Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is a remake of the first naval-focused Assassin’s Creed game that let us live the life of a pirate. Back then, it was considered an ambitious game that pushed the franchise forward in several ways while introducing a memorable protagonist. The game was also a huge success thanks to its excellent gameplay and engaging story. The newly released remake of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag is not a simple one-to-one remake. It also makes several changes that will be seen as either good or bad, depending on your preference.
The biggest improvement is, of course, the visuals. The game has been built using the latest version of the Anvil engine, which comes packed with modern features that we’ve also seen in recent entries like Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Assassin’s Creed Mirage. The PC port is excellent, with support for a wide range of customisation options, upscaling technologies, and frame generation. Performance is also generally very good on any decent hardware. Since I played on a high-end PC with an RTX 5070 Ti and Ryzen 7 7800X3D, I was able to max out all the settings and still get excellent performance throughout the game.
If we talk purely about the visual improvements, I’m honestly a bit divided on them. While the game definitely looks better, and even stunning at times, the cutscenes can often feel like a downgrade. The character models have reached a point where they shift between the uncanny valley and a more artistic style, and their updated designs just don’t have the same charm as the original release. On top of that, I noticed that the cutscenes were locked to 30 FPS, which was jarring to say the least. For most of the game, my PC maintained between 80 and 100 FPS, but every cutscene dropped straight back to 30 FPS. Ubisoft should have included an option to remove the 30 FPS cap, as it can be distracting when you’re playing at a much higher frame rate.
So what has actually changed? Having played the original, I found myself struggling to see how the remake really improves on the base game. The combat has been reworked quite a bit, and there are a number of other tweaks, but the core gameplay loop remains the same. The main missions and side content also follow the same dated design, which doesn’t hold up particularly well by modern standards.
The combat has two distinct parts: naval combat and on-foot combat. The naval combat and exploration are easily the best parts of the game. The updated visuals make the world stunning to look at, and with everything maxed out, the water effects are particularly impressive. Exploration can be done both on land and underwater, with plenty of hidden secrets waiting to be discovered.
The moment-to-moment ship combat is just as fun as ever, now with expanded firing options. The controls have also been improved, making the ship much easier to manoeuvre. While the naval combat is a highlight, the on-foot combat is far less enjoyable. It feels more inspired by the RPG-style Assassin’s Creed games than the classic combat system. Parries and dodges are now essential, while takedowns can be performed at the right moment. The newer Assassin’s Creed games have clearly influenced the combat, but it doesn’t work particularly well here and becomes repetitive fairly quickly. Hidden blades are now used mainly for finishing animations, which feels like a downgrade. On top of that, it is easily the least polished part of the game, with inconsistent enemy behaviour and animations that don’t always play out properly.
Stealth is a core part of the franchise’s DNA, and it has been improved in the remake. There are new infiltration tools that give you more ways to approach stealth, but the AI often feels deliberately dumb, which makes the stealth lose its appeal quite quickly. The trailing missions are still here, but they feel much less challenging than they did in the original. The parkour system has also been improved, although it may divide fans. While the movement system seems to borrow heavily from Assassin’s Creed Shadows, there’s an inconsistency in the way Edward grabs onto and moves across objects.
One aspect of the game I really liked was the greater focus on Edward Kenway’s story, with less emphasis on the modern-day Desmond storyline. This change improves the pacing considerably. The new voice work is excellent, and some of the supporting characters have been given additional story content that helps flesh them out. The remake also includes hours of new content, such as Rifts that replace the Abstergo sections, expanded Officer and Templar Hunt questlines, and a reworked fleet management system.
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced looks its best during real-time gameplay, but the cutscenes highlight just how inconsistent some of its visuals can be under close scrutiny. It’s a gorgeous game with a solid gameplay loop, enjoyable characters, and a strong story, but the remake doesn’t do enough to build on the legacy of the original in the same way other developers have with remakes such as Capcom’s Resident Evil 2 or Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2.
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced Game Information
- Price: $59.99
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Developer: Ubisoft Singapore
- Platform: PC (Reviewed)
- Disclaimer: A review code was given by the publisher
