Why I Couldn’t Care Less About Assassin’s Creed 4

Speculations and rumours surrounding Assassin’s Creed 4 have been sweeping the web – but not everyone shares the sense of excitement. Former Assassin’s Creed enthusiast Mark Butler explains why his love for the serious has now been replaced by weary boredom.

[Hufandpuf]

Good thing I stopped at AC2. I knew it was going to gt milked when I saw and played Brotherhood.

[xPhearR3dx]

Even if a game is being "milked" it's not always a bad game. As long as each anual release offers something completely new, there's nothing wrong with more of the same franchise for people who love it. There's a reason I skipped Revelations, it was more of a copy/paste job where AC3 was a huge leap in gameplay and features. If AC4 is AC3 with a new skin, I'll pass on it until it goes on sale. If I feel they made enough drastic changes to warrant a purchase than so be it.

If Rockstar could produce the same level of quality in every GTA and release it annually, I'd buy it every year because I love GTA.

[aPerson]

"...where AC3 was a huge leap in gameplay and features."

It really wasn't. It was a huge step backwards. The first HALF of the game is an overly long tutorial that teaches you things irrelevant to the main story (animal tracking, etc). It's several sequences into the game before Connor is finally given his assassin robe - and even after that it doesn't even feel like you are playing as an Assassin.

All the additional "features" such as naval combat, animal tracking and hunting, rebuilding and maintaining an estate - it takes away from what the core gameplay feature should be - ASSASSINATING BAD GUYS. Seriously, how many assassination targets were there in the main quest? Not that many, and to make matters worse - the last target given to the player is killed in a cutscene.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: despite Assassin's Creed 2 being a vastly superior game to the first Assassin's Creed; AC1 - despite it's flaws - is the only game that managed to truly capture the feeling of being an assassin. Each installment after that focused more and more on gameplay features that became increasingly irrelevant to the game's story (repairing/purchasing properties animal tracking, naval combat).

Instead of shoehorning the naval combat into Assassin's Creed 3, Ubisoft could have - and should have - created a new franchise that would better suit it. An open world pirate game NOT related to Assassin's Creed would have been amazing.

[xPhearR3dx]

@aPerson

Well, that's your opinion. I agree the first half of the game was basically a tutorial that dragged on way too long, but I really enjoyed the rest of the game and felt my $60 was well spent. Those things you mentioned are irrelevant to the main story on purpose. They're side quest/jobs. They served their purpose and are entirely optional.

Don't write off AC4 just yet. At least give them the chance to show the game and explain what it has to offer before you judge it. There' could be more assassination focus than you think, or it could be the exact opposite. We will get an idea on Monday.

[NYC_Gamer]

I'm happy R* doesn't milk the GTA franchise with releases every year...I'd rather R* continue to take their time and bring us huge improvements with every GTA released...

[aPerson]

@xPhearR3dx

I'm not writing off Assassin's Creed 4 just yet. I hope that I'm blown away by it when it's revealed on Tuesday. I want it to be a good game - I just have low expectations for it.

:)

[Nimblest-Assassin]

Mate... even Im not that excited for AC4.... I loved 2, brotherhood was more of the same but still very fun, revelations was underwhelming... and I was so pumped for 3... but the gameplay and mission structure felt flat.. because I felt fatigued like the article writer.

I was so excited for 3, how they kept saying it would feel like a new IP, that it would be a huge leap, and I was excited. I even played the game early and thought it was great.

But the final game just wore me down.

From what I have seen on N4G and other sites people hate on AC3 because of

1) The story
2) The ending
3) "pro-america" nonsense, even though the game was fair in portrayls of both america and british
4) Connor as a character
5) The glitches

I had no problems with any of those... my problem was I felt like I was playing the same game

I love AC, its one of my favorite franchises..but ubisoft is running it into the ground

At first they said "oh its for or 2012 story.. we need to tell it before the year ends" I said fine

But now its 2013 and that excuse doesn't fly anymore

If you keep eating the same thing every day... you get sick of it

And it pains me to say.. but I feel sick of AC

Im more hyped for Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us, Watch Dogs

I'm not as hyped as most people on GTAV... but I will still pick it up because I know the game will be solid

AC4 is coming to soon... and I wish ubisoft would realize that this type of game doesn't benifit from the COD/Madden game cycle

It only hinders its quality and improvements

@Aperson

Im not giving up on AC4, since it is confirmed for Next Gen, but monday will most likely be a CG/In-game cinematic trailer and maybe some screenshots

I am also keeping my expectations low

[fermcr]

"Why I Couldn’t Care Less About Assassin’s Creed 4"

Soooooo, you don't care for Assassin’s Creed 4... but you had to write that you didn't care... hummm, isn't that a contradiction ?

BTW... I couldn't care less for what you think or write... i just had to say this.

[edenianrain]

Its sad but I used to be a huge ac fan good thing I didnt buy ac3,although someone got it for me on discount, yet im so tired of this series that I havnt played it yet,ubisoft where the heck is prince of Persia and beyond good and evil.

[first1NFANTRY]

Brotherhood was the last great AC in my opinion. Every else after that has been underwhelming.

[BushLitter]

The thing about the AC games following Brotherhood is that the settings just aren't that appealing. What I loved about the first three games, and particularly II and Brotherhood was the cities you explored and the buildings you climbed. Also - THE GLYPHS!!! Can't believe they removed that aspect of the game.

ACIII was fun, I enjoyed running through the trees but soon got bored. The story could have been so much more, given the setting and the rich conspiracy-theory material which fits perfectly with an American setting. They messed up big time with the story on III.

I was always a huge defender of AC annual releases (check my comment history, if you will) but after III, I have to say, not that excited about Black Flag. I don't know - maybe it's just the setting. If they took it to Japan, or England that would be really interesting.

EDIT- One other thing. What the hell is up with the music in AC III? There is no background music when free-roaming! That is a major sore-point for me because the musical score in the Ezio trilogy was so instrumental in creating that immersive atmosphere. It was really jarring to run around 18th century America without background music

[Xof]

All I want from my AC games is a great historical setting and awesome gameplay.

IMHO, the each new game has bee much better than the prior one in both of those respects, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing AC4.

Granted, I think the whole yearly-release thing has resulted in a string of half-finished products, but until AC3, each game has felt very much like a complete package.

[SDF Repellent]

Assassin's Creed is a great franchise but I think they should release it every 2 years rather than every year. With Watchdog set to become a great new IP, I surely hope this is the case going forward to allow more development time for AC.

[ceballos77mx]

The worse part is they will probably do the same to watchdogs if successful.

[bronxsta]

So you can't care less for a game that you haven't seen one offical screenshot, no gameplay, and no details that aren't rumors?

As my dad always says: past performance is no guarantee of future results. Who knows, maybe the jump to next gen alllowed Ubisoft to make the AC they envisioned from the start and can evolve the series thanks to new tech...

[psyxon]

whiny gamers. just stop.

[Genuine-User]

You cared enough to write up on it.

[Cam977]

I used to follow AC religiously but AC stopped that. I don't care anymore.

[Psychotica]

Loved the first two because they were new and exciting. I played about half way through Brotherhood. Bought Revelations when it was on sale but have yet to play it and only played about 10% of AC 3. It seems like it's the same game over and over, tasks like "follow this guy, but don't get to close" is just tedious and boring to me now.

[psyxon]

ac1 was repetitive as fuck. still a great game though, and every ac since has been an improvement.

[TongkatAli]

Now your making comments that make sense, HE HAS A WEAKNESS!

AC franchise is "eh".

[Conzul]

I got really hyped for AC3. Now I can't feel anything like that for this title. Should never have evolved past the gunpowder era - it just doesn't work.

[GABRIEL1030]

The AC was original, the 2nd is great, but since these two good games the franchise becomes repetitive. I don't care about AC4

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

Just tired of the bullshit...

[listenkids]

I didn't overly love AC3 and I'm slightly annoyed at the Pirate theme instead of a fan favourite, but we know it'll be a fun game, mechanically it just works well.

[dreamoner]

I'm still waiting for them to bring back the realistic and brutal swordplay/killblow/decapitatio n/fatalization animations of first AC. And still AC1's DX10 lightning looks even better than AC3's.

And AC is maybe milked but every game is full of content they dont make a 6 hour champaign every year and be done with it. I mean even while creating the cities they put a lot of effort into it(watched some dev-diaries of Revelations). The reason AC games being made every year is UBI's team is too big for AC.

[etownone]

Next AC on Next gen consoles is a Day 1 buy for me.

[latinillusion81]

They should have listened to the fans and made it in China and next generation. Then it might have been great