Disclaimer
When I review a game, I review based on plot, characterization, gameplay, level design, and secrets and unlockables. This review is designed to be as constructive and as less bias as humanly possible in the hopes that this blog piece is more then an overly arrogant opinion like some other reviews often are. Even if a game gets a ten out of ten however, that does not mean you will love the game possibly due to personal likes or dislikes on a certain character, genre of game, or due to the game possibly doing something in development that is held over its head unfairly. This particular review is only taking account to the single player portion as I haven't been able to review the multiplayer parts of the last few games so I feel it isn't appropriate to do so here. For all purposes, this game was played on the X-Box One.
WARNING possible spoilers WARNING
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So there are once again two separate plots in an Assassin's Creed game. In the world of the present, you are an employee looking through Subject 17's genetic memories, and while you could have received memories of Connor or Haytham, you are instructed to look through memories of the older Kenway, Edward, a pirate captain. While doing that, you are also instructed to become a hacker for the Assassins and download and send off information to them you receive. There is a little key that related back to Edward's story, but I'm not spoiling it here.
The pirate side follows Edward Kenway in his pursuit of piracy. He starts out attacked by another ship, and in his will to live, kills an assassin gaining his jacket. That assassin, was a traitor however, and due to this Edward gains money selling creed secrets to the templars and killing assassins with this new character, the Sage, in tow. That being said, the Sage escapes and Edward is arrested, however due to this Edward gains his own crew and his boat, the Jackdaw. Edward teams up with Blackbeard and other pirates to support a pirate colony however things of course go wrong, but it never stops Edward from chasing the secrets of the Observatory that the templars mentioned the Sage knowing about. After some death and bloodshed, losing more things then he can count, Edward eventually joins the assassins after his lowest point and after his dear friend passes away. Edward then works to stop the last of the templars he once helped, having already killed a few, and stop them from learning the secrets of the Observatory.
The only real issue in either of the stories comes with the pirate side when they keep skipping years. That being said, that is only because I can't remember dates to save my life most of the time so it is a small complaint. They do skip around a lot there though but it works out in the end well. The other story is an excuse to get you exploring Abstergo as well as showing you what happened after the events of the previous game, Assassin's Creed III, as well as connecting the pirate side and the present day really well due to one little but interesting plot twist, and connecting the Assassin's Creed universe with Watch Dogs universe.
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Edward is no hero. Let's get that straight. He is a pirate, and a good one at that. He lies, cheats, and steals, but he does help out people once in a while if he can gain from it. He sets up the assassins and helps them defend their forts in the end for keys to a set of templar armor. He is a good man, but driven by greed. When greed gets people he cares about killed, and continues to lead to nothing but death, Edward gets drunk and realizes his mistakes and joins the assassins at the bare end of the game. It is a pretty cool story of redemption and worth the look into it if you like characterization. Other side characters are interesting as well, Black Beard is just like the legend, but also has a unique and friendly flair towards Edward, something we don't see often in versions of Black Beard. Black Bart is insane in this game and is awesome. Mary the pirate is an awesome character in the plot as well, being Edward's best friend outside of his crew. Then the hacker in Absetgo is an interesting character as well. Nothing but awesome here. The only characters I don't know much about are a select few of the templars, and even then it is only about two of them.
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The worst thing about this game. The hacking games in Abstergo are fine. The ship battles play amazingly. Harpooning is incredibly awesome. Everything you do on land may or may not work depending on the game's mood. There are times countering for me straight up wouldn't work right until I died and tried again and then I couldn't be touched. There are times climbing is a pain in the rear due to glitches of Edward jumping into water instead of jumping to a nearby window, and issues with him grabbing things nearby. Running after someone and accidentally grabbing and climbing the plank to the right is annoying and can be frustrating at times. Swimming can be frustrating as well, as there isn't much you can do against sharks sometimes. Unless you are close to the ground and can find a sea bush, a shark will hurt you. What is worse is that there is limited air, so swimming away from ground is the only way to find things and leave without drowning. What is good in this game is done masterfully, and what is bad is annoying but still manageable for the most part.
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When it comes to the designs of the small towns, they all seem alike. Even the ruins often seem alike at times. the main towns are different enough, but not incredibly unique either. The ocean is designed pretty well though so plus there. Some of the "mission only" levels are designed uniquely enough though and Abstergo is awesome to explore. Most of the missions are pretty well done, though they aren't really stealth friendly half the time and there isn't many issues with fighting your way through at least 80% of the missions, assuming the counter option keeps working. The ocean is probably the funnest area due to the different ships and things you can find, while design wise it is just a big ocean, because of all the objects you can find it makes it more interesting similar to Wind Waker. Not bad but with so many locations being almost the same as other locations, it can be dull at times.
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So much here to do. Diving for treasure is fun excluding the swimming mechanic, fighting random ships and forts to boost product you can sell and gain the entire map of the ocean is fun. The side missions of helping the assassins for the templar keys is interesting and gives you some side plots and fun characters to get to know as well as templar armor, finding the mayan tokens is okay and has a far better armor reward, hunting is still fun though not as good as Assassin's Creed III, harpooning is far more fun however, buried treasure is awesome, side assassination missions are okay, upgrading the ship and Kenway is worth it, raiding and robbing plantations is fun and stealth based, finding other pirates to kill and raid is fun and stealth based, animus fragments help unlock cheats, 100% synch sucks but also helps unlock cheats, hacking computers unlocks information and is fun in present times, having a fleet is overly confusing but okay, building up your own pirate cove is fun but short, and legendary ship battles are difficult but rewarding with in game money. Absolute blast when it comes to side quests.
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If you are into stealth, there are some stealth elements here, but while the 100% synch missions encourage near impossible levels of stealth, the rest of the game almost does the opposite. Combat is okay but can be slightly clunky at times, but even if you disliked the ship battles on Assassin's Creed III this may turn you around on naval combat in video games as it is done well. The main problems is some of the gameplay elements and some of the levels being a bit boring and of course 100% synch missions for completionists. If you really like pirates and want some historic information, while not 100% accurate this game comes close to actually teaching you about them.
Honestly this game is good, but may be a little overrated. It is a great game, but there are some issues people seem to overlook, which happens because the fun parts are indeed really really fun, but as a reviewer I can't over look the bad. There is a number of issues that can cause a calm play through to get ugly quick when doing missions on land in the later parts of the game. You end up playing the missions thinking "I could be blowing up ships about now" and that isn't good. If you are an Assassin's Creed fan, a pirate fan, or just love side questing, this game is for you. If you like a great story and characters this is also for you. If you want a flawless combat system and new locations to explore, it is hit and miss here. If you don't want to throw your controller because of guards seeing through walls or your counter system stops working, you may be out of luck.