Ubisoft confirms Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

I'm really excited for this, I loved the naval missions in ACIII, and can't wait to see where they go with this.

Would have preferred a Nazi Germany setting.

I''ve been gaming since the days of the ZX Spectrum (also had NES, Megadrive, PS1, PS2, PS3, Wii and DS) and have to say that all through the different generations I have really, really enjoyed the Assassin's Creed series. I've pretty much played them all back to back since starting the first game in Jan 11 (a bit late to the AC party I know!!). I completed AC 3 two weeks ago having spent the best part of 60 hours (over a 3 and half month period) within the AC3 world and loved every moment of it (the odd glitch aside of course – although these, naïvely I admit, I put down to glitches contained within the Animus itself as opposed to Ubisoft being too lazy to rectify prior to release). I love doing all the side stuff within the AC universe; the emotional payoff after completing all the Homestead missions within AC3 felt truly rewarding. I had issues with the whole convoy/economy system that I almost gave up until something just clicked. And when it did, the elation I felt was ecstatic. I was able to make money on a grand scale by selling crafted items to the right traders; it became a game almost in it's self (much like the drugs economy system in GTA: China Town Wars) and was way ahead of the just buying property mechanics in the previous AC's. It truly upset me when it was announced that one of my naval convoys was attacked and I lost £31000 worth of goods after having spent about £16000 buying and crafting. And remember it's only there if want it, there is no compulsion so don't complain that the side stuff is dull; it's down to player choice at the end of the day. As you can guess, I am a fan of the AC series and can't pinpoint a favourite. They all have their merits for various reasons. So, AC 4! I'm massively excited already as I feel lost now that I have completed AC 3 and left the AC universe. For me, AC 4 is great news doubled with the fact that it will be on PS3 (because for the first time in my gaming life I am not ready for jumping ship to the next gen; I have so many games still to play as well as unreleased games that I will want too). That's not to say I don't have concerns. My initial concern is the fact that the main character will be Haytham's father. Does that then insinuate that Desmond *spoiler* is still somehow alive??? After all, Edward Kenway is part of Desmond's blood-line so surely he will need hooking up into the Animus in order for Edward’s memories to be activated. If Desmond is not involved, is this going to be a pointless tale set before the events of AC3 that will have no bearing on the present day Assassin/Templar conflict or on Juno’s plans after being released in the present day by Desmond? I'm sure all will be revealed come Monday. Whatever the plot though, you can be sure that this will be a day one pre-order for me once a release date is announced. I just hope it will maintain the standards that, for me personally, have been set by the proceeding games. I wait in anticipation.

Seems cool, but *sigh* I still haven't beat ACIII. I think I'll get Watch Dogs instead. Black Flag had better be a whole new game with it's own refined mechanics and 50% less bugs than ACIII. Even though they did it with Ezio, which I thought was just a fluke, I hate to see one of my favorite franchises become annual releases.

So AC3 bored the hell out of me, but I did flip it. Wouldn't playing one of the earlier Kenways mean you're a Templar then? Did I miss something that said Haytham came from the Assassins?

In the background info AC3 gives on Haytham through the animus, it says he was an Assassin at first, then later after you find out he's a Templar, it says it's unclear as to whether he was turned to the Templar's side, or got his blades after killing an Assassin

Sigh... I was really hoping the next AC would take a trip to China or Japan. This hardly seems like "a fresh hero and time period." It seems more like Ubi saying "Look, look! ACIII wasn't boring! The ships were cool, right guise?!" ... I might skip this one... I guess we'll see in a few days.

Hmm, I was kind of hoping that Rockstar would be the next developer to take on the pirate genre, especially after their fruitful efforts at bringing the West to life.

They should have made it a "once every two years" franchise, now we just go too much Assassin's Creed, with the newest ones lacking the "Assassin" feel. Make one set in the future Ubisoft!

They are. It's called Watch Dogs.

First off, Watch Dogs is an IP and is not related to the Assassin's Creed series, second of all, it is not set in the future. The technology in the game basically is already in existence.

Ubisoft said it's a near-future game. Near-future is still future. It's also highly likely to be running on Anvil Next, same as ACIII/ACIV, so the art direction is similar. And the bits of freerunning that we've seen seem a lot like AC. Yeah, it's a different IP, but one would be forgiven for thinking it was related to AC. Watch Dogs looks amazing. But it does have a lot of similarities. No need to get your thong in a twist.

I thought this argument was about Assassin's Creed? WatchDogs look's good, no doubt on that, but the comment you first replied to was directed to AC, why havent' they made a full game with a modern day Assassin, instead of making him have short play times, base a whole game in 2013, and let is still be Assassin's Creed, or one in the future where you have hidden lightsabers or something replacing the hidden blades! And Ubisoft should stop hurrying to make these games, I am still playing Assassin's Creed Revelations and they released AC3, now they want to do so with 4??

I was justifying an off-hand comment made in a joking manner that you blew out of proportion.

Oh....

I think it's stupid how so many people hate on Assassins Creed just because it's become a yearly release, and they try to compare it to COD. First, the ONLY similarity between AC and COD is the yearly release. AC titles have been in development for years by different studios when they come out. On a side note, this announcement does seem out of the blue, it feels misplaced, with barely any buildup. I suspect they were rushed into reveal due to the leak earlier this week. While the subscript is not normal for AC games, I'm always thrilled to play another one.

I know most of the disappointment I feel for AC is that I have caused my game to glitch and mess up so much, plus the rendering issues that happen with the buildings and other environment pieces really put me off. Although the "dead body doing idle animation instead of death animation" has brought many a lol to my wife and I.

I love Assassin's Creed, but they only way anyone could compare it to COD is the annual releases. That said, the mechanics are getting old, I had to force myself to complete Revelations after getting 3, and I still haven't beaten 3. What they need to do is make it fresh, (which it seems they are doing with this one) and do a lot of testing to squash bugs. Skyrim had less bugs than ACIII and even Liberation on the Vita had less bugs. My assassin's guild has come to a standstill due to not being able to complete any more liberation missions, which really blows. I'm still optimistic about the AC franchise, but with Black Flag for me, it's make or break.

I have always been a huge fan of the AC franchise. That being said, I completely agree. I think they have strayed really far from what the games used to be. They've added so much side stuff and quests, and different elements, that really aren't needed. I have beaten them all, but I'll admit the most recent ones aren't as fun to play as the games used to be. I for one didn't experience as many of the glitches and bugs that everyone is talking about in AC3, but obviously they are there. But I also do think that Ubisoft has realized what they have done wrong with the more recent titles, and are going to bring this one back to basics. They say it's been in development for 3 years with an all new team, I hope that team has completely stripped it down and built it back up from the basics. If they can do that, I believe the franchise will match, if not exceed what it proved it could do with AC2. Always optimistic.

What the hell AC3 just recently come out.