Why Pirate Assassin's Creed Worked

When ‘Assassin’s Creed’ visited the Golden Age of Piracy back in October 2013, it was an entirely different genre the series had ever touched on. They were facing a hefty challenge in creating an ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game that stayed faithful to both their franchise, and the history of the pirate era in history, and thankfully, Ubisoft quite literally struck gold with this game. Many fans were initially skeptical of this historical setting, as they weren’t sure a pirate ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game could work in the standards of the franchise. Naval Combat in the series was briefly introduced in 2012’s ‘Assassin’s Creed III’, which was in a way the birthplace of what ‘Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag’ became to be. Ubisoft released a unique reveal trailer for the game which showed the infamous pirate legend Blackbeard telling a story to other fellow pirates inside their ship. This is where main character Edward Kenway was introduced. The trailer showed him in combat by boarding an enemy ship and wielding dual pistols. This trailer quickly attracted gamers who were uncertain about the game and some fully embraced a pirate themed ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game. 

Capture by Col_96

The protagonist, Edward Kenway, had connections to the previous game in the series. The main playable characters in ‘Assassin’s Creed III’, Haytham and Connor, both featured in the prior game in the series, were both a part of the Kenway family tree. Haytham was the son of Edward, and Connor was the son of Haytham, making him Edward's grandson. The connection between the two games was interesting, and it was fun to explore the Kenway family tree from the perspective of both the games, and all three perspectives. Edward Kenway, however, was unlike his descendants. He was reckless, daring, and greedy for the majority of the game. Edward was more interested in treasure and personal gain compared to compassion for others and his own moral standards. This made ‘Black Flag’ very different compared to previous games in the series, as he was not a part of the Assassins Brotherhood for almost all of the game. This was what made this game different from others in the series, it was okay taking risks. Ubisoft likely knew that a pirate themed ‘Assassin's Creed’ game would initially receive mixed opinions upon the announcement, as fans had grown accustomed to the traditional format of previous games in the series, always having a respectable and honorable protagonist that was faithful to the Assassins Brotherhood. This was a polar opposite with ‘Black Flag’ as Edward was resentful of the Creed and even mocked them at times. It was a gamble in storytelling from Ubisoft, as they knew likely a portion of fans would find Edward’s disrespect towards the Assassins to be a mockery of the standards previous protagonists had held. Luckily, Ubisoft trusted their writers and had faith in their vision for the game, and it paid off big time.

‘Black Flag’ also faced high expectations from fans and industry personnel because it would also be the first ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game to launch on the new PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles. The game, of course, still did release on the PS3 and Xbox 360, it ran great graphically and was smooth to play, as it was a very polished game. After the successful launch of this game, Ubisoft went on to create a very empowering DLC, which means downloadable content for those unfamiliar with the term, and made a story set in the same map but this time playing as one of the main side characters from the original game, Adewale. The point of this DLC was Adewale was born a slave in the country Trinidad and Tobago, and after he became an Assassin and part of the West Indies brotherhood,, he went on a mission to free slaves across the West Indies. Fans saw this as powerful and very moving, considering the dark history behind enslavement and the courage it took to stand up for yourself, and help those who are unfairly trapped. The DLC was a major hit, and is even sold as a separate game, labeled ‘Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry’, and because of its scale and how big of a DLC it was, it was able to merit a standalone release. 

Ubisoft clearly took major inspiration from all aspects of history of the old West Indies and Nassau, as many features were historically accurate. Naval combat for one was very accurate to what life would have been like back then in the 1600’s, such as passing the time with sea shanties or stopping the ship in a designated area to go harpooning against some of the ocean's greatest prey. ‘Black Flag’ had quite a lot of historical elements that were accurate and faithful to this era in history. A good example of this was the difference in historical accuracy of the more modern ‘Assassin’s Creed’ games, which have generally slightly strayed away from pure accuracy, which is understandable considering the scope of the recent games, but ‘Black Flag’ was likely the most recent and surely one of the most historically faithful ‘Assassin’s Creed’ games when it comes to honoring the era of the Golden Age of Piracy. In general, this period in time was extremely rich with source information for Ubisoft to use, with infamous pirates such as Blakbeard or Stede Bonnet, and life on the sea with naval combat. It was true that during that time the oceans were a hostile place, with the majority of ships out during that time flying different colors, and supporting different nations. For one, the Spanish had a strong presence in the West Indies, with Havana nearby, as did the Royal Navy from King George I of Great Britain, which was his formal title, and of course the ones who flew the infamous black flag The ever-daring pirates, whose main goal was to plunder and steal anything they could from anyone else on the seas, whether they be another pirates’ ship or other naval systems from different nations.

Ubisoft was right to take a gamble and trust their internal studios by creating this magnificent game. It was understandable for fans to have their doubts at the time of announcement, as previous ‘Assassin’s Creed’ games have mainly followed the same path of remaining on dry land, and only in the water to swim or to hide from enemies. Fans who gave the game a chance at launch helped some of the skeptical fans who had some major doubts about Ubisoft’s ability to pull off a pirate ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game. However, the rave reviews and positive fan feedback clearly sold the skeptical fans, as ‘Black Flag’ went on to sell millions of copies and become a massive success for Ubisoft. Many fans today, including myself, still consider ‘Black Flag’ to be the best ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game to date. It is ironic that one of the more popular Assassin’s Creed games, only had the gamers playing as an actual Assassin towards the last hour or two of the game. All the time played before then, the protagonist Edward Kenway was a full fledged pirate of Nassau, and was internally full of self-greed and personal gain. Ubisoft was smart with creating character development in this game, meaning Edward Kenway drastically changed his personality throughout the course of the game. From spoiled and greedy to a good honest man who became a Master Assassin. This aspect of the story alone is one of the main reasons ‘Black Flag’ is considered the best ‘Assassin’s Creed’ games, and also easily the best pirate themed game ever created.

Looking back on this game, now almost eleven years since release, it changed the tone of the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series permanently. Ubisoft proved they could be creative and take risks with the franchise, instead of becoming basic or unoriginal. Ubisoft’s decision making in this game alone to take a huge gamble has reflected on modern ‘Assassin’s Creed’ games as well. The recent major shift in the games formula from the classic stealth action genre to more RPG based, which RPG stands for role playing game to be clear, and this choice was a very big gamble, along with the decision of the idea of  a pirate themed ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game. I can believe their initial risky decision making for the franchise made the choice to reinvent ‘Assassin’s Creed’ as an RPG game a lot simpler. We can forever be grateful to Ubisoft for trusting their creation and releasing a game as legendary and important as ‘Black Flag’. Fans and all gamers alike can appreciate Ubisoft’s dedication to the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ franchise, and proving making great games sometimes requires a big risk.