Ubisoft has released a remastered version of its 2013 pirate-themed Assassin's Creed game, titled Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S. Developed by Ubisoft Singapore, the remake removes many of the original's tedious elements, creating a more focused and enjoyable pirate fantasy experience.
Edward Kenway: A Different Kind of Assassin
Edward Kenway is not your typical Assassin's Creed protagonist. He is not bound by ancient oaths or destined for nobility; he is simply a man who loves coin and dislikes rules. His gold-chasing, rule-dodging lifestyle inadvertently drags him into the ancient war between Templars and Assassins. After being shipwrecked with a man named Walpole, who turns out to be a Templar, Edward assumes Walpole's identity to secure a bounty.
Edward wears life lightly. The world around him is violent and chaotic, with those around him obsessed with double-crossings. Ed just smiles, undeterred, and gets on with plundering. It is all fun and games to him, and he is set on conquering the Caribbean on his own terms. He is a brilliant extension of the player, and this remake captures that sense of freedom perfectly.
Streamlined Gameplay: Cutting the Boring Parts
Like the original, Resynced nails the fantasy of being a swashbuckling privateer. Your time is spent doing things that feel core to a pirate's life: sailing a ship, attacking Spanish trade vessels, sword fighting soldiers, plotting treasure heists, and playing checkers by the harbor. Unlike the original, it is almost never spent breaking that fantasy with tedious tailing missions, sweeping the minimap for collectibles, or enduring long-winded Abstergo interludes.
More than just a graphical upgrade, this remake takes a stern editor's pen to its source material. The aforementioned tailing missions, where Edward followed targets for what felt like years, have been cut. This is a net positive, though it would have been more interesting to see these stealth missions redesigned to make tailing tense and the payoffs worthwhile.
Abstergo Interludes: A Double-Edged Sword
Gone are the Abstergo interludes. This is a double-edged sword because that extra plot layer—the idea that the player is reliving historical memories in a secret lab for a sinister corporation—is fundamental to the series. It was a mind-shredding twist in the first game, but by the time of Black Flag, these passages felt like unwelcome downtime. Now, that narrative level exists only as text logs in a menu, unlocked by tracking down floating icons on the world map. Abstergo also appears in limited-time challenges that reward arbitrary actions with currency for cosmetics. As with the tailing missions, the removal makes the game better, but it is not the most creative solution.
Overhauled Combat and New Missions
The overhauled combat and new missions are a clearcut victory. Fights offer lots of options and combo potential, like drawing an enemy in with a grappling hook and then sweeping their legs. Most crucially, conflicts look like tightly choreographed movie set-pieces—another win for the pirate fantasy. A handful of new officer missions, which give you new crew members with well-written backstories, sit flush with the quality of the original missions.
Old Strengths Hold Firm
The game's old strengths hold firm. The depth and variety of Edward's day-to-day life still delight—one day he is upgrading the manor at his private cove, the next he is clambering Incan ruins for Templar treasure. Primary quests are well-paced, well-acted, and have a knack for making you feel heroic. But in the end, it is the moments in between that make this game special. Sailing your ship at night, watching the lanterns sway, listening to the crew sing a shanty—this game gives you enough space to feel a pirate's freedom, now more than ever. It may be a case of Ubisoft plundering its own library for riches, but players get their fair share of the booty.
