Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced is much more than a straightforward remaster

One thing the Assassin’s Creed series has always managed to do well is meet media fads with near-perfect timing.

Whether the media landscape is currently obsessed with Vikings, the Renaissance, or Feudal Japan, this series of hooded boys and their neck-stabbing toys always meets the mood at just the right moment to capitalize on the interest. There is perhaps no greater example of this than when Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag was released in 2013, when the pirate aesthetic ruled our hearts, but there wasn’t much coming out to cater to that desire.

The Pirates of the Caribbean series was going downhill with an awful fourth film, people were living without sea shanties in their hearts, and more importantly, fatigue was setting in for the Assassin’s Creed formula that had existed up until that point.

That’s when Black Flag burst onto the scene and blew everything wide open. The beautiful scenes of the bright blue ocean as you sailed past the lush green tropics warmed our hearts, and our crew sang a jaunty tune to carry us along our way. The boat-based gameplay took the series in a completely new direction, and people loved it so much that the series has tried to force naval combat into every game since.

You just can’t beat the original, though, which is why Ubisoft has unveiled Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced, a remake of the 2013 game with a surprising amount of improvements and additions, releasing on July 9, 2026, for PS5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC, with development led by Ubisoft Singapore. I had expected this to be a fairly straightforward remaster, like the Ezio trilogy before it, but it turns out this is a fully-fledged remake, which brings significant changes alongside new content.

Starting in the graphical department, this is no mere texture upscaling. As you parkour across rooftops, you’ll see that a lot of the models and textures have been completely rebuilt, some even undergoing complete redesigns to better fit the game’s style. Towns are more lively, with new scenery to admire (and climb all over), and the ocean is a sight to behold. I’ve always thought that the original Black Flag still holds up with its water textures and landscapes, but Resynced brings it all up to a modern standard.

All of these newly designed textures blend well with the upgraded parkour system, which incorporates many of the improvements the series has made since 2013. It expands Edward’s moveset, with things like back-kicks and side-jumps to add to that sense of flow and momentum that this series has always been known for.

Ground combat has been tweaked, too, as it was far too easy in the original. The counter-and-execute system of the original gave you ridiculously generous windows to block attacks, and once you got on a combo, you could keep it going indefinitely to one-shot almost any enemy who approached you. So, Resynced has toned this down a bit. Now you have a “perfect parry” system, which requires more precise timing, and combos are limited to just four kills, rather than extending infinitely.

“As you parkour across rooftops, you’ll see that a lot of the models and textures have been completely rebuilt, some even undergoing complete redesigns to better fit the game’s style.”

This means you’ll actually need to use all the tools in your arsenal, like your flintlock pistols, smoke bombs, and ropeshots that pull enemies in. When you’re able to realize that moveset to its full potential, it’s thrilling; it’s just that the original never really put you in situations where you needed to use it, so these tweaks to combat should fix that issue.

Resynced also fixes the biggest nightmare of the series: tailing missions. Gone are the days when the person you’re following sees a hint of your pinky toe, leading to detection and an instant reset. Now, if you’re detected during a tail, the mission will adapt, with your target either fleeing to their destination or engaging you in combat to keep the action going.

Plus, with improvements to the stealth system – like the ability to crouch anywhere – it’ll be much easier to avoid being caught in the first place. This will be especially welcome in the awful boat-stealth missions, where your giant frigate has to somehow remain undetected while tailing another boat.

Outside of all those tweaks and improvements, there is a bunch of brand-new content, too. You can now recruit three unique officers to your crew, who you can equip to your ship for unique abilities in combat. These include things like a ram-dash for smashing into ships, or a double volley on all of your broadside shots. What’s more, these characters all have their own stories and questlines associated with them, meaning you’ll actually get to connect with them as characters. This extends to existing characters as well, with a bunch of new narrative scenes featuring Blackbeard, Kidd, and more.

The rest of the additions are more about maximizing the aesthetic and absorbing you in everything we love about the pirate life. You can now get yourself either a cat or a monkey to join you on your ship, making things much more lively, and of course, there is the most important addition of all: new shanties for your crew to sing as you sail along your merry way.

There have been some disappointing removals, though. First of all, the multiplayer mode is gone. While this was to be expected, given that Ubisoft shut the servers down for those a few years ago, it’s still a shame, as the hunt modes were a lot of fun. More surprisingly, Resynced will feature none of the original’s DLC. The team says this is because they wanted to focus solely on Edward’s story, but the lack of the Freedom Cry story will be a disappointment for many, as Adewale is a fan-favorite character.

“Resynced also fixes the biggest nightmare of the series: tailing missions. Gone are the days when the person you’re following sees a hint of your pinky toe, leading to detection and an instant reset.”

Then there’s the ever-controversial modern-day storyline. The original game saw you take up the first-person role of an Animus game developer, working in Abstero’s studios to get all the footage required from Edward’s life while the evil organization secretly used it to learn about the Observatory he uncovered. Plus something about a man being possessed by a being of the precursor race… you know, the standard incomprehensible nonsense of this series’ modern-day plotline.

Still, it seems Resynced will be doing away with some, if not all of that, as the team confirmed that while there will still be modern-day scenes, it will be all about exploring Edward’s story from a different angle, rather than furthering the series’ overarching plot.

All of this comes together to show that Resynced is going to be everything we loved about the original, with a bunch of extra spice on top to make it feel better than ever. While the lack of multiplayer and DLC is a shame, the core parts of the experience have been added to and improved in a number of ways that will likely make this the definitive way to play Black Flag.

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag Resynced releases on July 9, 2026, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.