Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag Started a Trend That Has Plagued the Franchise for 13 Years

Despite being called Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, it’s actually the sixth main game in the Assassin’s Creed series. It came after Assassin’s Creed 3, which wasn’t universally loved, and was quickly praised as a return to form. Black Flag truly captures what Assassin’s Creed aims to be: a thrilling blend of historical fiction and action-fantasy. The game features a captivating story, a beautiful and expansive Caribbean world filled with things to do, and wonderfully crafted environments based on real places like Havana and Nassau. While I consider it the second-best game in the series after Assassin’s Creed 2, even I admit Black Flag offered the most immersive historical experience within the Animus – the device used to relive memories – of any game up to that point. The parts of the game outside of the Animus could have been stronger, and its success might have unfortunately encouraged some of those weaker elements in future installments.





