Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag was a game about the golden age of piracy made during the golden age of Ubisoft games. It was the second game in the Kenway trilogy and a prequel to the first. It introduced a lot of things to Assassin’s Creed, namely naval gameplay, the largest map in an Assassin’s Creed game to date, and tons and tons of activities. For me, it was the moment when Ubisoft realized that they can dream big leading to Unity, Syndicate and the RPG games.
I wasn’t surprised that Ubisoft chose this game to remake. In a time when Ubisoft is getting pummeled both in the court of public opinion and the disappointing performances of their most recent games, they just needed a win. But they needed a “safe” win. One that can bring the company some much-needed morale boost during a tough time for the company.
Lead developer Ubisoft Singapore’s approach to this remake was to develop the game from the ground up but still retain most of what made the original a classic. The story was left intact, albeit with additional dialogue, scenes, and content that delightfully expands on the original.
Many features that the franchise had over the years since were also added to the game. Edward can now free-crouch, making stealth sections that much easier. He can also time-skip from day to night, although memory sequences will still be locked to specific times of the day. Accessibility options help gamers with special handicaps to still be able to enjoy the game. Parkour is back, and Edward feels much faster in Resynced than he was in the original, with its back and side ejects, its manual jump, and new animations that made free-running feel smoother.
A significant addition to the game are the new officers that give the Jackdaw added perks. While the original only had Adewale, your quartermaster, you now have the Padre as your Master-at-arms, Lucy Baldwin as your Shipwright, and Deadman Smith as your Weapons master. Not only do they have their own narrative quests, but they provide boosts to the Jackdaw. The Padre gives you the ramming ability; Lucy lets you significantly reduce or even nullify damage if you time your brace right.
The only change that took me some time to warm up to was the combat, which was modified to somewhat reflect that of the RPG titles. Where before, you can easily spam the block/deflect button, now, there is some timing involved. Edward bocks with the L1 button, but time it perfectly and you get a “perfect parry” that breaks the enemy’s defense for a moment and opening them to more attacks or a takedown. Speaking of takedown, there are different kinds of takedowns: The Hidden Blade takedown triggers either after a perfect parry, or once an enemy defense breaks and is an instant kill. Perfect Parry takedowns happen after a perfect parry opens up the enemy (and you can takedown up to four depending on your weapon). A wall takedown where you kick an enemy to a wall or an immovable object. And a ground takedown for enemies on the ground usually after a sweep move.
There is also a dodge attack for when an enemy makes a heavy attack, and a perfectly timed dodge leaves the enemy open for either your own heavy attack or a takedown. Archetypes such as the Brute, the Captain, and the Demolitionist usually has these heavy attacks. Edward now has abilities like the leg sweep, the kick, the rope-dart, and his pistols. Unlike the RPG games, these are not level-gated, and serve to add variety to the combat, which encourages you to use the environment to your advantage.
In the beginning, I was struggling, especially as the camera wasn’t very cooperative at times. But eventually, I got good at it, and I was taking down enemies left and right as good as I did with the old system. I did not like it at first, thinking that it overcomplicates a pretty straightforward and fun system. But I ended up loving it. It features the best of both worlds: it is intense and cinematic like the old games, but as engaging as the RPG games.
As the 2026 version of a 2013 game, obviously it is graphically good. But it’s the details that I am enjoying. Dirt now gets into Edward’s robes and face if he rolls on the mud. The lighting and the weather are glorious. The cutscenes felt cinematic, with proper facial animations now. I guess the only problem I had was that several ships that are a distance away don’t seem to be animated. They do become animated as the go nearer, but it is a noticeable hiccup.
Another thing, I’ve seen one or two ships spawn and despawn in front of me. This was corrected after a patch a few days ago, but I was surprised that it happened at all. I am playing on a base PS5 using performance mode, but I am not sure if that has anything to do with it.
With new story missions comes new dialogue, and that’s my second observation. While the music itself remains great, the voice acting, especially the new lines of dialogue, is inconsistent. Matt Ryan returns as Edward Kenway, and his voice became lower in the thirteen years since Black Flag. The difference can at times be jarring, although in the long run although personally it did not affect my enjoyment of my game.
Closing:
Playing this game made me realize that Ubisoft still has it in them to make really great games. Not that their recent ones were bad, but in the Assassin’s Creed franchise in particular, they became a victim of their own success by making things bigger and more “free”. Black Flag Resynced is proof that you can make things big without sacrificing the narrative structure and strong characters. You can make things big without unnecessarily bloating it with player levels and forcing gamers to grind. You can give players freedom of choice without sacrificing the characters’ unique personalities and story flow.
I loved Black Flag Resynced. It brought me back to the days when I had far fewer problems. Of being able to have straight gaming sessions. It brought me back to a time when Assassin’s Creed was at its glory age. Hopefully, this game teaches Ubisoft that above everything else, people just want a good Assassin’s Creed story.
