Assassin’s Creed is a series that has been forced on us constantly throughout this generation. And although the games are highly enjoyable, the series started to feel a little bit forced from Assassin’s Creed: Revelations onwards. That’s not saying that Assassin’s Creed: Revelations was bad, but I feel like the series could have easily continued without the game existing.
Assassin’s Creed III did a decent job concluding Desmond’s journey, but Ubisoft did kind of drop the ball with Connor’s introduction into the series. Many followers of the series (including myself) felt like Connor was the worst possible character to follow on from Ezio, who was clearly the standout character of the series next to Desmond. After Assassin’s Creed III I personally would have liked a break from the series for at least two years, but now Ubisoft have revealed that Assassin’s Creed IV is already on the horizon.
It’s hard to tell how they can proceed from here, given how they finished the third game. And since Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will actually be the sixth fully fledged console iteration of the series there will be a lot of expectations and demands centered around this game in particular. With that being said, here is a rundown of some things we would like Ubisoft to work on in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
A Better Lead Character
Lets face it, Connor was far from a likable character. His father was more of an interesting character then him by far, and that’s saying something considering I couldn’t wait to kill him (violent thoughts). The lead character in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is Edward Kenway the grandfather of Connor, so lets hope he doesn’t carry any of Conner’s personality traits (or lack of).
It’s said that Edward is intended to be more charming, clever and reckless. I hope this is true, because it’s clear that goody-two-shoes such as Conner don’t work in a series like Assassin’s Creed. We need our characters to have dysfunctional personality traits, and unwarranted levels of arrogance. Give us a reason to anticipate what our character does next.
It’s interesting to note that due to Desmond’s story being finished, Ubisoft are now putting the gamer at the hands of the animus. You the gamer are now responsible for the research into Desmond’s ancestor Edward Kenway. I can’t wait to see how Ubisoft execute this new perspective on things, because it has the potential to be genius.
Better Multiplayer and Co-op modes
In the previous Assassin’s Creed the stealth/assassination element was unbalanced as players could easily just run around and finish their objectives without using an ounce of strategy or stealth. In Assassin’s Creed IV it would be ideal if the game could encourage and reward players for playing like a true Assassin, instead of treating the experience like an ancient Grand Theft Auto game.
Also I feel like Co-op missions could be vastly expanded on, giving players the chance to work together and complete single-player quality missions. Or how about Co-op Naval battles? It’s evident that the Naval battles will make a return with this game being centered around pirates, so that could easily play a huge part of the multiplayer/co-op experience.
Also one thing that annoys me in the story mode is those annoying free-running challenges, but what if they implemented a leaderboard for those challenges and made it as accessible as say Temple Run? Just a thought.
Meaningful Assassinations
One of the big let downs in Assassin’s Creed 3 was the lack of meaningful Assassinations. None of them were memorable besides Connor’s father and Charles Lee. In Assassin’s Creed IV I hope they take the time to focus on character building. Let us know more about each target, make us emotionally invested in taking them out. There’s been a ton of opportunities the past for the plot lines to be more fleshed out, but it ends up feeling rushed to the point it’s hard to care. Side-quests should also be expanded upon. Don’t just make us take out random targets in side-quests, let there be some type of build up to the assassination.
Better Stealth
This ties nicely into fleshing out the Assassination’s. Ubisoft is the same company who produces one of the best stealth games Splinter Cell, so there’s no reason that the stealth system in Assassin’s Creed should be so unbalanced. I’m tired of the game screwing me over for trying to take out somebody like a true Assassin, making every attempt end up in either a full on battle or a de-sync. I think the problem lies in the fact that they would have to over-haul the entire game mechanics to fix the issues with stealth, and for a game that comes out yearly it’s difficult to make such a huge change. Considering they’re jumping to Assassin’s Creed IV so soon after Assassin’s Creed III it would be ideal if they could give the stealth system a complete makeover. Black Flags will be set on numerous Caribbean islands, so I hope they can utilize the tropical environment to provide more creative ways of sneaking.
A New Storyline Direction
Desmond’s story practically ended with Assassin’s Creed III, and although this game seems like it’s going to continue the tradition of studying Desmond’s ancestors I think the overall story should take a completely different direction. Of course Templar’s vs Assassin’s will always be the main conflict, but I want to see new angles of the conflict. I would actually prefer if there was little to no reference to Desmond at all, and Ubisoft just focused entirely on Edward Kenway and his own personal conflicts. I personally never enjoyed playing the modern sequences in Assassin’s Creed games as I feel like going back to a previous setting is the main attraction to this series. So I hope Ubisoft can find a way to put the spotlight entirely on the pirate setting itself and tell us a very compelling story in that era.
Do you have an Assassin’s Creed IV wishlist? Let us know what you want to see below.
