Has it really been 13 years since we took privateer-turned-pirate and assassin Edward Kenway across the seven seas? Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remains one of the series’ most treasured titles, so whether you’re familiar with its swashbuckling exploits or a new fish to its depths, Ubisoft’s announcement of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced on PS5 offers the perfect chance to see why it’s hoisted in such high regard.
A faithful remake which focuses on the original’s core single-player adventure, the development team haven’t only applied a fresh lick of presentational paint to Assassin’s Creed Black Flag. They’ve also looked at quality of life gameplay improvements, conducting workshops for player feedback to ensure any changes didn’t stray too far from what made the game tick.
So, what can we expect?
What’s back from the original
Edward Kenway Returns: Of course, Captain Edward Kenway is central to Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, his story remaining the driving force of the game. Performed by Matt Ryan, the character’s original voice actor, Kenway is joined by his iconic cast of notorious real life pirates, including Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, and Charles Vane.
Caribbean Setting: As with its story, the luscious locations are all present and accounted for, with its bustling cities, dense jungles, and sun-kissed beaches spread across the likes of Nassau, Kingston, and Havana.
Your vessel: Kenway’s ship, the Jackdaw, was a big part of the original game, and rest assured, you can still set sail, engage in boarding parties and raids, and listen to the crew’s jaunty sea shanties.
What’s new or improved
PS5 Pro Enhancements: Ubisoft is taking advantage of PS5 Pro to deliver an immersive pirating adventure.
“We were extremely impressed with the enhanced PSSR. It really redefines the graphics experience in console games. It allowed us to render our dynamic tropical world full of swaying palm trees, violent storms and rogue waves without visible upscaling artifacts, delivering sharp pixel quality and great image stability.”
– Jussi Markkanen, Technical Director, Ubisoft Singapore
“Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced pushes ray tracing further across all modes on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro. PlayStation 5 brings more consistent lighting, while PlayStation 5 Pro delivers a no-compromise experience with advanced ray tracing performance and enhanced PSSR.”
– Nicolas Lopez, Technical Architect, Ubisoft Montréal
New Game Engine: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced uses the latest version of the Anvil engine, which means more detailed character faces, richer animations, and denser crowds. And it shows – the varied environments, on land, across the sea, and beneath the waves all look more vivid, vibrant, and expansive.
Expanded Soundtrack: Some new audio tracks join the visuals, with French musician and Assassin’s Creed fan Woodkid contributing. And those sea shanties I mentioned earlier? Well, expect even more to be added to your favourites.
Parkour Improvements: Kenway was always fleet of foot, but now he is even more agile with an enhanced parkour system which includes the ability to perform three jumps along with back and side ejects. The result is smoother traversal movement that flows more naturally, feels tighter, and makes assassinations look even better. And speaking of assassinations…
Reworked Combat System: Fighting is faster and more fluid, with an emphasis on making the most of your combos, perfect parry, and up to four chained takedowns. There are also additional destructible elements in the environments to make your attacks feel even more devastating.
Better Stealth: Kenway’s covert options have been given a polish, too. Now you can crouch freely – and speedily – to approach targets. Also, failing any tailing or eavesdropping objectives no longer end in an instant desync. Instead of having to restart the mission when you’re discovered, the target reacts to your sloppy stealth and you have to salvage the mission however you can.
New Chapters and Storylines: New content has been added to both the modern day sections and the main tale, including a new scene with Edward’s wife Caroline, specifically written by the original’s lead writer, Darby McDevitt. Kenway’s not the only character to benefit from fresh writing, either, with expanded arcs for some of the other crew, such as Blackbeard.
New Characters:There are also few fresh faces, via new officers Lucy Baldwin, The Padre, and Deadman Smith. Each one has a unique backstory and special abilities – for example, Deadman can unlock a devastating double shot from broadside weapons on the Jackdaw – but you’ll need to earn their trust to recruit them.
Expanded Naval Arsenal:While we’re talking about the Jackdaw, sea battles are even more spectacular via new alternate fire upgrades for every weapon. Navigating also has a little more spice to it due to the dynamic weather system affecting how the ship handles. And most importantly for animal lovers, you can now recruit a cat or monkey to your crew.
And all of this is just the start. There’ll be more info fired across the broadside of the coming months as Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced sails towards its July 9 release on PS5.