Assassin’s Creed III received relatively good reviews but there is a growing sense of unease amongst the fans of the series that the game is beginning to lose its luster. So I’m not entirely sure how to respond to the idea that Assassin’s Creed IV, the sixth mainline game in 6 years, will be something out of Pirates of the Caribbean.
Personally, I loved Enzio's storyline the best, particularly the first two games. But even then, the plot showed signs of coming undone. Unlike the publishers of Halo, who managed to do a decent job of rewriting and expanding the Halo timeline with the help of professional sci-fi writers, Assassin’s Creed seems to be tying itself in literal knots.
The new game will be set somewhere in 1715, which is about 40 years before the start of Assassin’s Creed III. Moreover, the hero of the game, Edward Kenny, is also said to be the grandfather of the Assassin’s Creed III protagonist, Connor. This game is also said to feature some interesting elements that were featured in previous games.
For instance, the game might well allow open-ended assassinations (original game), breadcrumb trail of unlocks (Assassin’s Creed II) and more open-world exploration and combat (Brotherhood). Hopefully, veterans of the series, might find this combination as thrilling as Assassin’s Creed II.
Interestingly, the game features over 50 different Caribbean locations to explore. However, there are only three large big cityscapes : Havana, Cuba; Kingston, Jamaica; and Nassau, Bahamas. Each of the big cities has an unique identity. For instance, Havana is going to be the most architecturally advanced of the three, while Kingston represents a bustling trading centre, and Nassau, serves as the pirate’s homeport.
As usual, there is a bit of history and myth intertwined with each other. Nassau, for example, indeed served as a base of operations of pirates during the 18th century after the governor of Jamaica refused to allow English privateers spend their ill-gotten gains on the island. Of course there are other places to explore too including ruins, forts, islands, jungles, plantations, sunken vessels (a nice addition), etc.
No pirate is complete without his pirate ship. Edward’s Jackdaw will be a central element of the game and players will need to master the arts of naval warfare to plunder, loot and board and hijack other vessels. All the loot that comes in can be used to upgrade the ship and recruit more sailers. There will be five basic types of enemy vessels and would require players to use different skills and weapons to defeat.
The game will also feature a host of historical pirate figures and events. Admittedly, some of these figures are pretty vague so playing the game would be somewhat akin to having an informal history lesson. However, one character that everyone is probably familiar with is Blackbeard (check out the CGI trailer on Youtube), and of course the dreaded pirate fears and admires the assassin Edward Kenny (despite the very un-pirate-like name), which dampens the character’s almost mythical ferocity.
Interestingly, it seems that this time the players will be entering the animus in as an employee of Abstergo (i.e., Modern Templar order) so this might be an attempt to expand the storyline in some way.
Ultimately, the host of new features, different gameplay options and expanded storyline might just be enough to save Assassin’s Creed from becoming something like the Tomb Raider series (pre-2013) where each additional game feels like an expansion pack that is not very well tied in with the main plot. The success of Ubisoft’s attempt, however, will be determined once this game reaches our distant shores.
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