'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
It’s been eight years since Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag was released. The game came out to rousing reviews and almost universal critical acclaim. In a series as long as Assassin’s Creed, Black Flag has remained a pioneering venture for the series and video games in general.
Often touted as the revitalizing title to the whole Assassin’s Creed series, particular praise was given to Black Flag’s open sea and its naval combats. The theme of piracy and the lively historical characters enchanted the players to spend countless hours in the game.
Black Flag at times felt more like a pirate game, and to many, that was not essentially a bad thing; but a breath of fresh sea air.
"A Pirate’s Life for Me"
Piracy can be understood as an act of robbery done by people from one ship to another or from a ship to coastal areas. The perpetrators of these actions are called pirates. The Sea Peoples, a bunch of ocean raiders, are the earliest documented to be committing acts of piracy by attacking the ships of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilizations.
The problem with piracy has persisted well into modern times, with worldwide estimated losses from pirates amounting to $16 billion per year in 2004. 2020 itself saw nearly 200 pirate attacks, according to HDI Global.
Yet, the romanticized notion of pirates remains and is restricted to the Age of Sail. It is the period that lasted from the mid-16th to mid-19th centuries where global trade and warfare were dominated by sailing ships. It also marked the age commonly known as the Golden Age of Piracy.
For the players, pirates are swashbuckling anti-heroes standing on the deck of a wooden ship. One can feel the tiny droplets of salty water on the wrinkly skin, the hilt of the saber at the hip, the butt of the blunderbusses, and the last drops of rum on the lips.
As Captain Jack Sparrow says,
“Why is the rum gone?”
The historical pirates were men and women, dressed as men, of violence and murder. The romanticized versions that people have grown to love have focussed on the allure of adventure and freedom. A bunch of people singing, drinking, and sailing together to the edges of the earth and beyond.
Before Disney's beloved Pirates of the Caribbean, audiences worldwide began to be thrilled by Eiichiro Oda's One Piece. The manga first appeared in 1997, and an anime series produced by Toei Animation was released soon after in 1999.
Multiple generations of viewers have invested time and emotion in following Captain Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates' adventures exploring the Grand Line in Luffy's quest to become the next King of the Pirates.
The series showed a beautiful balance between humor and weighty stories. The characters are diverse and well-rounded. Each of them is worthwhile to invest in, as many are characters inspired by real-life pirates. The powers of the Devil Fruits and personalities like "Axe-Hand" Morgan are fantastical in nature. They remind one of the myths and rumors that surrounded the famous pirates of history.
One Piece remains a heartwarming story with lively characters that have come together to tell their own stories.
Hoist the Black Flag
Black Flag’s official trailer starts with perhaps the most infamous pirate of them all, Blackbeard. He takes his time painting a vivid visual of the protagonist, Edward Kenway. An ancestor of Desmond Miles, Edward is a fearsome pirate with uncanny charm and guile.
Kenway did not start off as a member of the Assassin's Creed. Although he finds the robes of an assassin and dons them, he is driven in the beginning by his desire for fame and riches. It is only when he loses his closest friends and allies that he breaks out of his greed and later joins the brotherhood.
Black Flag was designed to capitalize and expand the much-beloved naval missions of Assassin’s Creed III. The gameplay prioritizes naval mechanics over simply roaming on land. Players are provided with their own brig, called the Jackdaw, that they captain.
In Black Flag, Ubisoft implemented a newer and updated form of the recruiting system available in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. Edward can recruit crew members from different places and missions in the game. Enemies captured from other ships after fighting at sea can also be enlisted in the Jackdaw’s crew.
As they progress later in the game, players can also customize and upgrade the ship to take on bigger enemies. The sea is littered with ships as small as schooners to frigates and warships. Black Flag players need to take them on for looting materials.
Black Flag also provides the opportunity to capture forts that lie as obstacles along the way. The four corners of the map hold the legendary ships that only the bravest can dare to face.
Black Flag introduces the mechanics of fishing in the water to gather resources for crafting items. There are five kinds of big fish, like the Great White shark and the Humpback whale, to be captured, and are available at particular spots on the map. There are also shipwrecks that Edward can dive into in search of loot and treasure.
Black Flag was released nearly a decade after the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which rejuvenated the public’s fascination with pirates.
Black Flag intricately portrays the carefree life of the buccaneers while jostling with their fellow pirates. Players are free to sing shanties as they ride the wild waves in search of whatever they can see on the distant horizon from the crow's nest.
Sea of Thieves, Blackwake, and pirates in video games
The fascination that players worldwide showed towards pirates and Black Flag motivated developers to work on this theme. Ubisoft itself began developing an action-adventure game inspired by the naval battles of Black Flag, titled Skull & Bones.
The game is set in an open world environment and has a single-player campaign. Players can also gather up to five other players to ally with for a player versus player gameplay. After multiple delays and changes in direction, the game is slated to release sometime after April 2022.
Another game that worked on the theme of naval warfare, piracy, and fort sieging is Blackwake. Published by Mastfire Studios in 2020, the game offers online PvP and Co-op with 54 players.
The game is an FPS combat where players can fire cannons, sink ships or board them. Players can captain a vessel through a nomination and then issue necessary orders to the crew.
Blackwake’s map also offers variations ranging from different weather and geographical obstacles like volcanoes and icebergs.
Rare’s 2020 release, Sea of Thieves, became the next biggest thing in the pirate experience in the medium of video games. With three ship modes and the ability to join with up to four other people, Sea of Thieves offers players a huge sea to scour and countless missions and islands to discover.
Regular updates continue to add new content, most notably the tie-up with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and Jack Sparrow’s appearance. The game boasts its own distinct lore and rank levels. Players can attack forts, search for treasure, fight ghost fleets and other players.
There are options for hoisting the embassy flags of different companies, as well as distinct missions of each to chase after. After hours of plunder, players have to carefully return to the outpost to sell.
With more levels, more cosmetics can be unlocked to be worn. Pets like cats, dogs, primates, and birds can be bought who will accompany the pirates on each voyage.
The constant updates and release of new games, like King of Seas and Blazing Sails, based on the theme of buccaneering and piracy, depict the gamers’ love for the age of piracy. Much like Benedict Cumberbatch in the BBC's Sherlock, there is an inner desire in most for the freedom that the romanticized version of pirates showcases.
There is an innate charm in the freedom of going on long voyages, filling the captain’s cabin with loot from an ancient vault, drinking grog to one’s heart content as the ship rocks and the sails blow out.
As the sun sets on the rough and foamy ocean, all that can be heard are the rousing voices of rowdy nakamas, singing their shanties, sailing towards their tavern for the night. Saying,
"Yo-ho-ho-ho! A pirate’s life for me."
