Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag

It came to me last week that I never did a post about the full reveal for this game, I remember doing the rumour post for it and the confirmation that Ubisoft are in fact making it but when they did put up the details and the trailer I forgot to post. Since then there as been two trailers, information, collector editions and pre-order bonuses. So I've decided to go with a huge blog post dedicated to everything I missed about this game, you probably have read it elsewhere but who cares! Assassin's Creed rocks!.

So let's start with the announcement CGI trailer that came out on the Monday after the rumours.



Looks awesome right? I've been wanting a proper Pirate game in ages, well one that works anyway and this looks like it will hit the nail on the head. I love the fact we will be treasure hunting as well, soon as I saw the scene with the diving down to the sunk ship it was a must buy. Although to be honest it was a must buy soon as they said new Assassin's Creed game. Anyway it will be interesting how it will play out, I love the fact we have two cutlass swords and four pistols. Should be some amazing fighting combos with all those weapons, I bet the reload times will be a pain in the ass though.

I do have a few worries though, one is the story tying with the assassins. The new character has been trained by assassins and you do see a scene at the end of him taking someone out but I get the feeling he's more rogue then working for the Brotherhood. I'm just worried they will focus too much on the Pirate theme and forget that this games about the Assassin's vs. Templar. Anyway the second worry is that the game is coming out on current generation and next generation. I'm hoping the PS4 version is not just a current generation game with a patch job, especially with the rumour prices starting at £50 for the next generation games. If I'm paying £10-£15 over a current generation version it needs to be worth the money. Will have to see how things turn out over the next few months, expecting to see Lot's at E3 this year.

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So that was the announcement trailer and since then a lot of information has been announced, few weeks back they put up the Collectors editions for the game and just like Splinter Cell there are plenty to choose from. Before I go into this folks just a reminder that I will be listing the editions for the UK market, other countries might have different editions or being support by different retailers. Check out your local stores for information for your country.

To start with there is a special pre-order bonus with the retailer GAME, placing a deposit in store and you can get a Treasure map poster. Check out the picture below to see how awesome it is, the poster is nearly A3 in size and shows the in-game map off with four treasure locations. When you place the pre-order and get the map you also get a DLC code for the four treasure locations in the game, one of which is exclusive to GAME.

Andreas Island
Cage Island
Florida
Havana (GAME Exclusive)

Just an heads up the treasure map poster is for the local stores and if you order online you will receive a PDF version instead. With that out of the way let's talk special editions and collector editions, starting the basic one which again is a GAME Exclusive.

GAME Exclusive Special Edition

The Exclusive Special Edition is pretty much the same as the past years where you get a copy of the game with the cover slightly altered to say that comes with a few extra bonus DLC. In this case you are getting Captains Kenways Legacy which is bonus items for both singleplayer and multiplayer. Plus the mission Sacrificed Secrets where you chase after Captain Drakes treasure which includes a golden cutlass and flintlocks (pistols).

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Skull Edition

Say hello to the first collector editions which is the lowest price, this is the Skull Edition which most retailers will be stocking. You get a copy of the game of course plus a Jumbo steelbook with the new Pirate Assassin Logo on the cover. Still trying to find out what the Jumbo steelbook is meant to be, I'm assuming similar to the Mass Effect one that came out on the Xbox 360 but unsure at the moment. You also get the soundtrack and artbook like most collectors editions plus an art envelope containing two Lithographs. Finally in the ways of the DLC content you get the stuff from the Exclusive Special Edition (Sacrificed Secrets and Captains Kenways Legacy) plus a bonus singleplayer mission Hidden Mystery which takes you on a journey following Stede Bonnet's path to find his secrets when he adventures in St Lucia.

Interesting enough right now this edition is the same price as the Exclusive one above on the GAME website, so a bargain to be had here folks. Unless of course you want more in which case check out the next two editions.

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Next up is the Buccaneer Edition which is a GAME Exclusive collectors edition and one of the most coolest I've seen so far.

Buccaneer Edition - GAME Exclusive

So first you get a outer chest collectors box which looks awesome, reminds me of the AC3 one they did. I like it when Publishers put the extra effort into the outer box as well, shows me they do care and you know the product will be good quality. Anyway again you get everything that is in the Skull Edition well except the steelbook which is a shame really. This time though instead of the steelbook you get the awesome looking Captain Kenway statue, it's meant to measure at 45cm tall. I love the detail gone into it, the swinging pose and the Pirate flag on the mast is a nice touch. Instant buy for me soon as I saw it, I prefer the figurines with more of a diorama then a simple standing facing front.
Anyway one extra DLC mission is also included in this edition, the Black Island which has exploring the island to find Captain Morgan's sunken ship that contains legendary sailing equipment. So one nice looking collectors edition right? tempted no? price is currently set at £79.99 on the GAME website so not a bad price really since all the past big editions have been that price. But before you go running off to order let me show you one more edition.

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Say hello to the Uplay exclusive Black Chest Edition...

Black Chest Edition - Uplay Exclusive

This edition will cost around £120 depending on what format you have it on but you can see why the cost is so steep. The figurine is one of the best out there and my god do I want it for my collection, it stands at 55cm tall as well so don't expect a small thing to arrive. I love the detail gone into the front of the ship, this how all figurine should look. Anyway you also get the same DLC as the Buccaneer with several extra items, "Pride of the West Indies" "Trove of Mystery" and "The Castaway's Prize" which I cannot find any information about yet. Although if you read the image it says all pre-order bonuses so I'm assuming these are unannounced pre-order bonuses for other retailers.

Anyway you get a cool chest collectors box, world map, the same two lithographs again but this time you also get two canvas prints as well. Check out the top right corner of the image to see them, they look amazing and I've got to find some space on my wall for them. Steelbook as well is included but does not say anything about being a Jumbo one, but looks to be the same design though. Soundtrack and artbook from the other editions is also in there and finally you get Assassin's Logo flag! as I said earlier this image is one of my favourite new designs.

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So there you have it folks, a ton of collectors editions to choose from again thanks to Ubisoft spoiling us. Are you tempted by any of them? myself I have both the Black Chest and Buccaneer edition on order since I want both figurines, yes I know the Buccaneer is just a cut out of the Black Chest one but if you look it will be bigger version of Captain Kenway. Plus it looks like there are slight changes to the design but anyway you know me for my Collectors Editions, want them all! I also want the Skull Edition but waiting for more information to see what Jumbo Steelbook is. Anyway that's it for this post folks, thanks for reading and don't forget to drop a comment if you getting this game or any of the editions above.
~Iznic

P.S. one last thing, here is the game play trailer for your enjoyment!