Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced Review

More than three million pirates can’t be wrong… or can they?

As of a couple weeks after launch, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced had sold through more than three million copies. That’s nothing to sneeze at and is a testament to just how much this entry was a fan-favourite. The exploits of Edward Kenway, who becomes a member of the guild through a bit of identity theft and therefore isn’t entirely part of the legion of ‘chosen’ (yet kind of is), is still one of the better stories told through the series. Now, armed with a number of new cutscenes added to this refreshed take to both modernise it, and celebrate its deeply layered storytelling, punters are in for the best trip down memory lane they could get, or a great introduction to where things blossomed from here. The performances are still fantastic, as is the overall dialogue and sense of adventure from the perspective of a pirate, which is a little bit odd given this isn’t exactly an open-world jaunt, which is where the series now finds itself as, more often than not.

Resynced, however, knows this and through some clever tweaks and changes to elements of the immediate world, parkouring and even in some more open-ended gameplay exploits, Ubisoft Singapore and Montpellier have modernised this remaster in ways that will placate those of us who now hold the open-world design blueprint as absolute, and everyone who still holds Black Flag so dear in the long-running series.

That said, and despite a visual sheen that takes advantage of modern power and tech such as ray-tracing, it’s still not perfect and consistently reminds players that this series, for all of its rooftop grandeur and haystack diving, used to be pretty hand-holdy, which is almost at odds with the ‘freedom’ that comes with being a privateer-turned-cutthroat in the early 1700s in the West Indies. So much so we kind of wish an all-new entry had been done with the full open-world setup of the past four games (sans Mirage) over this remaster, as good as it is.

Our mind just constantly went into a thought process of “how good would this story and setting be if it were truly open-world” for the majority of our time with the game. And that’s entirely on us, because we also know how much of a stepping stone this was on the way to Origins, and so its place in the annals of the best of Assassins Creed isn’t lost on us, it’s just, like Kenway and his selfish desires and penchant for self-preservation, we just wanted more.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced

Genre: Action-Adventure
Developer: Ubisoft
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: July 9, 2026
Classification: MA15+
Author: Stephen Farrelly
Date: August 04, 2026

It’s a Jungle out there…

The immediate difference older players will note is the visual overhaul. Each iteration of this series has been made on Ubisoft’s Anvil game engine, albeit at different stages of the engine’s life, power and opportunities. The OG Black Flag was already a flagship for said engine and its naval component was second-to-none upon release, and here we get to experience all of that again with suped-up lighting, ray-tracing and more. It’s also fast and responsive, perhaps to a fault (read our “Would you like to know more?” box out for… MORE!), but equally serves as a reminder of just how scalable the tech has always been.

"Some of the enticing vistas and backdrops are pure set-dressing, while other parts of the game remain gated based on story progression..."

From the outset in the dense (and locked-path) jungle Kenway finds himself survived within after the game’s opening ship-to-ship skirmishes, through to the expanded ports, strongholds and various other destinations, Resynced genuinely offers more. It can be problematic in some sense, because as we’ve been poking at throughout already, this isn’t an open-world experience, so some of the enticing vistas and backdrops are pure set-dressing, while other parts of the game remain gated based on story progression, whereas more often than not in the modern builds, those are explorable spaces filled with secrets and excellent design and gating is almost non-existent. It’s not an issue, mind, just a kind of tease given how good it all looks. (We encountered a similar issue with Ghost of Yotei, though that game had no reason to gate its explorable spaces, so Resynced gets a pass given its heritage.)

Open-world desires aside, this is still a fantastic visual experience. Animations feel less fluid, however, than the more modern games, particularly in combat, and while said combat has also been welcomely overhauled, it’s in Kenway’s animation trees and environmental ‘stickiness’ that we’re constantly reminded that this game is still built off an older entry. Though simply moving through the world without being pursued by angry guards, militia or basic enemies is still awesome, especially as a parkour experience. Unfortunately the same can’t always be said of just, you know, going for a stroll in the street. 

When planted behind the wheel of the Jackdaw, though, things are a little different and the studio should be hugely proud of how well it has delivered on that front -- water has never looked this good in an Assassin’s Creed game.

Would you like to know more?
The game's speed is actually, at times, a detriment to the overall. Kenway jogs through people and bumps into them, bounces this way and that and often angers red characters. The bulk of the OG games was running from pursuers, hiding and generally about being a crafty parkour guy. Black Flag attempted to more or less give you the freedom to be less antagonistic in passive play moments, but the world is hyper-reactive, and not in a dynamic or contextual sense. It breaks the fantasy some and made us realise we just needed to have a slower walking pace, by default, with an input run. You can play it like that, but that's up to you, but for ours this series became a lot less about running away from people and enemies and just absorbing it all.

The NPC Dilemma

Unfortunately an age-old gripe also hasn’t been addressed here, and this one still exists even within the modern games, which is the binary nature of Creeds’ myriad NPCs, as well as the level of aggro with the enemies mentioned above, specifically in Resynced. Ubisoft has just always struggled with this aspect of its games (though we’d argue Star Wars: Outlaws fared pretty well here), with NPCs there more largely for set-dressing and making a place feel less static. But there’s little in the way of dynamism around them aside from the classic gasp when you land amidst a group of them from up on high or to hire them as a group to mingle with.

"To see this as not only a largely unchanged element but one not addressed in a way to actually move the Ubi design needle forward was disappointing..."

Resynced was an opportunity to address this given its more directed nature, but it all still just feels very much the same. We’d have loved a more living component to each of the game’s locations where chores and more could have been utilised to help Kenway more meaningfully pirate his way through things. Visually there’s more going on here, don't get us wrong, it just ends up being too Truman Show for us and after this many years and so many entries and other titles designed to rely on NPCs for drama and gameplay ala Watch Dogs and the like, to see this as not only a largely unchanged element but one not addressed in a way to actually move the Ubi design needle forward was disappointing.

Still, the world is abuzz with life and never feels like it’s standing still, which is, again, a testament to the revival of this as a classic and fan-favourite in a modern sense. And as an equally more directed experience than the later games, we’re always pushing forward here anyway, so the lack of NPC dynamism or emergent opportunities from smarter peds is easy enough to overlook, we just thought it could have also been contextually addressed here.

Kenway Country

What has been addressed is the removal of any of the future faff the series always suffered from after the first game (it had more meaning in Petrice’s OG, in our opinion, but always lacked thereafter). This is now closer to Shadows by way of collectable glyphs that exist out in the world for investment in a meta game that doesn’t really matter to proceedings, while the annoying Shop Keys are also floating about to help you complete collectibles within an area. But none of that is bluntly pulling you out of the pirate fantasy in Resynced, and we’re all the better for it.

"The pirate fantasy is a vibe all its own, with the game’s lush setting and high-seas high-stakes politics framing a perfect backdrop for being someone treading a fine-line within the annals of the other important Assassins..."

It’s always a difficult one for any AC team because the Abstergo future content kicked everything off and we’ve spoken in the past about how we think Ubisoft probably wished it could just flick it away and that every adventure is simply that -- a period experience with a specific character from somewhere and when in history.

Those last two are the resonant aspects of Black Flag that make it stand out though. The pirate fantasy is a vibe all its own, with the game’s lush setting and high-seas high-stakes politics framing a perfect backdrop for being someone treading a fine-line within the annals of the other important Assassins throughout the franchise’s convoluted timeline. Kenway is, largely, douchey and self-absorbed at the beginning of the game, but his scoundrel tale turns him altruist by game’s end and while not entirely a redemption arc, it’s transformative, which is a story that has been missing since. Even Eivor’s story lacks in comparison, and theirs has been among the best since.

Kenway is, in many ways, the series’ first true antihero.

A Hexe on you  

If you’ve been following the tumult, unease and even wishy-washy tales coming out of Ubisoft of late, the success of Resynced is definitely a steadier on the rough seas of its development chaos. The concern is that this has Ubi pivoting for any future titles. Rumours are already emerging that the next entry, Assassin’s Creed Hexe, will be a different kind of beast and won’t necessarily fall in line with the more recent open-world entries. Which is fine, but if Resynced because a new design North Star, that raises problems from our perspective.

"Its arcadey high-seas content still reigns supreme and feels, outside of visuals, like the most significant upgrade overall..."

As we’ve touched on, m

ovement through Resycned isn’t always fluid, and Kenway sticks to more surfaces than Spider-man, to a frustrating degree. Combat is slow on input and feels completely off against the more refined efforts of late, specifically from the Quebec team. While the world gating and same-same NPC/Ped design equally reminds us why the series moved forward in the first place.

Black Flag’s strength was always in its fantasy, which aligns with every other entry, but the world is more set-dressing than engageable space (the lack of more accessible interiors is actually frustrating and another lost opportunity), but its arcadey high-seas content still reigns supreme and feels, outside of visuals, like the most significant upgrade overall. 

The OG still holds well, and this reminds us of that all the way through. But for us it also reminds us why we’ve loved the newer entries so much and why these teams are so important on the overall, because Assassin’s Creed has always been a forward-thinking series with new ideas, improvements and experiences always the desired outcome. A trip down memory lane with modern improvements is always welcome, but let’s not forget to iterate on history, in keeping with the franchise’s point overall. If we don't learn from the past, how can we protect the future?

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag: Resynced is a great reminder of the height of the series at one point and still huge amounts of fun to play, but also wears its history on its sleeve with older-style gameplay and a handful of issues that don’t entirely plague the more modern titles.

What’s Boss?

  • A truly stunning visual update
  • The naval side of things is better
  • No Abstergo interruptions makes for a better pirate eperience
  • Kenway remains one of the series' better characters and new cutscenes help bolster this
  • Forgot how much we love a sea shanty or two!

Not Boss Enough?

  • Kenway's movements are still too fast in tight and he sticks to EVERYTHING
  • The overhauled combat is still less responsive and feels more tacked-on than fully 'resynced'
  • Game-world gating is soooo yesteryear, it could have been removed
  • A genuine lack of adding layers to the world by way of more interriors
  • The Ubisoft NPC design dilemma remains

A modern reimagining of the classic Black Flag entry in Assassin's Creed - overhauled visuals, better naval combat and way less future content. But let's leave some legacy stuff, you know, for the fans...

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About the Author

Written By Stephen Farrelly
Stephen Farrelly is a veteran journalist and editor with more than two decades experience in the worlds of gaming, entertainment, lifestyle and sport. He is a proud pug dad, loves art in all forms (particularly street and tattoo culture), and is the director of Swear Jar Editorial and Media Pty Ltd, this site's owner and publisher. When not dispensing words, he's also dispensing boutique beers as a taproom fixture at Bracket Brewing in Marrickville, NSW...
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