Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Review (PS4)

To me, The Golden Age of Piracy is perhaps one of the most intriguing times in history, and this is exactly where the latest Assassin’s Creed takes us. Many feared what yearly entries would do to the franchise, but with the setting in the early 18th century Caribbean, the improvements to gameplay, and the leap to the PS4, this is probably the best version of the best Assassin’s Creed yet.

In Black Flag, the Caribbean is yours for the taking, and it doesn’t take long before the game sets you loose on the world with your own ship, your own crew, and an enormous amount of things to find and do. Gone are the days of the naval portions being cordoned off from the rest of the game. In fact, you’ll spend the majority of your time on ship this time around, but if you want to scour that small island off to the starboard side for loot, you just need to drop anchor and make the short swim to shore.

This easy and abundant gameplay makes getting distracted in Assassin’s Creed IV a very common occurrence. I found myself stopping and plundering every small island, boarding every ship, and exploring every undersea wreck. Many things are not available right up front, or you are just too weak to take them on, but the game’s progression feels very natural, and I never felt like I was locked out of doing too much at any given time. In fact, if I was able to do even more earlier on, I would have never gotten this review done.