Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry
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Critic Reviews for Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Freedom Cry tells a great, emotional story in the shell of classic AC gameplay.
In the end, Ubisoft used an established combat and traversal system to tell a story set in an explosive and ugly period in history. And by letting the gameplay do the talking, it largely succeeds.
A detour for a slave-turned-pirate-turned-assassin helps sow the seeds of a rebellion in this well-intentioned but flawed add-on.
It's easy to imagine a big-budget game tackling slavery with the subtlety of a hammer, but Freedom Cry is an emotional triumph...with some ethical issues.
There's a lot to love about Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Freedom Cry. Its darker theme and moments of genuine sadness make for a captivating adventure, while the "new" lead character and his evil-thwarting machete serve the most satisfying form of justice.
One step forward in terms of story and two back when it comes to gameplay, Black Flag's first story expansion has its heart in the right place but that's about all.
If you wanted more Assassin's Creed IV, Freedom Cry will do just nicely. Although it doesn't offer as compelling a narrative or even close to as open of a world, it manages to capture the spirit of Black Flag in most of the right places. This is a much better effort than AC III's pointlessly episodic Tyranny of King George DLC, and a great model for Assassin's Creed add-ons going forward.
Adéwalé has his moments, but the real draw here is in the expansion of free-form gameplay both on land and at sea, meaning Freedom Cry succeeds at what it set out to do.
