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With Ubisoft releasing Assassin’s Creed games yearly often gamers worry about game fatigue as the series moves forward. How will they carry the Assassin’s Creed story forward now that Desmond Miles the main protagonist from the beginning of the Assassin's Creed franchise has now concluded his story? We move to the future and back into the past. We play the role of ourselves in the future as we are offered a job at Abstergo Industries and head back into the past as Edward Kenway, the father of Haytham and grandfather of Connor via the aminus.

Pirate games from the past haven’t had the greatest reputation as quality games. Sid Meier’s Pirates or The Curse of Monkey Island and only a few others were able to pull off the feeling of being a pirate, though both games played very differently. Assassin’s Creed IV BlackFlag looks to achieve that feeling of being a badass pirate the way gamers want to feel. The life of a pirate is one of riches, women, sailing the high seas and, of course, drinking one's rum. Ubisoft makes this evident as we walk through a small fisherman’s village as Edward is on his way to assassinate two targets from an assassination contract he received from a pigeon coop nearby. Fisherman villages will be placed throughout the Caribbean and act as a central hub where players will gather supplies and upgrades as well as play card games and other such mini games.

After the ending of Assassin`s Creed III Ubisoft would need another strong role for gamers to hold onto and Edward Kenway is one of the most unique characters the franchise has seen since Ezio. Edward is a man searching for his path, his meaning and purpose in life. This is something we often ask ourselves, and it will us the opportunity as gamers to grasp that connection with Edward and motivate us towards playing and witnessing Edward’s story moving forward. 

The setting of the 17th century in the Caribbean is a beautifully realized world with lots of lush landscapes and jungle to explore. Now what is pirate game set in the Caribbean if we aren’t going to be out at sea? With over 50 locations to explore, the naval element of Black Flag will be a big feature in the game world as we travel from location to location upgrading the Jackdaw along the way.

Not to be left out, Ubisoft Annecy will be bringing back the much anticipated multiplayer with new additions such as the Game Lab. Gamers will now  be able to set match parameters to allow each match to be much different than the last. Set Incognito kills as 2000 points while Discreet and Silent are set to 100 or 200 points, it’s entirely up to you!. Don’t like getting killed with Poison than remove that ability and only allow kills to take place with the Gun! With this installment, gamers set the rules for each match or use the standard game settings, and with more and more options for gamers this time around, it may help change the game for better or for  worse. How well can  the Game Lab be used by gamers…just because you like to use Poison or the Gun setting does not mean everyone else will enjoy that setup.

With this in mind, it does raise a few question.For instance, how will gamers know your match`s settings before joining a Deathmatch game? What if they don’t like those setting, will they be able to back out or have their match settings displayed before each match to find a similar gamers setting?

We also know that the Wolfpack game mode will be making its return as well. A co-op time based game mode in which you need to work as a team to synchronize your kills to increase your score, and thus acquiring more time for the next wave of targets. In the latest Wolfpack trailer, we notice that the targets are attempting to steal some chests as you will need to protect them. A game mode reminiscent from previous multiplayer games of the past called Chest Capture - for those who are unfamiliar to this previous Assassin’s Creed multiplayer game mode, Chest Capture involved capturing three chest points and holding those positions for a set amount of time while being pursued by the opposing team, before moving onto the next set of chest capture positions. Since the game mode was well received by fans, it seems to fare as no surprise to have appeared as an addition to Wolfpack in some way,though we have reached out to Ubisoft for more information on this addition. With a host of new characters to play as and the addition of the Game Lab, we look forward to entering the Golden Age of Piracy. We hope to have more answers in the months to come as Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag approaches.