This is the first Assassin's Creed game I have ever bought and boy oh boy was I pleasantly surprised by it.
It's clear to me that Ubisoft does not want to let it's golden IP run dry like other game series have let happen in the past. There is tonnes of stuff to do in this vast open world and all of it falling perfectly in line with the pirate theme Ubisoft has created for us. Following maps to find buried treasure is fun, finding all the collectibles are fun, and of course being a pirate is great.
I'll be totally honest when I say that while playing this game I barely followed the story at all. I had no idea what was going up until the final few missions and everything concluded. I simply played this game because it was a fun, good looking game; and there is nothing wrong with that. I will talk briefly about the story and the mechanics of it. The missions are a bit similar being changed up here and there with some sailing missions. Trailing someone and eavesdropping is lots of fun, because you have to be quick and always know where the next spot your going to run to will be. However I found that because I was so focused on trailing or in the event of eavesdropping staying within range. I often didn't hear what the characters I was trailing were talking about. Leaving me in the dark about why I was about to kill this person. The character models, acting, and animation is all great, sometimes the facial animation is a bit jagged (comparing to GTA V) but over all a great treat to watch.
The world it self is beautiful and always has something interesting to look at. Whether you are in the city of Havana looking at all the commotion or sailing the high seas and taking in the amazing water engine in this game. It all looks great. There is also very little tearing and texture pop issues involved. Overall it's just a very immersive game.
I've played the multiplayer a bit now, even helped beta test it during the summer, however it just doesn't resonate well with me. Ubisoft needs to come up with a clear cut way on how to pace multiplayer. When playing in a match where 4 people are trying to be stealthy and get high point kills are interrupted by 2 people who are running around trying to rack up as many low point kills as possible, it ruins the atmosphere of a stealthy assassin game. I think this game is best served through the single player campaign.
In conclusion I was very pleasantly surprised by this game, and purely bought it because Battlefield 4 was so broken and I wanted an open world next gen experience. I was not at all dissapointed by that. This is probably one of the better launch titles out right now and I highly recommend it for anyone who is a fan of the series or a fan of pirates.