In the past I have been critical of remakes that felt unnecessary and like a cash grab. Those that boast touched up visuals and not much else. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced comes 13 years after the original game though, and delivers on the promise of both an overhaul in traversal and combat. The result is one of many gamers favourite Assassin’s Creed entries now being one of the most fun to play.
For those unfamiliar with the original release, the game follows Edward Kenway, a brash Welsh privateer-turned-pirate in the early 18th century during the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean. Through a series of unfortunate events he finds himself embroiled in the battle between assassins and templars, while his focus remains on treasure and the want for people to live free. It had been a long time since I last played the original game and so I’d forgotten plenty of the story beats. While it isn’t going to win any awards for breaking new ground in storytelling, it delivers some nice twists and turns and the eclectic cast of characters deliver plenty of entertainment.
Visuals have been vastly improved thanks to the game being rebuilt on the Anvil engine that was used in Shadows last year. The world is brimming with detail both in the open sea and in the many towns and islands around the map. Back when Black Flag initially launched, the world felt so massive and daunting. Now in 2026, while it is still more than big enough, it feels entirely manageable with a large amount of it being a naval combat warzone and then smaller contained areas to explore. The result is the game feeling less like behemoths such as Odyssey and Valhalla.
The visual overhaul is great and it really adds to the immersion of the game, but my excitement going in was the gameplay changes. I have been a big Assassin’s Creed fan since the franchise started back in 2007, but it’s hard to argue that going back to anything pre Unity can be tough. From the moment you take control of Edward, you can tell everything has been completely reworked. Parkour is now much smoother, feeling more like Shadows, with Edward handling like a half way point between Naoe and Yasuke, which fits his weight class. Also, and this doesn’t need saying, but what a difference a crouch button makes.
Combat might be the best I have experienced in an Assassin’s Creed game yet. Perfect dodges provides a second of slow motion leaving a window for you to hit a more powerful strike. Perfect parries can be followed up with a takedown, which will unleash one of the many contextual finishing moves that look suitably brutal. I love the stealth aspect of these games, but when boarding ships – and you’ll board a LOT OF SHIPS – stealth isn’t an option so it was imperative that these face-to-face encounters were fun, otherwise a large aspect of the progression would become a serious grind.
This brings me onto the Jackdaw and sailing the seas in general. Naval combat has been improved, without feeling transformative. It’s definitely a smoother experience, with the dynamic weather always keeping you on your toes. Using the Jackdaw for exploration and travel is really bolstered by the new navigation tools. You can set a waypoint and then turn on pathfinder, which essentially autopilots you to your destination, only reigning it in and alerting you if trouble is incoming.
The new content also stands out as an excellent addition. Longer character arcs, new side missions and some post game content as well. I don’t want to delve into it too much in the review, as for many gamers who remember the original release, this will be the main surprises you have going in. The way Ubisoft has handled the new content is seamless though, with excellent voice acting bringing it in line with the existing work. There are also some rift missions, acting as ‘what if’ scenarios on Edwards journey. The path not taken and all that.
The trophy/achievement list is no quick task. While the games main story can be completed in around 25 hours, there is lots of side content to take care of and upgrades to buy. All the various aspects of the game are incredibly fun though, and so at no point has it felt like a grind. I’m currently 35 hours into my run, and more than happy to keep chipping away for that platinum.
There are a few things missing from this remake. The online portion of the game has been stripped, which may be a negative for some, but personally I was delighted to see this rebuilt as a fully single player experience. The Freedom Cry DLC is also MIA, which I can understand some being disappointed about. However, personally I feel like the new content we spoke about earlier more than makes up for it.
One thing this remake does, is get me thinking about whether Ubisoft should go down the route Capcom has with Resident Evil and get into a cadence of releasing a new game, and follow that up with remaking an old one. Black Flag would be as far as you could go in terms of when the games initially released as Unity still holds up fine, but anything before that point could at the very least benefit from the new controls and a graphical overhaul. If Black Flag Resynced performs well, and all data suggests it will. I think Ubisoft has a great opportunity here to go back to the original Assassin’s Creed game and give it the same treatment we got here.
Overall, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced delivered for me in a big way. It was one of my most anticipated games of 2026 and I have loved every minute of the 35+ hours I have spent with it so far. It always upset me that Ubisoft thought Skull & Bones was what gamers wanted in terms of ‘more Black Flag’ – hopefully if the reception to this remake is good, we can get a proper pirate RPG follow up in the years to come.
-Craig 🧐