Well, I was going to report how bad AC4 sucks...

[PZ]

Great to see you back, JRD!  :-X

There actually is an animus, and there are activities to play while in the animus, although not as extensive as some of the prior iterations.

Now that I finished the game, and everything is fully open world, I'm finding tons to do including what feels like main story line missions.  I'm actually impressed that Ubi seems to have favored the open world play with this version

Most recently I earned the Mayan outfit, which makes me impervious to bullets - quite the advantage.  I also earned the Templar outfit which makes me more resistant to damage.  I favor the former because there are quite often enemy on the ground and up high that fire at you, seriously depleting your health.

I also like that there are a large number of land-based activities, but when you get that urge to get back to sea, there is plenty to do there as well.  I almost cannot believe that I like the sea adventures, but with my almost fully outfitted ship, it is rather easy to get one up on the enemy ships.

All in all, of all the AC series, this would be my second favorite after the Ezio series.

[JRD]

This is good news. I enjoyed the naval missions in AC3 but mostly because I've upgraded my ship as much as I could before taking those missions so I could go through them all with practically no death / reload.

I was reading the review you posted and it seems like good fun although not nearly as historically centered as the rest of the series. My godson calls it a "slot machine" as in designed to get you inserting money into it to do the same thing. He said something that got me thinking: this was probably rushed through development in order to have an AC game fresh out for the PS4 launch, which makes sense to me. Storywise there was no time to dig deep into an era and they just went with what was new and eye candy in AC3 - the naval battles. Anyway... as I'm a big fan of the series I may give it a try one day but the fact that the storyline is not as developed is a big turn off for me.

All in all, of all the AC series, this would be my second favorite after the Ezio series.

Well...... after the Ezio series you are left with AC1, almost a beta for the whole series, and AC3 which is the worst of the series ever, so it seems like a no brainer!  ^-^

[PZ]

I was reading the review you posted and it seems like good fun although not nearly as historically centered as the rest of the series.

That about nails it - good fun, but not inspiring in a historical sense.  AC2 was actually my favorite of them all, and I recall interesting historical facts about the places and people represented in the game.  When you would come upon a new building, a historical data sheet came up giving you some of the back story.  I may have missed it, but I do not recall anything like that in the current game.

One caution though, the naval battles are rather repetitious - the same cut scenes when the battle ends, and although the battles themselves are open world in nature, you end up doing the same thing repeatedly.

Liberating the forts are a challenge, but lots of fun.

Side missions also seem more fun to me than I've experienced in the past, but again, maybe that's just me.

As to rushing the production through to release in time for the PS4 - maybe... but you can't get a unit anyway  :-()

[mandru]

Hey stranger.  It's good to see you around.  :-X

Like you I am very interested in the background story to this series.  Specifically the hints and clues of the  Precursor Race but I'm not willing to wallow through the pirate sea battle missions to get it though.  ::)

Even though a lot of the land base missions and action portions of the game look really exciting I decided to find a walk through on youtube that I'll watch through to glean the storyline info.  As far as regrets in making this choice I just wish the guy who recorded this walk through series had used a PC for better graphics and the controls I'm familiar with, was able to actually run in a straight line when a straight dash is most needed and would stop lunging the hell off of tall buildings (knocking a bloody gaping hole in his health) right before intensive fight sequences.  If I could offer the producer of this video series one piece of advice it would be control, control and control.  :D

One huge plus side to the series I've selected is that he has used zero voice over narration.

I haven't had to listen to some marginally post adolescent Brit prat (Shaun Hastings from AC:R/AC3 wannabe) natter on (like most of the game walk throughs out there) about his thoughts and opinions regarding life, the universe and everything as well as the game play I'm trying to extract.


From what I've seen so far of the graphics for AC4 on the PS4 I've been a little disillusioned thinking that the enemies once highlighted turn a bit cartoonish in appearance.  Disappointing after viewing this PS3 prototype running and compiled in real time.  I was hoping for better.  :-\\

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhoYLp8CtXI


I guess they failed to share the advanced rendering algorithms with UBI.

[JRD]

Hi there mandru!

Nice Rembrandt avatar!

The story line of AC has always been a high point of the series in my opinion. Gameplay, graphics and History merged almost to perfection in the first four titles of the series. Although the first game could have used some more w@&k on gameplay and mission design, the setting was simply perfect. XIIth century middle east, a muslim as main character, historical places like Jerusalem and Damascus... an Assassin! How revolutionary was that?  8) . Then the masterpiece on the first game on the Ezio series. So much improvement done, so many more options available... they took what was already a milestone in the gaming industry and presented it with a new design, adding so much to the franchise. No wonder they pulled three fantastic games in a row, aging the hero so well!

I have to admit I had some fun in AC3 and it was really nice to have the wilderness as my playground, but story wise... AC3 failed. Not being able to kill  the main target in the end but instead being forced to watch a cutscene was the worst they could do. It was meant to be a game for the American masses but this is a period of little impact for those who are not Americans. No offense my American friends, but there are so many more interesting potential settings that could've prolonged the series so much. A feudal Japan during mid XIXth century was simply perfect. Commodore Matthew C. Perry sailing into Tokyo Bay in 1852, Ancient Japan is on the verge of entering the future but tradition clashes with progress.... I can see a whole new trilogy being played there.

And what about Desmond? We watched this character go through so much, suffer the leaking effect from the Animus and develop his ancestor's skills, become a modern day Assassin. Not only Desmond but the rest of the characters: Lucy, Rebecca, Desmond's dad... and Shawn... I always though he'd be a traitor, a snitch, a mole... I could see a plot twist coming that way.

The whole Minerva thing and the sun overheating is just an excuse to have the modern day levels and I was hoping for so much in this story arc. But it all ended so abruptly and felt rushed, undeveloped.

We could have Desmond and the other Assassins actually going through more action to prevent Minerva, now that her plan has been discovered, from anihilating Mankind.

It seems like all that character and story development was thrown in the garbage to pursuit a different audience with a completely different game...  :-(

[mandru]

I'm not sure where to put this so I'll drop it here.

Spoiler

http://www.wimp.com/bestglitch/

[JRD]

 ??? ??? ??? ??? Holy Moses  ??? ??? ???



The soundtrack fits perfectly!  :-X

[Art Blade]

yep, Moses  :-X and the flying people.. and the Flying Dutch (ship) rising yet again 

[mandru]

This youtube walk through I'm trying to follow.  :D

The player takes the mission sync requirements "Reach the objective without being detected" to mean walk straight up to the big heavy axe wielding red coats and pee on their leg.  ???

[Art Blade]

you should find a different playthrough. :)

[PZ]

 

[mandru]

OK, I watched all 46 episodes and the best belly laugh came from the line in the end credits that said "No real pirates were harmed in the making of this game". 

The story ending in the theater was a nice touch.  If not for the fingernails on a chalk board way I feel about the mandatory sea battles I would absolutely love to dig into all the untouched side missions and treasure quests this walk through left completely untouched.

I can see that there is a race among gamers to be the fastest to post a walk through after a new game's release.

I'm sure the complaints I lodged in my posts above were due to the lack of finesse that can only come from many dozens of hours of controlling your game avatar in each of the varying activities and while reaching the 100% completion benchmarks for each and every goal is admirable the slow pace of skulking around to stealth kill every enemy would make for really poor video footage.  The maker of the walk through i watched covered what was needed to convey the required actions to progress through the missions and give an overall feel for the game.

So I'll forgive the seemingly clueless lout for slamming through the project at breakneck speed.  :-D

[fragger]

I'm not sure where to put this so I'll drop it here.

Spoiler

http://www.wimp.com/bestglitch/

Ah, the mystery of the Mary Celeste is solved! There's a glitch in the ocean! :-()

[PZ]

...  If not for the fingernails on a chalk board way I feel about the mandatory sea battles I would absolutely love to dig into all the untouched side missions and treasure quests this walk through left completely untouched.

Well, i can say that I have the same fingernails on the chalkboard feel about the naval battles in AC3, as does one of my sons.  However, both of us do not have the same problem with the naval battles in AC4 - they just seem so much better developed - almost like the battles were in beta in AC3, and were perfected in this iteration.

I predict that you'll get the game one of these days, even if you wait until it reaches bargain basement - I can say that the side missions alone are worth the price of the game.  I have to admit that the story line is the weakest link in the game, and the main missions, while entertaining, leave one unfulfilled, unlike prior versions of the game.  It just feels like the main mission line stops leaving with you with the feeling "did I miss something?"

[Art Blade]

they probably got it all backwards, the main mission is actually a side mission while those side missions are actually the main mission. :-()

[PZ]

 

The main missions truly are little more than the side missions in my opinion - lots of fun, none the less!

[mandru]

Out of curiosity does AC4 have the animus DNA subscreen option to replay the different missions?

It was that ability that kept me in the earlier versions of the AC series giving me a lot of replay value. 

[PZ]

Yes, it appears to w@&k much the same.  I tried replaying a main mission after I had completed the game, and was able to get to 100% for that mission (accomplish the requisite side tasks like in prior games).

However, I reverted to my old outfit and weapons - couldn't keep my bullet proof Mayan outfit  :'(

There are just as many methods of increasing the play time as in prior games.

I've now completed taking all the forts (like the Borgia tower missions)  You start by taking out all the gun emplacements with your ship guns, mortars, etc., then you need to storm the fort and kill anywhere from 1-3 targets while working your way through fierce battle - I kind of like this the best out of all the games.

Besides, it is fun to go out to sea, fire at an enemy ship and lure them to my fort - my boys always gives them a serious thrashing  >:D

[Art Blade]

 :)

[mandru]

 :-X