ACIV: Black Flag to be 'more open and free than ever before'

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag will set new series standards for player freedom, according to Ubisoft lead scriptwriter Darby McDevitt. Speaking with Polygon, the writer teased that gameplay in the pirate-themed title has been designed to be "more open and free than ever before."

This tallies with Ubisoft's previously expressed ambition to make Black Flag a bigger, wider world that has learned lessons from past installments in the series.

McDevitt also revealed new details about Black Flag protagonist Edward Kenway. He explained that Kenway is a married man (who also spends times with "not-so-special women") with a goal of proving himself to be a "man of quality."

"Edward Kenway is a raucous and bawdy chap," McDevitt said. "But he's also a married man, and one of his primary motivation in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is to get rich and prove himself a ‘man of quality' to his family and betters. So there is a special woman in Edward's life, but there are also other not-so-special women as well."

Black Flag launches October 29 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Wii U. The game is also in development for next-generation consoles like the PlayStation 4. A release for Microsoft's next Xbox has not been confirmed yet.

For more on Black Flag, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.