Ashraf ismail biography of christopher paul

Off the back of the messy AC3 and, er, three Assassin's Creed 2s it felt like a series running out of ideas. Then, in October of that same year, Assassin's Creed was the hottest thing around thanks to Black Flag. It was a game that took only the most recognisable elements of the series and superimposed them on an open world pirate fantasy, complete with grandiose naval battles.

It reinvigorated the series and was Ashraf Ismail's first credit as game director. As befitting a game about history we talked to Ismail about Black Flag and how he managed to take such an established series so successfully in a completely unexpected direction. What is it that you think makes it so popular?

Ac mirage copies sold

So there was a novelty to the fantasy of being a pirate, the naval combat, exploring the Caribbean. For sure there was something unique there I think. It was also a game where, for almost two years, it was mostly focused on building content, building the world, building various gameplay elements. So there was a lot in the package at the end of the day, and we had time to polish it, to really hone that experience, and tweak and tune the naval combat until it felt wonderful.

I think the naval combat itself was one of the stars of the show.