There are reportedly over 50 locations (jungles, smugglers’ dens, underwater caves, pirate camps, and many more) to explore in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed IV, with 3 of them being major cities. The developers want you to get lost while playing.
The development team has ensured that every collectible in the game has some meaning in an attempt to encourage the player to explore and find these hidden items throughout the game. The game has also been designed to be as fluid as possible when moving from land to the sea to prevent players from feeling as if there’s a “land game” and a “sea game.” Instead, it should feel like one large “Caribbean game” where land and sea work together to create the world. While on the topic of the sea, the multiplayer does not involve the sea, so would-be pirates will unfortunately not be able to have ship battles with others over PSN or Xbox Live.
Alongside the game, a free companion app will launch for tablets and mobile devices to allow the tablet or device to act as a map or to send your team of assassins to various areas to loot and plunder for you. In Assassin’s Creed IV, the story will focus on the player in present day, as your character gets hired by Abstergo Entertainment to use the Animus to research the life of famous historical figures, such as Edward, in the name of entertainment. Of course, this is not the real reason why the character gets hooked into the Animus, but unfortunately the central character is unaware of the Templar conflict.
There is a harpooning activity the player can take part in which requires Edward to harpoon certain targets such as sharks and whales. While it is uncertain just how this activity will reward the player, it is something that helps upgrade Edward in some way. Assassin’s Creed IV will launch at the end of October on the PC, Wii U, PS3, and Xbox 360, followed at a later date on the Xbox One and PS4.