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Why wasn't this released on Wii U but the main game was? That pissed me off a bit. I had to borrow the 360 version of Black Flag off a mate just so I could play this. It's good though. While slavery was mentioned in AC III and AC IV, it's the main part of the story here. I thought it'd be a Django Unchained type thing but I was pleasantly surprised because it isn't just a slave out for revenge story. It's an emotional story with a lot of heart. Slavery isn't a subject you'd imagine being done well in a video game but Ubisoft managed to pull it off here.
Edward has left the pirate life behind and is now working as an assassin in London, living with his wife and kids. He's mentioned, but he's not in the game. Instead you play as Adewale, a slave turned pirate turned assassin. He was your quartermaster and best mate during the majority of Black Flag until he left to join the assassins towards the end.
Adewale is a beast. Playing as him is really fun and it's very different to playing as Edward, his fighting style is very different. He's by far the strongest, most powerful and most brutal assassin and this shows when he's impaling a slave trader on a branding iron or chopping up guards with his machete. The machete is your main weapon now but you get a whole new set of gear. Instead of pistols, you have a blunderbuss (which is brilliant, it's like a portable cannon), and you have some firecrackers for distracting guards, as well as the usual hidden blades, rope darts and blow pipe (with sleep darts and poison darts). Adewale reminded me of Connor a bit but he was more likeable and better written. His voice actor does a great job too, I really wouldn't mind a full game as him in the future.
The story is probably my favourite out of any AC game. It's over a decade since Black Flag and Adewale is now a fully trained assassin with years of experience under his belt. He's sent by the assassins to get a mysterious box back from the Templars. It never reveals what's in the box but it's important to the assassins, it's the one Ezio gave to that Chinese girl before he died. Anyway, he tracks it to a Templar ship and he manages to get the box, mission accomplished, but his ship gets caught in a storm and he's shipwrecked in Port Au Prince. He meets this woman, a prostitute who runs the local brothel. Adewale doesn't really want to work with her because she's actually affiliated with the Templars (the box was being taken to her), but she's been helping the local maroons (escaped slaves), who are planning a rebellion against the ruler of the island, a French governor. Adewale at first just wants to get back to the assassins because his job is done but eventually, once he gets a ship, he decides instead to stay and help the maroons. I'm actually a descendant of maroons (although they were Jamaican rather than Haitan) so it was cool for me to see my favourite game series have a story involving them.
The gameplay is the usual assassin's creed stuff. Tail/eavesdrop people, sneak through crowds and bushes, assassinate targets, run across rooftops, etc. Most of it you'll have seen in Black Flag but it's given entirely new context. EG- Instead of robbing plantations, you'll be liberating them by killing all the overseers. You can still take ships but there are also slave ships, which you have to be careful with, you don't want to sink it. There's also some new sharks and whales to hunt and a new shipwreck to explore (the Jackdaw, Edward's ship, which I thought was a bit sad to see).
The game really does a good job immersing you in the setting. There are no shops available because a black guy back then wouldn't have been served, all your gear comes from the maroon hideout. Jailers looking for escaped slaves prowl the streets and will attack you on sight. You feel like a vulnerable outsider. It actually does the whole racism idea much better than AC III (Connor being native American had no impact on how he was treated by others in the game world).
The side content here is freeing slaves. Taking over plantations, crashing slave auctions, freeing them from jailers, helping escapees being chased by overseers, etc. The more slaves you free, the more powerful the maroons become, and then they have more resources so you get better weapons and other upgrades. What's clever though is the way they use this is a metaphor. Slave auctions, escapees, etc, are randomly generated and they pop up no matter what; it works as a metaphor because no matter how hard Adewale fights, he can't save them all.
There was one really powerful mission where you're on board a sinking slave ship. You're desperately trying to free all the slaves but the ship tips and it starts sinking. You have to swim underwater past drowning shackled slaves and then the ship tips up and you climb out as water floods in and there's fire all around you while shackled slaves scream for help. It's provably the most distressing thing I've ever played in a game.
If you have AC IV (which I can't recommend enough) then get this. It's also available as a stand alone title for ps3 and ps4.
10/10
TLDR- Freedom Cry is a great, groundbreaking game with an emotional story and a badass new hero.
While I have huge favoritism toward 'GTA IV' and find it to be a masterpiece of perfection, I can agree with RDR: that game really was stellar work from start to finish. They nailed every aspect downpat. My only complaint was the ending, but hell, after everything that came before, I can't really dog the game solely for that.
Also I picked up Tomb Raider and Doom 3 BFG edition for the 360 this weekend.
I think the ending is what cements the game as a masterpiece. The game played it realistically and didn't hold back. Even without it you have elements like the redemption of John who is turning away from a bad life of crime to care for his family, the commentary on the virus of power and corruption, the rise and fall of men with great aspirations, the fraudulence of the "American Dream", the hypocrisy of democracy and so many other things that make this game brilliant beyond compare. It's moving, it's high-brow, it's unrelenting in its jabs to both the period of the early 1900s and our own time today; it's just phenomenal.
I just began playing the campaign again yesterday and am once again vindicated in my love for it. It feels so cool to ride into town and hear people discussing you behind your back, or storming around while thunder clouds are forming on the horizon. Everything just feels so alive and immersive. During my playing time yesterday I was at Bonnie's farm and was going about my business when suddenly a man walked up to the camp fire near my rooms and started playing his violin. I went to investigate, and soon tons of people were all gathering just to listen, sitting by the fire or taking up a seat on the benches. Then a man and woman began dancing together to the tune. It was a moment I had never experienced before, but I loved seeing it. As John I felt a part of the community and accepted despite my gunslinger past. We were all just a bunch of people joining together to have some fun. Sometimes the simplest things like that in games can blow my mind more than an action set piece or cinematic.
I hunt a lot too. The thing I love about this game that can't be said for other open world titles is that you can never go broke. There is always something to make money off of, the primary activity being hunting. It's addictive too. I'll be riding around and spot a mess of deer all over the place and spend ten minutes just trying to shoot and skin all of them. That nets you a lot of cash alone, and you just want to keep on hunting once you've started. It's even better when you go hunting in Mexico and come back to sell the goods in Blackwater for increased profits because of the rarity of some animal furs and hearts in those parts.
I've actually been playing through Uncharted 3 again this afternoon. :-)
It's why I'm not looking to get one until around Christmas time, although I'm hoping to move house in November so the PS4 may have to wait till my birthday next April.
Batman: Arkham Origins is out later this year. Can't think of anything else due out. It's all gone quiet regarding Uncharted 4 so I've no idea whether it'll be out this year or next. Maybe there'll be some news at E3.
What's it like? I have often seen copies around, but never bought it. Following <a href="http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/9397/039no-one-lives-forever039-to-live-forever-on-digital-distribution.#Item_3">this</a>, I have been replaying...
The dialogue, set design, gameplay, score and characters are all superb. Year after year, COD is wheeled out, yet this series is limited to 2 main games and a spin-off. Come in Cate Archer, we need you desperately.
Assassin's Creed Unity is out around then and it's only on ps4/xbox one, so I'll be getting a next gen console when that comes out. The new Batman game is only on the next gen consoles as well and I'd imagine that most of the big franchises will be doing the same now, either this year or next.
You play as a mercenary working for an organization called "The Shop", and you're tasked with taking down a terrorist organization. It's a pretty standard FPS story, and its sequel is supremely better, but the main attraction to both games is the amazing amount of ways you can mutilate bodies with weapons (blowing off heads, hands, arms, feet, legs, stomachs). As I say, though, the sequel is better. Played that one on the PC first, but now my PC copy has some odd crusty stuff that I cannot remove in any way, and doesn't work, so I'll have it on the Xbox in a few days.
Reminds me of the criminally under appreciated Cold Winter.
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In H.A.R.M.'S Way
So far, I am in love with this game as much as the first. The rumors of HD remakes must come true... please.
Soldier of Fortune: Gold Edition (PS2)
Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix (Xbox)
Star Wars Shadows of the Empire (N64)
Star Wars Rogue Squadron (N64)
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GCN)
Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (GCN)
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Wii)
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (Wii)
Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes (PS3)
Tetris (GB)
You'd trade in your PS4 just for that?
You hit the nail on the head. Between RDR and The Last of Us, two best video games of all time in my book.
Yeah, it's great, the main strengths being characters and storytelling. I just got 100% completion on RDR today, and will likely start playing the Undead Nightmare DLC sometime tomorrow, which I have never experienced before. I'm quite excited.
My first playthrough is actually a 100% run. I would argue RDR is flawless. John Marston is my favourite VG character of all time.
Yeah, it's pretty difficult not to fall in love with John. Someone you have reason to hate because of his past, but who you grow to adore and respect because he will do literally anything to protect his family. He's definitely one of my favorite game characters as well; complex and unforgettable.
The man they hired to portray John, Rob Weithoff is fantastic as well, and couldn't be more like Marston if he tried. They both care about family more than anything. I've posted this video focusing on Weithoff's life after RDR before, and you should check it out if you haven't see it:
I have completed the Ohio mission(s), and have reached India. The fight at the end of Ohio took me by surprise. I thought it would be a simple run of the mill gunfight inside the house. The rampaging tornado outside decided to get in on the action by picking the house up, and started to rip it apart.