Avast me hearties, yo ho!

As many of you may have heard, Ubisoft have recently confirmed the next game in the Assassin's Creed series: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. There are a couple of things to note about the release, just a small warning guys, there will be references to Assassin's Creed 3 and the novel Assassin's Creed: Forsaken further down, however I will do my best to keep the spoilers to a minimum, so reader discretion is advised. But before that I have included the announcement trailer below for those of you that may not have seen it yet. As far as announcement trailers go, the Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is a rather interesting specimen, so before I continue, here is the trailer in all it's glory!

As the trailer shows the next Assassin's Creed game will take place before Assassin's Creed 3 featuring the Assassin, Edward Kenway. If that name sounds familiar to you, this is because he is the Grandfather of Assassin's Creed 3's Connor Kenway (or Ratonhnhaké:ton to give him his Native Indian name) which of course make him the father of Haytham Kenway who many of you may know turned out to become a Knights Templar under the instruction of Reginald Birch (who was a close family friend of Edward Kenway's although would eventually prove his undoing). This makes Black Flag an interesting addition to the Assassin's Creed series, in that it explains the background of the mysterious Edward Kenway, who even in the novel Assassin's Creed: Forsaken his life before moving to Queen Anne's Square in London. In addition to finding more about the mysterious Edward Kenway, who it appears is a hugely successful pirate, is the supporting cast and locations. Being a pirate means a lot of it takes place upon the high seas, around the ports of the Caribbean, one of the most notable being Port Royal. As the trailer shows the notorious pirate Blackbeard will be making an appearance, which to me makes it even more interesting, on top of this the pre-order copies will include a poster designed by non other than Spawn creator Todd McFarlane. 

Edward Kenway, and in the background his Assassin's Pirate ship.

In terms of gameplay, I suspect the naval combat will return, and if the trailer is anything to go by, underwater exploration will be involved either as part of the main story or for side quests. I expect between now and release, plenty more information will be given about the game. My guess would be that we'll get some gameplay shown at E3 in June, until then expect plenty more screenshots and teasers from Ubisoft. I'll do my best to keep you all updated, and apologize for the lack of activity lately, if your looking forward to Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag please feel free to leave a comment below!