Assassin's Creed 4: 10 Enticing Reasons It’s A Total Return to Form

8. Weapon-Switching In Combat

ACIV-Black-Flag It may seem like a tiny thing, but one of the best elements in every Assassin€™s Creed prior to III was the ability to switch from your hidden blades to a broadsword, or to a dagger, throwing knife etc. In III whilst you could assign any four weapons from a main menu to a quick-select by way of the D-Pad, the fact remained that should you want to take down a group of enemies in a blur of blades and throwing daggers, you often had to pause combat, re-assign weapons, and continue. Thankfully Ubisoft has listened to fan-feedback and included one expandable menu for IV that encompasses your inventory without the need to pause the action. The resulting combat is a return to the take-all-comers nature of Ezio Auditore€™s games, and deciding to switch to being unarmed for that final showdown with an axe-wielding €˜Heavy€™, only to disarm him and plunge it straight into his skull, remains a series highlight.
Gaming Editor
Gaming Editor

WhatCulture's Head of Gaming.