It won't be much longer until it's a pirate's life for you with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. In case exploring all of the shipwrecks of the Bahamas and grog isn't enough to keep players occupied, Ubisoft has released information for the game's Season Pass, which includes DLC packs available for the game on all platforms, both current and next-gen.
The meatier addition includes the story of Edward Kenway's first mate, Adewale, and how he came to be an Assassin in a nine-mission story called "Freedom Cry." A trailer can be seen after the list of DLC content.
There's also the usual collection of goodies for the multiplayer mode, customization options, and some bonuses for Kenway's personal vessel, the Jackdraw. Each piece of DLC is expected to arrive by March of next year, roughly 4 months after the game's release. However, the Pass doesn't offer the content for free like other Season Passes. It only offers each at a 20% discount. Players can get 5% off the Pass itself if they order it through Ubisoft's uPlay service.
The complete details on the various DLC can be seen below:
- Freedom Cry: Born a slave, Adewale found freedom as a pirate aboard the Jackdaw as Captain Edward Kenway's second-in-command. Fifteen years later, Adewale has become a trained assassin and finds himself shipwrecked in Saint-Domingue with no weapon nor crew, starting a new adventure of his own.
- The Exclusive Kraken Ship Pack - Only available to Season Pass owners, this pack includes personalization elements for the Jackdaw.
- New ways to personalize the player's pirate experience - Additional single player missions, weapons, skins, and collectibles.
- More Multiplayer Mayhem - Unlock new characters for an even more expansive multiplayer experience.
But there's more to Black Flag than just what the Season Pass has to offer, particularly if you rock a Sony system.
For both the PlayStation 3 and 4, Ubisoft has promised additional, exclusive content in the form of extra missions with the heroine of Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation (which is getting its own PS3 port), Aveline de Grandpre. The first female assassin will be featured in as many as three bonus missions.
In a posting on the game's official blog, Black Flag's lead writer Darby McDevitt wrote, "It's a ways forward so Aveline is a bit older. It's not directly related to the end of her story. If Assassin's Creed IV is like a novel, Aveline's missions are like a short story." He added, "The present-day is set in Abstergo Entertainment - which is this fun, hip company to work for... at first. You are able to access the Aveline stuff because your coworkers are working on retrieving different genetic memories from all kinds of different people."
Similarly, Director Ashraf Ismail told Joystiq that missions will continue telling Aveline's story after the conclusion of Liberation. Now, a new trailer offers a closer look at the PlayStation-exclusive content.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag arrives for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in North America on October 29, and in Europe November 1. The PC version comes a bit later, releasing November 19. It will be available at launch for the next-gen PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and the Wii U on November 22.
