Assassins Creed Pirates: My Journey (Part 1)

   

    Good morning, happy people all over the world. I downloaded a free game yesterday called Assassins Creed Pirates. It is currently free so you might want to check it out. It is a huge file, around 860 MB. The graphics are stunning, as you can see. It has an interesting story, also. I found the animations and controls good and have enjoyed it tremendously, thus far.
     I am one of the few gamers on Earth, possibly, who has never messed around with an Assassins Creed game of any sort, on any console or tablet. One reason was that I felt, from what little I had seen of it on screen at someone's house, the games seemed to be somewhat anti-christian. The reason I bring this up is the disclaimer of this particular game. Ubisoft put a blurb on the screen saying something to the effect that the game was developed by a team of cross-cultural folks of all religions. So, possibly, I was not alone in this thought. At any rate, I am really enjoying the game and have seen no prejudicial stuff thus far. I am now at level 5 and have crossed into a new territory, so this is the early stages of my rise to power as a 1762 era pirate and malcontent.
     I am playing as the wanna-be pirate Alonzo Batilla. By my boldness I become the protege of the infamous La Buse (The Buzzard.) This old boy is a buccaneer of note. (I don't know if his nickname is given because of the propensity to eat rotten flesh or that he watches and pounces on shipping.) Ha, ha. He has a legendary treasure and agrees to give me my own ship if I perform some task or other. With my faithful first mate, I perform said task and receive a modest ship for pirating purposes. Cool.
     

There is a certain amount of ship envy among pirates, I guess. In the above photo, you'll see my little schooner pulled up alongside The Buzzard's impressive ride. My feelings of inadequacy at this point is comparable to fear of urinals in the modern male. Yet I persevered and began to sail the high seas with as worthy a band of lads as ever pulled a rope. We pillaged a bit, avoiding the larger ships of the line where possible. We began to pick up some coin of the realm. This coin was slow in coming. Sometimes there are treasure chests just floating in the sea and you tap them with your finger and your bilge rats grapple them and hoist them aboard. Lo and behold, some of them only netted us 3 or 4 gold coins. Avast there! Could it be that some of my lads are slipping a few pieces of eight into their dungarees? Blimey.
     At any rate, you try to get enough coin to obtain better ships and upgrades for said ships. Then there are 'perks'. It appears that these perks are obtained by recruiting members for your crew. The guys have unique abilities which manifest themselves as perks. These guys are all about the money, evidently, because I had to pay a lot of in game cash for a cabin boy and a deckhand. Perhaps they will come to be loyal as they get to know me. Ha, ha.
    The whole time that I have been playing, I currently have 4900 gold coins. In today's economy, that much gold might buy you a nice game company but in pirate days it won't hire you a 'lookout'. They are 7000 coins. Bummer. Hey, besides that, you must go into a tavern to buy the bounders. Excuse me. They are not slaves. They are recruited in taverns, like in Treasure Island. Remember Long John owned a bar on the docks? I wonder if I could hire Black Dog? Arrrgggg.
     I am currently in Bahia de Guadiana, cruising around and attacking worthy prizes. You can actually just do what you want. This game is 'open world', ergo, you can go whither thou will and do what thine heart desires.
    

    In fact, I went fishing. See above photo. Yes, that's me. I dressed in period costume for this game. The mechanics of fishing has you casting out and yanking the hook to right or left until it is in the path of the large fish that you can see through the crystal water. I caught one, then went back to pirating stuff.
   

    Wow! I almost forgot. I really had a thrill when I went whaling. (See above.) When the majestic creature breaches, one is supposed to harpoon him. I could not do that, however, because I was enthralled with their grace and beauty. Doubtless my pirate friends thought I was a sissy, but that is just tough. To thine own heart be true.
     Between battles, I found bottles floating in the water with messages in them. I momentarily felt like Kevin Costner in that cool movie where he was a widower that tossed a lovelorn declaration in the sea. Sigh. This message, though, was a love letter from some vixen, to a noted pirate. Trouble is, the Lady is married to a Lord or something. Naughty! But her secret is safe with me. Even pirates have a code. I don't kill whales, nor do I sully a woman's honor. These letters are parts of 'files'. You accumulate enough of them and it advances your XP or something. Hey, I am an apprentice pirate.
     You have challenges for any given day. For instance, I just obtained 1000 gold coins for reaching level 5. I guess that the old Buzzard may not be as tight with a buck as I thought. He probably had to find a lot of carrion for that 1000 coins.
      I used to sail a little with a friend and really enjoyed it. So, the actually sailing is a treat for me. You are at the wheel. You are the man. El Capitan, the big cheese. The salt spray in my face, my worthy crew singing before the mast. They sing these really great songs. I don't know if they were written for the occasion or if, mayhap, they are actually songs of the period. One is about Johnny leaving his girl to go to sea. I like that one a lot. The camaraderie, the rolling of the deck beneath my widespread feet. Aye, will near bring a tear to mine eyes.
     On the right of the screen is a button where you can add more sail, in stages. Oft times you will be tasked with doing something in a time limit. Like last night. I was supposed to retrieve a package for a priest. I had to do it in 2 and a half minutes, which calls for a lot of sail and a lot of luck. Then, while in transit I come across one of His Majesty's ships and had to fight a sea battle. I got the package but alas, not in time. The priest never told me what was in the package but he gave me a riddle. ??????
     About those battles, matey. You can trace a course with the map. Just eyeball all the targets and trace a line to one with your finger. I am certain that Blackbeard never had this technology. Once you pull alongside, your ship and the enemy take turns firing at one another. I like the way they did this. You can dodge their broadsides. Some of the fiercer enemies fire cannonballs that one can slice in half with a finger. Don't try that at home. Ha, Ha. They catapult crates of powder, as well, and these must be tapped, not sliced. This is for your own health. When things go badly your crew shouts for you to do better, basically. They say stuff such as, "Can't take much more!" Of course, from my recliner, I feel okay with it. With authority comes responsibility and this weight sits lightly on my broad shoulders.
     Firing your own cannon is a hoot. It takes time to become proficient. You tap a button, choose a cannon and aim where you think they will be when the shot lands. Then, there is a deal where their powder magazine will become outlined in red, giving you a target for a swivel gun. Great fun.
    Well, the blog is running long, so I must go. If the game continues as wonderfully as this, I will doubtless chronicle more of my journey, with my band of dirk-concealing cutthroats, from the warm seas off Scorpion Reef. I am CE Wills.