Whether you haven’t played an Assassin’s Creed game since the 2010s, you’ve been sneaking around everyone from Rome to London to Osaka, or you’ve never done a Leap of Faith at all, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is one not to be missed.
A complete remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Resynced marries everything you remember and love from the original with modernized gameplay updates, all within the astonishingly beautiful Ubisoft Anvil engine.
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Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is a truly faithful remake.
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced stars Edward Kenway, a British privateer whose independent streak, lust for fortune, and love for his wife lead him to the New World and the Golden Age of Piracy. Players tangle with famous allies like Blackbeard, captain the ship The Jackdaw across Caribbean waters, and battle their conscience over an ancient artifact sought by Assassins and Templars alike. The secret order that ultimately claims its possession could overtake the world order, while Kenway’s main concern is simply building a good life for his fellows and his family.
The first thing everyone familiar with the long and winding history of gameplay styles across the Assassin’s Creed franchise is bound to ask about Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is whether or not the remake has changed the game to be an RPG, akin to recent releases Shadows or Valhalla.
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is absolutely not an RPG. There are no skill trees, there are experience points to gain, and there are no levels to grind.
New ship officers and upgrades expand the story and gameplay.
Rather, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is a truly faithful remake of the original game. A “narrative-driven solo adventure,” as the Ubisoft devs have regularly described it. And the game truly is faithful. Picking the game up immediately transported my muscle memory back a decade, remembering exactly how to properly control the Jackdaw for maximum effect.
The only subtractions from the story are the modern-day elements, which have been replaced with additional cutscenes expanding Edward’s backstory and Animus fragments similar to those in Shadows. Resynced also completely eliminates the multiplayer mode from the original, as well as the Freedom Cry DLC content.
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced adds, however, a trio of new ship officers: Lucy Baldwin, The Padre, and Deadman Smith. Each presents a new story arc to dive into, missions to accomplish, and unlockable upgrades for the Jackdaw’s cannons.
The new combat and chain kill systems feel just as satisfying as ever.
The new upgrades are complete alternates to the three main cannons, which can be switched between at the click of a button. The main side cannons, for example, can receive a fiery upgrade that exchanges a shorter range for more serious damage.
The game does make mechanical tweaks to the original formula. They may go somewhat unnoticed for those who have played recent Assassin’s Creed games; and yet, the tweaks still keep the game aligned with the way it was originally intended to be played. Where the original game was built on a simple system of parries and counter-kills, Resynced’s take on the formula is about chain kills.
Depending on the weapon you have equipped, you can perform up to four chain kills in a single sequence, but only if you’ve depleted an enemy’s armor bar first. Doing so requires landing regular blows or using the new kick and sweep buttons to lower enemies’ guard. Different enemy types have different defenses, and all adapt themselves to your button mashing, so you have to be attentive to how you time and combine attacks, parries, dodges, and kicks.
Resynced’s Caribbean is one of the most visually stunning game settings to date.
The new combat system feels just as satisfying with its insta-kills as the original game, without feeling like you’re immediately overpowering every enemy. It also feels just like how recent games in the franchise feel, but without the extraneous skill tree moves that complicated them. Once you unlock each weapon in your arsenal, which happens fairly early in the game, that’s it. Your only obstacle to combat is your own skill and the difficulty level you set the game to.
Stealth and navigation receive similarly small but important updates in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. The basic navigation tricks like back ejects, or the ability to crouch anytime, anywhere that players may be used to from recent Assassin’s Creed games, but which were not part of the 2013 release, are now a natural part of the gameplay. Your assassin/pirate fantasy is much easier to live out than ever before.
Resynced’s Caribbean is one of the most visually stunning game settings to date. Micropolygon technology makes every last speck of the world a feast for the eyes. Lively towns are full of small details like swarming flies over rotting fish and coconuts you can kick if you run past them. The entire ocean is diveable, meaning you can explore underwater anywhere you go and find astonishing coral reefs and splash effects.
There will be so much to luxuriate in with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced.
Players alternate between stealth and combat in their approach to the game’s missions. Choose for yourself whether to parcor across some rooftops and assassinate a target from behind, or to go in guns and blades drawn to cut down the enemies in your way. Any approach to the journey is accessible, and both offer satisfying ways to keep the tasks from feeling completely repetitive.
There will be so much to luxuriate in with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. The world is stunning; bigger and fuller with things to do than ever before. The gameplay is polished and so smooth. And for players accustomed to either the original or the recent franchise entries, the remake does an incredible job of merging the feel of playing both to create the ideal version of what Black Flag can be. This is going to be a game very well worth raising your flag and singing sea shanties along to.
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced releases on July 9th on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
