Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced Review

Assassin’s Creed IV was hailed as the best in the series upon release, and still held that title for many for quite a while. I get why – it’s basically an open-world pirate adventure game. Something there aren’t many of that are actually worth playing. It scratched an itch the likes of Sea Dogs, and that very old crappy Pirates of the Caribbean game just couldn’t quite reach (for me at least).

That said, it was quite a surprise when I first saw reports of leaks that the game was being remade a few years back. I wrote it off as wishful thinking. Surely a game that was barely 10 years old at the time wasn’t getting remade from the ground up? What would be the point? It would be like getting a remake of the 2016 iteration of DOOM by today’s standard. There was nothing wrong with the original. If it was true, there’s no way I’m wasting money on a game that wouldn’t even have left primary school yet.

Yet, here we are. It turned out to be gaming’s latest worst-kept secret, and now it’s out. This idiot right here also bought it. There’s a decent enough reason for that, though. I never played the original via legitimate means (if you get my drift). I was a jobless bum back then. So to make amends, I decided to actually buy it this time around. Here’s what I thought of the experience.

A Worthy Graphical Upgrade

The graphics on this remake are beautiful. I can’t really fault them at all. It was confusing at first, because this remake looks how I remember the original looking, but when you see the side-by-side comparisons, it’s definitely a huge improvement. I was playing on a base PS5 and had it set to performance mode (I ain’t playing this shit at 30FPS), and it still looked great.

The visuals that stood out to me the most were the environments. They make me want to go on holiday, honestly. The jungles are lush and green, the beach sand is a glorious white (when it’s not stained with the blood of my enemies), and the turquoise ocean is extremely inviting. The colours of the coral reefs and tropical fish below just make me want to dive in and never get out.

The addition of even more underwater areas to explore is seriously cool too. There’s a lot more to discover while diving in comparison to the original game, and it looks stunning. Almost too stunning in places. Open ocean freaks me the fuck out when playing on a big screen.

All in all, looks great. Nicely done!

Jumping and Crouching

Another thing that I saw before I had a go myself was that the free-running and movement was supposedly improved. It feels alright, but I can’t really remember how it is compared to the original game. It feels a bit more in line with AC: Unity (I think, again, I can’t remember that far back) but with the added side-effect of JUMPING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m a complete tool and just can’t use a controller. Or maybe it’s just kinda stupid. The number of times I’ve tried to jump from one ledge or tree to the next, and Edward goes sailing downwards or just the complete fucking opposite way, does my head in. I don’t remember having this issue in the original. Sometimes simpler is better for dumb-dumbs like me.

Another thing I noticed, which I don’t specifically remember from the original, is you now need to push in L3 to sprint. For this kind of game, I’m not too keen on that. I don’t feel convinced Edward is actually sprinting when I push it once. I much prefer the old hold-X-to-sprint method, which leads on to what the X button does. Yeah, it’s used to jump between ledges (or bail to the floor in my case) while parkouring, but it also does a little single jump when you’re stood still. I don’t really get why you’d need to do this. I tried running and jumping a few times, but it just throws you into free-running anyway.

No matter though. It’s still AC parkour at the end of the day. It does what it needs to do. It gets you from A to B, while throwing you down to your death a few times first.

Sekiro But Pirates (and Easier)

The combat for the original game was alright. Bit easy in places, just mash the buttons and counter when you see a blue flash, then Edward cuts his way through every poor bastard standing in his way. I couldn’t complain back then; it made my life easier and got the job done. However, the combat has been rehauled for this remake in a fashion that I’m absolutely okay with.

Combat is now tied to R1 to swing your swords and L1 to parry. It actually feels a lot like Sekiro, just much less infuriating. Yes, if you struggle with parrying mechanics like this, then you will probably get battered, but if that’s the case, well, it’s a you problem. The game also lets you achieve perfect parries, which you can then follow up with a takedown. These takedowns can also be chained to other enemies, so eventually, as you progress through the game and jack Edward up, you’ll find yourself cutting through enemies like Swiss cheese. It’s tasty and satisfying. I did notice you also can’t use the hidden blades in combat now outside of takedowns, but that’s hardly a loss. Swords are fine.

I will say, though, targeting enemies doesn’t feel like there’s any point. I never do it; I just swing my swords around and go for anyone in my way. When you lock on to a new enemy, I expect the camera to focus on them a bit more, but it doesn’t really seem to do that. Wasn’t how I expected it to work, but it’s fine. It hasn’t ruined the combat for me in any way so far.

The only thing I don’t really like so much is how you use Edward’s pistols. You can still use them with the press of a button and instantly shoot, but you can’t just hold L2 to start aiming; you need to press an extra button first before you can aim. A little bit of a nightmare for impatient precision pricks like me. It feels a bit tedious though. If an enemy is running at me, I just want to point and shoot. That’s not as quick to achieve with these slightly altered controls. It’s still possible, of course, and you can still do it quickly, just not as quickly as I’d like. I’m not sure an extra button to press is necessary.

Stealth for people that hate Stealth

The stealth in this game has been revamped a little. I kind of like stealth, but most of the time I can’t be bothered with it (you should see me playing Hitman, I play it like you’re supposed to be an active shooter). I feel like the changes that have been made have been tailored to lazy players like me. Crouching has its own button, and you can sneak around everywhere rather than just in bushes or whatever. I think I prefer this to what we had before. I can deliberately be stealthy if I want to. Not that I do that too often. Run and slash tends to be quicker.

Eavesdropping missions being reworked is probably the best thing they did. No longer will you fail if caught. No longer do you have to do the same fucking thing if you get seen while trying to follow someone. Hallelujah.

Same Story, with Some Extras

The story of the game is still the same game we know and loved, with a few extra missions (I haven’t noticed any new content myself, but there are extra missions involving Blackbeard, Anne Bonney and Stede Bonnet). The characters have the same performances as the original, as you’d expect really. Or at least I’m pretty sure that’s the case. There’d be no point in re-recording every single line from the original game. Any new content has had the original actors back in the recording booth too, which is great. No AI bullshit.

One thing I wish they did include, though, is the DLC. I never got to play Freedom Cry, and I feel like if that was in this game, then it would make it nice and complete. Hopefully they’re not going to try and sell it to us again. Which leads to my next point…

Microtransactions. In a Single-player game. FFS.

They just can’t help themselves over at Ubisoft, can they? Why they think putting cosmetic microtransactions in a single-player experience is a good idea, I have no clue. People must buy them; otherwise, it’s a waste of time on their end. If you bought any, you’re an idiot. Simple as that. Stop enabling this shitty practice. Sell us the FULL game. I haven’t even seen a single one that looks good. A few of them look ridiculous with tentacles or particles flying around or some shit. Just piss off.

Verditct

Moaning aside, this is a great remake of a great game. I honestly had low expectations, but I’m glad I picked it up. I feel like I’m reliving the good old days on my PS4. This game is still the closest thing we have to a truly great open-world action-adventure Pirate game, and probably will stay that way for some time yet.

A few other things I didn’t go into but will mention briefly: it’s now possible to recruit different officers for your ship, there are a bunch more customisation options for the Jackdaw, you can experience certain weather effects that can change the way your ship handles, and there’s also a bunch of new sea shanties!

Even though I don’t think this game needed a remake, it still worked out well. Well done this time, Ubisoft. Now, go and make something new that’s actually good for your next release.