Fans have been critical of the Assassin's Creed series lately, noting that many of its once innovative features are now stale and overused. These feelings were only exacerbated when Ubisoft announced that the series would be seeing yearly iterations past the next entry, Black Flag. With the game's release growing ever closer, more revelations begin to clear the fog surrounding the pirate-centric title.
The first actual gameplay segment of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag has made its way on to the Internet. The 13 minute portion reveals a number of interesting facets regarding the game, including: stealth options, marine warfare and treasure hunting.
The video kicks off with the acceptance of a new assassination contract. Game Director Ashraf Ismail narrates throughout the entirety of the video, and makes a point early on regarding the personality of Edward Kenway, the game's main character:
"Edward is one of the most unique characters we've created for the Assassin's Creed universe," says Ismail. "He is a man who is still trying to figure out who he is in life and what he wants to get out of it."
This is a stark difference from the assassins of previous titles in the franchise, as Altair, Ezio and Connor all knew their path clearly and followed it. This could have some implications as far as the game's outlying story is concerned, as it denotes a movement away from the path of the assassin. While we are sure this won't have any lasting effect on the series as a whole, it will be interesting to see where Ubisoft takes Edward Kenway.
Take a look at the video below: