Pirate lore has always been fascinating to me, and I know I’m not the only one who loves a good pirate story.

Many classic stories such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan are based on pirate themes, and the entertainment industry has produced television series about pirates, movies about modern-day pirates, and Disney even produced five movies based on a pirate-themed ride in one of its amusement parks.

The Allure of Pirates

I suppose it’s the sense of adventure that draws our attention to pirate stories, or perhaps it’s the allure of buried treasure. Or maybe it’s their historical significance, given that they drew the ire of imperialistic nations and have even been the subjects of wars. The ethics of pirating aside, stepping into the shoes of pirates is definitely something that appeals to a wide audience. That’s where games come in. Game studios have also tried their hands at pirate adventures, giving us games such as Sid Meier’s Pirates and Tempest. However, my personal favorite pirate-themed game is Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. I plan to present all of the reasons why this game is one of my favorites as well as why you should play it if you’re at all interested in pirate lore. However, first, some background information:

The Assassin’s Creed Franchise

If you’ve never played an Assassin’s Creed (AC) game, don’t worry. No prior knowledge of the franchise is necessary to play this game. The franchise’s setting spans across human history, with games during various time periods including the Crusades, 15th century Italy, industrial England, revolutionary France, the American revolution, and in the upcoming installment, ancient Egypt. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag takes place during the Golden Age of Piracy and is set in the Caribbean. The main storyline follows a power struggle between the Assassins and the Knights Templar, two groups with competing ideologies who seek to impart their visions upon the world. Many of the games feature a Templar plot or conspiracy, which the Assassins seek to foil. I won’t get bogged down in the details of the storylines because there are so many, but if you’re intrigued, you can read more about the franchise here.

The gameplay involves running, climbing, hiding, sneaking, following, eavesdropping, eliminating enemy targets, and more following. The controls have become more polished over the years, however, the games are often criticized for the amount of time spent following other characters to progress the storyline.

Despite this criticism, the games have received mostly favorable reviews. Black Flag has almost 18,000 reviews on its Steam page, and 87% of them are positive.

You may certainly seek out the three games prior to Black Flag before playing it if you’d like to get a feel for the AC universe. You’ll find rich storylines, challenging gameplay, and a wide variety of historical characters, some based on actual historical figures. I have played several other AC games besides Black Flag, but it still remains my favorite, so let’s get into why I enjoy the game so much.

The Story

The story of Black Flag centers around a fictional pirate named Edward Kenway, who sets out as a privateer to seek his fortune in the Caribbean. Through a series of events, Kenway’s story becomes intertwined with those of Assassins, Templars, and pirates. Kenway sets out on an adventure, encountering several famous historically based pirate figures such as Edward “Blackbeard” Thatch, Benjamin Hornigold, Charles Vane, Calico Jack, and Anne Bonny along the way.

There are two story arcs, one centering around a plan to build a free pirate nation, and the other involving the struggle between the Assassins and Templars. Playing through the story offers many hours of gameplay by itself, even if you choose not to partake in any side activities, and it involves fully exploring the map of the Caribbean.

The World

As previously stated, the game is set in the Caribbean in the early 18th century. The map is gigantic, with Cuba at its center. It spans from Florida in the north down to Jamaica, and from the Yucatan peninsula in the West to Haiti in the East. It’s so large, I couldn’t capture it in one screenshot. The story progresses through several main locales like Nassau, Havana, and Kingston, but many smaller islands are left as optional. So how do you explore all of these locales? You use my favorite aspect of the gameplay: sailing.

Captaining Your Pirate Ship

The ship combat and sailing aspects of this game are the reason I love it so much. Not too far along into the story, you gain access to Edward Kenway’s ship, The Jackdaw, and immediately you are overwhelmed with the possibilities. Sailing takes some getting used to, but the controls on PC are rather masterful considering what ship combat was like in Assassin’s Creed III. You use the standard movement keys to navigate and increase/decrease speed, and the mouse is used to control the weapons of your ship. Once all of the weapons are unlocked, your ship will have port and starboard broadside cannons, short range heavy shot cannons, port and starboard swivel guns, chase cannons on the front of the ship, mortars (my personal favorite), and fire barrels which can be launched behind your ship. Controlling the various weapons are as simple as moving the camera angle to highlight the desired weapon. Again, the controls do take some getting used to, but once you master them, ship-to-ship combat becomes the highlight of this game.

Your ship begins with very basic weapons that may be upgraded as the game progresses to make encounters with higher-level ships easier. Your ship is also capable of carrying five types of cargo: rum, sugar, wood, cloth, and metal. Rum and sugar may be sold to harbormasters for coin, while wood, cloth, and metal are used to facilitate ship upgrades. There are several classes of ships you can face in the game, including gunships, brigs, frigates, galleons, and legendary ships. Each has various strengths and weaknesses and offer rewards in coin and cargo based on their level. After disabling the ships, you can board them, where you’ll be given various challenges such as taking out enemy scouts and destroying powder supplies. Once you’ve done this, you’ll take the ship and its cargo, and have the option to use it for repairs or send it to your fleet.

As the story progresses, more and more of the map opens up to you, until eventually, you can travel around the entire Caribbean region, challenging the British and Spanish navies, forts, and legendary ghost ships. It can be quite daunting to complete all of the tasks and find all of the collectibles in the game, so there are hours of gameplay that don’t involve the main storyline. The game designers also spent a lot of time making the sailing atmosphere very lovely. While you can encounter vicious storms, there are often beautiful sunsets and other landscapes that make sailing on a long journey not feel so tiresome.

Sailing and combat are fantastic in this game, and I can’t say enough about how much fun it is. It can be challenging, though, so don’t think you’ll just be able to take on war galleons without upgrading your ship first. Finding resources to upgrade your ship can be tedious, but it’s definitely worth it. In fact, if there’s one piece of advice I’d give you in this game, it’s to take the time to upgrade your ship as much as you can as you progress through the main story. It makes the story slightly less challenging and more fun.

As an added bonus, the game includes collectible sea shanties, such as Drunken Sailor, that your crew will sing, which can be entertaining while you're sailing. I think it’s fantastic that the developers took the time to include actual pirate shanties to complement the already robust soundtrack. Just another reason to love this game.

Final Thoughts

There are so many aspects of this game that I enjoy, but if I mentioned them all, this post would go on forever. I will mention that, yes, like other AC games, there is a lot of following, hiding, and trying to avoid being caught, but you can definitely overlook it to get to the more desirable parts of the gameplay.

This game also features all of the classic things you could want in a pirate game like searching for buried treasure, swashbuckling, hunting and crafting, and changing back and forth between an array of pirate outfits. You can also manage a fleet of ships and send them on missions to trade goods across the world.

Every game has its flaws, but I think the great story and ship combat make this game one of my favorites that I recommend to anyone who enjoys pirate-themed things. I hope you’ll give the game a chance! You can purchase Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag via Steam, Uplay, or Amazon. At the time I’m writing this post, the base game is on sale for $6.79 on Steam, so if you want to get a great deal on the game, check it out soon!

Please note that Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is rated Mature, so please take this into consideration when purchasing. More information about the game’s rating can be found on its Steam page.

Finally, as a thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this, I’m giving away a PC Steam key for the base copy of the game to one lucky Steemian!

• To be eligible to win a copy of the game, simply comment with what you would name your pirate ship if you had one. (If you already own the game or don’t want to participate in the giveaway, please indicate so in your comment)

• The contest will run as long as this post is eligible for upvotes. I will select my favorite pirate ship name from the entries next Thursday, October 5, at 12:00 noon Eastern Standard Time, which will be declared the winner! I will also select two runners-up, who will receive a PC Steam key of Sid Meier’s Railroads, another one of my favorite games that I reviewed back a while.

• I will notify the winners by commenting on their entries. Winners will then need to contact me on Steemit.chat or Discord to claim your prize. My username is ethandsmith on both.

• You are not required to upvote this post to be eligible to win, but I would appreciate your upvotes, as they allow me to fund future contests like this.

I would love to hear about your favorite pirate memories, movies, shows, games, etc. If you have played AC4, I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on the gameplay and story. It's one of my favorite games, and I'm sure I'll enjoy many more hours of gameplay.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Screenshots taken from my gameplay of AC4: Black Flag. Game cover art constitutes fair use. Other images via Pixabay.