Assasin's Creed IV Review

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Fourth Game in the Series

So, for those of you that are new to the series I’m sure this thought has crossed your mind: They’re on the 4th numbered game already…I’d be so lost if I start with Black Flag.

If you haven’t had that thought, than good for you, but either way, I’m here to answer the simple question: Could you play AC4 without playing any of the previous Assassin’s Creed games? The answer is, yes! Absolutely!

Don’t get me wrong, the previous Assassin’s Creed games all have some level of interesting aspects to them. I’ve never been a huge fan, but, I’ve always felt like I have to play them all. What can I say, they’re pretty fun. And Assassin’s Creed 4 is one of the most fun of the lot! Pirates…need I say more?

Ubisoft did a great job at introducing an AC title that is almost purely stand alone. The previous titles all had some kind of connection to their predecessor, but in this case, you start with a pretty clean slate! Of course, there are references here and there but nothing ground breaking. You might feel a bit confused at points, but let’s face it…Assassin’s Creed was always really good at confusing the lot of us. Don’t lie, you know you’ve had your share of “WTF?!” moments.

So, don’t be intimidated! If you seriously don’t feel like going back to the previous titles, start with Assassin’s Creed IV. It’s a very good introduction to the series and may even make you curious enough to go back to the previous games.

Is It Even Worth It? Well, read ahead, and I’ll help you decide.

THE GIST

As you can see from the trailers, screenshots, publications, etc., you play a pirate named Edward Kenway. I won’t go into detail about his character because he goes through a lot of very interesting changes throughout the game which, for me, make him one of the most intriguing protagonists of the series.

Like all Assassin’s Creed games, the storyline is pretty much 2 plots telling 1 story. What I mean by that is, there is your present day storyline and your memory storyline. The memory is lived by the protagonist in the present day through a machine called the animus. The animus then takes you back to a specific point in history where you get to play the present day character’s ancestor! I told you it was confusing! No, in all honesty, it’s harder to explain in writing than it is to understand it the way the game presents it all to you. It all makes sense, I promise.

Assassin’s Creed 4, did introduce something new to this concept though. They introduced a new character for the present day storyline. And not only is this character new, he’s also pretty anonymous and you play them in the 1st person view. In the previous 5 games, it was always the same protagonist, Desmond Miles, and you controlled him in the 3rd person view. So, the change is pretty big in this game, but I honestly loved that change and feel like they should continue making the next AC games this way. I will say that if you are a huge fan of the series, this might be a bit weird for you but I felt that it not only made sense but also brought more focus to the memory storyline (Edward). Personally, the animus has always been my favorite part of the AC games. If you are a huge fan of the series and you’ve played AC4, let me know what you thought about that change in the comments below.

Apart from these changes, the game has pretty much stuck to it’s roots when it comes to the way the game maneuvers. But, again, the thing that makes this one stand out from the rest, for me, is the pirate theme. It was SO much fun sailing the open ocean on your awesome pirate ship, The Jack Daw, hearing your crew mates singing pirate shanties (I swear, you will be singing them for weeks), and just sitting around a table sharing an ale with some super cool pirate with a super cool voice. By the way, this game had amazing voice acting. Just saying.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay of all Assassin’s Creed games has never really changed when it comes to the mechanics of it, only the aesthetics. What I mean by that is, the setting changes but the template of the missions are usually the same. For example, in every AC game there are always “Assassination contracts” or you’ll always have a mission where you have to go spy on someone, tail them, and then kill them. Or Eavesdrop on a conversation. It’s always the same template, different setting. When it comes to the combat, it’s pretty much the same idea as well.

Combat has always been focused on timing and rhythm. For example, (X) will attack, (A) will break an enemy’s guard, and (B) will block. Depending on when you press these controls is how effective they will be, etc. So, the combat has become more fluid from the past games but it’s still the same type of combat as before. Aesthetically, what changes are the weapons the protagonist uses. Each protagonist has had their “trademark” weapon of choice, and their own moves that go with it. Edward though, has an overload of weapons. He dual wields 2 swords and can have up to 4 pistols. Not to mention all the fun gadgets on the side. I really loved the way Edward fought. He looked awesome with those 2 swords and those 4 guns always came in handy.

The naval system was so much fun. It was highly improved from AC3 and expanded as well. In order to move on in the story you need to upgrade your ship so that gives you reason to go pillaging and plundering for materials. You can also decorate your ship to a certain extent. This applies to Edward as well. You can upgrade his armor and change his appearance. Although, it was very disappointing when I realized that Edward really didn’t have any outfits that looked pirate-y. I wanted to have a huge hat with an epic feather in it…they had 1 mediocre hat…with no epic feather. I called it the Loaf of Bread outfit (the Legend outfit DLC) cause it looked like a loaf of bread. All brown and…bread-y…Don’t ask.

There were also some interesting online aspects to the game (non-multiplayer, although you could play with your friends if you want to). It was the Kenway Fleet. Some ships that you would attack, instead of destroying them for parts, you could save them and send them to your fleet. This was a pretty cool aspect of the game. You’d pretty much send your ships to go to different areas around the world to pick up supplies and you’d have to attack the enemy ships that were in those waters. It was pretty cool and it got you more supplies, money, and even items for your ship.

OVERALL SCORES OF AWESOMENESS

STORYLINE – 8
The story wasn’t amazing BUT I gave it an 8 because I was interested enough in the character of Edward, ESPECIALLY, since he is Haythem Kenway’s (AC3) father (don’t worry, that’s not a spoiler just a little tidbit of background). Also, again, pirates. I love ’em.

GRAPHICS/PERFORMANCE – 8.5
I played the game both on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 and I was very surprised to see that the graphics were just as good as the PS3’s graphics. There is really no distinguishable difference. The performance of both was pretty equal as well. Assassin’s Creed 3 was pretty notorious for it’s mission-breaking glitches (I swear I grew more grey hairs while I played AC3 than in a whole year put together), but I was very happy to see that AC4 was cleaned up very well. Glitches will always be found in video games, and lets be honest, some glitches are just absolutely hilarious BUT AC4 had very few, and none of them were mission-breaking. Sure, the graphics weren’t crisp clear like the PC or the next-gen versions but for the old-gen, I had no problem with the way it looked and/or performed.

AUDIO – 10
Again, the voice acting was spot on. Matt Ryan as Edward Kenway was great and very believable, Mark Bonnar as Blackbeard was ABSOLUTELY phenomenal (by far my favorite character in AC4), Ralph Ineson as Charles Vane…wow. That voice. Absolutely amazing. And so many more! Every awesome character had an even more awesome voice!

The soundtrack was extremely good as well. Lorne Balfe returned to compose AC4 (composer of AC3) and he did a great job at it. The music fit the time period and made a lot of the scenes feel that much more emotional/dangerous. To this day, I still hum the AC4 theme song every now and then.

INGENUITY – 7
I really had trouble rating this category because an Assassin’s Creed game is an Assassin’s Creed game. The series usually has the same template when it comes to the missions, gameplay etc. so when it comes to that, there isn’t much ingenuity here BUT, if we talk about AC4 as one of the ONLY pirate/naval games that has actually NAILED the gameplay and actually portrayed the lifestyle and time period well, than I’d say this game is pretty innovative. Why it took an Assassin’s Creed game to FINALLY make a game with awesome naval battles and pirate glory, is beyond me.

REPLAY VALUE – 6
This score is based on my personal preference, but if you are the type of gamer that enjoys playing online multiplayer than the replayability will be higher for you. I’m not that type of gamer, so, the replay value for me is not very high and it’s not lower because there is A LOT to do in the game. I can see myself going back just to try to continue looking for loot or battling epic ships that I never could take out but other than that, I doubt I’d go back to replay the full game. And, I played it twice already (Xbox 360 & PS3) only for review purposes.

FUN FACTOR – 10
This game is SO much fun. It was definitely one of my favorite games of 2013 and most of it was because of how entertaining it was. Add on to that the pirate theme and the huge open world and you will be spending countless hours just roaming the open ocean doing things like whaling, searching for lost treasure under the ocean, or taking a leap of faith and going up against high level ships (I swear you get to a point where you feel like you could take anything on…a lot of times, you can’t…but it was still fun!).

Overall, this game was extremely entertaining. It may start off a bit slow but don’t be put off. As soon as you get your pirate ship (doesn’t take long), you’ll be feeling free to roam an amazing world above and below land. Do I recommend Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag? Of course! It’s a great Assassin’s Creed title but an even greater pirate game. One, that I hope developers will be looking at for reference on how to make an awesome game about pirates.

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The Wolf Among Us

Hey guys. A very long vacation I had that I forgot to update my blog. By the way, I just give you a review of my this " The Wolf Among Us" Video Games. Its not my review actually, but I enjoy reading review and share. 

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Like The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us is also a comic to video game adaptation called, Fables. Shortly after I started reading the Fables comics, I found out Telltale would be in charge of bringing these already classic characters, to life. It’s an interesting adaptation if you think about it though. The Wolf Among Us doesn’t just carry pre-established “baggage” set forth by the creator, Bill Willingham. More importantly, it takes classic fairy tale characters and paints them in a not so “happy-ever-after” kind of way. These are stories that MANY grew up watching, reading, and loving. It’s not easy to take a character as famed as Snow White or The Big Bad Wolf and tell a side story about who they are and what they’re capable of doing. Especially if that story is darker, grittier, and in a land not so far away. It’s a huge risk Willingham took to do this, but I’m glad he did. And I’m even more glad Telltale Games took that risk as well. This series does what many don’t. We don’t live up in the clouds with pink unicorns and fairies that grant our every wish. Sure, it’s nice to escape from the dark reality of things every now and then but I think it’s also good to see that even the brightest of stories, have their shady corners. In the game, you play as Bigby Wolf. But the most intriguing thing about this game is, even though he is the Big Bad Wolf…he’s not quite the only wolf among us.

OVERALL SCORES

STORYLINE – 9

The storyline was very interesting to me. Not only because I was already a huge fan of the comics but also because I love mysteries and detective stories. I have a very curious and imaginative mind so, everything about it immediately intrigued me. This was an interactive story where you played a detective…and not just ANY detective but THE BIG BAD WOLF! So much yes. Also, Telltale did a great job of telling it’s own story, separate enough from the comics to make it so that non-comic readers wouldn’t feel alienated. It was also different enough so that comic readers didn’t feel like they already knew everything. Sure, some things comic readers would be able to put 2 and 2 together but…only when it came to the obvious. We got to see new characters, returning characters in a different light, and a crazy plot twist that still leaves me wondering to this day.

GRAPHICS – 10

Nowadays, people are very used to associating video game “graphics” with some kind of visual advancement. Graphics need to look crisp, clear, and realistic because of all the technology that is now available. The Wolf Among Us didn’t have these crisp, clear, graphics. Instead, it had a very artistically fitting pallet. It looked and felt like a comic book. It looked like any other Telltale game but felt more like a “film noir” type of graphic novel that was being brought to life in front of you. It fit PERFECTLY with the series and added so much to the feeling of the game. The visuals, represented the story and the characters almost poetically. The darkness juxtaposed with the neon lights of the billboard signs almost seemed to represent the pre-established expectations of these “bright” fairy tale characters placed in a dark world.

PERFORMANCES – 10

Here I want to talk a little bit about the voice acting and the soundtrack because they definitely need a category of their own. The voice acting in this game was absolutely amazing. Everyone brought life to the characters they were voicing, no matter how major or minor the role. Adam Harrington, who voiced Bigby Wolf and the Woodsman, immediately became the voice of Bigby. And I don’t mean that in an obvious way…I mean, in more than just the game. Bigby Wolf is one of the main characters in the comic books so, Harrington was stepping into HUGE shoes. But his performance was absolutely flawless from the moment Bigby opened his mouth. He was perfect! He instantly became Bigby. Now, even when I read the comics, I hear Harrington’s voice. A lot of the voice actors in The Wolf Among Us aren’t new to Telltale Games. For example, Gavin Hammon who played Kenny in the Walking Dead, voices Beast. Melissa Hutchison who voices Clementine in the Walking Dead, voices Beauty and Toad Jr. Dave Fennoy who voices Lee in the Walking Dead, voices Bluebeard. And many more. So, these are class A voice actors. It was a great performance as a whole.

The music was something else. The theme song alone is absolutely mesmerizing. The composer, Jared Emerson-Johnson, did an amazing job at capturing the feeling of the series. Even though we had never “heard” this series, Emerson-Johnson just made the music feel like it had always belonged there. Like it had always been playing within the Fables comics but, we hadn’t heard it until now.

GAMEPLAY – 8

As many Telltale games, this is a point-and-click game with QTE’s (Quick-Time Events) and dialogue choices. I’m not a huge fan of point-and-click mechanics because it almost feels scripted as to where you need to go. There is a little white dot on every thing that you can interact with so, it’s a matter of just “follow the dots”. But, since Telltale is usually really good at how this mechanic is used, I end up not even paying much attention to this and pay more attention to the experience. I love the dialogue choices because even though it is extremely stressful to have a time limit to choose a dialogue option, it makes things feel more realistic. Impulsive. I love the choices because Telltale pretty much gives you the steering wheel to who Bigby is. Is he big and bad? Or is he trying to get away from that persona? Personally, I would have preferred a little more consequence for your actions. Even though you were given a lot of choice, it was evident that a specific story was trying to be told so sometimes no matter what you did, the outcome was the same. Or, sometimes things you thought would end up making a difference, turned out to not really have any part in what you were doing. But, again, the story that was being told was an intriguing one regardless.

The QTE’s…oh the QTE’s. Not my favorite form of gameplay ESPECIALLY in combat. Stresses me out like mad! But, it works for this kind of game. Anything else would almost feel weird and unfitting. It is stressful as hell and sometimes I swear I pressed the button prompted on the screen but these are also timed so, if you don’t hit it at a specific time, you miss it. Not my favorite. But, it really did “up” the intensity of the fight scenes.

INGENUITY – 7.5

This was pretty hard for me to score since this game is based off of a comic series and isn’t an original IP. Also, when it comes to gameplay, it’s pretty much the same template as other Telltale games. BUT, I couldn’t score it lower than this because it did have flair and cleverness of it’s own. The visuals, the music, the story, the twists and turns it took…it all felt refreshing to me. Different. Even for comic readers. That couldn’t have been easy to do for a comic series as widely established as this one.

REPLAY VALUE – 7

The replay value for this game is not bad for several reasons. Mainly, the choices. Who is Bigby? What paths does he take? The ending is pretty much always the same but how you get there and what people think of you can be very different. BUT, even though there are different choices, there aren’t a WIDE variety of choices/paths that will drastically change your experience. There are pretty much 2 versions of Bigby to explore and each major decision has 2 paths. Also, the ending itself is a twist full of such amazing confusion that it makes you want to replay it in order to get a better feel for it and see it in a different light. Not to mention, it’s available on pretty much every device so that not only increases it’s replay value but also it’s practicality. AND, the fact that it was initially an episodic experience, kind of increased it’s replay value slightly because people that played it as the episodes came out, may now want to play the episodes consecutively to get a better feel for it.

FUN FACTOR – 10

I had a blast with this game. It was extremely engaging and kept me wanting to know more with each episode. My favorite thing about the game was definitely the character interactions. Every character that you came in contact with was so well written! And the WAY you could interact with them was just perfect. Another thing I really enjoyed about the game were the range of emotions it got out of me. There were moments where I almost felt the rage Bigby was feeling. Moments where I laughed, and others where I nearly cried. It was definitely a lot of fun for me.

FINAL THOUGHTS: So, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed The Wolf Among Us. I might be a BIT biased since I love almost everything Telltale Games creates, but I was as honest as I could be in this review. Telltale game fan or not. Fables Fan or not. The Wolf Among Us is definitely a game worth checking out for so many reasons: the story, the characters, the choices, and mostly, the fact that these are characters a lot of us grew up with! Some heroes and others were used as tales to scare little kids… the monsters that went bump in the night. In this game, they are ALL brought together so you could see what they do on a daily basis. This is what initially intrigued me. And after you play… it really keeps you wondering, who TRULY was the wolf?

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