It’s a busy week for Ubisoft with the new Watch Dogs video being let loose yesterday. Here we have ten minutes of open world/sea gameplay focusing on the activities you can do in Assassins Creed 4 narrated by game director Ashraf Ismail. The video takes protagonist Edward Kenway through the “biggest and most diverse” world that they’ve ever created with 50 marked locations and over 75 islands.
Every pirate needs a decent boozer, and the world of Assassins Creed 4 has plenty. The video takes us straight to a nearby tavern, complete with sea shanty singing and demonstrates how players gain access to the taverns services. The tavern visit is followed by the return of the viewpoints, though this time they also act as a fast travel station. As ever with Assassins Creed the viewpoints are used to show off the world and this is worth showing off. Don’t just believe me, check out the video below.
The video moves onwards and downwards to Ye Oldde Scuba Diving - scavenging sunken treasure from the sea floor. This looks really impressive with players not only having to watch out for their air supply, but also the underwater wildlife. Ismail comments that the dev team wanted to make sure that they included underwater shipwrecks as they were the beginning of the golden-age of piracy.
The underwater section moves into a smugglers cave that places a huge emphasis on stealth. As Edward has just been underwater he is without his weapons and gadgets which means that the player has to approach enemies thoughtfully to avoid attracting too much attention.
The video returns to the surface to demonstrate what happens when the Jackdaw, the players ship, attracts too much attention from pirate hunters. A fierce sea battle and boarding take place. Throughout all of the gameplay Ismail makes it clear that player choice is still a key part of Assassin’s Creed gameplay. For example, there are a number of different objectives during boarding that have different effects on the world.
The final activity is harpooning, which is similar in concept to hunting from Assassin’s Creed 3 and Far Cry 3. The basic premise is simple; hunt, harpoon and kill animals to get materials for all the necessary upgrades to Edward, the Jackdaw and to get better equipment for harpooning.
Overall it’s very impressive, and it’s the most interested I’ve been with an Assassin’s Creed game for quite a while. Ubisoft definitely look like they’re heading into sandbox territory full steam and I don’t blame them. Both Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed 4 are looking pretty damn good to me.
