Assassin's Creed Black Flag fans baffled by setting to turn sea shanties off

I don’t think there’s ever been an Assassin’s Creed game I’ve enjoyed more than Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Sailing the gorgeous West Indies in the Jackdaw, pillaging ships, hunting sea creatures, all whilst listening to a glorious collection of sea shanties sung by the crew, all of which are quality tunes.

I’m not alone in that belief either, with the majority of players loving the sea shanties that provide a soundtrack to all the pirate-y things you get up to in the game. Which is why many were stunned, and a little bit disgusted, to find an option in the game’s settings to turn the delightful tunes off…

Reddit user JackdawsShantyMan (perfect username) voiced their concern with the setting, in a post titled “What scum bag would play with the shanties off?!”

JackdawsShantyMan’s horror is entirely justified, the shanties are a core part of Ubisoft’s first attempt at a pirate adventure, so to completely disable them would be unthinkable. That being said, sometimes it is pleasant to set sail with only the splashing and crashing of the sea in the background, but for the most part the shanties are irreplaceable.

Other Reddit users were in agreement, with responses worthy of a sea-shanty enjoyer, with some cleverly including titles or verses from the more popular songs.

“The drunken sailor. That’s who. Now the only question is what do we do with him?”

“Templars. Templars would play with the shanties off.”

“May as well just turn the whole game off”

All joking aside, the crude cacophony of drunken crewmates singing songs throughout a 25-hour game definitely won’t be for everyone. Other commenters said they used the feature because they simply didn’t like them, or got bored of the same ones after hours of playtime, which is fair. Others made a good point that streamers and YouTubers could use the setting to avoid copyright claims too, though I’m not sure who’d be claiming Drunken Sailor in 2023.

I’d say the most impressive part of this is fans are still playing Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and its sequel, and those that have moved on to newer AC titles still fondly remember the game, sea shanties or not.