Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is definitely just Black Flag again, but it’s far from a cash-grab re-release

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Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a beloved game, and Ubisoft is bringing it back with a remake. After 13 years, fans can once again experience and enjoy this classic title.

Great news for Assassin’s Creed fans! If you haven’t heard, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is now available, and I’ve already spent about three hours playing it. It’s a dream come true for anyone who loves pirate adventures!

This will likely be a brief preview. As you probably know from watching or reading about the game, it’s essentially Assassin’s Creed Black Flag.

Okay, so Ubisoft is really emphasizing that they’ve tried to stay super true to the original game with this remake. They’re saying it’s as close as they could get to the original experience, which is awesome to hear as a fan!

Essentially, this involves rebuilding the game’s Caribbean setting from scratch using the same Anvil engine that powers Mirage and Shadows.

No matter your opinion of these games in general, it’s hard to deny they are visually impressive, and Black Flag Resynced continues that trend, marking the third time they’ve achieved this level of visual quality.

The towns and vibrant plant life on land are exactly the colourful scenes you’d imagine in an 18th-century Caribbean setting. But the sea is truly spectacular, and even more so when you get to explore it while diving.

Some might see Resynced as just a visual upgrade, but it actually includes many helpful improvements that make it a worthwhile experience, even if you’ve played the original.

Okay, so the coolest thing about this update? The whole world is totally connected now. I can literally start a mission in Havana, hop onto my ship, the Jackdaw, and sail all the way down to Kingston without any loading screens! It’s a game changer, honestly – so much smoother and way more immersive.

The game’s combat system has been improved with faster enemy takedowns, quicker abilities, and a new parry feature. These changes make combat feel smoother and more natural.

Stealth has also had some much-needed upgrades too.

It used to be frustrating not being able to crouch freely, didn’t it? Now you can crouch whenever and wherever you need to, just like in other stealth games.

When you’re spotted while tailing someone, the mission doesn’t end right away. Instead, it smoothly transitions into a fight where you can use all the skills and tools you’ve learned.

Getting around is simpler overall. Beyond the already fantastic parkour, the game now features ziplines in cities for faster travel, and an ‘Observe mode’ that helps you locate goals and hidden clues.

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None of these improvements are major enough to justify an upgrade by themselves, but combined, they offer a way to enjoy a classic game while smoothing over the parts that haven’t held up over time.

Most Assassin’s Creed games focus on fighting, sneaking, and climbing, but those elements are just one part of this game, which also lets you command a powerful ship armed with cannons and battle British warships.

Resynced is a new game developed by Ubisoft Singapore, the team known for their work on the upcoming naval combat game, Skull & Bones.

While Skull & Bones has faced criticism, its naval combat is actually quite strong. That same skill in ship battles has been blended with the core gameplay of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag to create a unique experience.

The Jackdaw has been improved in several ways – it handles better at sea, and now features new secondary weapons, adorable pets, and three recruitable officers. Each officer brings a unique ability to battles, adding fresh tactical options.

Plus, there are a bunch of new sea shanties, which is obviously the main thing.

Each officer also has a personal storyline with optional side missions to undertake.

We caught a quick look at this while playing, but didn’t get a good enough impression to say whether it’s any good.

These updates are fairly short, usually lasting around two hours or less. It’s more accurate to consider them extra content for the game, which is now 13 years old, rather than major additions to the core experience.

The biggest addition to the new content is a set of exciting new missions, and Matt Ryan, the actor who plays Edward, has returned to voice some new lines for the game.

One of the highlights of my time in Havana was when Edward first showed up to order a drink and was playfully teased for being Welsh by a character who had an incredibly strong Welsh accent – it was a fantastic moment!

Ultimately, that covers the main points. As I mentioned earlier, if you’re familiar with the original Black Flag, you’ll already have a good understanding of what Resynced offers – about 90% of it, actually.

It’s hard to say exactly how different the updated version of Black Flag will be overall, since we’ve only played the beginning so far.

It’s clear that this isn’t just a quick way to make money from a re-release, whether you’ve played the original game before or are discovering it for the first time.

Ubisoft hopes Resynced will be the best way to experience Assassin’s Creed Black Flag. Based on a demo I played last month, I believe it has the potential to be, if the full game maintains that same high quality.

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced releases on 9 July 2026 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Authors

Alex RaisbeckGaming writer

Alex Raisbeck writes about video games for TopMob, covering both big-name titles and smaller independent games. He’s also contributed to well-known gaming publications like VideoGamer, GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, and PCGamesN.

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2026-05-21 19:37