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Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is a game that mixes two unlikely worlds together - that of being a pirate, and that of being an assassin. What follows is a game that mixes sailing the ocean blue with stalking from within a bush, as you sneak, sail, and, well, stab your way through the game's story.
While the bulk of your will initially be spent taking on the game's assassination missions, where you have to sneak into a building, or track a foe down, being sure to stick to the shadows if you want to avoid suspicion, there's plenty to do outside the story here, too. With a wide open Caribbean world to discover, there's islands to land on, sunken ruins to explore, and enemy ships that can be attacked, or even boarded if you want to pillage and plunder like a true pirate - yarr!
However, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag isn't the easiest of games to pick up and play. With a lot of depth, and some fairly complex ideas to get your head around, the tutorials aren't really up to strength they need to be to explain to newer players, with the game in general requiring a lot of knowledge of earlier games in the series, or similar games in the genre if you want to be able to actually play.
As a game about assassin's, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag contains a substantial amount of violence. Edward, your character, will often kill enemies by driving a sword through their chest or face, and at other times will simply break their neck. Blood flies freely in these battles, although perhaps the goriest part of the game comes from hunting. In order to upgrade your character, and in at least one mission, you're required to hunt animals - ocelots, iguanas and parrots are all fair game - and once you've killed them, you can skin them. While you don't see the actual process, you do leave behind a bloodied carcass, with bones exposed, which is a bit stomach churning to say the least. Bad language comes regularly, although it's spiced up with some more unusual fare - alongside "c**t" and "f**k", we have the tropical "sh*tbird", which we'll admit to not having heard before. While there are a few minor references to sex in the dialogue, there's no nudity or explicit references for parents to be concerned about here - only a few sly nudges about "knowing" dancing girls, and "whores".
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Xbox 360
