Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced Review – A Pirate’s Life Remade

Much like a hidden treasure from years ago, rumours of an Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remaster have been swirling for what feels like years. Having carved its own path in the Assassin’s Creed series, today it’s still seen as one of the best entries thanks to its unwavering portrayal of the Golden Age of piracy. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced sees Ubisoft revisiting that bold legacy with the full remake treatment. Promising a faithful yet updated experience with Edward Kenway and the iconic Jackdaw back pillaging the seas. Returning to such a pivotal chapter to not only remake but refine it is no small feat, so does Black Flag Resynced hit the target, or does this one get lost at sea?

Set back in the 18th century during the Golden Age of piracy, Black Flag follows Edward Kenway as he carves out a slice of the Caribbean. Once a privateer, Kenway’s luck sees him crossing paths with the Assassins and Templars as they seek out the Observatory with the promise of riches to follow. Following in Assassin’s Creed 3’s footsteps, the game also doubles down on the naval aspects with the Jackdaw becoming a primary vehicle for exploring and living out that pirate fantasy.

While the original did feature a modern-day storyline, Resynced instead moves away from those external sections, opting to include smaller, vague glimpses at what’s really going on through Animus. Much like Shadows, these Animus rifts lightly build out the behind-the-scenes and largely leave the main narrative alone. For those beholden to live service experiences, players can also hunt down Animus Anomalies and claw their way to redeems via the Animus Hub. We’ll touch on this properly later.

Returning to Assassin’s Creed Black Flag after so long in Resynced, it’s impossible to deny how incredible the game looks. While this should be no surprise given the original game launched back in 2013 on PS3 and Xbox 360, followed closely by PS4 and Xbox One, it’s that jump in tech that really unshackles the adventure. Built on the Anvil engine, it’s impressive seeing the game’s vibrancy with the lighting, smaller details and even having a more lively feel than its predecessor.

What stands out most is the seamless feeling of the game as you move from cities to the Jackdaw, then cross the ocean to an entirely new settlement. From the chatter you hear walking the streets of Nassau or even the detail of smaller islands it’s undeniable how much care has gone into furthering that original feeling of freedom. Here the removal of the modern-day story also shines, allowing players to fully slip into the world of piracy on the high seas. This is furthered by weather and time of day changing which create this living world you want to explore.

Much of the Black Flag Resynced feels like it’s learned a lot from the instalments in the series we’ve had since it originally launched, with quality of life clearly a focus when revisiting the game. Edward being able to crouch anywhere leads the charge, allowing you to move through the hostile zones much more discreetly. The visibility meter also feels very timely for the remake. I also really appreciated the games simplified approach to weapons and other loot

In combat, Edward’s also received a significant update with parrying attacks becoming much more valuable and frankly on theme for a swordfighting pirate. I’ll be the first to admit my typical AC strategy is to go in fast and wipe out enemies before they see it coming like a true assassin, but parrying is well telegraphed with a blue spark while red implies that attack can’t be parried. The finesse when Edward hits a parry leading to an opening or a fatal blow feels very rewarding.

Kenway’s other kit includes four combat abilities, including kick, sweep, his pistol and the hook shot which run off a short cooldown. If you’re a Spartan kicking heathen from the Odyssey days you’ll be right at home here. The other gear he carries includes his dart gun, healing, smoke bomb and even being able to put his hood on. It keeps the combat experience very tight in comparison to the RPG-style games.

While you do end up spending a lot of time aboard the Jackdaw, starting battles on the way to objectives or even earning a wanted level only adds to the experience as a pirate up to no good. I’d argue this is where the game shines in either version, however in Black Flag Resynced it does feel a lot more polished, with the naval gameplay against AI becoming a lot more challenging.

As you move through the world of Resynced, you’ll definitely feel the Animus Hub activities lingering in your peripheral at times. For the most part these are optional with the daily Anomalies often being easy to miss if you aren’t specifically looking. The inclusion of several asynchronous battle passes becomes a little chore like provided you have currency to collect new tiers. That grind won’t be for everyone but it’s basically buried away in menus anyway. 

Other additions include the new Naval Officers players can recruit such as Lucy Baldwin, who must be rescued from a prison ship. I will note the addition of these characters did feel a bit siloed from the rest of the game. While they do give you some decent upgrades to the Jackdaw for combat, I did feel Baldwin’s absence when not engaging her quest line. It’s definitely a weird balance, yet they never quite find a spot beside the player past just a different crew member you see on deck.

Parkour here also felt a little tedious at times. Controlling Edward as he was rushing up rigging, buildings or even just the natural environment would often lead to a few odd stumbles here and there. More often than not I’d find myself running up a building only to come right back down having not found a hold. This was a bit frustrating, and I think a symptom of the world not quite being built up enough to justify running up onto the roofs at any given moment.

Having recently gone back to earlier entries in the Assassin’s Creed series, I’d also be remiss to not mention that I do see a lot of potential in the notion of Resynced becoming an entire new chapter for Assassin’s Creed. Shoot me if you must for saying it, but playing the first Assassin’s Creed for instance, feels so dated once the nostalgia wears off. So many of these games could use a tune-up, and the Anvil engine seems more than up to the task. While some of the first five games with Desmond may not be as easy to rip out the modern-day elements, the remake treatment might actually be Ubisoft’s saving grace right now.

For me, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced feels like a more than worthy refreshing return to an iconic adventure. Voyaging across the Caribbean aboard the Jackdaw feels as good as ever, and it’s only helped by the improved graphics and other intentional quality-of-life updates designed to strengthen the experience. While the modern-day story got the Templar treatment, it’s at the benefit of Kenway’s adventure becoming the entire focus of the game.