From Philosophy to Piracy

After completing Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (which I enjoyed very much), my yearning for more assassination didn't feel fully sated.  Not to mention the fact that Steam was right in the middle of its Autumn Sale (just call it Black Friday, Steam--we all know that's what you mean!), so it was the perfect time to look into expanding my recently piqued interest in the long-running Assassin's Creed series.  I decided to pick up three other games in the series; Assassin's Creed 4:  Black Flag, Syndicate, and Origins.  I had read that many people consider Black Flag to be the best game in the series and Syndicate and Origins were mentioned as praiseworthy entries.  I've decided to continue my AC journey on the high seas of the Caribbean during the golden age of pirates in Black Flag.

Edward's crew is an assortment of pirate types.

The protagonist in Black Flag is the roguishly handsome Edward Kenway.  Kenway has been introduced as Welshman who has married above his station and who wants to make a fortune.  He decides that the best way to make his fortune is to head off to sea as a privateer (AKA pirate).  After joining up with a crew he finds himself aboard a ship that is attacking a larger English ship.  The firefight is fierce--cannons are booming and ships are ramming each other.  The battle doesn't turn out well for either ship involved, both sustain heavy damage and are sunk.  Edward manages to survive the sinking and finds himself washed ashore on a deserted island--but he's not the sole survivor; a mysteriously hooded Englishman has also survived and has washed up on the beach.  As both men awaken, the hooded figure runs and Edward pursues him.  Upon catching the mysterious character a sword fight ensues and Edward finds himself victorious.  He rummages through the pockets (AKA looting--but it does feel very rummag-ey in Black Flag) and discovers that this man isn't a regular English soldier but is an assassin in possession of a strange object--a small, glass cube.  A letter carried by the assassin implores him to reach a contact in the nearby major city of Havana...it also conveniently mentions that the contact has no idea what this assassin looks like--the perfect opportunity for some 18th century identity theft!  Edward decides to assume the identity of this assassin and head to Havana.  He finds a group of pirates actively searching for the assassin on the opposite end of the island, and after some brief sneaking and assassinating, he manages to find a place aboard a ship heading to Havana.

I've definitely noticed that Black Flag feels much more like a stealth/parkour game than Odyssey does.  Edward can handily scamper up the side of a building and scramble across rooftops like a wily, stray cat.  There are fewer RPG-like features--no dialogue options, no talent points, and no fancy loot system.  Like Odyssey, there is a sprawling map filled with various locations to explore (it's nowhere near to the insane size of ancient Greece, but for a game from 2013, it is impressive).

The highlight of my early adventures in the land of piracy has been the naval combat.  Edward's ship, the Jackdaw, starts off as a ramshackle tub in desperate need of some upgrades.  Even in this early stage the ship offers a formidable array of offensive abilities--chain shot that can be used to slow down enemy ships; broadside cannons that can spew a deadly rain of cannonballs; fire barrels that can be dropped as annoying floating hazards; and smaller deck guns that can pick off enemy sailors during boarding.  Managing those weapons is fairly complicated and involves using the camera to look in a specific direction--it's a little bit crazy.

Thus far, my major dislike has been the sword combat.  It feels much more complicated than it needs to be and engaging multiple enemies is difficult (and, I know that the goal is to avoid this situation, but sometimes things go south).  It's challenging to figure out when to break defenses, counter, and learning how to avoid getting stabbed has been a bit of a learning curve.  Poor Edward has died many times in sword fights due to my poor stealthing skills.

Playing Black Flag has helped me understand the animus technology that was mentioned in Odyssey.  I've learned that it's a type of advanced VR that uses genetic memories.  Part of the story revolves around the idea that you're working for an entertainment company that is testing and developing the technology for public consumption.  The company hopes to use the story of Edward Kenway as one of its scenarios and it's your job to play through that story and pick out the most useful parts.  I haven't been overly concerned with that part of the story, but it does help shed some light on some of the things I didn't understand in Odyssey.

My Assassin's Creed journey has just begun, but it promises to span several historical eras and be filled with much, much more stabbing.

*A quick addition that I forgot to mention--I decided to buy the three games I mentioned on Steam only to find out that you still have to go through Uplay (Ubisoft's digital store).  It was annoying to see that you have to use both platforms.  Just be prepared--you might as well just buy it on Uplay.