Assassin's Creed 4 Review

So, Assassin's Creed 4. Spoilers ahead. AKA Here there be spoilers!

I completed the story mode of this game last weekend and then spent the following week playing with what was left - which wasn't much as I'd been doing all the side stuff as I went. Collecting everything from every place I visited, doing all of the missions and side quests, locating all of the Mayan artefacts and animus fragments.
By the time I decided to even attempt completion of the story I had the Mayan outfit (obtained after collecting 18 artefacts), the gold flint locks (obtained after completing all the nautical missions) the pistol swords (obtained after completing all the assassin missions), my character was fully upgraded, with all gear and bags and my ship was at the max it could be without elite plans (though I did even have the elite hull).
The only thing I really had left at the end of the game was collecting the elite plans and then going after the Legendary ships.

It was an awesome game that really revitalised the series, though I can't see how they could make a follow up. They seem to really like their ships but there isn't another historic era when the use makes so much sense.
With the exception of some occasional bugs and some tricky movement the game ran really well. Not only that but it was fun. The platform/free running worked really well to get you around on foot, the synchronisation/fast travel points helped you to get around the map without taking hours. even the combat was good and intuitive if a little clunky when you're near a lot of enemies.
I loved the story, living through a few years of Kenway's life was awesome, and emotional. the lives and deaths of Black Beard, James Kidd and all of the others that started out as friends but eventually became enemies. I loved it, the whole story, even though 'oh by the way you have a child' bit at the end. I'd read more if I didn't know how Edwards story ends only a short time after the end of the game.
My only two problems with the game were:
1; that it wasn't particularly challenging. there was no point in the game that I got stumped or couldn't find my way. it was always simply 'press run/climb in a direction and if that doesn't work do it in another direction'. There were a few moments where I struggled through combat, but I never died because of the enemy, rather because of my own foolishness (or being stuck on a ledge and the jumping wasn't working). Even if they'd included a difficulty setting I can't see any way other than making the combat harder to add difficulty, and as it was the puzzles that I wanted more challenge in, not the fighting that wouldn't help.
and 2; the modern day stuff. Just... all of it. I really didn't mind when we were playing Desmond, a modern assassin, learning to defeat the Templars through his genetic memory. It felt like leading up to something, but then when they killed him off at the end of 3 and changed it to the perspective of random games developer working at ubiso- Abstergo... it just became really stupid. I don't know, at least when it was Desmond the down time as him let you explore the real world a little, now your stuck in an office making the game that your playing for the Templars and occasionally playing a crappy hacking game. Again, it looks to be leading to something but it can't in any way be as good as playing around with Edward (and its not relevant to this game now)

All in all it's an amazing game I'm going to keep going back to just to destroy a couple Spanish ships and become a more terrifying pirate that my friends. (currently second place)

First one was best.
- James