Articles
The Problems with Assassin’s Creed
Animus, only to die right after
learning how to captain a pirate
ship. As far as anticlimaxes
go, this was a biggy.
So when my wife started up
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag,
I was somewhat confused
that the character-driven story
from the previous games was
replaced by a silent protagonist
in a first-person office. Abstergo
Entertainment, your brand new
employer, hired you to get into
an Animus and test the games
they were putting out. Yes,
the first generation of Animus
which required a person’s DNA
to be accessed, was simplified
enough for the home market to
Issue 64 • February 2015
put out videogames based on
the Assassins, in only four years.
Whilst wandering around
Abstergo Entertainment, you
encounter two of the Assassins
that Desmond worked with.
This gave me great hope for the
twist at the end of the game.
That never came… I had hoped
that this voiceless being would
actually turn out to be a clone of
Desmond, which was why these
two Assassin’s were risking
entering a Templar-run facility
to have a chat with them. But
no, it’s “you” who are working
for Abstergo, but with the aid
of the deceased Desmond’s
DNA, Abstergo have perfected
the device and put you to work
on the Welshman-sailor-turned
Assassin Edward Kenway.
Kenway is the Native American
ancestor Connor’s grandfather.
It confuses me to this day, as
to why Connor would captain a
ship in Assassin’s Creed III, but
for the fact Ubisoft already had
the sailing mechanics written
for Assassin’s Creed IV and just
wanted to get their money’s
worth. At least in Assassin’s
Creed IV it makes sense that
Kenway would captain a ship
- he’s a sailor in the very first
cutscene. But why have it in
the previous title as well as the
sequel? In Assassin’s Creed:
14 • GameOn Magazine