2.5/5 ★ – vassm's review of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

Playing "Assassin's Creed: Black Flag" was something I had been looking forward to for a long long time, especially given the widespread praise that it recieves all the time. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations :( I found the story incredibly underwhelming compared to previous games in the series... It was forgettable, and lacked the depth that kept me invested before (still better than AC1 though). I realize this whole review will be a hot take, but "Assassin's Creed: Black Flag" didn't feel like an "Assassin's Creed" game to me. Instead of embodying the role of an assassin, I felt like I was just playing a pirate sim, and don't get me wrong I understand that was the point relatively, but it would have been better as a standalone IP rather than a part of the franchise. I had hoped for a better balance between the pirate and assassin themes, but the execution of that combo was a bit flat and veered more toward full pirate. It was clear the devs put more effort into the pirate aspect of the game than the latter though, it felt so repetitive and uninspired. Another disappointment was the lack of historical events and side quests. Instead, the game offered repetitive activities (collecting a bunch of stuff) that didn't hold my interest. The ship mechanics, while at first was fun, became so quickly overdone. It felt like I was constantly being forced to manage this damn ship, which made me annoyed everytime I opened the game and saw the big yellow mission circle halfway across the map with no close fast travel options... :'( The most redeeming quality of this game was without a doubt the music, as well as the Abstergo storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed hacking computers and uncovering details about Desmond (</3), Subject Zero, and Subject One. That aspect of the game was by far my favorite, and I wish it had been explored more deeply. Also, the stealth at times was fun, and definitely improved upon compared to the earlier games. Overall, I was left disappointed by "Black Flag". I can certainly see why some people enjoy it, but it steers away from what previous titles of "Assassin's Creed" are that I found it hard to take seriously and enjoy. 5.8/10