4. Hacking
There are a plethora of routes you can go with from a gameplay design standpoint when crafting these modern era plot diversions, and we have seen it. As Desmond we have engaged in the typical Assassin combat, climbed and traversed famous landmarks, infiltrated Abstergo, completed knock off Portal puzzles, and more. With seemingly endless options however, Ubisoft decided that your primary method of modern day interaction in Black Flag should be running around aimlessly hacking computers for story information. Its very well possible that the themes of corporate greed and control will cross over, but the act of hacking itself featured in Black Flag seems too intentional to be merely a coincidence.