14 DAY TRIAL // Ubisoft Montreal writer Darby McDevitt believes that the popularity of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is owed largely to its unusual protagonist, Edward Kenway, who trumps many established tropes concerning heroes in the franchise.
Assassin's Creed 4 came out last November and impressed many longtime fans of the series with varied gameplay and a great story that focused around Edward Kenway, a pirate assassin who's caught in the war between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order.
According to writer Darby McDevitt, who talked with VG247, Kenway’s unique nature brings a breath of fresh air to the game.
“In previous games, our heroes have joined the Assassins without much deliberation. That is to say, its tenets were already naturally aligned with their personal goals. But since they were not natural fighters to begin with, it was incumbent upon the Assassins to train them up to a certain level. Our concerns were different. In Assassin’s Creed 4 we wanted to tackle the Creed from a new perspective.”
“We asked ourselves ‘What if a talented and shrewd pirate – a criminal who already had some of what he wanted in life – were to come into contact with the Assassins?’ Would he care? Would he shun or spurn them? Would they kill him? Would he find them silly? We wanted to find out.”
McDevitt emphasizes that the unpredictable nature of Edward Kenway allowed for a higher degree of freedom for players, who could engage in all sorts of activities, not just the regular story missions.
“Edward is a pirate who yearns for freedom much like the Assassins do, but loathes the sense of responsibility that a truly functional freedom requires. Seen this way, we realized he should be in constant conflict with the very idea of the Creed, even while using some of its methods. This became the whole thrust of our story. At what point would Edward realize his brand of freedom is too chaotic to function for very long.”
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is set to receive new DLC packs in the future, while Ubisoft Montreal is already working on the next installment in the series, set to debut this year.