Assassin’s Creed has always been a franchise that has held a special place for me. From the early days of climbing historic landmarks and uncovering conspiracies to exploring vast open worlds across different time periods, the series has provided countless memorable experiences over the years. However, after so many entries, that excitement began to fade, and the franchise no longer captured my attention in the same way it once did.
That changed with the arrival of Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Assassin’s Creed Mirage, two games that reminded me why I fell in love with the series in the first place. Their focus on refined stealth, immersive worlds, and the core fantasy of being an Assassin helped reignite my enthusiasm and made me excited to return to the franchise again. With that renewed appreciation, revisiting one of the series’ most celebrated adventures through Black Flag Resynched feels like the perfect opportunity to experience a classic in a new light. So, has Ubisoft cooked with this latest release?
ℹ️ Reviewed on PlayStation 5 | Review code provided by PR/publisher, this review is the personal opinion of the writer.
| Developer | Ubisoft |
| Publisher | Ubisoft |
Things I liked!
- Utterly gorgeous | Black Flag Resynched is easily the most visually impressive version of Assassin’s Creed IV, with noticeably improved environments, lighting, and character detail throughout the adventure. Sailing across the Caribbean feels far more immersive thanks to the upgraded visuals, helping familiar locations feel fresh again. The complete rebuild in Ubisoft’s modern Anvil engine also helps the game feel like more than a simple remaster. Even if you’ve played the original countless times, there’s enough visual polish here to make revisiting Edward Kenway’s journey worthwhile.
- Sailing is as fun as ever | The Jackdaw remains one of the game’s biggest highlights, with several new mechanics building on an already excellent foundation. Alternate firing modes for ship weapons introduce more tactical options during naval battles, while dynamic weather and environmental destruction make encounters feel far more dramatic. Expanded underwater areas also provide more opportunities to explore beneath the surface instead of simply sailing from objective to objective. The result is a naval experience that feels deeper without abandoning what made it so enjoyable in the first place.
Not only this, but the familiar ship upgrade system returns with additional upgrades that further customise the Jackdaw over the course of the adventure. Fleets make a welcome return, allowing players to continue expanding their influence across the Caribbean just like before. New cosmetic additions, including ship pets such as cats and monkeys, inject a little extra personality into life at sea. On top of that, three new crew members each come with their own stories and unlockable abilities, adding more incentive to invest time in the ship and its crew. - Updated Movement System | The updated movement system introduces several welcome quality-of-life improvements that make exploring the world much smoother. Being able to crouch manually gives players proper control over stealth for the first time, while diving into the ocean whenever you like removes one of the original game’s stranger limitations. The ability to skip time from almost anywhere also cuts down on unnecessary waiting between activities. Together, these additions make traversal feel faster, more flexible, and far less restrictive.
- Campaign Overhaul | Although the core mission layouts remain familiar, the overall pacing has been tightened considerably. The removal of the old sequence-and-memory structure means the campaign flows more naturally, helping players move through the story at a steadier pace. The addition of alternate “what-if” memory missions also offers an interesting excuse to experience entirely new scenarios as Edward. It feels like a respectful evolution rather than a complete redesign of the original campaign.
One of my favorite improvements overall has to be the docking and entering cities. This now happens seamlessly without loading screens, making exploration feel much more fluid than before. Ubisoft has also confirmed that no achievements can be permanently missed, allowing completionists to enjoy the game without worrying about accidentally locking themselves out of one hundred percent completion. - Stealth and Combat | Combat has received a significant overhaul, moving away from the original game’s repetitive counter-and-instant-kill formula. You will now need to pay greater attention to enemy attacks, timing perfect parries and chaining together takedowns instead of relying on one dominant strategy. Enemies also react better to repeated tactics, encouraging more variety during encounters. Combined with the addition of manual crouching, stealth feels much more capable and satisfying than it ever did in the original release.
- Gameplay adjustments | Several returning and newly introduced mechanics help make progression feel more enjoyable throughout the campaign. Unlocking the rope dart much earlier gives players access to one of the series’ most entertaining tools far sooner than before. The return of the drunken gameplay mechanic also brings back one of the more memorable pieces of side content from the original game. None of these features transform the experience individually, but together they make the overall adventure feel richer and more varied.
While Resynched takes advantage of lessons learned from newer Assassin’s Creed titles, particularly Shadows, it wisely avoids turning Black Flag into an RPG. Instead, it modernises the original’s action and stealth systems while keeping the focused progression, freedom, and identity that made the classic games so beloved. - New Content | Rather than simply recreating the 2013 release, Black Flag Resynched expands upon it with several hours of additional content. New storylines for Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet flesh out important supporting characters, while the new officers aboard the Jackdaw each contribute their own missions and rewards. Fresh sea shanties also help keep long sailing sessions feeling lively, especially for returning players already familiar with the original soundtrack. Altogether, the extra content makes this feel closer to a full reimagining than a straightforward remake.
- Music & SFX | The audio design in Black Flag Resynched remains one of its strongest elements, helping bring the Caribbean setting to life with incredible atmosphere. The iconic sea shanties return alongside newly written songs, making long journeys across the ocean feel just as memorable as they did in the original. From the sound of the waves and cannons to the weight behind every sword clash, the improved audio work adds a greater sense of immersion to every encounter. Combined with the game’s excellent voice performances and powerful musical score, Resynched proves that Black Flag’s audio design was always one of the franchise’s greatest strengths.
Mixed & disliked!
- Controls are changed | While the revised controls generally feel responsive, returning players may need some time to adapt after years with the original version. Muscle memory doesn’t always translate cleanly to the new movement system, meaning familiar actions can initially feel slightly awkward. Rebinding controls is also more cumbersome than it should be, making it harder to tailor the experience to personal preferences. These issues aren’t deal-breakers, but they slightly undermine an otherwise solid control scheme. For the first few hours, I kept making mistakes because up until this point in time, Assassin’s Creed had pretty much had a familiar control method at each release.
- A buggy experience at times | Despite the impressive visual overhaul, the game isn’t completely free of technical problems. I did encounter occasional pop-in, small performance hiccups, and cloth physics behaving unpredictably during gameplay. More noticeable issues include islands sometimes failing to load correctly while sailing and NPC pathfinding occasionally breaking during scripted sequences. None of these problems completely ruin the experience, but they can interrupt the sense of immersion the remake works so hard to create. One of the funniest moments was when I tried to dive into the water, but accidentally went under the map. I could see the water above me, as well as the world.
- Removal of classic mechanics | A few long-time fans may be disappointed by changes made to certain iconic gameplay features. The Hidden Blade can no longer be used freely during combat, with its role now largely limited to stealth assassinations and scripted moments. The removal of the modern-day Abstergo storyline also strips away a part of the original game’s structure, even if many players rarely considered it the main attraction. I understand they tried to balance it out with new content, but it would have been a good idea to leave it in and offer players a choice, in my opinion.
- Always online features | Although the main campaign can be played offline after installation, several surrounding systems remain tied to Ubisoft’s Animus Hub and require an internet connection to access. Players who dislike live-service elements may find the additional store and online features unnecessary distractions from the single-player experience. The removal of multiplayer also means one entire portion of the original package is no longer available, even if it wasn’t the game’s biggest attraction.
How long did I play the review before publishing? 30 hours How long to beat the story? 25 hours How long to Complete the game 100%? 60 hours + How many Achievements did I earn before publishing? 12 You'll love this game if you like these: Assassin's Creed Mirage, Assassin's Creed Shadows
Score: 85/100
Black Flag Resynched successfully modernises one of the most beloved entries in the Assassin’s Creed series without losing the charm that made the original so memorable. Improved visuals, deeper combat, refined stealth, expanded naval gameplay, and a wealth of new content make it feel like far more than a simple graphical upgrade. While a few technical issues and design changes won’t please everyone, it’s an excellent reimagining that gives both newcomers and returning fans a compelling reason to set sail with Edward Kenway once again.
Gaming is in my blood. Be it handheld games, Xbox, PC, Switch or Playstation, I am all over it.
I make my own games as part of my profession and love playing co op games with friends in my spare time. Avid dog lover and camper van enthusiast.
