Judging where Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced sits in the remake game is quite hard. When putting it in a sort of tier list, we have the likes of the multiple Resident Evil remakes (2, 3, and 4), which are proper, built from the ground up remakes of games that were built for the PS2-era and earlier, so they required more work. We also have the fantastic Dead Space remake a few years ago now, which took a more modern game and upped the visuals and tweaked it to meet the 2020s.
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced definitely falls in the latter category given that the game only came out on the last generation of consoles.
However, that does not mean the team across the two Ubisoft studios didn’t do a lot of work because they have, and if I didn’t spend most of Christmas 2013 sailing the high seas, the story would be the best I’ve played in ages, but I am off on a tangent again, let’s set sail in the Caribbean one more time with Mr. Edward Kenway.
Story
For me, the story of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is the best in the series, period. While everyone loves the tales of Ezio, sometimes those games felt drawn out and were full of filler missions. Newer titles do this to the power 100,000 as they have to keep you in the massive world for longer. Black Flag manages to have the series’ most fascinating character in an open-world that feels alive, with each mission actually meaning something.
If you didn’t already know, you play as Edward Kenway, the dad of Assassin’s Creed III‘s Haytham Kenway and grandad to Conor, and you sail the high seas as a somewhat factionless pirate. While I will not spoil the main points of the story, I will say this: Yes, you still get involved in the fight between the Assassins and the Templars in the search for the mythical Observatory.
What I will also tell you about the story is that it is on par with the early Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Each mission feels meaningful, and the supporting cast to Kenway are just superb. Each one’s motivation is deep and diverse, with new loyalty missions for a couple of the supporting cast included here, and now there are three new crewmates that have their own backstories too.
Onto where this game improves on the original 2013 release. Those awful tailing missions are somewhat things of the past. Before, if you got caught, “boom”. Game over. Now, if you do get caught, the game pivots to a focus on combat, which is such a welcome improvement.
Also, the modern-day Abstergo first-person missions have been scrapped. THANK GOD. This was such a weak part of the original and really did detract from the experience, but now they have been sort of replaced with Animus Rifts. These Rifts are sort of “What If?” missions that take campaign missions in different directions, but these missions are totally optional.
The story is amazing and will keep you engaged throughout, and it’s another reason to play this game.
Graphics and Gameplay
Now, let me say off the bat, this game looks incredible. In the run up to the release, I downloaded the original to compare the visuals. It is night and day. Now, we have a version of Black Flag that is up to modern standards.
The detail in the world, the sea, your boat and the action are unbelievable. As you will see from the screenshots in this review, the game looks unreal. The team at Ubisoft have dragged this game into the PS5 era with unbelievable results.
You can now also freely go underwater instead of during specific diving bell sections. You can see the effort that went into these sections too. With such attention to detail in the fish and treasure that you can plunder, it truly is spectacular.
When talking about gameplay, it is quite different compared to the original (I’m saying that a lot). Instead of mashing the counter button in combat, it’s all about blocking, dodging and initiating brutal takedowns and scything through enemies with meaty-feeling swords. The assassinations also feel just as brutal as ever, and the different ways you can take down your targets are quite varied and superb.
Stealth is also as satisfying as ever as you can manually crouch in grass as you want, which makes you think twice about how you approach a group of enemies. There are also some boss battles that can be skipped just by being stealthy, so keep that in mind.
Ship combat was also a pinnacle of gameplay back in 2013, and it’s back with a bang. Plundering ships and engaging in cannon battles feels amazing and genuinely can be challenging, especially when you take on massive galleons.
Lastly, I will discuss the character movement, which I think in Assassin’s Creed can be very marmite. The parkour in Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced is buttery smooth and better than ever. The way you move through the world is seamless, and you really do feel so nimble, which makes me wonder if Kenway is a gymnast as well as a pirate.
Conclusion
I can’t recommend Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced enough. It has been the best Assassin’s Creed game since its original release back in 2013, and whether that says a lot about the series on the whole is up to you to decide.
From the rebuilt world, the smooth parkour and combat, it all makes this the best pirate game on the market and is a must-buy for anyone, really.
While I have not scored this game a 10/10, that is because there was the occasional glitch where I fell through the world, and sometimes the combat leans on the hefty takedowns too much. I’m sure this might be tweaked in a day-one patch that I have not had the chance to download at the time of writing.
Essentially, go and buy this.
Developer: Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Montpellier
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Release Date: 7th July 2026
