Assassin’s Creed® IV Black Flag™

A fantastic game I was really hoping to play it again like in the good old days. Unfortunately, the moment I launch it, the game shuts down, and none of the advice online from people who faced the same issue has helped. It's a shame to see how low this company has fallen. Maybe it's some kind of marketing trick let’s make it as hard as possible for you to access the game so that out of sheer frustration, you'll end up spending $60 on a newer version of the same thing, which will probably be released soon anyway.

I only give a negative review because somebody at Ubisoft decided to put multiplayer achievements. For me the game crashes when i try to go multiplayer. AND WHY IN THE NAME OF THE HOLY FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER DO YOU NEED UBISOFT CONNECT WHEN YOU BUY A GAME ON STEAM!

Beside that this game is really nice and a better choice then AC Shadows :)

Would you like to 100% this game? It's fun, great classic Assassin's Creed game. Some consider it the best of the series. However, if you are trying to enjoy the game while 100%'ing this game, the answer is No. Unless the community is aware of a go around, a companion app got shut down a few years back. Yes I get it, users stopped playing it, and it was likely drawing on the bottom line. But not a workaround placed on the game (that I am aware of, given my search through google/etc)?! Nope. The game will remain unfinished.

Have a way to beat this game? Leave a comment, I'd love your input.

Does not load on Windows 11. Requires reinstalling microsoft visuals c++ and completing a series of google searches in order to start the game. Ubisoft connect requires password everytime the PC is restarted. Refunded this product and now I have a bad taste in my mouth which will prevent me from purchasing Ubisoft games.

Great game bought it years ago and absolutely loved it so when i saw that ubisoft added acheivements to the game i was instantly down to play through it again. However when i launched the game it crashed instantly on startup. took me about an hour of troubleshooting and eventualy googling the problem before i got it running. This shouldn't be the case for a game that they are still asking money for.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag isn’t just an Assassin’s Creed game — it’s a full-blown pirate simulator that accidentally remembered it’s part of a stealthy assassin franchise halfway through. And thank God for that, because sailing the Caribbean as Edward Kenway, a charming rogue with questionable morals and excellent hair, is one of the best things Ubisoft has ever done.

Instead of the typical "climb a tower, stab a guy, repeat" formula, Black Flag throws you into an open sea of opportunities. You command your own ship, the Jackdaw, and set off into the horizon to plunder, pillage, harpoon whales, raid forts, collect sea shanties, and occasionally do some actual assassin work. But let's be honest — the assassin part is just a bonus, because being a pirate is way too fun.

The ship combat is pure joy — blasting enemy galleons with broadsides, boarding them with style, stealing their rum (and dignity), then sailing off into a sunset like a true sea legend. There’s something genuinely satisfying about building up your fleet, customizing your ship, and becoming the most feared captain in the Caribbean.

Edward himself is a breath of fresh salty air. Unlike previous brooding assassin protagonists, he’s not exactly in it for the greater good — he’s in it for gold, rum, and reckless freedom, and somehow ends up becoming a better man by accident. The character development is surprisingly solid, with moments that hit harder than expected for a game about stabbing people on boats.

The world is massive and alive, from the bustling streets of Havana to hidden jungle ruins and deserted islands. Whether you're diving into shark-infested wrecks or climbing palm trees to sync viewpoints, there's always something to distract you. And yes, you’ll collect a stupid amount of useless trinkets, but you’ll love every second of it.

Even the modern-day segments — usually a drag in AC games — are tolerable here, with a weird-but-funny "Abstergo Entertainment" office tour that plays like a corporate fever dream.

In short:
Black Flag isn’t just a good Assassin’s Creed game — it’s a great pirate game, period. If you ever wanted to be a rum-fueled sea rogue with a heart buried somewhere under treasure maps and cannonballs, this is your chance.

10/10 sea shanties. Would abandon the Brotherhood for booty again. 🏴‍☠️

The best Assassin's Creed game there is out there! No other AC game can touch this (besides the trilogy which is in its own category). This has everything you look for in a video game. 10/10 just beware the ending, you'll bawl. Only bad part is Ubisofts Uplay crap that you have to use in order to start the game.

First AC game I've ever played and I'm having a good time of it but wow Ubisoft is awful.

I really hate the launcher requiring me to input my password over and over, and I hate that my cloud saves are held on their servers so I can't play on my laptop without an internet connection.
If they would get out of my way and this was a native steam experience I'd give it a 5/5 but right now it's a 3/5.

If this is the best game in the AS series, then this series is in deep, deep shіt.

First of all, I really liked everything related to the sea. The water looks stunning, the naval battles are great — taking down two HMS ships and boarding both of them is exactly the kind of pirate experience you expect, and that’s what kept me playing until the end. The world is well-crafted overall and the story is decent ( mostly ). BUT:

I hate tailing missions. It’s the dullest thing ever. Almost every mission is tailing. Tailing on foot, tailing in the city, tailing in the wilderness, tailing on ships. On ships, for fuсk’s sake. Ship stealth is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.

Second - the modern-day missions. That shіt is just boring. Sure, they only take 5–10 minutes on average, but they feel like your girl just got up and left right before the good part. Not only does it kill immersion, but they also make you solve puzzles on top of that.

Other than that, the game’s pretty fun. It really gives you that pirate freedom. You can sink or board ships, hunt for treasure, explore shipwrecks, capture forts, hunt whales - a grind paradise, which I don't mind.

Solid 6/10

The hoops you need to go through just to log in take all the fun out of this game. I will never buy another game from this company.

Sailing the high and low seas, one tailing mission at a time.

I'm slowly going through the Assassin's Creed series, and at last I've arrived at a fan favourite. ACIII impressed me with its narrative, but its gameplay aspects left me wanting more.
I do remember enjoying the brief ship sections immensely, and here we have a game that goes full bore (and full mast) into exploring naval combat.

It's the best part of the game and it's not even close. Oftentimes the waters are rather relaxed. Sailing at full speed, with the wind, shanties arise amongst the men. There's a real sense of place in the lavish, verdant West Indies.
And then: a ship, over the horizon. A storm is conjured, winds howling. High waves buffet port and starboard. Rain pelts the deck. Music blares. The man o' war fires, its lines of cannons almost challenging the thunder and lightning crackling down on all.
It is safe to say that out of every AC game to this point, these encounters were the most immersive thing I've experienced.
There were many a close call, many a relieved sigh as I go to board the enemy ship and go through the process of easily cleansing it of its lives and goods.

And that's the issue. The rest of the game, including boarding, is very, very easy, yet still finds a way to be tedious. The story is odd, its plot broken up haphazardly.
Characters are introduced, then forgotten about for great lengths, to be brought back seemingly at random. Their motivations are confusing, some twists and turns are almost completely unearned.
The plot itself has you going all around the map, but it rarely feels justified. The story missions alone are quite boring; the amount of tailing missions in this game is incredibly lazy.
There are a multitude of gameplay elements that are barely touched if you don't bother to do any of the bloated side content. Tutorial messages persist even after the 200th time I've done the action it's telling me about.
It feels like a game with so many little parts developed by groups of people. Yes, most games are precisely that. But most games hide it better.

And yet, despite all that, despite all that, I still enjoyed my time in the West Indies. The game does have a heart. Its story hits you out of nowhere at times. A key scene in the middle, and one at the very end, really did show the potential it has.
I found that I did actually care for the people I'd met. Every janky encounter, every bit of casual, seemingly meaningless dialogue, built up a sense that they were moving and breathing and living throughout the same world as me. Only later in the story did I realise the connection our main character had to them.
I even enjoyed the modern day sections, something I didn't expect with how ACIII's plot ended up. It does feel anticlimactic, but finding all the secrets was a fun and rewarding experience. It felt much more connected to those initial games than I anticipated.
I just wish it wasn't put together in such a slapdash way. There's a brilliant game here that's screaming to get out of a good one.

The end of the Golden Age of piracy is a fascinating time. Civilization is arriving, with all its great benefits and all its great faults. Seeing how these people deal with their era of freedom being crushed is truly fascinating. I won't forget my time sailing around, devastating three ships in the late game that I would have individually struggled against initially.
I just wish the game was in the oven a little longer. I wish the other AC games were too, to be honest.
But, I was impressed for a game from 2013. The PS4 and Xbox One were on their way — the seventh generation of consoles was glorious, but everything has to come to an end someday. Best go out with style.

One of the latest Assassin Creed games I loved and sadly didn't appreciate enough at the time being. The game was innovative, it's still a very good pirate game and just fills a void in some genres that are currently there.

I have to introduce my password every time I want to launch the game, If Ubisoft cant produce a proper decent launcher, it should not force me to use one.

TAIL MISSIONS. Это пиздец, как я обожаю ПРЕСЛЕДОВАТЬ. А ещё лучше преследовать и ПОДСЛУШИВАТЬ, а ещё лучше ПЛАВАТЬ НА КОРАБЛЕ И ПРЕСЛЕДОВАТЬ (невероятная новая геймплейная фича). Их тут где-то 10+, я сбился со счёта. И это только в основном сюжете. Вне него - почти столько же;
Уебищное управление, которое иногда паркурит тебя в пропасти или отталкивает от поверхностей, и, особенно во время стелса, есть возможность прыгнуть кому-то на лицо и начать всё заново, или опять подниматься миллиард лет;
Ужаснейший порт на ПК. Если 12 лет назад ВОЗМОЖНО было хорошо и лучше, то сейчас, чтобы поиграть в это говно, требуется столько танцев с бубной, что практически на каждом запуске что-то ломается или ты встречаешь ещё что-то, что сломано и не исправлено до сих пор, что опять требуется тратить от получаса до трёх часов, дабы найти ответ на исправление этого говна. Со всеми "фиксами" и прочим, звук в игре тормозит, отсаёт, всё периодически дёргается и дрыгается и статтерит. Это буквально релиз для консоледерьма, потому что Убейсофту, судя по этой ситуации, было абсолютно насрать на ПК какое-то время, и все свои "продукты" они позабыли и обновлять не хотят и не будут;
Абсолютно несвязный и идиотский сюжет. Ничто не происходит, потом что-то вроде происходит, потом вытягивание какой-то дебильной драмы по поводу смерти персонажа, пробывшего на экране в сумме минут 5 от силы. Самый интересный сюжет (который начался только ближе к концу игры, как оказалось) тоже был в сумме минут 5-10, остальное это просто... я не знаю что это. Один огромный филлер хуйни, чтобы только показать концовку и что там в настоящем происходит;
Уебанский стелс, или вообще его полное отсутствие, "снайперам" на крыше большой привет;
Боевка хуй пойми что, особенно когда кидают бомбу в ноги, залоченные рандомные анимации во время которых по тебе могут ударить и даже если ты зажал кнопку парирования - она не сработает;
Один дохуиллиард миллиард триллиард не скипаемых катсцен или каких-то дебильных анимаций, которые ты лицезреешь уже в тысячный раз - отличный дизайн, вкусно;
Поставил маркер куда хотел пойти и нажал фаст тревел? Этот маркер исчезает НАХУЙ, как только ты фаст тревелишься;
Переключение определенных настроек ГРАФИКИ включают определенные визуальные баги или вылеты в целом. Если вы не хотите видеть кривой VOLUMETRIC FOG, то извините, вам его придется включить, иначе играть на воде вы не сможете;
Флотилия Эдварда не работает, пока не скачаете отдельно настроенный .exe файл;
Если проходить на 100% (здоровья, тому кто это делает (больные люди)), то нужно по пути, будучи на корабле, останавливаться ради сундучков с 100-300 золота или же фрагмента анимуса, который ни опыта, ни денег не дает. Ну, это уже чуть слабый доёб, согласен, но всё равно упомяну;
Минусов ещё достаточно, но меня заебало о них писать уже и ныть, нужно просто смириться, что игра говно и я зачем-то потратил на неё время.

Из плюсов:
Их только 2 - музыка (хотя она смахивает на Циммера в виде микса из мв2 2009 года и пиратов карибского моря) и баталии на воде. Можно было чисто сделать игру про битвы на корабликах, необязательно было приписывать и делать из этого АССАСИНОВ КРЕДОВ.

Если сообщество пососинов утверждает, что это последняя хорошая вышедшая часть... Комментарии излишни. Ну, может, они и правы, я просто не в курсе, какие дальше были части. Кто неиронично играет в это говно? (я сыграл, мне хватило). Даже сами Юбисофты намекают, что они лучше 1 и 2 части не сделали, раз пихают во все свои поделия костюмы Альтаира и Эцио.

After purchase you have to log in with a password... dont even know why since am log in my steam account. Sometimes doesnt let me log in when In input my password. This is the only game I have seen with this type of setting

Este juego es bueno solo cuando los npcs se caen de culo y te los podes follar

one of the best AC game ubisoft ever made and it will always be the best AC game bcz ubisfot cant make another AC game like this and wont do that they lost the talent so this game will for ever be a gem

It takes a minute sitting at the game's loading screen to "log in" to play.

The DLC content I paid for (Kenway's Fleet) does not work. I also cannot access other DLC content I paid for because apparently the multiplayer/social servers are shut down. I don't know why they sell DLC content that is no longer accessible. It's unethical.

Most of the game seems to be comprised of running around collecting hundreds of collectible items that don't really seem to do anything and doing repetitive tasks. All this gets old very quickly.

The game is locked at 60 FPS.

It's just not a good game. Save your $40.

Tedious and highly repetitive. Gameplay is just a checklist of collection tasks and side missions that don't play into the larger story. The underwater / diving bell areas are awful and a slog to play through. Much of the DLC content I purchased no longer works, so I am quite unhappy they're selling things that are no longer functional. I'd steer clear. Go read the book Republic of Pirates instead of subjecting yourself to this bad game.

This is still a game of the AC Franchise I cant go without. I see all the other ones and I'm still like no I gotta have black flag in my inventory first. It's honestly my favorite AC game til this day and no matter what console I'm on including Nintendo Switch, this is a must have game. The gameplay of AC feels so O.G and classic as far as the series goes. It's just more up to par as far as the controls, advangtages you have in this game with environmental use for stealthily gameplay whether it's to get away from alerted enemies or assassin enemies while having stuff around you to hide in like bushes or hay buns like the old old wayswithout beings detected. It's very classic
Feeling with up to date functions and to add a ton of more map and a generous amount of new tools added to use at your advantage to keep yourself hidden andn undiscovered by the enemies. If you do things right or by enemies/environmental set ups and have the right tools available in the inventory depending on how far you made it through our gameplay; you can skillfully basically always stay hidden and out of combat and stick to stealthy gameplay and take downs if the enemies or hunting game in AC 4. I thought the pirate them was a bit of throw at first but once I played this game more and more and got into the storyline and the character and relations to previous assassin blood line. It was cool to see that Kenway is ancestry to those in the previous AC games (specifically speaking in AC3/Rogue) I highly recommend this game has it keeps AC original flavor and has a tone of stuff to do and unlock which and however way. You'll never get bored and will realize you want more like this one but there isn't so you continue to go back and get it again lol. Would not mind a remake for new gen consoles like PS5 & Xbox X|S Series. Best AC, GOOD JOB UBISOFT... this one you blew out of the water :)

Still better than Skull & Bones.

Ubisoft.. you are idiots not making that game like Black Flag just without Abstergo.

Are you in business to make money or make social commentary?

how long will you be in business i wonder.


and get rid of your launcher.. no one wants it and you will never compete with steam.

This is the last great Assassins Creed game. Great story with no "message" or agenda other than make a good game. Combat is rather simple but for this game that's great. Did I mention it has no "MESSAGE" seriously I miss just getting to play a game without having to dodge some DEI BS. RIP original fun Ubisoft.

Congrats Ubisoft! You managed to took my money and dont let me even play the f*cking game!
I love playing that loading screen of yours, and your unoptimized PhysX for my laptop with 4070mobile rtx!
This is the worst game I ever 'played' - well, not really.
Idiots.

- had to use a cd key when launching, wtf?
- had to login to ubisoft connect
- Can't alt tab back to windows
- PS5 controller is not supported with windows
- PS4 controller is not supported with windows
- When starting the game " logging in to ubisoft server, please wait" (again, wtf? This is a singleplayer game)
- game launches minimized (can't alt tab back in) 4k issue?
- I have to crash the game manually and reload it everytime I alt tab out by accident
- does not support windowed fullscreen mode
- stuck in a forever loop of the game launching and minimizing and not being able to tab back in.

After about 20 minutes of f-ing around with this no effort port I decided to refund, just to get it out of my library.

8/10

Still my favourite game out of the Assassin's Creed franchise. It can be a bit of a bother to 100% the main game due to waiting for Kenway's fleet and sharing the locations of the community stuff, but I still found 100%ing it enjoyable. I originally went in expecting a bad PC port, but it's got everything down to even the janky parkour that I remember so well from the console versions.

Best game in the franchise, so much to do and the story has actually aged really well. Playing it with AMD Fluid Motion frames on and I actually get 120fps over the standard 60fps. You will spend many hours in this world being blown away by the depth Ubisoft once put into games

F%#$ UBISOFT! I bought this game a decade ago, this whole time they let steam do the handshake with their crappy ubisoft connect third party c*ckhold app. Now all the sudden its asking for my ubisoft password that i havent used in over 10 fcking years. I dont have access to that email anymore. WHY? I bought the game through steam! Ubisoft is rapidly killing itself with braindead moves over and over again.

I so badly wanted to enjoy absolutely everything about this game. I won't be writing a long review. But I will say I trust others when they say this is of the best AC games.

I loved the story of Black Flag, but dealing with all of the ship combat and travelling made me loath coming back to play it. The map is big and has plenty of content to partake in, but I felt so much frustration when doing anything on the Jackdaw. Perhaps this is because I didn't have the patience to upgrade the ship more than I did. Grounded combat felt good, the locations all felt fleshed out and interesting, and as mentioned before the story was exciting and gripping.

Perhaps I will return to the world of Black Flag with a better mindset and a more intense drive to complete the side content, but for now, I will say I was satisfied enough with the game.

I give this a 7/10, if the story was worse, it'd be lower, but it truly is one of the greatest AC stories out there.

I used to love this game I played it a lot as a child and am happy to play it again however DO NOT BUY THIS GAME even if its on sale ubisoft has screwed EVERYTHING up. For me i cant access one of the main story points (kenways fleet) which prevent me from getting 100% and for others they cant play the game in fullscreen, cant access kenways fleet, and they are unable to open dlc content this has been going on for at least a year so i highly doubt ubisoft will fix it (to the point where someone has made a freaking mod to fix it but its complicated to download and use if you don't understand computers) buy only if your okay with paying for content you cant actually play

I can't open the game I bought because your system has detected that I've misplaced the password for your stupid service too many times. I just want to play my game in peace. It's no wonder that the stock of this garbage company is falling more and more, I sincerely hope that Microsoft buys this bankrupt studio soon. JUST LET ME PLAY THE GAME.

Need to create and account and enter a user name and password every time you want to play a single player game.

Years ago I played Assassin's Creed 1 and 2 and I loved it. Now after years I came back to the series and decided to play Black Flag first, as many rankings indicated that this is one of the best parts of the series. I partially agree. I would recommend the game and it was fun but I expected more - maybe because of this rankings.

However, I got the game on sale and you cannot make anything wrong if you do the same.

autiful graphics
-Huge artistic work
-Vast world
-Naval battles are awesomeeeee!
-Main quest is captivating

Cons:

-Uplay
-Same old basic combat system
-Lack of difficulty
-Little to no changes in gameplay compared to the older ACs
-Uplay
-Uplay
-Seriously... Uplay...

Advice:

Disable Cloud Save Sync. I lost 15 hours of gameplay because of that idiotic setting and you can avoid that by simply disabling cloud sync.

I'm sure this is a fun game but Uplay linked it to random guys account i'm not associated with so i wasn't able to play it at all, Ubisoft is an extremely sketchy company.

Fleet missions are non-functional without 3rd-Party patch, screen freezes and random lag spikes make a great title frustrating to play. Uplay required because we all need yet another bad DRM driven launcher.

This _was_ my favorite AC game.

Unplayable on modern hardware.

Just as Ubisoft added achievements.
It's like some sick joke.

Can't stand the practices of this company.
I can't see myself purchasing another Ubisoft title in the future.

0/10

This game's launcher requires you to input your password each time you open the game and prevents offline play. The game is fun, but I strongly advise against purchase due to its user-hostile interface.

One of the best pirate game so far Really enjoyable but needing ubisoft connect kind of sucks.

The best part of all assassins creed and my personal fav one. Finished it like 3 times already and thinking about 4th attempt. Ubisoft masterpiece 10/10

The game itself is great, probably my favorite Assassin's Creed. Lots of variety in missions, great ship combat.

The install is awful. The third party launcher is garbage, always needing a separate sign in and crashing. The game itself is crashing now too. If there's any game to pirate............

Ubisoft making it really hard to enjoy this game.
I'm sure the game is good but no widescreen support and capped at 60fps.

Also having to deal with Ubisoft connect asking me to log in again every time i want to play the game is annoying.

STEAM PLEASE FIX
The game refuses to boot up besides like twice I've tried a bunch of things to fix it and nothing works.

Thanks, Ubidick, for all your retarded decisions and support for the past several years! Not only have you lost your knack for making good games, you can't even optimize a fucking 10+ year old game without forcing your dipshit launcher. OH, BUT YOU ADDED ACHIEVEMENTS YEARS LATER! WHAT CHARITABLE PPL YOU ARE! ITS WHAT WE ALWAYS WANTED.

I hope your company burns and I am there to pour more gas to the fire, along with your stupid ass launcher. I wish nothing but failure for you. All your little anitics and bullshittery is finally coming back to bite you not only on the ass, but its taking the whole dick as well.

I've looked up multiple guides and everyone is saying "thanks, man! this works!" but the comment next to him says "this didn't work for me, but this other guide did! Heres a link!". It surprises me that there are so many ways to fix your poorly optimized game from fucking 2013, and yet only ONE of those guides MIGHT fix your game. "It JuSt DePeNdS oN yOuR pC sPeCs AnD bLaH bLaH bLah!" FUCK THAT! I'm not spending over 5 hours just to find which guide fixes the damn problem.

I hope that this year is your final breath, and the stain you've left is finally purged from our minds! No one will miss you or your "beloved" games-- CUZ WE HAVE PIRACY TO FUCKING THANK FOR, CUZ AT LEAST THEY GIVE A DAMN FOR MAKING THE GAME WORK AND ALWAYS LAUNCH OFFLINE IN AN "ALWAYS ONLINE SINGLE-PLAYER GAME". There is no layer in Hell that would take you in for your bullshit.

Take your "AAAA games", your NFTs, and your launcher; and shove so far up your ass that it can help you floss at night!

After all this, in the end yall still "Get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir!"

After only playing AC 1 and Unity as a kid, finally managed to get some time to try this game out of after hearing a lot of good things about this and its a really good game, even if its an early iteration of ubislop format. Tho i probably like it more as a pirate game rather than AC and from what ive seen this game still hasnt been topped when it comes to that.

really good for its old age. it has verry addictive combat and amazing parkour. it is clasical AC{not 100%}.the story is ok i havent play much but the ship fighing is exelent the best i have ever seen

Great game, but can't recommend because Ubisoft Connect requiring a log in each time you want to play which is brain dead.

Amazing game, first AC I've ever beat (on Xbox 360). I think being an Assassin Pirate is the best idea they've ever had before and after. I can not recommend it tho due to the absolutely awful Launcher, third party launchers are always a pain in the a** but Ubisofts is especially awful. Steam and other companies have GOT to figure something out with the launchers. Any game requiring a third party launcher is basically unplayable and nonexistent to me. Its really a shame because its such a great game and even runs pretty good on **SteamDeck** but seriously these launchers have got to go, they ruin a perfectly fine game.

F Ubisoft Connect. Not only do you need to have this trash 3rd party app on your system, but it continues to make you enter your password when launch the game, even after you've already done so, and even when Ubisoft Connect is already open and logged in to your account. There's no excuse for this.

I bought this game on steam ages ago, played it for a bit even. Now I'm trying to play it again and can't because ubisoft thinks the game, which I'm launching from Steam, is not owned by myself.

I recommend not paying for ubisoft games. There are sites out there that have all of their stuff available for download for free instead, and that's what I'll be doing since this is how they treat their customers.

5PP-6LLA-F8NR-69NQ-XA4C hey look an useless product key for this game because ubisoft sucks.

Great game ruined by Ubisoft requiring log in EVERY TIME YOU WANT TO PLAY, no just log in, but re enter your entire user name and password essentially making the game unplayable on some devices.

BAD UBISOFT EPIC FAIL!

ubisoft support just fucked me.
i cant even play it.
i know this is a great game but its locked behind ubisofts stupid fucking launcher.