The latest installment in the widely popular Assassin’s Creed franchise was officially announced this past week after a slew of leaks from all over the globe. Apparently, the folks at Ubisoft are in direct competition with Sony to claim the much coveted, “Worst at Keeping Secrets” trophy. In this latest chapter “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” players tackle the role of Edward Kenway, the pirate grandfather of Assassin’s Creed III protagonist Connor in a brand new sequel/prequel of sorts. This will be the sixth main entry in the ongoing saga (and 14th including spin-offs), following after Assassin’s Creed III which was only just released a mere five months ago.

So far buzz seems to be generally positive, but there’s a certain questionable air looming over Ubisoft’s latest reveal. While players seem pretty excited over the promise of MOAR NAVAL COMBAT (the best received aspect of Assassin’s Creed III) the prior installment still failed to truly impress most critics (and fans alike) late last year by straying too far from the series’ central theme. Sure, the franchise has remained popular as ever with “diehards” but you have to wonder what’s the reason behind Black Flag’s sudden lukewarm reception? Could over saturation be a growing factor? Ever since the highly praised “Assassin’s Creed II” dropped in 2009 gamers have been subjected to sequels and spin-offs each and every year religiously. “Guitar Hero, Rockband, Dance Dance Revolution, Mega Man and Tomb Raider (while under Core Design’s excessive abuse)” have all fallen victim to having been spread too thin over the years. So far, the only franchises able to successfully bank year after year besides sports titles have been Nintendo’s “Super Mario Bros.” (thanks to the nagging children of the world) and the “Call of Duty” franchise, primarily due to it’s robust multiplayer element and inhumanly devoted online community. Also, when you factor in that Assassin’s Creed IV has been in development for over two years, it makes you wonder just how much space this leaves Ubisoft to learn from critiques made about previous installments.

In any case, while positive hype has declined over time Ubisoft commands the loyalty an enormous legion of Assassin’s Creed followers who still commit their hard earned cash to the property every holiday season. It remains unseen whether this annual business strategy will ever eventually “miss that haystack” on it’s way down, but if it does there’s a certain “Prince” who’s been missing in action that I’m sure quite a few people would love to see again.
-Written by Lordgrey