Recent reviews by Alison Peery

The best CRPG since Planescape: Torment, and one of the best titles to release in a long time. If you want a purchase that respects your time and money, while providing a complete experience with no additional add-ons or purchases, this is as good as it gets.

If Ivan the Terrible gives this a Thumbs Up, what does that say about this game?

After a short wait, with Ubisoft increasing the Assassin's Creed model to one game every holiday season, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag comes out the gates as one of the strongest AC games released since the original dropped back in 2006. I'll keep my review short as I don't believe words can replicate or convey my feelings and opinions about this game adequately.

Gameplay: Without a doubt the strongest AND weakest of the franchise thus far. The variety in naval, land and underwater allows the player to never feel as if they're repeating the same thing over and over, which was a major downfall of Assassin's Creed 3 and the weakest entry of the series thus far. Ubisoft could very well have taken out Templars and Assassin's, renamed the game Pirates, and it would stood on it's own as a solid IP from Ubisoft. With that being said, having Black Flag considered an entry in the AC franchise harms a few things. Swordplay is still pitiful in terms of complexity and effort with the same mindless mashing of X to slaughter endless hordes of Templars being intact once again. Collecting is a tad bit more tedious now but this is something to expect from a game that is next-gen along with being on sea as well as land

Controls: Black Flag is going to be marked as the buggiest and most frustrating AC game so far. Ubisoft has yet to figure out how to polish the climbing of this game back to how effective it was in AC2. Automating the climbing makes navigating ships more difficult than it was in AC3 (which was already a buggy mess on it's own) and the increased number of actual ledges, ropes and trees to climb only amplifies how painful it is to navigate on land and sea effectively. But if we turn our eyes towards ship and sea controls, this is a gigantic step forward from AC3. The expanded arsenal that Edward has available at his disposal along with the seamless selection of weapons makes naval combat a matter of quick thinking and timing rather than jumping through a thousand control hoops. I never had to think about which weapon I was using, only to gage where my ship was relative to the target and I instantly knew what I had to use and how to use it. Ubisoft also expanded ship controls beyond combat, adding in a Travel Speed that allows a more relaxing, cinematic perspective while sailing the high seas alone. On top of this, designating one button to Dock, Release and Board makes it simple to understand what you want to do at any time.

Story: While Black Flag will never hold a candle to how tighly wound Ezio's initial storyline was in AC2 or the simplicity that we had in AC1, Edward's tale is cleaner, more entertaining and enjoyable than any moment Conner's story ever had to offer. Before you ever take on the robes of the Assassin's, you can feel Haytham's energy pouring out of Edward but with more purpose and context. Playing Edward makes it easy to see why we enjoyed Haytham so much and why Conner was such a disappointment in comparison. The continuation of Desmond's story is hard to care about as Black Flag has a massive disconnect with Desmond for much of the story and leaves us wanting more. I do hope Ubisoft returns to the idea of a modern day AC entry as Desmond's sequences in AC3 felt more difficult and stressful as you are without the Animus UI to guide you. You, like Desmond, had to adapt to the enviroment and think on your feet instead of being given indicators and waypoints.

Overall: If you were worried about Black Flag after how disasterous AC3 was, like myself, do not fret: Black Flag is easily the best entry since Assassin's Creed 2 and serves to allow Ubisoft to go in different directions with a new IP using the naval gameplay of Black Flag along with pushing us closer to more modern day entries in the franchise. Edward is what we've always wanted from an AC protagonist: Full of character, rich with dialogue and meaning, and complexity that allows you to believe that what Edward is doing is what HE wants to do instead of being shoved into his role like Conner and Ezio.

Gameplay: 9/10
Controls: 7/10
Story: 7.5/10
Overall: 8.25