Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced Review – PlayStation 5 Pro

The original Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag successfully became a high-water mark (no pun intended) for Ubisoft’s lauded franchise back in 2013, blending its traditional stealth action with an unparalleled swashbuckling pirate fantasy. Launching alongside the previous generation of consoles, Edward Kenway’s adventures drew warranted attention, and now that legend returns to make the most of current-gen tech in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced.

Built entirely from the ground up using the latest Anvil engine, this modern remake promises a faithfully enhanced and deeply immersive experience. Ubisoft’s Singapore studio has led the development by integrating hours of new narrative content alongside thoroughly overhauled stealth, parkour, and naval mechanics for modern sensibilities, delivering on all the expectations fans have had for returning to the sea for more than a decade.

The result is a streamlined yet sprawling, sun-drenched playground that feels simultaneously nostalgic and entirely modern.

Story

The story of Edward Kenway remains one of the most compelling arcs in the series, charting his journey from a ruthless privateer seeking easy riches to a man who ultimately understands the weight of the Assassin Brotherhood’s creed. The core campaign retains the excellent pacing of the original release, allowing players to rub shoulders with historical heavyweights like Blackbeard, Charles Vane and Mary Read.

An interesting change to the original is the controversial decision to remove both the multiplayer portion and modern-day office segments entirely from the experience. While the multiplayer has been ditched completely, in the stead of the Abstergo segments are ‘Rifts’, offering bite-sized narrative-driven scenarios delving deeper into Edward’s memories, motivations and choices. It is a real boon on balance, allowing for greater unbroken immersion amidst the Golden Age of Piracy. Despite personally being a fan of the broader storyline (well, at least Desmond’s journey in the original trilogy), it is a bit of a shame, but Black Flag was the first to drag you into sterile corporate offices holding a tablet, which were admittedly cool from a story perspective, though severely lacking in actual gameplay value.

The post-game experience is substantially expanded with a new eight-mission arc titled ‘A World Without Gold’, pitting Edward in a battle of wits against a relentless pirate hunter named Robert Maynard. This highly tactical adversary forces players to utilise every tool in their arsenal, providing a satisfyingly challenging conclusion to the main narrative. You can also uncover new side quests, rebuild an expansive hideout in Great Inagua, and even recruit interactive pets to join your crew on the Jackdaw.

While the extra content is highly welcome, the new motion-captured scenes and dialogue feel slightly stiff and jarring when compared to the highly dynamic cinematic cutscenes of the original. The animations during these newly added sequences occasionally lack the micro-expressions and fluid eye tracking seen in the 2013 version that brought Edward’s garrulous charm to life, leading to moments where characters appear slightly wooden during what should be emotionally charged conversations. Nevertheless, the overall tale is just as compelling as originally told, with the new flourishes only enriching the package.

Another somewhat more disappointing omission is the decision to exclude a remake of ‘Freedom Cry’, a brilliant piece of additional content available for the original which told the story of Adéwalé, a former slave who takes on his own crusade to free his fellow captives from the clutches of the Templars in present-day Haiti. The decision for Freedom Cry to take on some incredibly weighty topics was something which I hugely appreciated Ubisoft taking the bold decision to do, as well as elevating a Black side character into a leading role.

It is a huge shame that his story was passed over here, with the creative director confirming the decision was made to keep the game ‘fully focused on Edward’s adventures’, a choice I sincerely hope they revisit in the future.

Gameplay

The extent to which Resynced has changed up Black Flag is immediately apparent in the combat, which has received a significant update by shifting towards deliberate, parry-driven encounters and using the shoulder buttons for attacks, lifted from more recent entries in the franchise.

The new mechanics revolve heavily around breaking enemy defence bars to open them up for fatal takedowns. Landing a perfect parry allows Edward to chain takedowns to up to four nearby enemies, creating a deeply satisfying rhythm once you nail the timing. Enemies have to be more properly read and countered, making for more dynamic scenarios and choice in how to tackle clearing out enemy forts. Stealth is equally modernised with a dedicated crouch button, an incredibly useful environmental visibility meter, and a rope dart functioning as a versatile combo tool for silently taking down adversaries.

It does mean the timings are pretty different versus the original. While Edward still equips his signature twin cutlasses, they function quite differently in practice. The off-hand blade is now strictly reserved for parrying incoming strikes and executing specific adrenaline-fueled finishers, preventing you from simply unleashing a constant flurry of dual-wielded light attacks.

Furthermore, the Hidden Blade has been removed entirely from open combat and is restricted purely to stealth and contextual kills. The new learning curve is steeper, yet ultimately more rewarding due to the added tactical sheen.

Naval combat remains the beating heart of the game and has received the most substantial mechanical upgrades. Returning to the deck of the Jackdaw feels weightier and more responsive, with wind direction and sea swells playing a much larger role in navigational and combat strategy. The ship now features secondary firing modes, such as heated shots and devastating shrapnel barrels, providing deeper strategic options during massive fleet engagements.

You can also recruit three new naval officers (a Weapon Master, a Shipwright, and a Man-at-Arms) who grant unique abilities like the Ram Dash and Perfect Brace to help you conquer the legendary ships scattered across the map. Boarding sequences have been refined to feel more chaotic and cinematic, plunging players into a pulse-pounding experience each time, of which there are many. The sprawling map maintains the sense of adventure and allows for hours of roaming and pillaging. Swinging across the rigging to crash onto the deck of a towering Spanish Galleon remains one of the most exhilarating experiences in modern gaming, perfectly capturing the chaotic thrill of high-seas piracy.

Audio

Much of the atmosphere in Black Flag Resynced relies on its phenomenal sound design. The iconic sea shanties return in full force and sound better than ever. Your crew will belt out classics like ‘Randy Dandy Oh’ as you navigate the rolling Caribbean waves, and the audio mix ensures their voices naturally reverberate over the wind and surf. A massive standout is the brilliant addition of Woodkid, who returns to the franchise to deliver a wonderfully dark and cinematic reimagination of ‘Leave Her Johnny’, reinventing the iconic shanty for the modern era and elevating the entire experience. The spatial audio dynamically shifts based on your camera position, making you feel as though you are standing right next to your quartermaster on the bow of your vessel.

Brian Tyler’s swashbuckling original score has been beautifully remastered to take full advantage of 3D audio, and is now joined by over twenty brand-new tracks from composer Stephen Lukach. Lukach’s exceptional additions blend seamlessly with Tyler’s beloved work, ensuring the new narrative ‘Rifts’ and post-game missions carry the exact same level of sweeping orchestral weight. The environmental foley work is equally impressive, filled with the calls of exotic birds, the rustle of dense foliage, and the rhythmic crashing of the tide against sandy shores.

Combat audio has also seen a massive overhaul. The deafening roar of a broadside cannon volley feels heavier and more impactful, rattling your speakers with profound bass. The DualSense controller’s built-in speaker adds an extra layer of immersion by playing the satisfying crack of musket fire and the sharp clash of steel during boarding actions. Every successful parry rings out with a crisp metallic chime, providing vital auditory feedback during frantic sword fights.

Performance

The upgraded visual experience on this game deserves special mention, as Black Flag Resynched looks nothing short of amazing, capably holding its own alongside current-gen titles with a raft of upgrades.

PlayStation 5 Pro hardware (used for this review) allows this beloved classic to shine brilliantly, with the extra graphical horsepower to deliver a visually stunning interpretation of the West Indies. The game offers three distinct visual profiles to suit your specific display setup: Performance mode at 60 FPS, Fidelity mode at 30 FPS, and a Balanced mode at 40 FPS for those fortunate enough to have 120Hz displays.

Crucially, unlike the base console, the PS5 Pro does not force you to compromise on lighting with three modes on the Pro featuring both ray-traced global illumination and ray-traced specular reflections. This means even when playing at a flawlessly smooth 60 FPS, you still get gorgeous, natural colour bleeding in interiors and highly accurate reflections across the ocean’s surface.

All modes utilise Sony’s second-generation PSSR upscaling to reach a crisp, beautifully detailed 4K output resolution. The PS5 Pro version also exclusively introduces strand-based hair rendering, which is active across all cutscenes and during gameplay in Fidelity mode, allowing hair to react naturally to the Caribbean winds.

Online discourse heavily praises the environmental overhaul. The newly seamless cities mean you can transition from sailing the treacherous open seas to running across the sun-drenched Havana rooftops without a single loading screen. The complex water physics, dynamic weather transitions, and natural cloth simulation on Edward’s outfit have been highlighted by players on social media as some of the most impressive visual upgrades in the franchise’s history.

Sailing directly into a tropical waterspout feels genuinely terrifying as the sky darkens and the waves swell to monolithic heights. Furthermore, the technical foundation is rock solid, with players reporting a largely stutter-free experience even during the most chaotic naval battles involving multiple frigates and volatile weather effects.

Verdict

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced successfully modernises a fan favourite for a new generation of players.

The technical upgrades on the PlayStation 5 Pro are undeniable and provide a stunning, fluid Caribbean sandbox to explore. The seamless integration of land and sea traversal elevates the core gameplay loop to unprecedented heights.

While the new engine brings some minor growing pains regarding character animations and combat adjustments, the mechanical improvements and wealth of new content make this an essential voyage, although Adéwalé’s relegation back to second fiddle is a disappointment.

The removal of the modern-day framing narrative ensures the pacing remains razor-sharp from the opening sequence to the final credits. Resynched stands tall as the definitive pirate fantasy, serving as a brilliantly reimagined reminder of why Edward Kenway’s journey captivated so many, and will doubtlessly attract millions more this time around.