OLD GAMES REVISITED
Smooth sailing and pearly whites in ASSASSIN’S CREED IV BLACK FLAG
There are few things more dispiriting than reading a review in which the writer begins by proudly admitting they don’t especially like the series, or the genre. The result of this is that the writers who review big releases, such as Assassin’s Creed, are often already aware of the game’s systems, lore and setting. For the most part, it makes perfect sense.
It would be insane to get someone who hates wrestling, for example, to review aWWE game. And that’s exactly why it’s fun to go back to Black Flag as a relative Assassin’s Creed initiate. I’ve dabbled with the series but never fully engaged with what makes the games popular. And Black Flag, on the face of it, has literally everything I could want from a historical game: sea shanties, sailing, sword fights. It’s like it was grown in a petri dish to delight me.
And yet, something about it never quite scratches the itch. The opening is better than I expect: there are sea battles, destruction, and shipwrecks, and a good 16 minutes of pirate banter before we finally get to the distracting Abstergo bobbins that, for me at least, always seems to jettison any immersion or enjoyment from the series. At the risk of sounding like a frothing dad circulating a petition to bring back a discontinued ’80s chocolate bar, I will never understand what extra enjoyment anyone could derive from playing as a future man in cargo pants instead of a historical assassin. But also: people who love the series seem to like it, so I won’t shit on it.
It’s like it was grown in apetri dish to delight me
RISE AND FALL
On the other hand, I rather like the lead character, Edward, even if his teeth are so hilariously white he looks like advert for cosmetic dentistry, rather than an 18th century pirate with easy access to sugar. And his wobbly
