Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag gets Golden Age of Pirates trailer

Ubisoft has released a new trailer for the upcoming Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. The trailer doesn’t show much in the way of actual gameplay footage except towards the end. Instead, it chooses to focus on the setting of the game—pirates. The trailer talks about the golden age of piracy, when pirate crews roamed the waters in search of plunder. It also talks about how the era of pirates was filled with danger, mutiny and general debauchery. Check out the trailer:

The trailer gives the same general theme that Ubisoft had talked about back in March – that of a darker and more serious look at the era of piracy. The company had said that it wants to “redefine piracy in modern entertainment". The new Assassin’s Creed game will take place during the pirate era, and the company is going to make the game more serious than the pop-culture go-to examples for pirates—Treasure Island and Pirates of the Caribbean.

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

Dual-wielding like a boss

“We have a fantastic opportunity for pirates in video games,” said Lead Content Manager Carsten Myhill. “Certainly when Assassin’s Creed III naval came out, there was a clamour from the fans for a pirate game. There’s no-doubt that the people want it. But it’s not easy. It takes a very talented team, a lot of experience and great tech. It’s one thing having good naval combat, but combining that with good boarding and land-based gameplay in a seamless way, is hard to do."

The company wants to avoid the clichés that are usually part-and-parcel of pirate fiction. Usually, these involve tropes like Jerk with a Heart of Gold or Awesome Mc Cool Name. Myhill added, “We’re staying away from clichés. Things like walking the plank, parrots on the shoulder and hooks for hands. We are giving pirates the HBO, reality treatment. And that allows us to redefine piracy in entertainment. No longer is it for kids.”