Born into slavery, Adéwalé rose up against his oppressors and claimed his freedom. Fifteen years after the end of Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, he’s on his own journey as a full-fledged Assassin – until he’s shipwrecked and winds up in Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti). Here he encounters the same grievous injustice he escaped from as a youth. Hesitantly (at first), Adéwalé offers his aid to the enslaved Maroon people of Port-au-Prince. Once he becomes embroiled in the Maroon struggle, his moral code compels him to stay and help bring freedom to the people of Saint-Domingue.
Freedom Cry is not a re-skinned version of the main game. Adéwalé is a very different man, with very different goals and a very different personality. Here are five of the most noticeable differences between Black Flag and Freedom Cry.
FIGHTING STYLE
Adéwalé is a force of nature. Large and imposing, he has mass and he knows how to use it. Years of training and a hard life have taught him how to use his body in a way that is both brutally efficient and effortlessly graceful. While Edward Kenway may have had his own vicious – sometimes dirty – tactics, he has much less muscle to throw around and relied instead on executions that take advantage of his leaner form. Adéwalé’s weapons and executions revolve around brute force (there’s quite a bit of neck-snapping and ramming). Assassins show no mercy, and in the face of the West Indies’ oppressors, Adéwalé does his duty with gusto.
WEAPONS AND GEAR
Right off the bat, you may notice many of Adéwalé’s weapons are familiar. He has the hidden blades, the blow pipe and the rope dart. These Assassin standards are comfortable. We’ve built a relationship with them. However, as mentioned above, Adéwalé is a very different kind of Asssassin than any we’ve seen before. He needs weapons that suit his physicality. For this he has the shotgun-like blunderbuss and the rough, hefty machete. Upgrade to a steel-forged machete and the immensely powerful Portable Cannon blunderbuss for extra power. Tear through your enemies like so much tissue paper with these destructive weapons.
But Adéwalé’s main weapons aren’t the only new additions to his arsenal. He now has access to firecrackers. These work as a diversion, the noise attracting all nearby guards to their location. Use this to draw guards away from you, allowing you to slip by unnoticed, or draw them toward you so you can blow them all away with the blunderbuss.
PLANTATIONS AND SLAVE SHIPS
Plantations and ships are scattered throughout Freedom Cry’s map, but Adéwalé’s reasons for going after them is much different.
Adéwalé is not interested in looting the plantation’s storehouse. When on a plantation he doesn’t bother trying to find a guard with a key so he can steal goods. Instead, he must stealthily eliminate a certain number of overseers. Should you get caught while on a plantation, slaves nearby may riot, which can lead to their deaths. Get too many slaves killed and you will fail. Once a plantation is emptied, it will remain deserted until a new owner establishes himself.
While on the open ocean, you will see special icons pop up on your map, denoting the location of a slave ship. Slave ships are protected by several escort ships, which will all fight back should you engage one. Take care not to damage the slave ships in the crossfire, as this will lead to slave deaths. Once you destroy the escort ships, the slave ship will be immediately ready to board. Then you simply complete a boarding as you normally would in the main game.
RECRUITING MISSIONS
Plantations aren’t the only way for Adéwalé to find recruits. Throughout the campaign, Adéwalé will come across various ways to help enslaved people. In Black Flag, Edward will often see pirates being attacked or imprisoned, and he can come to their aid. In Freedom Cry, the sense of moral obligation is much stronger. Freedom Cry also includes several variants: Kill the guards in a moving convoy to set your allies free. Put a bloody end to slave auctions. Stop a slaver from shooting a fleeing slave. These are just a few of the ways you can help set them free. Not all of the freed slaves will join your fight, but those who are liberated will assist you in other ways.
LIBERATION AND RESISTANCE REWARDS
Those you free who choose to join your fight will benefit you in many ways. The Maroons willing to fight will join your crew, help you raid plantations and, as you free more, unlock rewards like free ammo and plantation raid bonuses. The liberated slaves who do not fight will begin building a community in the Maroon camp on Saint-Domingue. They offer their own kinds of rewards – weapons, upgrades and customization options for Adéwalé’s ship, the Experto Crede.
Freedom Cry is now available on PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PS3 for $9.99, or for no additional cost if you already have the Season Pass. The PC version will be released in the next couple of days. Check out the launch trailer below for a deeper look into the story behind Freedom Cry.
