With the newest edition of the Assassin’s Creed series recently released, I figured it’d be a good time to go back and review the first game of the series that I played: Black Flag.
I first played Black Flag in 2024, after I got it for Christmas, meaning I’ve only had it for a few months. It’s been a long enough time, however, for me to develop a deep enjoyment for the game. I haven’t gotten very far in the story because I’m having a bunch of fun just boating around, taking over random ships and exploring all of the islands I end up drifting to.
The main points you need to understand are as follows: this company called Abstergo has developed technology that can let you simulate past people’s lives, and they’ve coded this master pirate’s life story. You’ve been hired to test the system. You play as the pirate, but there are sections at points where you play as the guy who's recently been hired.
One complaint I have about the game is that the combat seems too easy, because most attacks from enemies can be countered by pressing A, which opens up 4 other options, which if memory serves are: Kill, Throw, Shoot, and Hurt. Obviously, being able to press 2 buttons and kill most enemies isn’t the most difficult thing in the world. You need to have a decent reaction time to counter the attacks, but I’ve found the game is pretty lenient about the exact timing. If you get enemies with guns involved, then you can either run around a corner, or if you’re in a horde of foes, you can have the gunman shoot one of them.
However, since I spend most of my time at sea, I’m usually more focused on ship-to-ship combat. This system is pretty in-depth, but it was hard to learn when starting out because, depending on which way you’re looking, you attack differently. Looking backwards drops “fire barrels” which function as mines. If you look to either side (port or starboard), you shoot a broadside, and if you face forwards, you fire chains that can slow other ships down. Once you hit a ship, you can fire your “swivels” by holding X to do a follow-up attack. You could also ram other ships, but that damages your ship as well, so I tend to avoid this. I recently unlocked another weapon: mortars. You hold down ZL to aim it, then press ZR to fire. Combining these methods can allow you to hit most ships pretty hard, which allows you to board them, where the lackluster hand-to-hand combat takes back over.
One upgrade that came pretty early on was the pistols. I still use them extensively because it’s a gun in a sword fight, obviously it’s gonna help. They’re not without their flaws however. Hunting for all of the ingredients is time-consuming, so upgrading the guns to their full potential can take a while. First, you have to check what stuff you need to upgrade the ammo pouches or get more guns so you can fire rapidly, whichever you want. Then you have to look through a bunch of islands to find one that has the kind of animal you need, then you have to go there and actually hunt the creatures.
As I stated before, I haven’t gotten super far into the story, but the little I have seen has been very interesting. I don’t like the office sections nearly as much as the rest of the game since all you do is walk around and talk to people/ scan stuff, so it feels like it’s mostly a cutscene, but you can walk around.
Overall, it’s been a super fun game so far, and I’m excited to see what else the game has to offer as I continue playing. I’d say it’s an 8/10.