Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Greatest Hits (Xbox One)

The Assassin's Creed series has been a favourite of mine going to back to the very first and very underrated original game. The mix between the olden days storylines and the modern day Desmond Miles stuff was utterly fascinating to me. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed to see it was ended before we got a modern day Assassin's Creed game. Thankfully, what we got instead was still a pretty enjoyable experience in Black Flag.Black Flag is apparently Assassin's Creed IV, but we all know that isn't actually true. There's been more than four games before it and it's honestly, a very silly title. The game is focused around a faceless character who is working for Abstergo. Their job is to play through the memories of someone's ancestor's, this one being Edward Kenway, father of Haytham Kenway from Assassin's Creed III. The fellow finds himself with his own ship and crew as well as in the middle of one big plot between the Assassins and the Templar's (big surprise). It's got lots of twists and turns, all of which should satisfy fans of the series.At this point though, I think they should have just stopped with the Abstergo stuff. They failed to deliver on the Desmond plot line and it makes little to no difference in the overall experience with Black Flag. The meat of the game is the sailing, whaling and pirating that was but a side quest in Assassin's Creed III. Ubisoft Montreal took that little side quest and made it into something big. They made a vast world to play around in, making it one of the best games in the series. In my opinion, of course. You'll meet some great characters in the middle of plundering towns, sinking ships, hunting, exploring old ruins and finding upgrades for your pretty boat... err... ship.At times, it can be a little over whelming. When you look at the map, it's huge and there's so much to do. Thankfully, it's not too expansive like Origins and Odyssey. Everything is achievable in a reasonable amount of time and you can guarantee you'll have a lot of fun doing it. If you want to focus on the story, you'll get a decent one. The characters are fun (for the most part) and the plot is fairly easy to follow. I personally loved Blackbeard but wished I could have keelhauled Kidd (her voice actress is terrible!).In terms of performance, the game isn't a good looking one. It has the potential to be. But sadly, the lack anti-aliasing makes the game look quite jaggy at times and there's a really annoying filter that smears things in motion. It really takes away from the overall presentation. It's a shame too because the ocean, the weather, the sandy beaches and forests all look great. There's some fantastic attention to detail here but it's hidden under a bad filter and jaggies. The framerate however, it's quite stable. I never actually had any performance issues.When it comes to gameplay overall, I would say that Black Flag is the best of the Assassin's Creed series. It's got a lot of things going for it and it's quite unique in what it does. It's a shame they put in the Abstergo stuff, it doesn't amount to much. Otherwise, this is a great game that's well worth owning.

This game has everything you've come to expect from an AC title. Interesting story line with a wide variety of missions, assassin contracts, a variety of collectibles, viewpoints (of course), wardrobe options. Hunting local wildlife can be an interesting challenge, especially the crocodiles. The skins from hunting can be used to create upgrades for your assassin/pirate and there lies the main extra to this outing of the AC series. You are captain of your own pirate ship. Upgrades for your ship become available as you progress making it more durable and it's armament more lethal - I highly recommend the mortars. Hunting at sea is also available which is great fun, plus the skins are also useful for character upgrades or selling for large sums of cash, known as reales. Treasure maps can be found giving you a hand drawn picture and map reference to the chest, some of which contain top level upgrade plans for your ship. Underwater areas open up about halfway through the game, which are a source of more treasure, plans and collectibles. The biggest draw for me has to be the ship battles. After a bit of experimentation you can fluidly slip out of the enemy fire arcs, which are helpfully highlighted and quickly fire off a salvo from your forward or broadside cannons making use of the powerful mortars on more distant enemies. Boarding a badly damaged enemy ship is not just more of a challenge but also nets you handy resources, which you will need to improve/ repair your ship. You can build your own fleet of captured vessels and send them off on missions to trade resources round the globe, which nets you more cash to spend in game. There is plenty to see and do in this game and I have to say it's definitely my favourite installment in the franchise. Plus you're mates with Blackbeard -what's not to like?

Good game came in great condition

Definitely one of the best Assassin's Creed games in the franchise

I played this on 360 and loved it, and this is exactly the same game. The graphics look a little better, but to be honest it's been so long since I played the other one that I can't compare.For under £20 it was cool to roam the high seas for a few hours and relive my pirate dreams.So why only 3 stars. Two words: Community Events. I was late to the party on the 360 version so I could never get the Elite gear. It's been years now Ubisoft and the servers are never coming back - patch it so we all get them! You've made enough money!

Very immersive, great gameplay.

All good, new , fast delivery

I’m loving this game