Stop And Look Around – Assassin’s Creed IV’s Next Generation Improvements

A week before my PlayStation 4 showed up, my PS4 copy of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag arrived. I spent the week staring lovingly at the box until the actual console arrived three days late (thanks Game), at which point I unleashed myself upon the surprisingly good amount of games I had to play. It feels only right to do a quick comparison between the PS3/360’s generation and the next, so if you wondered whether re-buying the game for your shiny new system would be worth it, this should help. You can see my review of the previous gen version here.

Gameplay-wise, it is the same game, as  you might expect. It is identical in handling, all the way down to accidentally going into corner cover when you meant to open a chest. Going from sailing, to boarding, to fighting, to forts is just as loading screen-free as it was on the previous generation. The next gen versions do not remove the loading screen when sailing up to the proper cities, so no change there.

As you might expect, the improvements are almost entirely graphical. ACIV, which was pretty when I played it on the 360 for review, is always gorgeous and routinely staggering on PS4. It is a game where I stop and look at the environment, or find myself muttering “wow” mid-fight as a storm descends. The game looks more vivid than the 360 version did, which is almost murky and rough in comparison with the bright colours and sharp edges of the next gen.

Textures in general are much improved, especially on the wooden planks that make up the Jackdaw which are all particularly sharp. The few textures that have not been improved as much, such as those on a few rocks or walls I encountered, stick out a little but are forgivable all the same. Aliasing in general is much less common, appearing only on the thinnest of ropes as seen in the above screenshot. Reflections on the sea have been improved, as well as shadows in general, though there are still a few lower res shadows lying around if you pay attention.

A big improvement are the stalking zones, areas of high vegetation that render you pretty much invisible to enemies, though they will search them if they know you are nearby. In the previous gen versions of the game these zones are static plants through which you should obviously be very easy to see which ruins your immersion a little bit. In the next gen versions, however, these are very dense bushes of vegetation that hide you from view as you move through them. Crucially, you are actually difficult to see in most of these stalking zones, though you can see where you are by following the little bump in the leaves. There are a few zones that aren’t high enough and due to my spotting a few stalking zones that were actually floating a foot or two above the ground it seems they were placed incorrectly.

In addition to all of the improved graphical elements there are some additions that were not present in the previous gen version of the game. Beautifully rendered thick smoke billows from your broadside cannons when firing, obscuring your view a little bit and lending additional weight to the pirate-y atmosphere that pervades the experience. The same smoke is now unleashed by the smoke grenades but sometimes doesn’t look anything like enough to obscure you from view, stretching your suspension of disbelief a little. It’s definitely prettier than the big dome of white that appeared in previous gens and games, though.

Character models are even more detailed than they were, too, particularly for the main characters. It is most evident when in cutscenes but noticeable even during gameplay and while Edward’s sword still clips through his clothing half the time you can easily rationalise it by imagining that it’s very, very sharp. After swimming or while it’s raining you can see that Edward’s cloak is noticeably wet and sodden, whites turning to gray and just looking otherwise slick and shiny. It quickly dries up over a few seconds once the rain has gone but it’s a nice touch all the same. It’s a wonder his swords don’t rust with all this water, though.

If you are worried about missing out if you only have the PS3/360 version of ACIV I am glad to put your mind at rest: all you are missing is graphical improvements. The gameplay experience is almost identical regardless of the system you are playing on. That said, if you enjoy ACIV as much as I do (i.e. you’re going to sink ridiculous amounts of time into it all over again) and you like smoke, plants, or just general prettiness then you can’t go wrong with the next gen version.

The below video is actually me playing the game, but it was uploaded to Facebook, then downloaded from Facebook, then uploaded to YouTube, so the quality of the video has been compromised a little. Regardless, you can see some of the game’s additions, such as the smoke from the cannons, improved textures and Edward’s drenched clothes should you care to watch.