Well it looks like the Assassin’s Creed franchise is becoming a bit more like other yearly franchises such as Call of Duty or Madden, releasing one title a year like clockwork. That’s not necessarily a bad thing considering that the newest upcoming AC game, Black Flag, is pretty much a direct response to how much players have seemed enjoyed the previous’ titles naval combat. It does look a lot like Pirates of the Caribbean meets Assassin’s Creed; right down to the ridiculous amount of flintlock pistols that protagonist carries.
A new Assassin’s Creed means a new bad-ass protagonist, this time he seems more like a pirate than an assassin. It seems that Ubisoft has really settled into their rhythm, choosing an iconic type of soldier in each of their franchises to step into the assassin’s role. Last year we had a Native American assassin, and before that we had a renaissance man and a medieval religious zealot. I’m hoping that once they get to our time there will be some sort of white collar, briefcase wielding 9-5 assassin who strangles enemies with his tie and throws cell phones with sharp edges, but I digress.
They have announced that there will not be any multiplayer naval combat which is a bit disappointing, but not entirely unsurprising. Each iteration of the AC franchise adds something new to the formula; it usually takes them a game or two to perfect it before adding it to the multiplayer rotation.
Black Flag will be released this fall, just like its predecessors. It’s only a matter of time until they bring the game fully into our current times, but as long as people keep buying these titles I doubt Ubisoft will rush to what is sure to be their trump card.
Check out Vincent’s post here for some leaked details about the game.