Assassin’s Creed 4 Multiplayer Won’t Include Naval Battles
I might not have played the Assassin’s Creed games, but I will admit that seeing the naval battles in AC3 was pretty cool. Of course, with the 4th game being set in the Caribbean it only makes sense that it would also features epic naval duels, as two (or more!) ships go at it in a battle on the high seas! If you were hoping to go at it against your friends this way, however, I have some bad news: naval combat won’t be making it to multiplayer.
There are a couple of good reasons why you won’t be seeing multiplayer naval combat. The first is technical, as explained by Director Damien Kieken:
“One of the big added values of the naval battles in single-player is how they simulate the ocean. The ocean is really a toy. You have big waves, waves that stop your cannon balls: you have to play with the ocean. If you want that to be good in multiplayer, it means we have to perfectly replicate the ocean.”
Multiply that over “seven other consoles”, and it become an impossible task if they want to get the game out this year.
The second reason is thematic, which game designer Tim Browne explains:
“We looked at the DNA of multiplayer, and we thought that ship battles aren’t really being the cool assassin. With multiplayer it’s all about you working either as a team of four players or in free-for-all, where you want to be the best player. It’s not so much about piloting a ship and using cannons to destroy the opponent’s ship.”
I can’t say I blame him for that kind of thinking. Maybe one day Ubisoft can make just a standalone pirate game, where such a multiplayer mode would actually make sense.
