Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag is right up there with the best games in the series. Building a game entirely around the sea based features found in ACIII sounded gimmicky when it was announced earlier this year, but Ubisoft nailed it on all fronts. It’s a beautiful game, it’s fun to play, and it’ll last you tens of hours to complete. What more can you ask for? We’ll likely be seeing more of Assassin’s Creed in 2014, and just what’s up their sleeve for the next game, just got a lot more interesting.

Despite my issues with the paths that are laid out before you, Black Flag is great fun when you let your impulses guide you. Whether you want to hunt animals or unearth Mayan relics, it caters to obsessive gamers with a multitude of objectives to cross off the checklist. Plus, so many different activities are available that I could hardly sail between destinations without getting sidetracked three or four times on the way.

The amazing world of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag has kept me gladly occupied for longer than any other game in the series, even though its story isn’t the strongest. At no point in my dozens of hours was I ever at a loss for something to do. Simply sailing wherever the wind takes me and seeing what sort of trouble I can get into is a complete joy. Beyond the underwhelming main campaign, Black Flag delivers a world brimming with gorgeous places to go, amazing secrets to discover, and nefarious pirates to stab.