Still, the Assassin-Templar conflict, modern-day sequences, and ties to previous games' now-concluded storylines and characters placed the game squarely in the Assassin's Creed camp, serving as a barrier to entry for players seeking a pure pirate game. Combined with the franchise's combat, stealth, and exploration mechanics, this made Black Flag a much-beloved game by old fans and new players alike. Placed between the disappointing Assassin's Creed 3 and the infamously buggy Assassin's Creed Unity, the 2013 title was a breath of fresh air that greatly expanded on its predecessor's naval gameplay by adding a seamless open-world map to explore.

While limiting a game's scope can help it to maintain a coherent identity and make development easier, players hoping for more Black Flag will likely be disappointed with the gameplay differences in Skull and Bones.Īssassin's Creed: Black Flag is often seen as one of the better entries into the Assassin's Creed franchise.

Skull and Bones does away with most of this, instead centering the gameplay entirely around sailing. While the Assassin's Creed title was the franchise's biggest foray into sailing mechanics following Assassin's Creed 3, it was still at its heart a stealth-action game, with hand-to-hand combat, exploration on land, and boarding actions. Multiple changes in the game's core vision pushed it even further from its origins, leading to Skull and Bones ultimately becoming a multiplayer-focused service game with different priorities than Black Flag. Reportedly, Skull and Bones even restarted development from scratch several years after its initial 2017 reveal. Since that inception, the project has had a tumultuous ride. Related: What Skull And Bones' Golden Age Of Piracy Actually Means In theory, this could have been a game that went all-in on the pirate fantasy in a spectacular fashion. It was originally intended as an add-on or spin-off of Black Flag, meant to capitalize on the success of the open-ended sailing mechanics new to the Assassin 's Creed franchise combined with the game's tried-and-true stealth and combat.

When Assassin's Creed 4: B lack Flag sailed onto the scene in 2013, it was quietly followed by the beginning of Skull and Bones's development.

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