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Assassin's Creed IV Hitting The PlayStation 4

The rumors of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag hitting the PlayStation 4 console this year or early next year have now come to light as Ubisoft confirms the news today, March 4th, 2013. The game features a pirate theme and stars Edward Kenway, the father of Assassin's Creed 3 character Haytham Kenway.

Perhaps more exciting than the title's expected PlayStation 4 release is the fact that Ubisoft wants to change the direction of the series. This may have been apparent in the series' turn toward pirates, but Ubisfot Montreal Assassin's Creed IV game director, Ashraf Ismail went into greater detail earlier. "Yes, we are a pirate game, and we advertise ourselves as a pirate game. It's even in our title. But it's an Assassin's Creed game, and this is very important, because this is how we're able to build a pirate game. We have this really solid foundation that is the core and the heart of the experience. The story is about a guy who is an assassin and the conflict he goes through to become this guy. We actually have more assassinations than AC1 had."

Fans of the series certainly remember the impact the series' debut title made, offering an element of gameplay not often touched upon while introducing other new mechanics to keep things fresh. Since then, the series had taken a bit of a strange turn; for example, while the first two main titles had grave and realistic stories, Assassin's Creed 3 dealt with heavy criticism for its redundant assembly-line missions. In addition, later games often placed more focus on historical significance rather than the actual assassinations -- the main element of the game that drew in fans in the first place. With Assassin's Creed IV, Ubisoft hopes to create a new iteration that will have gamers thinking about the best path to take for each mission without coddling the player and directing them to a certain path.

"This is something we did learn, we do listen to our fans a lot" says Ismail. "We know that in AC3 there was a lot more handholding done, and we do want to go back to an older philosophy where we just present you with a simple objective and we let you choose the gameplay you want," Ismail continued. "We don't tell you 'go here, touch this thing, interact with this thing, push this guy' to accomplish the goal. It's really just where you need to be, get there as you wish."

Assassin's Creed IV Hitting The PlayStation 4 The game director stated that he heard all of the criticism behind Assassin's Creed 3, which led to this change for the series; assassinations will now be based on the player's desire to follow his own path and adapting to sudden changes that occur rather than scripted events that streamline the process. "This is a philosophy we're really pushing hard in the missions and the assassinations." In that regard, the team is looking at Far Cry 3 as an example of the emergent gameplay they want to provide with AC IV, even going as far to have members of the Far Cry 3 team working on this new Assassin's Creed iteration.

While it's obvious that Ubisoft is trying to return to its roots while breaking new ground, it's understandable that fans might be a little confused about the direction Ubisoft wants to take. Says Ismail: "At some point, people were asking us – do pirates in Assassin's [Creed] make sense? They're very different fantasies. But, actually, the gameplay mechanics of being an assassin completely fit in line with being a pirate. For example, navigation: well, pirates were sailors, and they climbed masts, and they were actually really great climbers, so that makes sense. Fighting? Well, they were melee fighters and used guns, and this is why Edward has four pistols. And the stealth itself, they were outlaws, they needed to be hidden, even when they plundered certain ships."

Even skeptical fans must admit that this certainly makes for an interesting scenario. Ubisoft has such confidence that a pirate would make an excellent assassin given his apparent skills, believing the new focus should bring a fun, new dynamic that the series has been missing for quite some time due to the convoluted storyline that surrounded former main character Desmond.

In addition to returning to old roots for assassinations, Assassin's Creed IV also includes the ability to engage in naval combat and travel using your ship, the Jackdaw. Your ship will come in handy to overpower other enemy ships and to travel between the three key cities in the game: Nassau, Havana and Kingston.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is due to release on October 29 for current generation consoles. While no PS4 date has been released, due to the lack of a release date for the PS4 itself, it is very likely Assassin's Creed IV will be a PS4 launch title as the game engine was designed for next generation consoles and work is very far along.

As a special bonus, the PlayStation 4 version of Assassin's Creed IV will feature an exclusive playable character: Adeline, who was the main character in the Vita game Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation. Assassin's Creed IV, in a surprising twist, will continue her story from the ending of Liberation. In an interview with Joystiq, single-player game director Ashraf Ismail states this will be possible due to the Animus.

The scurvy dogs at PS4 Experts will keep you mateys up-to-date on Assassins Creed IV so check this page often!

Article by - Joshua Phillips
Insert Date: 3/4/2013

April 30th 2013 Update: Assassin's Creed IV Receiving Exclusive Sony Content

Ubisoft had previously announced 60 minutes of exclusive content for the PlayStation 3 version of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and has now clarified that this content will also be appearing on the PlayStation 4, making it a PlayStation brand exclusive.

Players can download this content from the PlayStation Network after the launch of the game and the PlayStation will be the only source of this content, making the PS4 version of the game the definitive choice for the Assassin's Creed fan.

There is no information yet on what this content will contain outside of gameplay, though it is rumored the content is most likely additional missions designed to flesh out the story. We will keep you updated with any news we receive!

Update by - Joshua Phillips
Insert Date: 4/30/2013

April 12th 2013 Update: Assassin's Creed IV Collector's Editions Announced

As gamers have come to expect with every big release in a popular franchise, Assassin's Creed IV will be receiving a collector's edition, perfect for those gamers willing to spend just a little bit more to show their love of the series.

However, in a surprising twist Assassin's Creed IV isn't receiving one collector's edition but four of them, with each version containing a unique mix of in-game content and physical bonuses. The physical bonuses include items that are standard in a collector's edition such as lithographs, soundtracks, statues and artbooks.

Prices as well as which retailer will carry which edition has yet to be announced for the United States.

However, in other news an unconfirmed source has stated that the regular PlayStation 4 version of Assassin's Creed IV will clock in at $60, putting to rest the rumors of a price increase for the next generation of games.

Update by - Joshua Phillips
Insert Date: 4/14/2013

March 19th 2013 Update: Did Ubisoft Just Tell Us The PS4 Release Date?

As of right now, the PS4 release date is still a mystery; however, it might not be that way for much longer. In an interview with Outside Xbox, Jean Guesdon of Ubisoft Montreal was asked point blank "Is there going to be any delay between the versions, or are they all going to release at the same time?" to which he replied "Same ship."

Assassin's Creed IV is due on October 29th in the United States and, if the comment above was truthful, the game will see release on all systems, including PS4, on that date.

While Sony has not yet revealed the release date of the PS4, it wouldn't make sense to launch the PS4 version of Assassin's Creed IV without a system in place. Could we be looking at an early October release for the PS4? Ubisoft seems to think so and, as one of the largest publishers this generation and releasing a PS4 launch game, they would have to know the release date by now.

Additionally, Ubisoft has promised "enhanced connected features" for the PS4 version of Assassin's Creed IV but did not go into detail about what that means.

Update by - Joshua Phillips
Insert Date: 3/19/2013

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