Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag to be released on Oct 29

Ubisoft has remained silent about the next Assassin’s Creed game, but leaks seem to find their way. A trailer Ubisoft was going to  release today has been leaked, and it reveals that Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will reach stores on October 29, this year. Some screenshots have also been leaked on the Assassin’s Creed Chile Facebook page, giving us our first look at what the game and the protagonist may look like. The trailer also mentions that the game will be making its game to next-gen consoles.

Going by the screenshots, it looks like the next game in the series will lay greater emphasis on dual-wielding weapons. While you could dual-wield weapons in Assassin’s Creed III, you used a weapon in your main-hand, like a mace or a sword, and on your off-hand, you’d use your hidden blade. The dual-wielding seems to have been fleshed out in Black Flag, and you may even get to dual-wield pistols in the next game.

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Welcome to the jungle

This time around, instead of the hidden blade, the emphasis seems to be on the character’s ability to dual-wield swords. It is yet to be seen whether the combat system will be a repeat of Assassin’s Creed III’s Batman-esque system, or if Ubisoft will be going for a new one altogether.

Sshhh… I’m hunting pirates…

And while naval battles may be returning, it looks like land travel isn’t going away. One of the screenshots shows a lush forest where you can presumably go wild with your parkour abilities, much like the frontier in Assassin’s Creed III.

To Arr! or not to Arr! That is the question…

The trailer essentially paints the main protagonist of the game as a total badass feared by everyone, even the most famous pirate that ever existed—Blackbeard. While absent from the screenshots, the hidden blade does make an appearance in the trailer.

If AC4 has a more fleshed out naval battle system than the one in Assassin’s Creed III, it could become one of the best naval-themed games ever, though there isn’t exactly much competition in the genre except for the classic Sid Meier’s Pirates!

Previous AC games have been about Desmond and his ancestry, but with the definitive end of his story in Assassin’s Creed III, one has to wonder if Ubisoft will still stick to the Animus plot device, or whether the company will ditch all pretense and keep the game set some time during history without any science-fiction elements.