14 DAY TRIAL // The action adventure genre is probably one of the biggest in the industry nowadays, as many developers choose to make such games in order to appeal to a wider audience.
This year was no exception, as many titles could be categorized in the genre. Among them, however, one of the best was Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag.
Ubisoft's decision to annualize the Assassin's Creed series is still quite controversial, but its big number of global teams ensures that the new titles can appear each year and still maintain a high quality in terms of gameplay but also story.
Unfortunately, after last year's lackluster Assassin's Creed 3, things didn't look so good for the series.
Ubisoft, however, was determined to show that it had been listening to fans and that its studios could immediately implement changes depending on feedback from users.
With Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, the large publisher did just that, delivering a stunning experience that single-handedly improves many annoyances from the last title, like the trading system, while further refining other aspects, like the naval warfare one.
First and foremost, with the new title Ubisoft had a tough job ahead of it in terms of the modern-day story, as Desmond won't continue his adventures. The decision to replace him with an anonymous Abstergo employee seemed rather cold, but the end result is pretty good, as players can easily put themselves in his shoes.
In terms of historical adventures, players control Edward Kenway, the father and grandfather, respectively, of Assassin's Creed 3 protagonists Haytham and Edward. Unlike his offspring, Edward is a much more exciting character who really breaks the norm, acting like a true pirate instead of a mysterious assassin.
His missions in and around the Caribbean in the Golden Age of Piracy are also quite impressive, as is the naval system that allows for more customization, more combat mechanics, and more exploration options.
Put all of this together and the result is s sprawling action adventure experience that's one of the best of the year.