Platform: Sony PlayStation 4

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Publisher: Ubisoft

Release Date: October 29th, 2013

Genre: Action/Adventure, Stealth

Nerd Rating: 6.5 out of 10

As nerds all over the world start getting their PlayStation 4’s, they also begin to receive next generation games that are almost drool-worthy. While there isn’t a huge array titles available (yet) the games that are out are quite impressive from what I’ve seen of them. One of the leading titles for the PlayStation 4 was Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. If you happen to have bought Black Flag for the Sony PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, or PC, you may notice that your copy claims an exclusive sixty minutes of additional gameplay. Inside your case should be numerous codes that activate your Uplay, giving you some free in-game swag and access to the Aveline DLC for FREE. Nothing’s better than free, right?

It should be noted that the Aveline DLC is ONLY available for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC. Sorry to all Xbox users. But for those of you who do have Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag for a compatible console you have until March 31st, 2014 to claim your code to get the missions.

Those of you who actually got the PlayStation Vita when it first came out may recognize Aveline from her Assassin’s Creed 3 spinoff: Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation. In the self-titled Aveline DLC, Aveline de Grandpré is called upon by Connor Kenway (Remember him? I know I do) to save a stubborn (and really frustrating) potential recruit that was captured by a Templar group to be sold as a slave. While Connor does not make an appearance himself, Noah Watts (Connor’s voice actor) did narrate a letter sent to Aveline in the very first mission of the DLC.  The three missions that make up this DLC go through Aveline’s journey in rescuing and capturing and escaping with this frustrating recruit, who wants nothing to do with anybody, Templar or Assassin.

The DLC overall was just OK. I wish it had been longer than it was (being only three short missions) but who am I to complain . . . It was free.

The combat was very smooth, although your spectrum of weapons is a bit limited. In this DLC, you are equipped with Aveline’s signature badass cleaver to hack apart pesky Templars, but you are also given the traditional Assassin’s hidden blades, a gun, and blow darts that were introduced in Liberation, but brought back in Black Flag for Edward Kenway’s use.

While the combat may be fairly smooth, the gameplay itself was glitchy. This could very well be due to a download issue on my part, but the game was glitchy nevertheless. During the second mission, Patience Gibbs (the woman Aveline’s trying to save) kept falling during free running sequences, which would desynchronize the mission. After five tries Patience finally didn’t fall to her death and the rest of the mission was smooth sailing.

Mission’s themselves were straightforward and not overly difficult. Ubisoft certainly fulfilled their promise of sixty minutes of gameplay because that’s about all the time it will take for you to finish the DLC. Aveline felt perhaps a little too short. Ubisoft could have easily extended the DLC further than they did (possibly Aveline escorting Patience to Connor’s homestead, training and Creed induction sequences maybe?). I felt like it ended too quickly, so I’m left with the assumption that the Aveline DLC was just a big promotional stunt to get more interest back into Aveline de Granpré’s character with Assassin’s Creed: Liberation HD coming out in just a few days time, making the game available to console and PC users.

The Aveline DLC was ok but was quite glitchy to the point where it hindered my ability to play the game (hence my 6.5 rating). But despite the glitches, Aveline was still a good game to play if you enjoy the Assassin’s Creed series and have some time to kill. I would definitely recommend the download if you happen to own the compatible consoles (It is free after all).

Written by Nerd Bacon