Ah, Assassin's Creed. It's starting to become such a regular staple, you could almost set your watch by it. Joining the ranks of FIFA and Call of Duty in the "game a year" stakes, the last instalment in the series, the slightly mediocre Assassin's Creed 3, had started to worry us that the series may be running out of ideas. But then came the announcement of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, and with one small subtitle, Ubisoft have got us hooked all over again. But careful as you go - for there be pirates ahead.
The year is 1715, and the Golden Age of Piracy is coming to an end. Set in the West Indies - now known as the Caribbean, it follows the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the war between the main European seafaring empires - and brought with it mass sailor unemployment. Unable to make a living by fair means, many suddenly unemployed seamen instead decided to turn to foul, by way of becoming a pirate. With the Caribbean seas chock-a-block with massive galleons carrying precious metals and other expensive goods, the pickings were easy and the rewards plentiful - especially when eleven gold-filled ships were destroyed by a massive hurricane. The smell of gold brought with it many more pirates, who built their own base in New Providence in the Bahamas, known today as Nassau, one of the first democratic societies in existence.
Got a whale of a tale to show ya lads, a whale of a tale or two (but there's only one in the screen... - Ed)
And its into the maelstrom of piracy, looting, and plunder that you'll step, as new series protagonist Edward Kenway, whose love for danger and adventure lead him astray from his work for the Royal Navy - down the slippery slope to piracy. He's caught in the middle of several conflicts - a war between the English and the Spanish Armadas (and we all know how that'll end), a battle between Empires and Pirates, and a conflict of secret struggles between the series staples, the Templars and the Assassins. It's this undercover war that becomes the main focus of the game, with the Templars searching for a 'mysterious place' which will help them achieve their goal of world domination - something which the Assassins, with the help of their latest recruit, aim to prevent.
It's a well known fact that pirates make everything cooler (along with being directly responsible for global warming) - and we're hoping this'll work for Assassin's Creed too. With the addition of Edward's pirate ship comes a whole load of naval-based missions, from attacking, boarding and plundering ships at sea, to whale hunts and more. Promising free roam of the Caribbean, you'll be able to hop onto your ship and set sail whenever you feel like it, with shipwrecks to explore, smugglers to root out of caves and Mayan ruins to discover - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. What we're less keen on, is that the stealthy aspect of the series has been ramped up for Assassin's Creed IV - many missions will encourage you to be stealthy, infiltrating key landmarks, or tailing people around town, from the relative safety of the shadows. Hopefully it'll work better this time round.
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is due out on the 31st of October this year, and will be available for the Xbox 360, Wii U, Playstation 3 and Playstation 4. Playstation users will also be able to download an extra "60 minutes worth" of gameplay in the form of an exclusive downloadable mission or two. Talking of bonuses, there's also some fancy collector's editions of the game planned, although what they'll include is anyone's guess. A free beard and eyepatch, maybe? Sounds good to us.
In the mean time, why not let one of history's most famous pirates, Blackbeard, tell you all you need to know about the latest entry in the series. Yarr!:
