Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Announced

I've been a fan of the Assassin's Creed franchise ever since I saw the first trailer of Altair running atop the roofs of Jerusalem. Well, we've come a long way since then, what with dual hidden blades and tree running and whatnot. With five games in the series (not counting handheld games) it's obvious that the Assassin's Creed games are a hit, which makes the fact that the next installment in the game has officially been revealed!

The developers of the Assassin's Creed games have long stated that Assassin's Creed 3, the most recent game in the series, would be the end of Desmond's journey. What they didn't say was that it would be the end of the Assassin's Creed story. The newest installment just announced goes by the name Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

Black Flag puts players in control of a brand new assassin, one that is as unique as all the others in the series. You play as Edward Kenway, a blood thirsty pirate who terrorizes the seas of the Caribbean, a pirate so fierce that the great Blackbeard himself speaks of the man with admiration and a hint of fear in his voice. Speaking of Blackbeard, he appears to be a character (at least a minor one) in this game, though detail of his involvement have yet to be announced. He could be a comrade to Kenway or could work as an informant. He could also take on the role of a Da Vinci  type character (giving Kenway weapons and upgrades) or a Davenport type character, supplying Kenway with a mentor.

Speaking of Kenway, that name should sound familiar as it was the last name of Assassin's Creed 3 main character Connor's father, Haytham Kenway. It is speculated that Edward Kenway is the grandfather of Connor, which would put the timeline of Assassin's Creed IV before the events of Assassin's Creed 3.

If you love dual wielding then this game will be perfect for you, that is if the CGI trailer that was released is indicative of the gameplay. The trailer, which is featured below, shows Kenway dual wielding flintlocks and cutlasses in a beautiful ballet of carnage. The trailer also appears to reveal things like special take downs (like jumping off a ledge while holding an enemy by the shoulders and smashing his face into the spot where you were just standing) and possibly even destructible scenery that you can use to take down enemies.

Naval combat, which was introduced in the last game, will make a bigger and more profound showing in this game. I mean, you are playing as a pirate so ship-to-ship combat is essential. Players will be able to engage enemy ships and board them in an attempt to kill the captain, plunder the booty and leave the remains to Davy Jones' locker! In addition to that, the naval aspect will also allow you to recruit a crew and, most likely, upgrade them much in the same way you did your Assassins in previous games.

There is no solid information on the game other than what the trailer revealed, but nonetheless this game looks to be awesome and just as action packed as the last game. Combat appears to be more visceral and Kenway seems like he is going to make for one heck of a character. It will be interesting to see how they tie in the story from previous games and what the story will be like. Will we be strapping into the Animus again? And if so, whose past life will we be diving into if Desmond's story has supposedly come to an end?

I guess all those questions will be answered when Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is release on October 29th, 2013 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii U and the newly announced PlayStation 4.

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Assassin's Creed 3 Multiplayer and Dark Souls on PC

Two stories of particular interest (for me at least) have begun circulating the internet over the past few days involving two very popular game series: Assassin's Creed and Dark Souls. Granted, Dark Souls isn't a series but a sequel to the extremely popular, extremely difficult Demons Souls game for the PS3, but I digress.

The first announcement is in regards to Assassin's Creed 3. Everybody knew that a new Assassin's Creed game was slated for release in the Fall of 2012, though nobody knew if it was actually Assassin's Creed 3 or yet another chapter in the Ezio Auditore sub-series which began in Assassin's Creed 2, continued in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and (we now know) concluded in Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Thankfully, the new game is, in fact, Assassin's Creed 3 (even though it is technically the 5th game in the series).

There were a lot of rumors recently regarding Assassin's Creed 3 which led to leaked box art images as well as screenshots from an issue of GameInformer magazine. Ubisoft has confirmed that all those were real and even released a lot of Assassin's Creed 3 details, as well as a trailer, confirming that the game would take place on the American frontier during the Revolutionary War. However, one of the biggest additions to the Assassin's Creed franchise, multiplayer (which started in Brotherhood), wasn't talked about, until now.

According to an update on the Twitter and Linkedin accounts of designer Tim Browne, Browne has recently been given the job of Lead Game Design on Assassin's Creed 3's multiplayer. In addition to that, Browne specifically added that he will be working with Ubisoft Annecy. Ubisoft Annecy is the same team behind the multiplayer features of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood as well as Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and the team which also assisted on the multiplayer in Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Browne has worked as a designer for Codemasters for games like Dragon Rising and Operation Flashpoint: Red River.

Unfortunately, little is known about the multiplayer of Assassin's Creed 3 aside from it being a confirmed feature in the game. A product listing for the game on Xbox.com listed the game as having 2-4 player co-op as well as 2-8 player online multiplayer. That listing has since been taken down and no further details have been revealed.

The second bit of gaming goodness comes in the form of a possible PC version of Dark Souls. In case you missed it, Dark Souls is the highly popular sequel to the PS3 game Demons Souls and is literally the hardest game ever created, ever. This game will make you scream things at your television that you were previously unaware you were capable of screaming, especially when you try so hard to get past a certain part, taking as little damage as possible and saving all your consumables for that unimaginable boss battle ahead only for some random player in Japan 80x as powerful as you to invade your game and kill you in one hit...

All bitterness aside, a PC version of the game is coming, despite no official statement. "But how can you think the rumor to be true?" you might ask? Well, an early pic of next month's issue of PC Powerplay magazine shows the back cover of the issue with the words "YOU DIED" in the exact same style, font and color of the text that appears when, well, you die in Dark Souls.

If that isn't enough to convince you, a newly launched announcement on the game's Facebook page is also teasing a reveal about the game coming soon, or after enough people "Like" the Facebook page. In addition to that, all this comes after Namco Bandai, the creators of the game, cryptically commented on a Dark Souls PC release petition back in January. The game is rumored to be coming to the PC with added features that will be available for Xbox 360 and PS3 owners as DLC later, similar to what The Witcher 2 is doing on consoles.

Assassin's Creed 3 multiplayer and Dark Souls on the PC? Sounds like a pretty good year for gaming indeed.

Source: IGN - Assassin's Creed III Multiplayer Dev Revealed
G4TV - Dark Souls PC Release Is Coming, Probably

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Ubisoft Releases Assassin's Creed III Details

Over the past few weeks, Ubisoft has released plenty of details concerning what will be featured in Assassin’s Creed III. The setting, the box art, some screenshots, the trailer and lots of other tidbits about the game have all been released.

Assassin’s Creed III will be set between the times of 1753 and 1783. Players will be able to explore the frontier that is between New York and Boston and stop in places like Lexington, Concord and Indian villages. The famous historical figures featured in the game will include George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Charles Lee.

“You’re going to see cities that you’ve probably visited. This idea that it’s your history is very powerful…It’s not just going to a historical building now; it’s going to be a historical event…You will see the great fire of New York. You will visit Valley Forge as a location that is currently occupied by Washington’s forces. You will visit these places in the moment that they were important, and hopefully, experience the reason why we know where they are today. That’s the goal.”

The new assassin featured in the latest installment of the game is named Connor. His father is English and his mother is Native American. He has been raised with the Mohawk tribe. The Creative Director for the game Alex Hutchinson said that Connor is a “vision of quiet heroism and rugged pioneer skill.” He went on to say, “We want to explore this notion of duality…He’s of neither culture. If we’re going to talk about the American Revolution, we didn’t want you playing Mel Gibson from The Patriot, and we didn’t want you in a military uniform. The AC universe is one step back from all that.”

As Connor, players will be able to hunt animals and sell pelts in order to make money and survive. They will also have the ability to fast travel, which is a very good thing since the map is 1.5 times larger than the map that was featured in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. Like previous Assassin’s Creed games, the notoriety system and the ability to earn money and property will be back.

The entire Assassin’s Creed franchise follows the story of Desmond Miles, a bartender in the year 2012, who comes from a long line of assassins. Desmond is captured by Abstergo Industries (the modern-day Knights Templar), which is searching for the location of several important artifacts. Desmond is forced to use a device called the Animus, which allows him to re-live the memories of his family members that came before him. In Assassin’s Creed III, Desmond will no longer be in a coma and will communicate with Connor via the Animus.

Assassin's Creed III will be released on October 30 and will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

If you are interested in seeing and learning more about the game, check out the trailer below:



Sources: IGN - Assassin's Creed III Details Revealed, PCMag - Ubisoft Reveals Trailer for Assassin's Creed III and Game Rant - ‘Assassin’s Creed 3′ Story & Character Spoilers

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Assassin's Creed II Now Available

Assassin’s Creed II was released on November 17th, and there has been some major hype and advertising for this game. I was watching the OSU football game last weekend and I probably saw the Assassin’s Creed II commercial at least seven times, and this commercial is not just some little snippet of the game, it is a long intense preview that makes you want to go right out and buy it. Assassin’s Creed II looks like the kind of game that you just can’t stop playing.

Although the original Assassin’s Creed was quite popular, it can’t even touch the brilliance of the sequel. The second installment takes you on a bloody romp through Renaissance Italy that keeps all the aspects that were loved from the original game while righting all the issues that it had. It has developed into a fully featured open world action experience. Every detail added to the game has enhanced it in ways that make this game so much more intriguing than its predecessor.

The plot of Assassin’s Creed II mixes together elements of many different things including lots of historical fiction and some Matrix qualities. The game was developed and crafted by some of the most skillful hands in gaming development. This is seen vividly in the games environments, animations, and art. The sequel build on its predecessor’s basis, but blows the first game completely out of the water.

All of the questions and loose ends with the first Assassin’s Creed are addressed and answered throughout the game. The game itself begins right where the predecessor ended with the kidnapped bartender Desmond locked away in a cell in Abstergo. Desmond’s captors, the Templars, are after his valuable genetic memories. The magic that can be found in modern technology permits Desmond to relive the feats of his ancestors, who were indeed Assassins. Because of the family lineage that Desmond is a part of, he is stuck right in the middle of the war between the Templars and the Assassins.

The game begins with springing Desmond from his imprisonment and taking him to the secret hideout of the Assassins to give him a proper introduction. At the hideout, Desmond learns that the Assassins possess the same technology to relive the past as he does. This technology was used against Desmond in the previous game to forcibly make him reveal the locations of powerful artifact that were located in 12th century Jerusalem. In this game, Desmond decides to learn from the Assassins by staying in the 15th century and living life through his ancestor, Elizo Audituerre de Firenze.

Gamers are introduced to Elizo at the time of his birth for a brief but significant moment. Next it flashes forward to the time in his life when he was a womanizer, a street fighter, and the son of a wealthy banker. The game moves onward to reveal a revenge plot that will easily draw in the player.

At the game’s start, there are many tips and techniques interwoven in the gameplay to allow you to catch onto the basic moves of the game. In one of the early mission, the gamer is introduced to their character’s ability to climb over nearly any surface found in the game. In Assassin’s Creed II, the players character’s movement speed has been greatly increased to allow for less frustrating gameplay.

The stealth feature on the game, that is used quite often, allows the player to utilize quick action or a dense crowd to escape. This lets you have a more realistic kind of gameplay. When there are people after your character, there are still hiding places that you can easily hide. The easiest way to divert foes in the game is to hire thieves, mercenaries, and whores to cause a distraction. Also you can throw coins in the street to create a mini-riot.

If you feel like taking a more aggressive approach and fight instead of hiding then you open up some different options. There’s a huge selection of weapons that you can either permanently purchase at a store or temporarily steal off of an adversary.

The creation of a monetary system in Assassin’s Creed II adds quite a few positive changes to gameplay. Your character receives money when they complete quests, find treasures, or pickpocket someone. You may utilize this money to purchase new armor, weapons, or upgrade your home base.

The structure of the game allows the player to decide which missions they choose to go on and even includes a map that allows you to see which missions will allow you to advance further into the game. The side missions that could be so agonizing to go on in the previous game have been updated to include relevance and not become repetitive.

The entire game takes 18 hours to complete on average and has been designed to keep your attention all the way through. The game itself just has so much more to offer than the original Assassin’s Creed. The gameplay is exciting, unique, and incredibly detail oriented. Even if you never played the first game, it doesn’t matter. You will still fall in love with this game. It is definitely worth your time and money. Assassin’s Creed II is superb.