The 50 Best PS4 Games Right Now

Best PS4 Games – #23 Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Publisher: Ubisoft

PS4 Release Date: November 15, 2013

It’s always tough to develop a competent launch title, yet the team at Ubisoft Montreal were up to the task when they released Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Taking the advice of fans who said “give us more of those damn good pirate ship adventures,” it follows the adventures of Edward Kenway as shifts his privateering ways toward the allure of freedom along the Carribean Sea. In the present-day in-world scenario, you are an employee of Abstergo, investigating the prominent sailor-turned-pirate for historical accuracy for an interactive feature film. However, things are not what they seem.

The main areas of focus in Black Flag are Havana, Nassau and Kingston. The world is much more open in this annual iteration of the Assassin’s Creed series, with 40% of players’ time spent exploring the seas in search of treasure, precious metals, hidden secrets and discovering new locations. Depending on the sort of profile you kept, Kenway’s crew would inevitably get up to no good, initiating in ship-to-ship naval combat, with invasions, cannonballs and sword fighting aplenty.

There was still many things to do on land, too, with Kenway living up to his assassin potential in Black Flag. Although there were a fair amount of “stay close to listen to people’s conversations” quests, the sneaking missions included some of the more intuitive level designs, reflective of the tropical location it was borne from. You can blend in with the tall grass, hop between posts on naval dockyards, or leap between the shanties and the decorated housing; everything about the world design of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag spoke of 18th century piracy to a T.

Next: #22 Driveclub