Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry

Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry tells the story of Adéwalé, the quartermaster from Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, who after years at sea becomes a member of the Assassin Brotherhood. The story takes place in Haiti in 1735, where Adéwalé, himself a former slave, tries to stop the slave trade while also confronting his own past and the future of the French colony of Saint-Domingue. Instead of Edward Kenway's piratical adventure, Freedom Cry offers a more personal and darker look at the same Caribbean sea, this time from the perspective of a man who has himself lived through slavery and decided to fight it with his own strength and the help of the Assassin Brotherhood.

Although it builds on the same engine and systems as Black Flag - including naval combat, wreck diving, and sailing between islands with its own ship, La Trompeuse - it changes the game's tone and main goal. The central mechanic becomes freeing enslaved people from plantations and camps, who after being rescued can join Adéwalé's crew or help him as allies on land, and the story addresses the theme of slavery much more directly than the rest of the series did. In scope, it's a noticeably shorter experience than the main entries, closer to a standalone add-on with a smaller map than a full-fledged sequel, but with its own beginning, end, and self-contained story that stands on its own even without knowledge of Black Flag and its main character.

Freedom Cry was first released as part of the Black Flag season pass, and shortly afterward also as a standalone title for players without the main game, with the same content on all the consoles of the time as well as PC, and at a noticeably lower price than the full game.

Why play: Freedom Cry is for players who wanted one more story out of Black Flag, and who will appreciate that the Assassin's Creed series briefly dared to tell a more personal and darker history of slavery from the perspective of one of its supporting characters, not just the main hero.