wish this amazing pirate adventure wasn't stapled to yet another boring Assassin's Creed game. I had a lot of fun with this game, but didn't get past the fourth or so campaign mission before trading it in.    … Expand
  3. flax0174
    Apr 18, 2014
    5
    Where do i begin, the setting is very welcoming and colourful, the characters are quite well written with some believable dialogue. There are plenty of things to do but as with many none rpg games they get extremely repetitive with silly trivial and tedious items to collect, and other menial tasks like escort missions and killing a certain amount of enemies. The controls are extremelyWhere do i begin, the setting is very welcoming and colourful, the characters are quite well written with some believable dialogue. There are plenty of things to do but as with many none rpg games they get extremely repetitive with silly trivial and tedious items to collect, and other menial tasks like escort missions and killing a certain amount of enemies. The controls are extremely irritating and inconsistent, you have to do things in increments, you cant play the game in a fluid manner, for example upon defeating a enemy ship, and are about to board you walk up to your swivel gun mounted on the side of the ship and you cant press the interact button straight away you have to wait for about a second for your character to come to a halt then do so. It gets so infuriating. your character gets stuck to walls and ledges when you don't want to, it practically ruins the game alone. The graphics are ridiculous for a new generation of console, cause its cheaper for ubisoft to use a old engine than produce a new one. There are many auto save glitches as well i was at 33% then the next time i booted up the game it was at 25% i lost about 8-10 hours of progress so after that i just sold it back. The storyline is ridiculously far fetched and pathetic. I wanted to like it really, but it was wrought with repetition and frustration.… Expand
  4. tborney25
    Sep 7, 2014
    5
    AC3 over AC4
    I think that this is a wonderful game in terms of graphics but I think everything else was horrible. Being on the water was one of the worst experiences and this was really downgrade from AC3. The missions and side missions were not intriguing especially the ones on the water. AC3 was fine because only a tiny bit of the game was on the sea so it was sort of a nice change yet    AC3 over AC4
    I think that this is a wonderful game in terms of graphics but I think everything else was horrible. Being on the water was one of the worst experiences and this was really downgrade from AC3. The missions and side missions were not intriguing especially the ones on the water. AC3 was fine because only a tiny bit of the game was on the sea so it was sort of a nice change yet I wouldn't applaud it. The fighting was way too easy, anyone could take out a group of 1,000,000 guys by them self! The game forced you to play the missions and not just roam around because if you did you couldn't do anything! If you make a game like that at least make the missions fun! you didn't need any strategy or be stealthy at all you could just run right into a fort. AC3 over AC4    … Expand
  5. jacoforma
    Nov 25, 2013
    5
    As a big fan of the AC series and a huge supporter of AC3 I can say I'm massively disappointed in AC4. Nothing has improved since AC3 and worse yet things actually degraded. Let's start with simple water graphics. They went from beautiful and realistic last-gen to looking like, well, AIR in the current gen. Swimming will give you the impression you're flying. It's embarrassing. Also,As a big fan of the AC series and a huge supporter of AC3 I can say I'm massively disappointed in AC4. Nothing has improved since AC3 and worse yet things actually degraded. Let's start with simple water graphics. They went from beautiful and realistic last-gen to looking like, well, AIR in the current gen. Swimming will give you the impression you're flying. It's embarrassing. Also, fighting did not improve at all. It's still basically a turn-based system where multiple opponents will wait for you to finish with the current opponent. The biggest step back is the ship fighting. AC3 made ship fighting a blast with sailors yelling and cannons booming. AC4, however, makes ship fighting a quiet and boring affair that will make you want to pop the AC3 disk back in. Me sad.… Expand
  6. cimerians
    Mar 13, 2014
    6
    I'm new and I know nothing of Assassin's Creed. My take:

    The game mostly assume's you are familiar with the AC games, you will find yourself wondering about the modern day desk job cutscene and sometimes wondering where to go and what to do. The sync thing isn't explained (where the map reveals itself slowly) among other things. So expect to wonder about things and how things work the    I'm new and I know nothing of Assassin's Creed. My take:

    The game mostly assume's you are familiar with the AC games, you will find yourself wondering about the modern day desk job cutscene and sometimes wondering where to go and what to do. The sync thing isn't explained (where the map reveals itself slowly) among other things. So expect to wonder about things and how things work the first few hours of the game. I asked a friend to fill me in a bit and that helped.

    Basically its a pirate world with things to collect and things to kill. Not much else.

    The world is pretty but everything feels static. Nothing is really interactive. Its nice to have a colorful vibrant world but for me it didnt seem real or immersive. Mainly because I felt like I was a superhero running around in the city filled with automatons who did basically nothing. Nobody moves or acts like you so it makes the whole thing seem fake. It's hard to explain.

    Its fun at times but more often that not I got bored. If you love collecting things and killing things then this game is pretty good (or if you love pirates). Personally I found the enemiespeople rather stupid and easy to "assassinate". Basically walk right up to them and click the "assassinate" button and your done. Rinse, repeat. There's the occasion where you chase after some normal person who hops around roofs better than you do and also another side activity like waiting patiently to pounce upon or chase some flying musical note.

    The storyline and stealth game play leave much to be desired. Its absurd but I can see it being fun for some people, maybe just not for me.    … Expand
  7. wavylife
    Mar 20, 2014
    6
    This game is repetitive and boring. Having to sail hours of your life away is by no means fun. AC2 remains the only game I have enjoyed to the end in this series.
  8. amonarith
    Dec 12, 2013
    5
    In a small summary:
    BEST sea game ever, hands down.
    a very AVERAGE assassins creed game, absolutely nothing special other than what is in the sailing and WORST pirate game I've ever played. The absolute worst and most disappointing thing about this game is they will never be able to redo this. I understand that the whole open world sailing was an ENORMOUS accomplishment, that aspect    In a small summary:
    BEST sea game ever, hands down.
    a very AVERAGE assassins creed game, absolutely nothing special other than what is in the sailing
    and WORST pirate game I've ever played.

    The absolute worst and most disappointing thing about this game is they will never be able to redo this. I understand that the whole open world sailing was an ENORMOUS accomplishment, that aspect was absolutely fabulous. In no way am I knocking that, but I have to say there were three things about this game that in my opinion made it go from what could have been a 10 to a 6.5.

    The assassins story was way too rushed and way too little. There is almost 0 character building, I'm not saying characters dont develop, but there is no building up to it, suddenly with no story things vastly change. (compared to ac3, id give 5/5 for story and this 3/5)
    The Pirate story was the real death of this game in my opinion. Kenway is clearly more of a pirate than a templar, yet his wardobe is assassin, which..I understand, but give it a pirate kick to it, for god's sake at least give the man a captains hat when your in his status. Then the fact that all of the pirates are friends...that was a knife to the heart. I know how disappointed i was at the lack of drunkards running around, of other pirates trying to steal from you; of gun shots in the streets of tortuga or ANYTHING piratey. It was pretty much just like any other ac game except sailing ships, and seeing other famous pirates. I at least really can't explain enough how entirely I was disappointed by the pirate story. There should have been two main stories going on side by side, his two lives being shown instead of craming them together in an extremely half assed way.
    Lastly, the grpahics were great, sure. In my opinion though that doesnt mean much when they cant include such simple and small things such as when I wear armor that doesnt have a hood, dont have the cut and paste action of him pulling his hood up. That the way that blackbeard talks about you in the intro you would think that people would treat you the way they fear, children and women should run, the guards should know who you are all the time with no way from relieving you of that other than staying in pirate territory.

    All in all, i would play ac3 for the fourth time before ac4 the second. Solely because of how disappointing how short and small the game was after all the hype, and how horrible they did with the pirate side.    … Expand
  9. RealMuthaF
    Oct 6, 2018
    6
    So, after roughly 4 years of abstinence, I've decided to go back to the AC franchise where I left off. And, unsurprisingly, Black Flag turns out to be a mere reskin of AC3 that had come out just a year before it.

    The core gameplay is exactly the same as before - parkour, dull combat and expanded ship fights. The ships were already there in AC3, here they just replace horses as a means    So, after roughly 4 years of abstinence, I've decided to go back to the AC franchise where I left off. And, unsurprisingly, Black Flag turns out to be a mere reskin of AC3 that had come out just a year before it.

    The core gameplay is exactly the same as before - parkour, dull combat and expanded ship fights. The ships were already there in AC3, here they just replace horses as a means of traveling between cities. As a result, we get a pretty cool sailor atmosphere, although it's all ruined by the game's repetitiveness. It's pretty great to board an enemy ship and bring its crew to their knees, but on the 30-50th time? Not so much. Same goes for underwater swimming, whale hunting and the rest of the mini-games AC IV offers. The 3 main cities themselves are largely unremarkable, and, what I found very disappointing, are not connected to the main open world - whenever you approach a city, there's a loading screen.

    The story and characters are among the worst of the franchise - Kenway is a dull stereotypical scoundrel type with a heart of gold, who predictably and implausibly changes his ways closer to endgame. All of the side cast are boring pirates who do pirate stuff - drink rum, argue and kill people. It's cool that they're based off real historical figures, but with such poor writing I couldn't care less about the forced drama associated with some of them. And the main plot is also unbearably boring - you start looking for yet another "precursor" artifact, then spend half the missions doing filler sh*t like searching for supplies for your bland pirate friends, then you get back to looking for the artifact. Amazing.

    So, to sum up, this game is a mediocre oversized DLC for Assassin's Creed 3 with a ridiculously poor story, same gameplay and a cool atmosphere than runs out due to repetitiveness. It doesn't deserve a "IV" in its title and I can't believe why some people on the Web would count this as one of the franchise's best. Had I played this right after AC3, my score would've been even lower.    … Expand
  10. tjames1986
    Dec 12, 2013
    5
    This is the most fun I've had playing an Assassin's Creed game, but like the other titles, the absurd and heavy-handed narrative get's in the way of all the fun. The combat is mindless and boring, and the occasional dramatic woosh & slow-motion finishing move is a needless distraction to the obscene unilateral violence I'm dolling out. The story missions are tedious, the difficultyThis is the most fun I've had playing an Assassin's Creed game, but like the other titles, the absurd and heavy-handed narrative get's in the way of all the fun. The combat is mindless and boring, and the occasional dramatic woosh & slow-motion finishing move is a needless distraction to the obscene unilateral violence I'm dolling out. The story missions are tedious, the difficulty birthed out of attempts to navigate the somewhat wonky free-running and stealth mechanics (both feel terribly outdated).

    But naval battles are fun! An upgradeable ship with scaling boarding mechanics really steals the show, but doesn't feel fleshed out enough as 'black flag' sounds like a game that would focus on naval combat Your ship occupies a moderate category not too big, not too small going up against various size ships, but after your begin to upgrade, your small ship feels invincible boarding becomes an annoying array of strategies to blow up barrels, kill officers, cut down flags, and massacre an arbitrary number of red-shirt-like crew members. It feels like an afterthought, and I would've liked more flexibility in ship size and firepower, allowing players to play dart like schooners against man o' wars. Sure it doesn't really fit the whole 'playing through history' idea the series has been based on, but to be fair: the restrictions of playing through history are conveniently employed: mostly for blocking players out of areas so they'll progress the story.

    Although the world is big, large islands rarely have more than a sand bar or two to explore for collectables, all are surrounded by a homogenous cliff- with-jungle texture.

    I did enjoy myself but AC has begun to feel stale on delivery. Combat is too simple, story is garbage grandiose pseudo-religious futurist schmaltz, open-world if open-world is long pretty stretches of road between prefab cities. It loses in the details and that's the only reason I love big company productions like these details afforded by huge sums of money and large development teams.    … Expand
  11. 1234
    May 9, 2014
    5
    pirate part of the game=good, but from the assassins creed franchise viewpoint its poor. every mission was pretty much the same (follow this guy, follow that guy.... oh now earsdrop on the conversation...kill. then it restarts) i havnt even finished it and im bored out of my **** mind
  12. Haddex
    Mar 29, 2015
    7
    If you are going to spend A LOT of hours with secondary missions fine, but if you just want to go through the main history...be ready to feel frustrated like hell, repeating the same unbalanced ship battle over and over and over.
    Resources to improve your ship are totally crazy, specially metal. And warehouses (where you find metal) don't resupply even if the main history advanced    If you are going to spend A LOT of hours with secondary missions fine, but if you just want to go through the main history...be ready to feel frustrated like hell, repeating the same unbalanced ship battle over and over and over.
    Resources to improve your ship are totally crazy, specially metal. And warehouses (where you find metal) don't resupply even if the main history advanced years...pretty pathetic.    … Expand
  13. calo
    Dec 27, 2013
    5
    I'll admit that the new Assassin's Creed game is brilliant, but it's not what I wanted.
    Firstly, the world is far larger, and great, you can explore the Caribbean via ship whenever you want, there's no loading between going onto the ship and onto land, however, larger settlements do require a bit of loading (Nassau, Kingston/Port Royal, Havana). It's by far the best game of the series and    I'll admit that the new Assassin's Creed game is brilliant, but it's not what I wanted.
    Firstly, the world is far larger, and great, you can explore the Caribbean via ship whenever you want, there's no loading between going onto the ship and onto land, however, larger settlements do require a bit of loading (Nassau, Kingston/Port Royal, Havana). It's by far the best game of the series and has a number of side-actives.

    However; the game's storyline is like a mix of set mini-games. For me, I expected multiple endings but no just like assassin's creed III, you have to do all the set objectives and optional objectives if you are aiming for 100% completion. I would accept this if the game was actually COMPLETELY historically accurate, and yet you can go around taking huge forts with one ship which is pretty dire.

    I also felt slightly let down by the modern day storyline, which feels like some sad, boring video you are forced to watch, where you do nothing. Little is actually accomplished in this segment of the game.

    The multiplayer is the exact same as AC3, apart from "Game Lab", which allows players to make their own games. However, it's almost impossible to find ones previously played on ie. Frantic mode ?
    Uplay doesn't even work right, it constantly asks for the redemption code and I can't get ANY ac3 exclusives despite signing up for ACinitiates.

    The side-actives are more like collectibles, which you can no longer do upon completing and run out pretty quickly.

    I was also annoyed with the "Freedom Cry" DLC you play as another pirate and visit Port-au-Prince, which is good. However, Edward cannot access this area? Why is this I feel that this is awkward as it doesn't allow me to explore the area as him (which I would have preferred).

    It's a great game which I highly recommend, but the areas which I wanted to change didn't...
    I am most annoyed with Uplay which is just terrible.    … Expand
  14. Seilof
    Sep 24, 2014
    7
    Meh...

    Its pretty ok! As a pirate game, it's a 8.5/10 or something like that. As an assassins creed game, it's still good. But at the end I felt a bit bored, but the pirating was still fun!
  15. Rainwhole
    Oct 15, 2014
    7
    Why not just make it a pirate game? Black Flag is a game held back because of it's misguided Assassin's Creed tittle. An identity that forces itself on some truly fascinating elements, making an odd mix.

    The naval combat is back from AS3, and it's still awesome. On top of that you got a bunch of other activities like whaling (no, I DON'T support animal cruelty but for the sake of    Why not just make it a pirate game? Black Flag is a game held back because of it's misguided Assassin's Creed tittle. An identity that forces itself on some truly fascinating elements, making an odd mix.

    The naval combat is back from AS3, and it's still awesome. On top of that you got a bunch of other activities like whaling (no, I DON'T support animal cruelty but for the sake of historic accuracy I approve), and sailing through a storm is a truly impressive and intense moment. The thing is, all those things get all after a while, specially on a game asking for many hours of dedication.

    So what's the problem here? Well, on top of the naval exploration. You have all your traditional Assassin's Creed activities like spying, stalking, and of course assassinating. Mind you, all these elements work perfectly find but in my honest opinion they don't match the pirating theme.

    I just wish, Black Flag would have been just a pirate game, and with a focus of pirate activities. Give us pillaging, in depth treasure quests, or the option to become buccaneers. The Assassin's Creed games are fantastic (mostly), but this combination of a pirate game and an AS game is depriving us from two amazing games. One amazing pirate game, and another amazing AS game.    … Expand
  16. Pirante
    Mar 14, 2017
    6
    First ever Assassins Creed game I'd played and I was both surprised (pleasantly) and disappointed. The game looks pretty despite being a last-gen game and was easy enough to get involved in and find joy. I liked going around destroying things, fighting, upgrading my ship, etc etc it's fun...but it gets repetitive. The main missions, in particular, are far more of a chore than a pleasureFirst ever Assassins Creed game I'd played and I was both surprised (pleasantly) and disappointed. The game looks pretty despite being a last-gen game and was easy enough to get involved in and find joy. I liked going around destroying things, fighting, upgrading my ship, etc etc it's fun...but it gets repetitive. The main missions, in particular, are far more of a chore than a pleasure and something you do laboriously to progress the game as opposed to being intrigued by the story.

    The open world aspect is were the game shines - I just wish it was a bit more expansive (i.e. possibilty of changing ships, more extensive upgrades, etc) - the main game is the boring part (collecting tons of pointless things, doing boring stealthy missions). I also found the controls to be far from perfect, lots of incorrect inputs or unwanted actions. The parkour aspect also malfuncions and glitches from time to time, not game breaking by any means, but frequent enough to grate.

    It is a decent game overall - the sad thing is the potenial it has - if this was realised we could be talking about an absolute classic. Instead it is a decent game but a near-miss - I picked my copy up during the black friday deals so paid less than US$10 - at that price it is worth a look - at full retail price I think probably not.    … Expand
  17. 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
  18. rodericrinehart
    Jan 30, 2016
    7
    A fun action-movie romp, with too much focus in the animus, and honestly, a pirate game in an Assassin's Creed skin. Doesn't really utilize the power of the PS4 due to being on all the old consoles.
  19. hectorefz
    Jan 23, 2014
    5
    Es un buen juego con respecto a assassins creed 3, pero como el 3, tiene bugs. todavia no es posbile realizar los "eventos" para el trofeo y al parecer ubisoft se olvido de esto.
  20. intrepidis
    Jan 4, 2014
    7
    A good game, but could be better. Visuals: the sea, ships, towns and animals look great. The resolution and frame-rate are both impeccable. Although the character models are sharp and move great, I find the skin textures are too shiny to be believable. (Maybe I've been spoilt by Heavy Rain The Last of Us?) Audio: music is spot on, sound effects are great. Sailing the seas and listening toA good game, but could be better. Visuals: the sea, ships, towns and animals look great. The resolution and frame-rate are both impeccable. Although the character models are sharp and move great, I find the skin textures are too shiny to be believable. (Maybe I've been spoilt by Heavy Rain The Last of Us?) Audio: music is spot on, sound effects are great. Sailing the seas and listening to your crew sing sea shanties heightens the experience.

    Gameplay: At first I just wanted to get on a ship and sail to new islands, to explore on my own... But I found the game shepherding me too much and I had to fulfill its tasks, which was annoying. After a while the game opened up and I could explore as I wanted, but the thrill had kind of passed by then. (I'm probably being too harsh here.) Another thing is that big blue unbelievable walls (Animus style) appear telling you that you can't proceed in certain directions while in the current mission. I hate that. In fact, the whole Animus idea really destroys the illusion of the game (and previous Assassin Creed games). All Animus sections are boring... I just want to be a pirate. Anyway, you eventually find the strength to ignore all this nonsense.

    Summary: a lovely game, marred by some annoyances, but well worth a playthrough. The companion app (for your phone/tablet) is also brilliant.    … Expand
  21. gustavorios2
    Nov 23, 2013
    6
    great game! I really like the way assassins creed franchise evolved

    shame it DON'T SUPPORT 21:9 ASPECT RATIO like most of ubi games... that's a -1
    What the ultra-wide users do? play in a small screen on the center of the monitor?
  22. jack2059
    Feb 6, 2014
    6
    Do not be fooled.
    I hated AC3, it was a buggy mess. But the lure of this beautiful looking open world pulled me in to the series again.
    And for the first few hours of this game, it feels like something special. Very fun ship combat, great exploring and a lovely colorful world. But then you are reminded, its just ANOTHER Assassins Creed. As the game moves on, you are on foot more and    Do not be fooled.
    I hated AC3, it was a buggy mess. But the lure of this beautiful looking open world pulled me in to the series again.
    And for the first few hours of this game, it feels like something special. Very fun ship combat, great exploring and a lovely colorful world. But then you are reminded, its just ANOTHER Assassins Creed.

    As the game moves on, you are on foot more and more often, and this is where the game falls apart.
    The 5 game old combat, could be done blindfolded. The variety offered in the form of different shaped/dressed enemies is plain annoying. A fat guy who throws a grenade, one who cant be attacked, one you have to counter. Its just so blurgh.
    Weapons are again pretty limited considering the depth early games had.

    Then add on the climbing and running aspects, as usual you will spend countless hours running up the wrong wall, jumping when you didn't ask it to.
    I write this review on the back of one of the oh so fun trailing missions, 2 minutes of slow walking, i ascend to a rooftop to kill my target, only for the game to jump on to one of his guards 5 meters behind him. 3 times i've centered my screen on him, watched him flash and flicker as he becomes my target, only for the game to decide otherwise.

    That point also brings up the mission design. Ubisoft, please stop thinking we enjoy walking slowly behind people for 5 minutes, only to be seen at the end and have to restart the entire thing.
    Or to eavesdrop on a conversation, and have to follow our target through a camp full of enemy men.
    Even Assassinate missions/contracts have become so mundane, no longer do you need to work a position and take guards out. Now just stand back and shoot a berserk dart at them and walk away.

    It would also be nice if Ubisoft didn't treat me like an idiot. I left my ship alone, i go to the mission, and suddenly my quartermaster is beside me, i leave the cut scene and he has vanished.
    I silently kill a target as he stops off at the first of a few areas, two bodyguards and a few area guards. I kill him from a haystack, and in the cut scene am then putting his clothes on, what happened to his guards?

    How in the world this series moves on from here i have no idea. The series was flat lining until they brought in ship travel, that helped to gloss over the old lazy boring gameplay. If they do indeed bring out another game this year, or even two like has been rumored (one for each generation of console), it needs to take the game in a crazy new way. But please, just let Creed die. Give us a new Prince of Persia.

    PS, i havent mentioned the story cause frankly, i have no idea what it is, and i dont care. The game is made in a way that you very rarely actually do story missions, you get distracted with collectibles and side missions and travelling so often.    … Expand
  23. Leandro36
    Dec 1, 2013
    7
    Story is weak and hard to follow at times, too many ship and tailing missions, but other than that it easily improves vastly from the other games and does everything other than the story much better.
  24. m0rb
    Nov 27, 2013
    6
    okay, let's get some things out of the way first...
    I am NO console fan-boy, not a cheerleader for PlayStation, nor for XBoX!
    I am a PC-gamer and a proud one, too... for that, my review is focussing on the differences between this "next Gen" and the good ole' PC. I'll write something about the game first in this part I and later in part II I'll say something about this PS4 version.    okay, let's get some things out of the way first...
    I am NO console fan-boy, not a cheerleader for PlayStation, nor for XBoX!

    I am a PC-gamer and a proud one, too... for that, my review is focussing on the differences between this "next Gen" and the good ole' PC.
    I'll write something about the game first in this part I and later in part II I'll say something about this PS4 version.

    I. (the game itself):

    I played ALL parts of the AC franchise and while I didn't like them all, I didn't hate all either.
    "Black Flag" is in my opinion the best AC yet!
    This is so, because they took what I loved about ACIII the most, sea-fights, and built their game around that, plus I absolutely adore pirates since I was a kid.
    The setting in the carribean is just great and while the islands are pretty small, this has the upside of the islands not overwhelming you with their sheer size.
    On the other hand, when in a sea-fight, it can be annoying when you crash with your ship into a sandbank, for there's yet another island in your way... ;)
    Anyway, LOVE the seafights and the "boat-play" and I LOVE how the world looks in this installment, with bright colors and a turquoise sea. Just beautiful!
    Normal combat is as dull as it has always been it's just always the same. Swing sword, wait for a chance to counter, then counter and kill your enemy that's it. But then again, hasn't it always been as dull as it is now? I think yes, it was always like this.
    Storyline is nice, from what I've seen until now I'm not yet through atm. Missions are, again, more of the same, which can be dull at some points and they should come up with more new ideas, IMO...
    But, on the gameplay itself, "AC Black Flag" is a solid game and I'd give it 8/10 points.

    Part II: the PS4 version...

    I own the game on my PC and now I visited a friend, who proudly wanted to brag with his new PS4, asking me, with a stupidly arrogant grin on his face, whether I'd had seen any game as beautiful as this ever before in my life.... unfortunately, I HAD TO tell him straight-out "YES!" OMG, yes! He wouldn't believe me that my version on PC looked better than his PS4 version not enough that I didn't even have a top-of-the-line graphics-card, for mine was mid-range and is almost 3 years old...
    So we kept on playing for an hour more and I took him to my home, where he could witness proof of the PCs advantage over his PS4.
    He didn't want to believe me, but when he actually saw proof of my not lieing, he almost teared-up! Yes, he really was about to cry.
    And as I had mentioned, I use a "Radeon HD 5850 Xtreme", an 2 year old reboot of an almost 4 years old GPU that runs OC, but lacks some functions of the newest GPUs and, as I said, it isn't even an expensive top-of-the-line graphics-card...

    Nevertheless, the graphics on PC even a mid-range PC, mind you!, the graphics look just better on PC!
    Everything is clearer, more crisp AND I run a game in AT LEAST 30 FPS, many games even in constantly 60 FPS...

    Apart from graphics, I didn't notice that many differences between PC and PS4 controls on PS4 were equally great on both systems, which leaves the PC on the throne of "great gaming experience", IMO.
    I honestly have hoped for this "next Gen" of consoles to finally become better than a decent PC (not top-of-tzhe-line, I must remind you!that consoles will NEVER achieve!), but, unfortunately, this "next Gen" is not quite there yet and even my "3 years old mid-range rig"(!) is still kicking this consoles ass!
    I hope that this has only been the case for the games aren't quite there yet, but then again, even if it really were for "AC BF" being one of the very first PS4 games that it could NOT beat my PC YET, I have to remind everybody sharing this hope that, in December I'm gonna buy an "enthusiasts" GPU (GFX 780 Ti), the best there is out there at the moment and with that, I don't think ANY of the next 3 years PS4 games could beat my PC then!

    on this particular PS4 version, I have to rate "AS: BF" only 4/10

    which leaves us with:

    game itself: 8/10
    PS4 version: 4/10

    OVERALL: 6/10    … Expand
  25. hemmo1986
    Jun 3, 2014
    6
    Assassin's creed: Black flag is interesting in the fact that, while giving the appearance of a fresh new,massive world, it becomes clear after a few hours of hands on time, that assassin's creed black flag is indeed just another game in the franchise with a new coat of paint.

    While the setting may have changed from European mainlands, to beautiful Caribbean island locations; the    Assassin's creed: Black flag is interesting in the fact that, while giving the appearance of a fresh new,massive world, it becomes clear after a few hours of hands on time, that assassin's creed black flag is indeed just another game in the franchise with a new coat of paint.

    While the setting may have changed from European mainlands, to beautiful Caribbean island locations; the game-play has widely remained unchanged. From the typical tail the NPC missions, to the unchanged combat mechanics, dated character animations, and physics.That' s not to say this game doesn't have its moments, because it certainly does.

    Sailing the high seas is extremely enjoyable, while also taking in the beautiful locations and activities the game has to offer.

    The new setting offers pretty oceans and islands, it really isn't that graphically outstanding.
    Quite disappointing really.

    This game is a fun and entertaining one, it just doesn't offer anything drastically new or innovating for the series. Being an assassin's creed game, you should truly know what to expect.    … Expand
  26. SolarGaming
    Jan 1, 2014
    7
    Single Player:
    Gameplay: While the core features are still there the actual feeling of Assassins Creed, at least for me, is not there. The combat is simple, but a bit too easy. In the earlier Assassins Creed games when you were fighting a target you at least had a challenge in open combat, but here you take them out by countering once or twice and doing a quick slash, or stab to finish    Single Player:
    Gameplay: While the core features are still there the actual feeling of Assassins Creed, at least for me, is not there. The combat is simple, but a bit too easy. In the earlier Assassins Creed games when you were fighting a target you at least had a challenge in open combat, but here you take them out by countering once or twice and doing a quick slash, or stab to finish him. Naval combat is a blast and where this game really shines, it's innovative system where random events at sea, such as storms or a convoy, can infuriate you with wanting those 132 Kegs or so of Rum in the British Frigate, but you know you really can't take it at that strength. You really can't get any new ships, you pretty much just upgrade the Jackdaw (Your personal Brig) with more Broadside Guns, Hull Resistance, and etc. The story had some shocking moments and really touching character scenes that I won't spoil, overall the Single Player for Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag was really good, especially the story.

    Multiplayer: While I really didn't dive far in to the Multiplayer I played enough to get the gist of at least what most people will be doing on the game. Missing a HUGE opportunity the game didn't add a Navy Battle game mode to the Multiplayer, the retical didn't seem to function very properly seemingly going a little to the right, but of course this could just be my skill level in the Multiplayer. The level editor I couldn't get to work for me but it seems most people could. Overall the Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag Multiplayer was kind of disappointing.
    Overall:
    Likes:
    A Great Story, with great characters, and writing.
    Naval Combat was really innovative for the franchise.
    Ship Customization.
    Random Events

    Dislikes:
    Difficulty
    Multiplayer    … Expand
  27. TheCartoon77
    Mar 8, 2014
    5
    Take my advice and try not to get this on next generation. Its not worth paying extra. I found this out when I sank a ship, and it sank right through my ship. Also the graphics are just above average. Kenway's face moved like it was stuck in a irritating smirk. I found when I killed an enemy they fly a foot forwards when they have been struck by my hideously overpowered swords. HalfwayTake my advice and try not to get this on next generation. Its not worth paying extra. I found this out when I sank a ship, and it sank right through my ship. Also the graphics are just above average. Kenway's face moved like it was stuck in a irritating smirk. I found when I killed an enemy they fly a foot forwards when they have been struck by my hideously overpowered swords. Halfway through the game I knew none of my enemy's stood a chance against me when I gained two swords, four pistols, a dart shooter, two hidden blades, smoke bombs, throwing knives and money. All challenge was removed from the game at this point even when I wasn't even trying to accomplish anything. The story missions are the more repetitive than the resident evil series. Nearly all of them require you to tail or eavesdrop on the enemy. They are so easy I was just running on rooftops try to keep up with them. But one thing I noticed, WHERE ARE THE ASSASSINATION MISSIONS? They should have just called this game 'Pirates Creed'. There are only about three in the entire game. It trys to cover this up by having assassins side missions. These only require you to kill a target to get 1000 Reales. There can be a 500 bonus if you stay out of combat. This can be so easy, when I got the berserk darts I was trying to get my target killed by his guards. Sailing is fun as it gets with trying to get cargo from other ships to either sell or use to upgrade your ship. I tried to ignore the ships level, and just see how long it took for the ship to move another way other than the way I was going. Eventually we were just going in circles. Don't bother trying to board a ship unless you want to lower your wanted level or want to send it to 'Kenway's Fleet'. You still get the ships loot regardless of how you destroy it. Kenways fleet is just a small and unnecessary add-on to the game. Its just another way to get more money. The characters are boring and all have a similar personality. They all seem to be okay with Kenway risking his life for their gain. The franchise has got better since the disappointing third installment. The final overview of this is it is not worth getting skull edition or the season pass because you will get bored very quickly with this.… Expand
  28. sgtdegrandis
    Oct 8, 2014
    6
    It was fun but like all Assassin creed games only the first time really counts.

    the goods o naval combat was amazing and taking on man of wars is always fun o naval Songs was great o very little load screens o a true open world experience o combat is as always top notch the bads o main character not really an assassin (kinda lame considering its assassins creed) o underwater    It was fun but like all Assassin creed games only the first time really counts.

    the goods
    o naval combat was amazing and taking on man of wars is always fun
    o naval Songs was great
    o very little load screens
    o a true open world experience
    o combat is as always top notch
    the bads
    o main character not really an assassin (kinda lame considering its assassins creed)
    o underwater diving was kinda lame
    o the story in general is really getting confusing    … Expand
  29. BuyukBurak
    Apr 14, 2015
    7
    Assassin's Creed 4 is the Pirate game. Graphics are good gameplay is not bad. Story is Mediocre. I like this game but this is not AC game.

    My score 7/10
  30. fireyose
    Nov 2, 2017
    7
    Much better than the games before it. The beginning is a rush to play as you discover all the features the game world has. Unfortunately that momentum dies in the middle, where the missions become dull and dragged out with repetitive action. What didn't help was my interest in collecting all items on a given island. This slowed the game down drastically, so i decided to mainly focus on theMuch better than the games before it. The beginning is a rush to play as you discover all the features the game world has. Unfortunately that momentum dies in the middle, where the missions become dull and dragged out with repetitive action. What didn't help was my interest in collecting all items on a given island. This slowed the game down drastically, so i decided to mainly focus on the story and the momentum built right back up.

    Overall: High fun factor, movement is still heavy/clunky and there is plenty to do/explore. One of my favorite AC games!    … Expand
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

7
#7 Best PS4 Game of 2013
3
#3 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2013
4
#4 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. GamingTrend
    Apr 20, 2014
    90
    The PlayStation 4 version of the game is mechanically the same as the PlayStation 3 version, but the new engine is eye-poppingly awesome.
    Read full review
  2. Merlin'in Kazanı (Turkey)
    Jan 30, 2014
    83
    Ubisoft significantly improved the multiplayer side of things. Also, story takes you places.
    Read full review
  3. Thunderbolt
    Jan 4, 2014
    80
    It’s difficult to imagine Assassin’s Creed ever leaving the sea behind.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »