Game and Movie Reviews

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Download Links For The Top 5 Games - Update December 2013

Here is the download link for the games ( torrent link, with many seeders so the game will download with full speed )
http://www.impremium.org/file/47bfb478c157 <--------------------------------------------- DOWNLOAD LINK, THE GAMES ARE FREE AND 100% LEGIT !--------------------------------------------->

#1 NBA:2K14

#1 NBA:2K14
If NBA 2K14 on current-gen systems is the king, then the next-gen version is the prince.

While it features the same unparalleled gameplay and control of its current-gen cousin,NBA 2K14 on Xbox One ends up feeling like less of a fully-realized product – a younger, prettier facsimile of what has been the best, and only, basketball sim on the market for the last few years.

The next-gen version of NBA 2K14 One lacks some of the substance seen on Xbox 360 and PS3, though it benefits from being one of the most realistic-looking video games I've ever played.
NBA 2K14 on Xbox One is downright gorgeous. The folks in the stands, coaching staff and other non-player character models still aren't up to snuff with the actual players, but when you're on the court, NBA 2K14 looks startlingly close to reality.

This is thanks to Visual Concepts' Eco-Motion engine, which produces more subtle animations and facial expressions than the current-gen versions of the game. Players move more fluidly and with more urgency, and shifting the NBA 2K14 camera to the press box view during a game offers a presentation package on-par with television broadcasts. In-game representations of Kevin Durant and Ray Allen stand out in particular as lifelike recreations of the real-world players.

NBA 2K14 on Xbox One isn't the same game as its current-gen cousin, however. The next-gen version ditches "LeBron: Path to Greatness," the new invent-a-future mode for cover athlete LeBron James found in the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of NBA 2K14. It also cuts out Association, the series' dynasty mode, and replaces it with MyGM – a mode where you get to manage just about every aspect of an organization.

As the General Manager of a franchise, you're charged with negotiating contracts and trades, maintaining coaching staff, even dictating ticket and parking prices at the stadium. You can play the full MyGM experience, where you're constantly under the microscope of the team owner, or you can choose a more simplified, single-season route, side-stepping the need to manage the owner's expectation, finances, salary cap or to maintain player morale – essentially Diet MyGM, a less-filling version of the overall experience.

Along the way, you're bound to tick off some virtual people. Throughout MyGM, you'll conduct interviews with reporters who will begin to distrust you if you show too much support for the owner and staff, and occasionally you'll have sit-downs with your players about a variety of issues. During these conversation segments – which are as laughably stiff, sterile and devoid of life as they've been in similar modes over the past few years – you'll constantly be presented with dialog choices that oddly play out in on-screen text message threads – even though the characters are sitting next to each other in the same room.

Every choice has its consequences. Jack up the ticket prices and the press will call you on your money-grab. Deciding to bench a player on a cold streak may tick him off to the point that he demands a trade. Even other GMs will call you up from time to time and offer trades – fail to take these seriously and it'll ruin your relationship with that organization.

Developer Visual Concepts provides a thorough recreation of being a General Manager in MyGM. At least I think it does, having never been the GM of a professional basketball team myself. I generally enjoyed my time with the mode, though you should be prepared to eat up an incredible amount of time if you're looking to play each of your team's games yourself. And, really, what good GM isn't trying to do just that?

NBA 2K14 on Xbox One also introduces a more fleshed-out MyCareer experience, where you start as a nobody baller with big dreams of making it in the NBA. The mode should be familiar to NBA 2K series fans, though the next-gen version ups the cheese factor through a more intricate story realized through cutscenes and interactions with established NBA stars.

Like any good sports movie, before it's all said and done, you'll establish a rivalry, get scolded by the coach when you've made mistakes and have a jerk teammate bully you. Eventually you'll have to decide what's more important to you: the team's success or furthering your own agenda. You just generally get yours in this mode and, despite the very cheesy voice acting and overly dramatic cutscenes, MyCareer provides enough entertainment to warrant jumping through these familiar hoops once again.

MyTeam, the collectible card variant where players pull random virtual cards from booster packs and create patchwork teams of NBA stars, has also been expanded for NBA 2K14 on Xbox One. The mode now features more rare card types and Domination – an offline mode where you can go up against established NBA squads and a few all-star teams, all recreated in MyTeam mode. Collecting cards is enjoyable, but I'd much rather interact with actual players. Your mileage may vary.

The final piece of NBA 2K14 on Xbox One is the Park, a virtual gathering place where you can get some street hoops in. 2K Games promises two-on-two, three-on-three or five-on-five match-ups for players online, but I was unable to find any players to test this portion of the game prior to the Xbox One launch. You can also play pick-up games against the CPU and even unlock greats like Michael Jordan to play as or against.

From a control standpoint, NBA 2K14 on Xbox One is every bit as capable as its established current-gen brethren. Building on the foundation laid in NBA 2K13, the game uses a multi-purpose pro stick – the right analog stick – to handle moves and shooting. Simple quarter-circle movements and jabs in any one direction perform spin moves and fake outs, while holding the stick in any given direction will initiate the shot animation.
You can also use the right analog stick, in conjunction with a modifier button, to perform expert no-look passes. These present a wonderful sense of risk-versus-reward to each game. When you make a quick no-look pass resulting in points, it feels great; failing one utterly shatters momentum and morale.

As a first step forward, NBA 2K14 on Xbox One is a promising indication of things to come. Sure, it's missing the current-generation's marquee mode, but the on-court action is every bit as engaging and hospitable as it's always been, and the visuals are more impressive than ever.

NBA 2K14 suggests we're well on our way to a future where video games and reality collide, becoming that much more difficult to distinguish from one another – and that is an exciting prospect.

#2 Battlefield 4

#2 Battlefield 4

The Battlefield series has built its reputation on memorable moments. Some epic, some intimate, some barely believable--YouTube is filled with clips of people far better at Battlefield than you, doing amazing things (to people like you). Battlefield 4 wants you--yes, you--to experience even more thrilling, more epic moments than ever before with a beefed up single-player story and the addition of map-changing levolution events and show-stopping destruction online. That’s the aim… and in this respect, the game is a roaring success.

Battlefield 4 is a significant step forward from number 3, both on and offline. The change is more marked in single-player, where the story strikes a more intimate note, echoing the buddy-banter from the Bad Company games. Your squad mates Irish and Pac have more developed personalities, and there are some memorable little moments in between all the shooting and shouting. At one point, Pac starts subtly dancing to some lift music in a rare pocket of silence sandwiched between some intense gunplay. “What?” he asks baffled-looking squad-mates, “I love this song. It’s a great freaking song.”

Sadly, despite the increased likeability of the characters, Battlefield 4’s overarching story blunders from one set-piece to another, ignoring the gaping holes torn in its plot and taking little care to explain what the hell is actually going on (that's war, I guess?). At one point, right near the end of the game, I leaned over to a fellow reviewer to ask about the identity of a character in a cut-scene. Turned out he was the entire reason I’d been shooting the teeth out of Chinese and Russian soldiers for the last six hours (the length of the solo campaign).

It’s a real shame, because great efforts have been made to capture the magic of multiplayer during the solo mode. One huge criticism of BF3’s story was that it’s totally divorced from multiplayer. Not so here. There are epic moments to behold, like dams bursting and frenzied tank battles inside savage tropical storms. You unlock kit, and accrue points for kills--just like you do in multiplayer. It’s like a beautiful-looking training mission, with chatting. And on that note…

Multiplayer has evolved, too. I’m sure DICE would like me to write that it has ‘levolved’, but I’m not going to. All joking aside, levolution makes a huge difference to online play, as does the reintroduction of ‘proper’ destruction. While bringing down the skyscraper in the Siege of Shanghai map is a visual novelty, it genuinely changes the shape of the map. Other stages alter more dramatically, really forcing you to shift the way you play. The typhoon that starts to rage half-way through the Paracel Storm map looks incredible, and ups the importance of naval combat. Meanwhile, when you flood the whole city in Flood Zone, it significantly intensifies the conflict on the rooftops and small patches of dry land.

Next-gen destruction

PC players will notice some step forward in terms of visuals and destruction, it’s console players that get the biggest leap. The PS3/360 versions only support 24 players, which makes a vast difference in bigger modes. Maps scale to fit current-gen counts, so games still feel balanced, but there’s a lack of detail in the current-gen versions. Maps contain fewer objects, destruction is more simplified, and the draw distance is shorter.

Perhaps the biggest difference is the frame-rate, though, as current-gen is still locked to 30fps. As such, that slick, well polished gameplay enjoyed by next-gen is sacrificed. Our advice? Make this a next-gen purchase, if you can.

The fact that levolution is such a success is testament to the incredible level design in BF4. Most maps have multiple layers and areas, which means you’re often mixing up land, sea, and air combat with close-quarters firefights. In other words, the majority of maps will suit any playstyle, and allow you to get creative with the destruction. Yes, I drove a tank through a house, and collapsed it. Yes, I beached a jetski to roadkill a man. Yes, I sat on a tower with a sniper-rifle and shot a man out of a helicopter. Moments. Memorable moments.

There are some sour notes. Defuse, a new 5v5, one-life-per-round mode, designed to draw in the Counter-Strike crowd, falls flat because it puts tense twitch-shooting ahead of smart tactics and specialised warfare. Seriously, if you want to camp in the corner of a room for 10 minutes a) fuck off--that’s not how Battlefield works, and b) you could always play Call of Duty for that kind of nonsense--I’ll be enjoying Conquest, thanks. Commander mode is… a little dull. It’s a novelty to tactically influence the battle from a bird’s eye view, but when I sat there tapping away at my iPad, I was desperately wishing to be part of the battle down below.

Another new mode, Obliteration, is a fun single-bomb game type that feels different enough from Rush and Conquest to justify inclusion. Amusingly, everyone seems to chase the guy with the bomb like school-kids running after the ball in a game of playground football. All maps scale to fit each game mode, adapting to accommodate differing team sizes and objectives; another triumph of smart design.

Overall, multiplayer feels quicker and more aggressive, although--don’t worry--Battlefield 4 hasn’t turned into a COD-style twitch shooter. Classes are well balanced, and as far as I could see (and I played for hours with everything unlocked), there was no super-gun / kit that lets you murder everyone. And again, there’s no single class that dominates any single map--there’s room for everyone during each session.

Now, a bit of tech-talk. Don’t be scared. The game’s quickness is largely thanks to the fact that the PS4 and PC versions are locked to 60 frames per second, making both the single- and multiplayer modes feel smooth and lethal. Even when firefights get intense on smaller maps like Operation Locker, or huge levolution moments rock an entire map, like the dam breaking in Lancang Dam, the game stays slick and beautiful. I’m no tech nerd, but I can appreciate what a polished marvel BF4 is on PS4 and PC.

As a package, this is the best Battlefield ever created. While the single-player is far from perfect, it bottles enough multiplayer lightning to garner my rather faint praise of ‘worth a quick play through’. As ever, though, it’s online where BF4 shines brightest. You may not appreciate just how brilliantly designed the maps, modes, and classes are until you experience those trademark moments. Like when you’re charging around an abandoned factory on Golmund Railway, trying to fend off three tanks at once, mortar fire raining down on you from above, shaking your screen and creating unbelievable mayhem. Then--and only then--will you truly fall in love with this game like I have.

#3 Call Of Duty: Ghosts

#3 Call Of Duty: Ghosts

Do you remember that bit in The Dark Knight Rises when Bane escapes from a plane in flight, blowing it in half and whisking himself to freedom as the fuselage falls away? Infinity Ward certainly does. It recreates the scene almost exactly in Call of Duty: Ghosts. It's just one of many widescreen blockbuster moments in a game that is, as always, propelled more by macho bombast than narrative coherence - but in lifting so blatantly from such a famous scene in a recent popular movie, it offers us a glimpse at the desperate emptiness that can so easily creep into a series when annual updates require a constant stream of wow moments.

Following Treyarch's mostly successful attempt to inject change and ambition into the COD formula with Black Ops 2's branching narrative and loadout-agnostic construction, the Ghosts campaign can't help but feel like a step backwards. Penned by Hollywood screenwriter Stephen Gaghan - whose work includes such intelligent political thrillers as Traffic and Syriana - the dimwitted, flag-waving, chest-beating story is perhaps the biggest letdown.

In the opening scenes, we see how a US military satellite armed with kinetic rods - essentially giant space spears that use gravity alone to create horrifying devastation when they crash to Earth - is captured and turned against San Diego by the forces of the Federation. In one of the game's only surprises, this Federation is composed not of scheming Russians, imperial Chinese or demented Arabs, but of vengeful South American countries which turn a global energy crisis into the touchpaper for their own worldwide revolution.

There are many things wrong with the scenario, not least of which is that it's yet another shooter that paints the US as a victimised underdog, caught unawares by evil Third World forces, rather than an 800lb gorilla with a nuclear payload. Unlike Black Ops 2, which at least used its drone warfare storyline to question the wisdom of such weaponry in its own comic-book fashion, Ghosts never once suggests that giant city-crushing space spears are a bad idea - at least until those dastardly Hispanic hordes get their hands on them.

Rappelling down this skyscraper, sniping through the windows, is one of the campaign's better set-pieces.

"The opportunity was there to flip the Call of Duty script... instead, it's another gasoline-fuelled romp through levels that feel like the last 30 minutes of a Roger Moore-era Bond movie on repeat"

The campaign fumbles its narrative in more deep-rooted ways as well. Despite a set-up in which America is on the back foot - the West Coast reduced to a post-apocalyptic state, the national infrastructure decimated and your characters allegedly members of a Spartan-esque cadre of elite soldiers even deadlier than the deadliest Spec Ops force - that's never really reflected in the scenarios you face. There's no sense that this is a guerrilla war, that you're relying on more desperate methods of fighting back against a superior force.

You still go into battle loaded with enough hi-tech gadgets to make Batman green with envy and, a few scripted upsets aside, you're almost always on the attack and armed to the teeth. In a story which has a rogue Ghost supposedly hunting his former comrades, the opportunity was there to flip the Call of Duty script, put the players in a defensive posture, on the run, under-resourced, relying on their wits rather than their arsenal, but instead it's another gasoline-fuelled romp through levels that feel like the last 30 minutes of a Roger Moore-era Bond movie on repeat. In a game which so obviously nods to Moonraker, that can't be an accident.

That's not entirely a criticism; there's no denying that when COD's cheeseball formula clicks, it's still capable of being devilishly entertaining, the closest gaming comes to the guilty pleasure of a 1980s action movie. Infinity Ward is still one of the best studios for knowing how to use the first-person perspective to put the player in outrageous situations, so whether you're leaping off a waterfall, scuba diving through a sunken, collapsing lighthouse or engaging in zero-G shoot-outs in orbit, the moment-to-moment thrills are still there, if muted by expectation. Once going over the top becomes the norm, it's hard to sustain that level of insanity and still surprise.

There are the expected slow-motion breaches and scenes where you man a turret, or shoot at pursuing cars during chases, but Ghosts does at least dip a tentative toe in vehicle combat waters. There's a helicopter section in which you actually control the helicopter - though it automatically adjusts its height so you don't crash as you strafe around. There's also a tank battle in which you're free to roar around an airfield, blasting away at rivals. It's all carefully contained, of course, and nothing that will give Battlefield developer DICE sleepless nights, but it's one of the few times when it seems Infinity Ward is aware of how threadbare its traditional corridors are becoming.

"Call of Duty has always owed more to classic arcade gun games like Operation Wolf than most of its FPS peers"

The underwater sequence feels like it was included purely to show off the next-gen engine. It's undeniably lovely, but the aquatic gunplay is annoying.

The campaign's only other real innovation - a playable dog - makes for a cute trailer but adds little in gameplay terms. Riley belongs to the story's nominal leads, literal brothers and brothers-in-arms Logan and Hesh, and can be unleashed on enemies, after which he bounds around the battlefield chomping on bad guys at random. Alternatively, you can control him directly, thanks to a camera on his harness, but only during a handful of canine stealth sections. These only occur a few times, and there's not much to them - you shuffle through long grass, following a clearly delineated course, and pull off silent kills much as you would with a knife in your hand.

Even more absurdly, Riley's silent kills are nothing of the sort, with enemies falling to the ground with screams of horror as the pooch rips their throats out. Nearby enemies with their backs turned somehow miss this, which is true of the puppet-like AI throughout. Call of Duty has always owed more to classic arcade gun games like Operation Wolf than most of its FPS peers, but even so the willingness with which enemies offer themselves up for a headshot manages to be both viscerally satisfying and tactically disappointing at the same time.

While the campaign is unlikely to lure you back once you've bullied your way through on Veteran, as usual it's the multiplayer where the long-term appeal lies. It's also where Infinity Ward's passion for the franchise can still be most keenly felt, with 15 maps (if you include the FreeFall pre-order bonus) and 11 game modes to play on them. The map design is typically slick, once again showcasing the developer's knack for crafting feedback loops in tangible digital form: tightly controlled arenas where every corner leads to two or three different traversal options. Over, under, around and through, this is perpetual motion as software design, with a graceful slipperiness that keeps matches in a constant state of restless, nerve-wracking movement.

While all the maps are predictably solid, few jump out as worthy of standing alongside COD classics. Urban maps such as Stormfront, Tremor and Octane are distinguishable more from their cosmetic flourishes - lightning strikes, aftershocks - than any unique elements in their construction. Most draw from the campaign. Maps such as Warhawk, set in a ruined small town with a high school football theme, tip the scales hard in the direction of inspirations such as the 1980s communist menace action movie, Red Dawn.

"Over, under, around and through - COD multiplayer is perpetual motion as software design"

The best maps are the ones that deviate from the limited environments of the story mode. Stonehaven is by far the most picturesque, taking place around a crumbling Scottish castle with open countryside pockmarked with gullies and hillocks. Whiteout sprawls across an Alaskan fishing village, balancing streets and building interiors with natural rock tunnels and treeline cover. Both feel fresh when compared to the grungy military installations and demolished Americana on display elsewhere.

In terms of modes, most of the new additions are variations on proven themes. Search and Rescue is the same as the bomb-planting Search and Destroy, except now downed players can be revived. Grind is essentially Kill Confirmed, except enemy dog tags must now be banked at specific points on the map to be counted. Hunted riffs on Gun Game, but with random weapon drops. The most entertaining new mode is the Statham-inspired Cranked, in which the standard Team Deathmatch set up is spiced up by a 30-second countdown that triggers as soon as you get a kill. From that moment on, you're "cranked" and gain more points and perks, but will also explode if you fail to get another kill before the timer runs out. It's utterly silly, but that's part of the charm.

Other changes to the multiplayer routine are minor in nature. A neat but inessential Clan Wars feature uses the new COD Elite app to track your clan's performance against similar teams from around the world, offering cosmetic unlocks and XP boosts for those that can dominate across the various multiplayer modes. Killing high-scoring opponents during matches, meanwhile, will spawn a briefcase containing Field Orders - get two kills while crouched, get a kill using explosives and so on - and completing these can activate special care packages and map-altering strikes.

This "dynamic maps" feature is interesting in theory, but the wow factor wears off pretty quickly in practice. Even the most dramatic of them - such as the devastating orbital attack that completely remakes the Strike Zone map - are heavily scripted, swapping one layout for another, so once you've been dazzled by the destruction, you'll soon get used to the result.

It's also a feature that brings Call of Duty into direct competition with Battlefield's Frostbite-powered demolition, and the comparison - while not an exact parallel - isn't flattering. Battlefield 4's "levolution" moments vary in their gameplay impact, but at least they feel of a piece with the game's wider commitment to an ever-changing landscape. Call of Duty simply lacks the deeper systems needed for such flexibility to truly work, and in such carefully stage-managed arenas it ends up more as neatly canned, predictable chaos - an oxymoronic variation on the Mini Nuke and MOAB strikes from Modern Warfares 2 and 3.

Elsewhere in multiplayer, the existing genre boundaries are faithfully acknowledged and adhered to. The new alien-blasting Extinction co-op mode is entertaining enough - how could it not be? - but adds nothing that a dozen other horde modes haven't already done. The Squads system is similarly traditional - dangling a carrot of asynchronous multiplayer that is quite enticing, but ultimately ending up as another way to play against bots. Both modes are nicely presented, and skirt around some interesting concepts, but in a game where 99 per cent of the players will be glued to Team Deathmatch it feels like a half-hearted attempt at diversification, offering solid takes on old multiplayer standards rather than anything that might surprise.

But then surprise has long been off the Call of Duty menu, and that's OK. The worst crime that Ghosts commits isn't that it doesn't completely reinvent the brand or genre - nobody expects that - but that it fails to illustrate a compelling next-generation vision for the series, retreating from ideas introduced in Black Ops 2 but introducing nothing substantial in their place.

To be fair, Battlefield 4 is similarly reliant on its own proven formula, but at least the advance of technology works in DICE's favour, allowing more players, more immersive maps, better vehicle physics. As consoles grow in power, Battlefield is well placed to grow with them. On the evidence of Ghosts, the next generation of Call of Duty sequels will look shinier but not much else, and that's a worrying sign of stagnation for a series with so much to lose.

Ghosts, in and of itself, is a fine game. It ticks all the boxes and then blows the boxes up in glorious 1080p resolution (on PS4 at least). Those who only ever play COD will be more than happy with it, but those who have grown weary of the series will see more of their ambivalence justified this time around. Infinity Ward had a chance here to throw down the gauntlet for the next hardware generation, to set the new standard, to show that this hugely popular, much derided behemoth can dance to a different tune. It's chosen to play a Greatest Hits package instead.

Assassin's creed IV: Black Flag - Update for December 2013

Hey guys, i'm back and today (as i promised) i will talk about my top 5 games for 2013!

Anyways, yesterday i made my first post and i'm quite surprised about the visits of my page!

So please share this page with your friends, family etc etc..... It would mean a lot to me.

Okay, so my #1 game was Grand theft auto 5. I already wrote you my review about it so we will continue with my other top 4 games

#2 Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

The biggest praise we can heap onto Assassin's Creed IV is that pieces of its breathtaking oceanic playground remain with you long after you put the pad down.

As your mind drifts on the commute home you'll find yourself humming favourite sea shanties. Walk down your local high street and instead of the usual array of familiar shop frontages you'll see potential handholds.

On rainy days you'll stare out of the window and remember that time you were braced against the starboard breeze under a blistering Caribbean sun. Assassin's Creed IV, while by no means perfect, is video game escapism at its finest.

Edward Kenway is your piratical guide through the Golden age of Piracy, and he makes for a much more palatable protagonist than ACIII's Connor. It's clear, right from the explosive beginning, that Edward has but one doubloon-flavoured aim in life. Much like eternal crowd-pleaser Ezio, he's fleshed out with character flaws to go with the bad-assery. There's more to Ed than grog-guzzling and wench wrangling. One of Edward's key characterisations is that he's a pirate first and foremost.

He might wear Assassin robes and wield the iconic wrist blades, but for a hefty chunk of the game Edward is unfettered by character breaking philosophies and cringe-worthy creed adherence. In fact, it's only when these familiar series tropes infringe that his otherwise winning personality takes a musketball to the gut. An early indicator that Black Flag is a better pirate game than it is an assassin game.

Edward's is the behooded face on the box but for the first time in AC there's more than one main character. She may be made of timber and barnacles, but Edward's ship, the Jackdaw, is every bit as integral a part of the Black Flag experience.

Her briny decks are your access point to the many sultry shores of the Caribbean. Though historical cities like Kingston, Nassau and Havana provide ample playgrounds for land-lubbing action, the Jackdaw allows for a wider variety of wildernesses and seascapes to explore.

New experiences aren't relegated to side-quests. Many are placed front and centre, with all the explosive bluster and memorable potency that you could want. Prime examples - without sailing into spoiler infested waters - include dunking down into the deeps with a diving bell to recover sunken medicine for your hygienically challenged piratey brethren.

The Jackdaw also acts as a content gate-keeper. Each section of the map contains so many treasures to seek out, sea beasties to harpoon, sunken wrecks to loot and uncharted islands to comb that it's easy to get distracted. In fact you're supposed to get distracted. There's a right way to play through Black Flag and that is to let its world draw you in.

"EDWARD KENWAY MAKES FOR A MUCH MORE PALATABLE PROTAGONIST THAN ACIII'S CONNOR."

Each chunk of the map can be unveiled fully by taking out land-based forts. These grand undertakings often require the Jackdaw to be upgraded with stronger cannons, armour and weaponry the further into the game you get. As such you are actively encouraged to pillage your way to power. It's essential to spend some time drinking in the world before you plough into the occasionally over-cooked Assassins/pirates/Templar plot bloat.

The story, however improved over ACIII, is front heavy with quality. The first 15 hours or so are mind-blowing. As each facet of the world unlocks you're treated to a narrative focused on the era, the personalities and the intrigue of the age. The modern day barely infringes at all, and when it does it is mysterious enough, brief enough and focused enough, to actually benefit the over-arcing plot.

The cracks start to show come hour 20. Suddenly Ubisoft forgets to frame its narrative experiences. Characters come and go too quickly for you to get a sense of who they are. As a result, it's hard to really care for them when the grog turns sour and the blood starts spilling.

Modern day sections take the form of first-person exploration through an Abstergo office

There are too many moments of brilliance sprinkled throughout for this occasional saltiness to spoil the overall flavour, however. Boarding is seamless and wickedly fun. The atmosphere during these flowing sequences is hectic, as multiple ships weave in and out of range looking for the perfect broadside firing opportunities.

Get an enemy ship's health low enough via cannonade and mortar fire, and you can board her quickly and without so much as a cutscene. Like the best AC slices, these situations host tasty free-form player choices. Will you climb up the masting to air assassinate the opposing captain? Dive into the drink for a stealthy approach? Or perhaps swing right in via handily placed ropes? The choice is always yours, though is incentivised by ship class-based objectives. Bigger ships will need their flags destroying before the crew loses their thirst for battle. Others will submit once cargo has been suitably exploderised.

It's clear that Ubisoft heard fans' cries of woe as they played through criminally guided portions of ACIII. Many of the stealth sections of Black Flag are satisfyingly open-ended. You're often given an area full of guards, with nothing but your skills to guide you to your goals. It's a shame there are no palpable rewards for those of us that prefer going unseen/unheard, as it's a tad too easy to win in open combat. The fact that more often than not you're given the option to run away and hide rather than suffer instant desynchronisation (and failure) is a good thing, however.

CURRENT-GEN VERDICTGoing back to current gen after many hours spent mewling over the PS4 version highlights how very different it is. Frame rates take a hit, textures are noticeably duller and many of the tiny life breathing details we love about the world are rendered static. And remember those horrid spotty lighting effects, from ACIII? They're back.

Head directly into the current gen version and you're less likely to be disappointed. No actual content has been cut. Our recommendation is, of course, to play the next-gen or PC versions. But if you simply can't wait, you'll only find visual hindrances hampering the experience.
Upgrading your ship makes previously impossible naval battles that little bit easier. More cannons are a given, but you can also improve your crew quarters to ensure boarding goes smoothly. More crew members means more time allowed to complete boarding tasks. Get more sea dogs on decks by hiring at local taverns or by rescuing them in town from the local fuzz.
Large Legendary Ships require a fully upgraded Jackdaw and a fair amount of guile to best.
Land combat sees little change from ACIII. We did, however, find counters a little harder to pull off, requiring more exact timing. Gone are the jarring equip menus. You can just tap the D-pad for quick and easy gear switching.
The Jackdaw has three speeds, including a distance eating Travel option. Naval combat is incredibly tactical as a result. Markers in the water flash red when cannon or mortar fire is inbound, so you'll need to haul sail to avoid damage. After a successful boarding you have a choice. Keep the ship for Edward's fleet (the companion app mini game), repair the Jackdaw or lower your wanted level.

Not so good are the jarring and constantly recurring chunks of archaic AC that should be long buried with Altaïr and Ezio. Eavesdropping and tailing missions can do one. Instant fail states during chase missions are equally frustrating, though thankfully rarely take more than three or four trial and error attempts to get past.

With so much game on offer it's not surprising that certain elements take a quality hit. Even finishing the story after around 30 hours you'll find your total synchronisation sits around the 50% mark. Assassin contracts, naval contracts and crafting distractions right out of Far Cry 3 fill out the experience.

There are both good and bad types of collectibles on offer, mind you. Shiny amber Animus Fragments litter every map and gleam at you relentlessly. Collecting them all feels like a grind. Treasure Maps on the other hand are superb excuses to tear your eyes away from the mini map. Each parchment gives you vague clues as to a buried treasure's whereabouts forcing you to explore the stupefyingly beautiful surroundings around you.

And the world really is beautiful. Sweeping vistas maintain every ounce of minute detail and quality, making the series trope of sync point 360 degree camera pans worthy rewards. Tiny details consistently thrill at their discovery. Sneaking into a fort during a squall, we were treated to individual droplets of water rippling on the cobblestones underfoot. We can't remember the last time we spent so long just watching foliage rustle in the breeze.

"THE FACT THAT ACIV IS SO GOOD WAS BY NO MEANS A FOREGONE CONCLUSION."

Black Flag contains some of the best instances of pathetic fallacy we've yet seen in a game. When the proverbial poop hits the propeller, cyclones and rogue waves batter at the Jackdaw. In other emotive instances, ominous fog or dull twilight lends the Caribbean suitably disturbing hues. This visual resplendence makes us wonder: if the devs weren't keeping one eye on the current gen version's scalability, just how much more could they be capable of?

The fact that ACIV is so good was by no means a foregone conclusion. There was a sense that, as the dust settled after ACIII, Ubisoft had missed a beat. Brows rightly furrowed as commentators pondered whether the series had already overshot its zenith. Much like the first Assassin's Creed, Black Flag isn't perfect. But the treasure trove of memorable experiences on offer here put all but the very best open worlds to shame.

Luki1