Assassin's Creed: Black Flag - 5 Awesome Pirate Details You Missed

1. Real Life Deep Sea Diving

The underwater exploration side locations were one of the most impressive parts of Black Flag, adding in a different way of playing never before seen in the series and showcasing the still awesome visuals of the game. Whilst the controls could be a little wonky at times and the constant shark attacks could be nothing short of infuriating, the rewards of completing these locations and the thrill of diving through sunken ships more than made up for these complications.

It would be easy to see Edward diving under his huge diving bell and seeing his crew ready on hand to drop a load of wooden barrels as air spaces as nothing more than a gameplay feature thrown in by the developers, however what might surprise some players is the fact that, for the most part, these underwater dives are more historically accurate than what most might think.

By the early 1700s when the game was set, underwater salvaging had become a pretty well refined operation for sailors. The Caribbean is known for not exactly being the most stable of regions when it comes to the weather, and it was common for entire armadas to get caught up in storms and be sent to the depths with all their loot still in tact. For a pirate, it's an easy win and a less risky option than attacking other ships.

As the game shows, the Spanish in particular were known for amassing treasure fleets that would travel together along a series of chosen routes to bring their loot from the new world back to Spain, and there were several considerable salvage attempts made by the empire over the years to try and reclaim the treasures the sea had claimed on the coast of Florida and Peru (aka. the Treasure Coast) in particular.

For pirates and other sailors, the idea of using a diving bell worked essentially the same way as it does now, with what is essentially a pot turned upside down to be filled with air to breathe in. Perhaps the main difference between the diving found in the game and what real world pirates would have done is in the size and hauls of the wreckages they both explore.

In the game, players can dive through entire armadas and have first dibs on the treasures inside, whereas in real world history, pirates were much more likely to be later to the party and act as scavengers once the Spanish or British had carried out their salvage attempt.