I have not been a fan of the Assassins Creed games but with the new pirate theme added it sparked my interest in this one. One of my favorite games of all time is Sid Meier's Pirates going way back to the days of the Amiga 500. Having played it for a week since release my initial impressions of the first few tutorial missions I was a bit disappointed as it just reminded me of the elements I didn't like in the past Assassins Creed games. I'm glad I kept playing though as this game really shines onces you get into the pirating missions. For me its a blend of Assassins Creed and my old favorite pirates game that works really well to create a pirate game that is very enjoyable. While I still find some of the old assassins creed style missions annoying the pirating missions are fantastic and now that I'm getting used to the assassins creed controls I disliked in the past it is becoming a pleasure to play most missions. Then there's the free roam and explore aspect on top which I think is where this game is really great. While it doesn't have all the elements I loved in Sid Meier's Pirates it has the action adventure element I always wished it could have. This is as close to the game I have longed for since my teens and never expected anything close. Most people will be comparing this to the past Assassins Creed games. For me it is a modern version of Sid Meiers Pirates. Well its probably as close as I'm going to get. A week in and I'm still in awe of the graphics of the PS3 version. They have done an outstanding job with the visual presentation and it really captures and immerses you in the theme. Overall I rate it a 9 out of 10. It loses a point as I still wish it was a little less Assassins Creed and a bit more Pirates but admittedly the mix does work really well.