Assassin's Creed 4 new gameplay

[nightprowler10]

I think there are a lot of reasons why many people, including myself, felt there was something missing in AC3. A lot of blame goes towards Connor's character, which I think is part of it (I'll always think they made him too wooden), but I think the main problem was the inclusion of some of the most famous characters from the American revolution. Think about the type of historical characters you had to deal with in AC1, 2, Brotherhood, and even Revelations. They're not people you know off the top of your head and hence didn't detract from the story itself. Guys like Washington were too big to be just be part of the storyline in every other chapter and that's...well distracting. I really don't know how to explain it. A good example is how in AC1 when Altair meets Richard Lionheart, it's a pretty big ****ing deal, whereas Connor seems to be at almost every important event once he arrives in the story. It just makes it a bit of a joke, really. Add the fact that there was a LOT going on in the RL piece of it, the end result was that the game was all over the place and had little focus and the central philosophy was lost on most people.

[nightprowler10]

I don't know that anyone would refer to me as a hardcore fan of the series. But I have played all of the numbered games (meaning I missed Brotherhood). And I've played them all at a nauseating level, nearly 100%ing all of them.

I have always hated the current day portions of these games, and I don't think I'm a shallow gamer by any stretch. Generally speaking I don't play online, I play single player campaign type games.

Since the series got going, I've been saying I'd be more than happy to have them throw me a new location every year, and just totally ditch the overarching story. It just didn't do anything for me. The playable portions of it had been infuriating. The inability to run. The repeatable interactions, that had my OCD asking the same people questions over and over again to get some stupid answer just because I was afraid I'd miss something.

I actually like the current time stuff in AC3 best, in part because we finally got something to do. Both the crane break in sequence, and the Brazilian sporting event thing, allowed us to use some of our skills in a new setting. But the ending was admittedly rediculous.


I also seem to have liked 3 more than most. I liked Connor more than most people I guess. I thought the combat animations were awesome, and made extended gameplay more compelling. Same with the free running. It probably helps that I know Boston well enough to recognize some of the layout and landmarks. And I'll also admit that it didn't reach the dizzying heights that Rome did, which I also am already beginning to wonder if the Carribean won't get their either. But I also love exploring and collecting, and I felt AC3 did a great job of giving me things to go after, and gave me reasonable rewards for getting them, in that they interested me to get them, or they might help, but they weren't mandatory.

IV looks like it's similar on the collection front, maybe moreso.

Thanks for that perspective. If you missed out on Brotherhood and Revelations but 100%-ed on everything else, then you're pretty much the opposite of me. I actually bought those 2 games at full price and played through them as fast as I could because I wanted to see where the RL story goes next. At that point, if I'm not sick of the game I'll go back and collect as much as possible, but I'm definitely motivated by the real life stuff. In fact, I haven't touched Revelations and AC3 since finishing the first playthrough because my main motivation was the RL story. It doesn't help that I love Italy and (as I've mentioned before) planned my honeymoon based on what I saw in AC2 and Brotherhood, and the two games that came after were dwarves in comparison for that reason.

AC3 and 4 definitely gave you plenty to explore, but my problem with AC3 isn't that I didn't enjoy it, it was that the side missions just seemed so useless. To give you an example, in AC4 I kept getting stuck on some of the naval missions because I hadn't upgraded my ship enough as I was too busy trying to blow through the game. So I felt it necessary to go out into the sea and take forts, loot warehouses, and finish other side missions so I have enough money and materials to upgrade my ship. I didn't have to do jack**** in order to get through AC3. I didn't get any extra recruits until after I beat the game, didn't do any crafting until I was bored of the combat, only did the homestead missions because I heard it had a nice ending, etc. None of it was necessary. There was nothing compelling me to do any of that crap.

I don't think I'm being too critical of the game either, as I believe Ubisoft realized what the problem was and fixed it for AC4.

[Jailblazers7]

I didn't mean to call anyone a shallow gamer, my fault if I gave off that vibe. I just meant the story was so god damn hard to make appealing because, as nightprowler siad, Connor's character was wooden. And I think it was almost inevitable that he was going to be wooden compared to Ezio. Connor is a Native American in a white society that views him as second class and he watched his mother die as a boy which effectively killed off his personality. It's hard to make a black sheep appealing to a wider audience. I really liked the risk that they took in making him the character but it was almost bound to be disappointing to almost everyone for a thousand different reasons.

And I never thought about the star power of AC3 with historical figures but I think that it true. I remember the scene where Connor was in the room for the Continental Congress and it was just so casual. It was almost like Ubisoft lost its flare for the dramatic. I was disappointed that Ben Franklin wasn't really a confidant of Connor's too. I was expecting a Da Vinci type of relationship but instead we just chased some pages along the rooftops.

[Thorpesaurous]

I didn't mean to call anyone a shallow gamer, my fault if I gave off that vibe. I just meant the story was so god damn hard to make appealing because, as nightprowler siad, Connor's character was wooden. And I think it was almost inevitable that he was going to be wooden compared to Ezio. Connor is a Native American in a white society that views him as second class and he watched his mother die as a boy which effectively killed off his personality. It's hard to make a black sheep appealing to a wider audience. I really liked the risk that they took in making him the character but it was almost bound to be disappointing to almost everyone for a thousand different reasons.

And I never thought about the star power of AC3 with historical figures but I think that it true. I remember the scene where Connor was in the room for the Continental Congress and it was just so casual. It was almost like Ubisoft lost its flare for the dramatic. I was disappointed that Ben Franklin wasn't really a confidant of Connor's too. I was expecting a Da Vinci type of relationship but instead we just chased some pages along the rooftops.

I didn't mean shallow gamer in a bad way. I was just sort of emphasizing that there is definitely a type of gamer who may play this because he can jump from a rooftop and stab someone through the head. And that's fine. And if he enjoyed the game for that, and came in here and said he liked it and who cares about Desmond, I think everyone would understand.

I was trying to point out that I'm not that guy, and still who cares about Desmond, and I enjoyed it. And that's why I felt the fervor over the bad Desmond ending wasn't bigger. I think for a lot of people, and I'm speaking from my perspective, each of the first two games, the Desmond stuff felt more like a mechanism to get into these games. The story's worked fine in bottles without the bigger arc. It felt more like a way to put boundaries on the map (**memory does not exist**), and keep using this formula to create open world historically based lightly conspiracy driven plots. That was plenty for me.

Wooden is a fair description of Connor. I think my increased taste for the third one stemmed less from that and more from fleshing out the gameplay. 1 got knocked for it's repetitiveness, and very rightfully. 2 was credited with fixing it, and it did to a degree, but it still felt more limited than most open world games. A lot of it I think was hidden by the fact that the Italian map was absolutely spectacular. And it worked perfectly with the game's climbing and free running. Three felt like it really polished off the homestead it started in Italy. But adding in the upgradability of stuff, and the crafting, gave all the collecting more depth of purpose.

I also don't think anyone is saying it was bad.

[nightprowler10]

I didn't mean shallow gamer in a bad way. I was just sort of emphasizing that there is definitely a type of gamer who may play this because he can jump from a rooftop and stab someone through the head. And that's fine. And if he enjoyed the game for that, and came in here and said he liked it and who cares about Desmond, I think everyone would understand.

I was trying to point out that I'm not that guy, and still who cares about Desmond, and I enjoyed it. And that's why I felt the fervor over the bad Desmond ending wasn't bigger. I think for a lot of people, and I'm speaking from my perspective, each of the first two games, the Desmond stuff felt more like a mechanism to get into these games. The story's worked fine in bottles without the bigger arc. It felt more like a way to put boundaries on the map (**memory does not exist**), and keep using this formula to create open world historically based lightly conspiracy driven plots. That was plenty for me.

Wooden is a fair description of Connor. I think my increased taste for the third one stemmed less from that and more from fleshing out the gameplay. 1 got knocked for it's repetitiveness, and very rightfully. 2 was credited with fixing it, and it did to a degree, but it still felt more limited than most open world games. A lot of it I think was hidden by the fact that the Italian map was absolutely spectacular. And it worked perfectly with the game's climbing and free running. Three felt like it really polished off the homestead it started in Italy. But adding in the upgradability of stuff, and the crafting, gave all the collecting more depth of purpose.

I also don't think anyone is saying it was bad.

Yeah and to continue on that I feel 4 did a better job intertwining the open world with the story itself (I don't think you've finished it yet). It MADE you go places and explore them as part of the main storyline, where as 3 didn't do as good of a job of that but all of it was available for anyone that pursued the side missions. It led many gamers to not experience the game properly.

And yeah, I'm not saying it's a bad game at all. I don't actually think there are any bad games in the franchise and if I had to pick one to put down it wouldn't be this one (probably Revelations actually - all of what they did could've been wrapped up in a big DLC and save Istanbul for a bigger game).

Despite my criticisms of the character, I actually have a soft spot for Connor too. As Jailblazers mentioned, his story was very dark and I think I mentioned in the AC3 thread at the time that his character was so much more tragic than the others because there is no way for him to get closure. Watched mother die, father's a ****, killed own father, watched his people get displaced by the same people he helped get freedom. At least Altair took Masyaf back and died knowing what was what. Ezio got revenge for his family and restored the order and died peacefully. Where does Connor go from here? As of yet he had no love interest (probably too awkward to even find someone), the Order was a bit of a joke, he didn't completely understand the Creed and what he was fighting for. I mean he has his homestead full of people he can eventually call family, but that's about it.

[Thorpesaurous]

So far I'm just cruising around and scavenging various treasure chests. If one pops up onto my map, I go get it. Mission wise I haven't started the one where the 10 year old William Kidd pirate sends you to raid a plantation. I thought that was a girl.

I've almost upgraded the Jackdaw to the point where they won't let me do anymore without advancing further in the story. So far I've been really happy. They've jammed the world full of all sorts of good stuff.

[nightprowler10]

I've almost upgraded the Jackdaw to the point where they won't let me do anymore without advancing further in the story.

That's great. I wasted a lot of time trying to get through some Jackdaw missions because I hadn't upgraded enough. You should be able to cruise right through.

[Anti Hero]

I really like the game so far but the naval missions are killing me. I have a hard time finding the desire to get through it because I keep failing them. Any tips?

I love the Naval parts of the game, probably my favorite (Except for when you get outnumbered 4 or 5 to 1.).

If you don't want to swim up and kill everyone on board, my tip would be to make good use of your mortars, always keep them stocked up. Hit them from as far out as you can and keep raining fire. I have a level 2 hull and my mortars upgraded fully, and I took out a [COLOR="Red"]red[/COLOR] level 36 Man-O-War. The prize of my fleet

[Jailblazers7]

Yeah I honestly made the min upgrades to the jackdaw and made it through the whole game because of mortars.

[Anti Hero]

Yeah I honestly made the min upgrades to the jackdaw and made it through the whole game because of mortars.

Yea, see... this guy, he knows.

[Thorpesaurous]

I'm still mostly just sailing around. I think Adawale is getting pissed at me because he's been having the same conversation with me for two weeks.

"Cap'n Kidd has a prize he wants to show me"

"Do you think he'll be true?"

"He has a way about him that unnerves me"


And then I sail off to push into an uncleared area to try to take a fort.

I think my story progress is at like 28%, but I've crafted everything but the darts because I haven't had them introduced yet. I'm still chipping away at the Jackdaw. Metal is scarce. So if I see anyone sailing with it I'll go after it, on my way from fort to fort, or the occasional humpback whale excursion. Once I open a region up by taking the fort, I strip it of chests, visit it's city and try to clean it out, avoiding all the main mission stuff, and move on to the next region. And the end game is to open up the areas where I have treasure maps that I can't get to yet. I need the plans to finish maxing out my Jackdaw.

Those legendary ships are rediculous. I tried one and got my ass kicked. And I suck at the harpooning for reasons I can't really pin down.

[nightprowler10]

You gotta stick the harpoons in fast as possible. Don't wait forever trying to aim. Go for a little south of the middle. The longer you let the hunt go on the worse off you are.

[Rose]

I'm still mostly just sailing around. I think Adawale is getting pissed at me because he's been having the same conversation with me for two weeks.

"Cap'n Kidd has a prize he wants to show me"

"Do you think he'll be true?"

"He has a way about him that unnerves me"


And then I sail off to push into an uncleared area to try to take a fort.

I think my story progress is at like 28%, but I've crafted everything but the darts because I haven't had them introduced yet. I'm still chipping away at the Jackdaw. Metal is scarce. So if I see anyone sailing with it I'll go after it, on my way from fort to fort, or the occasional humpback whale excursion. Once I open a region up by taking the fort, I strip it of chests, visit it's city and try to clean it out, avoiding all the main mission stuff, and move on to the next region. And the end game is to open up the areas where I have treasure maps that I can't get to yet. I need the plans to finish maxing out my Jackdaw.

Those legendary ships are rediculous. I tried one and got my ass kicked. And I suck at the harpooning for reasons I can't really pin down.

Yeah, it's the game reminding you to play the story.

Metal is usually found on the brigs.(specifically ones in the southwest region which is where the biggest baddest ships are) Or you can get your wanted up kinda high and the pirate hunters will almost always give you metal. Yeah doing the forts is another good way to get it. Although not much.

You can't max out the ship until you get the diving bell though. You can come pretty close. As for legendary ships the hardest is the ramming one, after that it's the twin ships. I don't think the other two matter but they're kind of easy. Especially in comparison to the ramming ship.

I sucked at harpooning basically until I maxed that stuff out. Then I was good because I had it maxed out, and then with the 40? harpoons I would always kill stuff, and eventually I got better at it.

[Thorpesaurous]

Yeah, it's the game reminding you to play the story.

Metal is usually found on the brigs.(specifically ones in the southwest region which is where the biggest baddest ships are) Or you can get your wanted up kinda high and the pirate hunters will almost always give you metal. Yeah doing the forts is another good way to get it. Although not much.

You can't max out the ship until you get the diving bell though. You can come pretty close. As for legendary ships the hardest is the ramming one, after that it's the twin ships. I don't think the other two matter but they're kind of easy. Especially in comparison to the ramming ship.

I sucked at harpooning basically until I maxed that stuff out. Then I was good because I had it maxed out, and then with the 40? harpoons I would always kill stuff, and eventually I got better at it.

It was the twin legendary ship that whooped my ass.

And I have noticed a fair amount of metal in that southwestern area where I'm at now. Often upwards of a hundred and change of metal per ship.

It seems that areas that I've already "opened up", for lack of a better description, are "closed" again. I'm not really sure why though.

[Anti Hero]

I tried a legendary ship twice... both times were mistakes.