Temples hidden deep within uncharted jungles, dramatic pirate ship battles, 20 seconds of GameStop pimping at the end — the first gameplay trailer for Black Flag shows everything I look for in a blockbuster action-adventure, and one thing I do not.

It's not the sharks so much as the container they come in. While I had no trouble taking on the fish kingdom's remorseless killers in Far Cry 3, in that Ubisoft title the critters were in shallow water, with the shoreline just a short swim away. In the open seas? No way — that's just not happening.

The ocean is beautiful and boundless and all that, but as I student of history I can't help but notice how little space it leaves between air-breathing humans and drowning horribly, clawing at your neck while peaceful dolphins frolic nearby. Any place that makes you wish a shark would eat you is no place to play.

I'll just have Totilo play those parts and tell me about them.