Believe it or not, there was a time when Assassin’s Creed didn’t really know what it wanted to be. Strange, I know.
Assassin’s Creed (2007) was a flawed experiment. The setting and ideas were incredible, but repetitive missions, weak enemy variety and an uninspiring protagonist held it back. Assassin’s Creed II was the moment everything clicked. Ezio Auditore became one of gaming’s most beloved protagonists; Renaissance Italy provided a richer setting; and refined mechanics delivered the experience Assassin’s Creed had always been chasing.
After Ezio’s trilogy, Ubisoft moved on to Revolutionary America and introduced Connor Kenway. While ambitious, Assassin’s Creed III struggled with a slow opening, technical issues, and a protagonist players never connected with. Another entry that didn’t quite stick the landing. But it did give us one thing: the sailing.
Enter: Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. A really weird one.
For a series built around an ancient and seemingly endless conflict between Assassins and Templars, philosophical debates about free will and a healthy amount of mysterious ancient technology, Black Flag was an odd direction to take. Sure, it is all still there. Assassins, Templars, the Force – it’s all true. But it is not what drives the main character.
Because Edward Kenway is a pirate.
He spends his time rubbing shoulders with figures from the Golden Age of Piracy, including Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet and Anne Bonny, while chasing wealth, reputation and freedom. I want you, the reader, to understand how hard I have resisted writing a 2,000-word tangent about the history of piracy and why Our Flag Means Death is a great show.
Ubisoft took the best idea from Assassin’s Creed III, put on a tricorn hat, shouted “yarrr” and released a game about pirates who eventually find themselves fighting for something greater than themselves.
More than a decade later, the challenge of remaking Black Flag was obvious: the original did not need fixing. The question was: “Can Ubisoft modernise it without stripping away the qualities that made it special?”
The answer is yes.
The visual improvements are immediately noticeable. Environments are more detailed, characters look better and actually emote more when they speak or act, and the weather and water effects help bring the Caribbean to life in a way the original simply could not. Built on the same Anvil engine technology used for Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, Resynced benefits from more than a decade of technological improvements. This is not simply a prettier version of the original.
The ocean remains the star of the show. Watching storms roll across the horizon or sailing through calm waters at sunset still captures the fantasy of piracy better than most games ever have. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that what was already a pretty game is now a bloody gorgeous game.
Microtransactions, skins and in-game challenges have also made their way over to Resynced, alongside files that reveal more about the world. It’s all standard Ubisoft fare. I still preferred the original modern-day sections, where stepping away from the main story gave you time to process what had happened, rather than piecing together a story through scattered collectables.
The original Black Flag was released during an era when open-world games were increasingly filling maps with icons, collectibles and activities. The remake takes a better approach, reducing the clutter and encouraging players to actually explore. Rather than being told where everything is, the world encourages natural discovery. A pirate adventure should be about curiosity, not completing a giant checklist.
One of Ubisoft’s smartest decisions was recognising what made the old game work and largely leaving it alone. Edward Kenway’s story remains one of the strongest parts of the game. The remake does not attempt to rewrite Edward’s story, which was 100% the right call. One of the biggest criticisms of the Resident Evil 3 remake was how Capcom removed massive sections of the original story without replacing them in any way. Ubisoft has avoided that problem by understanding that Black Flag’s story was not the thing that needed changing.
The most interesting improvements in the remake come from the areas where Assassin’s Creed itself has evolved since 2013. The addition of a dedicated crouch button feels like such an obvious inclusion that it is surprising Black Flag ever managed without one. Edward now has more freedom when approaching enemy camps, allowing players to scout, hide and experiment with different approaches. Modern detection systems, improved menus, and easier access to tools make infiltration far smoother. However, there is an interesting trade-off. By improving stealth, the remake also highlights how much Assassin’s Creed has changed.
Social stealth, blending into crowds and creating distractions, was once central to the series. With modern stealth mechanics available, those systems feel less important. For example, you can choose to throw money on the ground to create a distraction, helping you hide or get closer to your target. I haven’t once felt the need to do this. The remake improves the gameplay, but it also shows how much of the old Assassin’s Creed identity has been left behind.
Combat receives a similar overhaul. The original Black Flag’s combat was simple but satisfying. Edward felt like a pirate legend, cutting through enemies with stylish counters and dramatic finishing moves. The remake introduces a deeper system with posture mechanics, stronger parries and more tactical options. Enemies no longer simply absorb attacks until they fall, forcing players to pay more attention to openings and defensive timing.
The original had a cinematic simplicity. The fights, although probably a bit easy after a while, looked good. The remake is more responsive and strategic, but slightly less theatrical. It also moves away from one of the original games’ quirks, where enemies would surround you but politely wait for their comrade to die before attacking.
Parkour is another area where the two eras of Assassin’s Creed collide. Edward moves more smoothly than he did originally, but Resynced still carries the limitations of its environments. Compared to later games, traversal can feel caught between old and new design philosophies. Black Flag retains the old formula of “you can’t climb everything”. Luckily, there’s no bright yellow paint to highlight where you have to go. It’s white.
I much preferred how Valhalla handled climbing and parkour: “If it looks like you can climb it, then you can.”
The same applies to enemy AI. Edward has more tools than ever, but the guards themselves have not evolved in the same way. Their predictable routines and limited awareness can make some encounters feel like Edward has been upgraded while the world around him has remained the same.
But for all the improvements made elsewhere, there is one thing Black Flag still does better than almost any other Assassin’s Creed game: sailing.
The naval combat was already the highlight of the original, and Ubisoft clearly knew it. The system would go on to influence later entries like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey while eventually inspiring its own spin-off. The remake proves why the system became so popular. New abilities, improved weapons and smarter enemy behaviour add more depth without losing the accessibility that made the original so addictive.
There is still something uniquely satisfying about spotting another ship in the distance and deciding what happens next. Attack for resources? Chase down a legendary ship because you want the challenge? Or simply run away? The ocean is still where Black Flag feels most alive.
It’s here that the additional content is where the influence of modern Assassin’s Creed becomes most obvious. Resynced adds around six hours of new content, introducing new characters with their own snappy questlines who can eventually join Edward’s crew and provide new abilities. These recruits, such as The Padre, give the crew more personality than the original game.
It also helps that Matt Ryan has returned to record new dialogue as Edward, meaning these additions feel connected to the original adventure rather than something separate. However, the structure feels much closer to the RPG era of Assassin’s Creed. The original Black Flag was relatively focused. You upgraded your ship and explored the Caribbean, but it was still a traditional action-adventure game.
These new additions feel closer to the modern approach, where characters, quests and progression systems are tied together.
The same philosophy extends to the modern-day storyline. The original sections have been removed and replaced with rifts. I won’t go into too much detail because there are some things better experienced firsthand, but it is another example of Ubisoft bringing Black Flag in line with the modern direction of the series and the Dark Animus content. Ooooo, spooky and mysterious.
None of these changes are necessarily bad. In many cases, they improve the experience. However, they also highlight the central challenge of remaking Black Flag. Ubisoft is trying to preserve a game that represents one era of Assassin’s Creed while rebuilding it with the tools and ideas of another. The hardest thing about remaking a beloved game is deciding what needs changing and what should remain untouched.
Too much change and you risk losing what made the original memorable. Too little and you are left with a prettier version of something that has already been done. Black Flag Resynced mostly finds the right balance.
