Freedom Cry is the first story-driven DLC for Assassin’s Creed IV. In Freedom Cry you control a new and brutal assassin called Adewale, who was a former slave. His goal is to set free as much slaves as possible and start a revolution to make an end to the slavery. Slavery is a theme that isn’t found in many games and this is what really makes this Freedom Cry stand out.
Freedom Cry isn’t a very long game since it’s meant as extra downloadable content for Assassin’s Creed 4. All in all you’ll spend around five hours with Adewale to achieve your goal. This means that all the essential parts of an Assassin Creed game are distilled into those five short but impressive hours.
Before we talk about gameplay, let’s first talk about the emotional story. This story really is what makes this DLC such a great game. It’s been long since we felt such a deep connection with the main character in Assassin’s Creed. Compared to the rather cold-hearted Edward Kenway, Adewale knows why he fights. Adewale was a former slave and now captain of a fallen ship. It’s his mission to set free his brothers and sisters who were captured and forced into slavery.
This quest for freedom results in rather emotional sequences in the game. Without spoiling too much, you must be prepared to see slaves get tortured, chased or murdered by the ‘rich’. Some sequences such as the one in the slavery ship give you the chills and makes you realize what you’re fighting for. You aren’t fighting to gain better weapons or to improve your ship. You’re fighting to set free your brothers and sister, you’re fighting for humanity this time.
Adewale’s weapon of choice isn’t a sword, it’s a massive machete. This results in a far more brutal and bloody way of fighting but it fits the story perfectly. Thanks to the machete, you can really relate to Adewale’ anger. He isn’t there to kill his enemies softly, he wants to make them suffer for their deeds. The machete is the perfect tool for this job and it feels like a fresh way of fighting!
The location is also fresh and new, this time you’ll play on the beautiful Port-Au-Prince island. The islands features a lot of nature, such as the ones you could find in Black Flag, combined with some traditional buildings and enemy’ fortresses. Port-Au-Prince feels like a new world and this feeling only gets stronger thanks to the great soundtrack. What really makes this city strong as new environment is the cry for humanity.
You’re fighting for humanity this time.
All over the island you’ll find slaves being sold, tortured, chased to death and more. Those are ‘side-mission’ but you’ll always get the feeling you need to save the character. Saving slaves end up in gaining more fighters for your growing resistance. It’s a shame however that you won’t see all of the former slaves in action during a big resistance battle. The war against the evil governor still has to end by Adewale’ hands. So why do you need to save the lives of those poor slaves?
The women and men you rescue can help you unlock character upgrades or are needed to advance in the game. Some sections of the game can only be activated when you rescue a certain amount of slaves first. This may sound as a cheap trick to stretch out the length of the game but it’s far from that. Although this system is meant to stretch the length, you’ll want to save as much slaves as possible nevertheless. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do!
The story and main character are the things that make this Freedom Cry so good, the gameplay itself stayed rather basic and perhaps a little disappointing. For a game that’s all about gaining freedom, we could have used a little bit more freedom ourselves. The map of Freedom Cry is a lot smaller than the one of Black Flag and this means you won’t find much to do on the map. Unlike Black Flag, where you could discover a lot of secret islands and locations, Freedom Cry sticks to the main story and its ‘set path’.
Aside of this, Freedom Cry still offers the well-known Assassin’s Creed gameplay. You’ll have to chase and stab a lot of enemies, run over rooftops, set sail with your ship and dive into to sea. Freedom Cry does everything you would expect it to do and nothing more. Don’t expect gameplay innovations in this downloadable content. The lack of freedom and more traditional approach of the missions is definitely a bummer but don’t be mistaken, Freedom Cry delivers a very emotional journey.
We can conclude that Freedom Cry is a great add-on to the original Black Flag and gives us a new assassin with a very emotional story. Slavery is a theme rarely touched in videogames but this is what makes this game into a great game. Never before were your motives as Assassin so straightforward, you do the things you do to create freedom. It’s a same this freedom isn’t found in the missions but we can’t blame Adewale for this. Freedom Cry is a must-have DLC for Assassin’s Creed fans who want to go on a dangerous but emotional journey. It’s time to stand up for your brothers and sisters and answer their cry for freedom!
