The year is 1715 and you are a privateer by the name of Edward Kenway (voice of Roger Craig Smith) in the latest edition of the assassin’s series, “Assassins Creed Black Flag.”  The overall conflict of the story follows that of all the others in the videogame series: Templars’ who are attempting to change the world for their own personal benefit and the assassins who try to dismantle Templar’s plans to rule.

Kenway is a young arrogant privateer who seeks wealth in the Caribbean.  However, on his way to glory his ship is sunk and he finds himself broke. Kenway unknowingly kills an assassin and his plan is to act as the assassin to claim a reward for the job the man he murdered did.  Unfortunately, the assassin he murdered is a traitor who is working with the Templars’.  He quickly runs away after realizing that the Templar plans may make him rich. Alienating the Templars’, he runs away embroiling himself in an everlasting conflict between two dangerous enemies.  To save himself, Kenway takes to the high seas and begins to fight back entering into the world of pirating.

The game is very exciting and features a new addition to the previous games in the series.  This new addition is pirating.  The player can sail about the Caribbean, upgrade the ship and loot any boat they see fit. In the open world game play, the primary ships that are available to loot include both British and Spanish vessels. The player has the option to either destroy the ship or to board the ship for more supplies.  The supplies that you gather from taking ships can be sold or used to upgrade the player’s very own ship.  In addition, with the ship comes the crew. The player’s crew will help on missions and support the character is certain parts of the story.

Other new additions to the game include the ability to craft by using the pelts of animals your character has hunted to self-upgrade, a map with many separate islands, and dual wheel weapons.

The storyline of most games in this series follows the history of certain events.  This game is a prequel to the third in the series, which took place during the Revolutionary War in Colonial America. Black Flag however, follows a more lucrative storyline as there are many blurred lines in the history of the life of a pirate.  This enabled the creators to be more creative with the story.

Along with the new additions, they have also kept many old favorites such as optional missions and the ability to unlock a special type of armor after completing a certain range of tasks.  The game also includes many unlockables, fun side missions and missions involving taking over Spanish and British strongholds. The only disappointment the game holds is the multiplayer, which is very similar to the rest of the games in the series.

I would give this game a solid A as it features brilliant creativity with the storyline, the ability to sail the seas and more brutal action.  The game can be purchased for $59.99 used at any retailer that sells video games.  The game is rated M for mature.