Despite the name, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is the sixth major installment in Ubisoft’s iconic historic action franchise. Ubisoft Montreal released it in 2013. Each game in the Assassin’s Creed series focuses on a different historical period, and Black Flag is no different. The game takes players to the Golden Age of Piracy and sets them loose on the high seas.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Premise
Assassin’s Creed IV casts players as Edward Kenway, a Welsh pirate and grandfather of the protagonist of Assassin’s Creed III. While aiding legendary real-life pirates like Blackbeard, Kenway also must untangle a government conspiracy over the location of the Observatory. This location can monitor anyone in the world, so the Templars hope to use it to spy on world leaders.
In addition to this complex historical narrative, Assassin’s Creed IV made a major contribution to the series’ gameplay. AC IV introduced the Jackdaw, an upgradeable ship you can captain throughout the game world. Sailing mechanics had appeared before in Assassin’s Creed III, but Black Flag made the experience central to the gameplay. There is also underwater gameplay, allowing players to explore sunken shipwrecks and other submerged points of interest.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Main Characters
Like other games in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Black Flag boasts a selection of major historical figures you can meet and work with during your journey across the seas. Some of the legendary figures populating the waters of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag include:
- Edward Kenway: Edward Kenway, the game’s protagonist, is a Welsh privateer-turned-pirate. An unnamed player character in the present day relives his life after accepting a job from the sinister Abstergo corporation. Edward’s story helps shape the course of the Caribbean, as well as the evil Templars who seek to control it.
- Edward Thatch: Known by his moniker Blackbeard, Edward Thatch was one of the most notorious real-life pirates active during the Golden Age of Piracy. In Black Flag, he serves as a companion for Edward Kenway.
- Ah Tabai: This mysterious assassin serves as the Mentor of the West Indies Brotherhood of Assassins. He has a tumultuous relationship with Edward Kenway, and is therefore very hesitant to work with the pirate.
- Mary Read: Mary Read is an infamous pirate, chiefly known for disguising herself as a man to facilitate her life of crime. In Black Flag, Read is also a member of the Brotherhood of Assassins. Her connections to the shadowy organization help draw her friend Edward Kenway into the greater conflict with the Templars, which threatens to consume the Caribbean.
- Bartholomew Roberts: Otherwise known as Black Bart, Bartholomew Roberts was arguably the most successful pirate operating during the Golden Age of Piracy. Roberts appears in Black Flag as an antagonist, who betrays Edward Kenway and seeks the mythical Observatory for his own mysterious ends.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Games In The Series
The Assassin’s Creed series has had a long and complicated release history. For several years, the franchise generally launched a new installment every year. If you want to pick up this franchise, here are all the games to catch up on.
- Assassin’s Creed (2007)
- Assassin’s Creed: Altaïr’s Chronicles (2008)
- Assassin’s Creed II (2009)
- Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines (2009)
- Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery (2009)
- Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (2010)
- Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (2011)
- Assassin’s Creed III (2012)
- Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (2012)
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)
- Assassin’s Creed Rogue (2014)
- Assassin’s Creed Unity (2014)
- Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry (2014)
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (2015)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China (2015)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India (2016)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia (2016)
- Assassin’s Creed Identity (2016)
- Assassin’s Creed Origins (2017)
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (2018)
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (2020)
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage (2023)
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Cheat Codes
While Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag doesn’t have cheat codes in the traditional sense, there are cheats you can unlock to modify the game in strange and entertaining ways. You can obtain them by completing Abstergo challenges, and minor gameplay goals you can pursue while you play. These challenges include things like assassinating a certain number of people and defeating a certain number of ships. Each successive cheat appears after you complete a set number of challenges. While these cheats are turned on, however, progress in the game will not be saved. Here are all of the cheats you can unlock in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and what they do.
- Celestial Navigation (10 challenges): This cheat locks the day/night cycle in place, preventing time from progressing.
- Arrr Matey! (20 challenges): This cheat fills Edward’s speech with humorously stereotypical pirate phrases.
- No Quarter (30 challenges): This cheat prevents both Edward and his ship the Jackdaw from regenerating health, significantly increasing the difficulty of the game.
- Scourge of the Seven Seas (40 challenges): This cheat sets Edward’s wanted level to the maximum value and keeps it there.
- Loaded to the Gunwale (50 challenges): This cheat makes Edward permanently drunk.
- Poseidon’s Will (60 challenges): This cheat locks the intensity of the waves in the ocean.
- Dead Men Tell No Tales (70 challenges): This cheat prevents both Edward and the Jackdaw from taking any damage, basically enabling God Mode.
- Shiver Me Timbers! (80 challenges): This cheat transforms all the enemies into the game into surprising new creatures.
- Armed To The Teeth (90 challenges): This cheat unlocks infinite ammunition for both Edward and the Jackdaw.
- Deceased Crew (100 challenges): This cheat replaces the NPC crewmembers on the Jackdaw with sinister skeletons.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Cheats FAQ
How do you get infinite money in Assassin’s Creed IV? There is a well-known money glitch in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag that can be executed in Sequence 2, Memory 3 of the game. When you find yourself in a room with three Templars standing around a table, you are given an optional objective to pickpocket all three of them. If you do this and reload the save, you can subsequently repeat the process, gaining more and more money each time. You can repeat this process as many times as you’d like for as much money as you want.
Is there a Hidden Blade in Black Flag? The hidden blade is an iconic part of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. This concealed, wrist-mounted blade allows the series’ assassins to quickly and efficiently dispatch their targets. Edward Kenway wields a pair of Hidden Blades during his tenure in Assassin’s Creed IV as captain of the Jackdaw, and these two blades grant him a variety of options for stealth takedowns.
What is the Golden Gun in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag? The Golden Flintlock Pistols are the most powerful weapons in the game and are eventually canonized as Edward Kenway’s personal weapons. You can unlock these legendary firearms by completing all of the naval contracts offered by Dutch merchant Milo van der Graaff, who rewards Edward with the weapons once their business has been concluded.
Does Assassin’s Creed IV have Desmond? Desmond Miles serves as the protagonist of the present-day narrative in the early games of the Assassin’s Creed series. He is a former assassin who is captured by the evil Abstergo corporation and subsequently forced to relive his past lives in the Animus. Desmond died at the end of Assassin’s Creed III and does not directly appear in the following game. However, by storing his DNA, Abstergo continues reviewing the assassin’s past lives, which allows the nameless modern player character to relive the journey of Edward Kenway in Black Flag.