Still the best optional objectives of 2013. » 7/15/14 9:00pm 7/15/14 9:00pm

Assassin's Creed games revel in meticulous recreations of historical eras. So let's see actual historians discuss the times two newer AC entries were set in. In this video, YouTube series History Respawned takes a look at Liberation and Freedom Cry as reflections of black life in the 18th Century slavery system. » 7/02/14 4:39pm 7/02/14 4:39pm

Slavery in the Transatlantic of the 1700s was a complex, interconnected network of financial systems, social engineering and psychological repercussions. The Assassin's Creed video games that have dealt with it head-on made good use of that subject matter but also stumbled in particularly clumsy ways. "Collecting… » 3/31/14 12:40pm 3/31/14 12:40pm

Starting this month, PS3 and PS4 owners won't need to own the full version of Assassin's Creed IV to play its excellent Freedom Cry DLC. Ubisoft's just announced that they're releasing the Adéwalé-focused add-on as its own standalone release on February 18^th. Make fun of the Black History Month timing all you want,… » 2/05/14 12:00pm 2/05/14 12:00pm

When a new year starts, I go back and finish the previous year's Assassin's Creed. I spent early 2013 rediscovering AC III. I've rung in 2014 by playing 23 more hours of Assassin's Creed IV. I have some more thoughts about this one... » 1/27/14 3:00pm 1/27/14 3:00pm

As I continued my new year's tradition of playing the rest of the previous year's Assassin's Creed, I finally played the PS3/PS4/PC-only missions of ACIV. Good timing, if I dare say so. » 1/22/14 10:45am 1/22/14 10:45am

In November, Assassin's Creed IV writer Darby McDevitt put out a challenge on Twitter: » 1/14/14 1:00pm 1/14/14 1:00pm

Did anyone actually choose Uplay? The "Thank you for choosing Uplay" message that pops up every time a game is launched from within Ubisoft's game control service gets funnier every time I see it. Redditor Purkle agrees. » 12/30/13 12:00pm 12/30/13 12:00pm

Did you know cows like playing checkers? Apparently, they do. » 12/26/13 7:30pm 12/26/13 7:30pm

Boarding a slave ship and liberating its human cargo is probably the most satisfying thing you can do in the new Freedom Cry DLC for Assassin's Creed IV. It's also one of the toughest. Take a look at how this naval battle to free slaves almost ended in tears. » 12/23/13 7:30pm 12/23/13 7:30pm

This is not the year of Luigi. That's a marketing ploy. It's really the year of the sea shanty, and its triumphant return into the wider public (well, gaming at least) consciousness. » 12/19/13 9:00pm 12/19/13 9:00pm

The newest chapter of the Assassin's Creed series gives me some of the things I've always wanted in a video game: a heroic fantasy that lets me control a warrior fighting against slavery. Part of it happens in Haiti, where my parents were born. Characters talk in Antillean Kreyol, the mosaic tongue made of French… » 12/19/13 3:00pm 12/19/13 3:00pm

The latest patch for Assassin's Creed IV on PC added support for some fancy PhysX particle effects, which includes smoke. Lots of smoke. » 12/19/13 7:00am 12/19/13 7:00am

People like to rag on downloadable content. It's a boondoggle, detractors say. A crass way to get extra cash for a chunk of a game that should've just been included on the disk. That's true in many cases. But Assassin's Creed IV: Freedom Cry is the better brand of add-on, one where developers' experimentation with the… » 12/17/13 6:00pm 12/17/13 6:00pm

All those islands in the Caribbean that are plush vacation spots now? They used to be colonies, outposts for imperial powers that were replete with inhumane slave labor. Some of these places exploded—sometimes into self-rule—with violent uprisings and rebellions. The new add-on—out tomorrow—for Assassin's Creed IV:… » 12/16/13 12:44pm 12/16/13 12:44pm

Finish that sentence however you want, though I'd recommend "...I would watch the crap out of it". » 12/16/13 1:00am 12/16/13 1:00am

Maybe you spent the last weekend playing Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Maybe you recently picked got the game for a next-gen console, or for PC. Or maybe Thanksgiving weekend finally provided enough downtime to really dig in. Here are a couple of things you might not know how to do. » 12/02/13 7:54pm 12/02/13 7:54pm

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is a beautiful-looking game. Or, well, it's a beautiful-looking game when it isn't covering the screen with blips, bleeps and blops of UI information and heads-up-display data. Is all that stuff really necessary? Nah. » 11/27/13 2:00pm 11/27/13 2:00pm

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag already looked plenty nice on the PlayStation 4, but thanks to a new patch from Ubisoft, the game now looks even better. » 11/22/13 3:00pm 11/22/13 3:00pm