Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced Review (PS5)

If you were there on day one of the PS4 generation, you probably bought Killzone Shadow Fall and Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag with the system. I also snagged Need for Speed Rivals and a PS Camera at the midnight pickup from GAME, then jogged back to my university dorm to play for a few hours before classes the next day.

These kinds of console launch experiences reserve a special place in our hearts, helping to form our initial impressions of a new generation as early adopters. The actual quality of what we play can almost become secondary to the thirst to experience something new — that’s why Knack still lives fondly in the memory.

In the case of Black Flag, however, publisher Ubisoft released a banger entry to back a banger system.

13 years later, it’s back on PS5 to confirm that wasn’t just nostalgia: Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced returns a fan-favourite to glory with a faithful yet expanded remake.

Here we have the base game restored to current standards with a complete visual overhaul and a laundry list of gameplay improvements. You don’t get the Freedom Cry expansion, the multiplayer modes, or the modern-day missions, but in their place are new questlines and longer, better character arcs.

The end result sits smartly between the two gameplay styles of the Assassin’s Creed series; it feels and plays like the games of old, improved by many of the features found in the most recent entries.

Pirate protagonist Edward Kenway sails the Caribbean seas in search of The Observatory, an ancient structure both the Assassins and Templars are also on the hunt for. The quest weds the series’ traditional gameplay loop from before the RPG instalments with ship combat and ocean exploration.

It’s an experience that excelled in 2013, and remains an accomplished one over a decade later.

Basic mission design and an activity-scarce open world stand out more amongst all the improvements, with simple side tasks and collectibles providing little reason to deviate from the story. Once you’ve collected one Song Sheet, you’ve already seen what all the others have to offer, and every Fort liberation at sea plays out the exact same way.

This was the Ubisoft open world formula during its peak, and in 2026, it’s an example of how far the genre has come. There is a certain degree of charm to its simplistic nature, but don’t expect it to stick for the entire 30-hour journey.

Luckily, in the midst of a main quest, Black Flag Resynced still lands.

It’s a mixture of old and new as classic stealth gameplay and sword fighting are elevated by modern design and techniques. You get a custom version of the Guided / Exploration modes the most recent Assassin’s Creed games implemented, where some objectives are marked in the HUD while others demand you search for them.

A stealthy approach is more viable with a new visibility meter, a dedicated crouch button, and better traversability like ziplines and “advanced parkour” moves sourced from Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

If you’re spotted, the updated combat system now demands well-timed parries and takedowns to eliminate the Spanish and British soldiers. Attacks usually reduce and eventually break their guard, opening them up for a one-hit kill. It’s a simple process that doesn’t really evolve throughout your travels, save for the improved gear.

Ship battles now have more to offer, though: every weapon on deck has a new secondary fire option to unlock. They expand your capabilities out on the high seas, incorporating double fire, extra shrapnel, and even elements from Assassin’s Creed Rogue. There’s more to it, bolstering firepower at the wheel.

All told, it’s an admirable restoration effort that pays homage to the PS4, PS3 original while recognising where it can improve. I found it to be a worthwhile update that’s fairly modern, slightly dated, yet thoroughly enjoyable all at the same time.

I appreciated delving deeper into Kenway's journey; new quests expand the narrative, some of which even extend the plot beyond the original game’s ending.

There are sets of missions tied to new officers to recruit aboard the Jackdaw, a handful of levels pitched as “what if?” scenarios involving the Animus, and miscellaneous side quests that go deeper on story beats and characters from the base title. The standout addition is that post-game content, though, with a full epilogue on hand to continue the plot.

You might not get the full breadth of content from the original, but Ubisoft has put in the work to expand Black Flag Resynced where it can. The new Officer storylines are intriguing, and I loved going beyond the boundaries of the original ending — more content after the credits is a compelling reason to keep playing.

Every one of these updates and additions can only be appreciated in-game, so the graphical overhaul has to do the heavy lifting for getting fans through the door; Ubisoft will be pleased then the final result is so substantial and impressive.

It’s a generational advancement that brings so much life to characters and all the environments around them. Using the latest version of the Anvil engine, Black Flag Resynced couples a remake of all assets with new ray tracing features. It looks stunning both on land and out at sea, with beautiful tropical vistas and lush islands to explore.

The facial models can be a touch inconsistent; there’s sometimes quite a difference in detail between a big-budget cutscene and general gameplay. However, when it’s putting in the effort, the remake and its character cast look really good.

What impressed me most was the new weather system, and how it affects the ocean. A summer's day produces beautiful oceanic scenes with calm, blue waves gently lapping against the Jackdaw.

However, the forecast can quickly turn for the worse, and all of a sudden, I’m facing hurricanes and tidal waves. Threatening to topple your pirate ship, they present just as much danger as any man-of-war. The sky darkens and the water becomes choppy, revealing a weather system just as dangerous as it is pretty.

An overall beautiful renovation, Black Flag Resynced is a leader in how to modernise an ageing classic.

Bringing it up to scratch comes with one downside: the Animus Hub. This is the set of menus containing the game’s silly Battle Passes and premium store selling absurd skins for real-life money. On-screen notifications during gameplay constantly remind you of some stupid “Project” you’ve finished or a currency reward you can redeem, all of which obviously weren’t in the original game.

The pop-ups are extremely annoying, overtaking your access to the map on the pause screen and directing you to a slow and clunky menu should you accidentally press the touch pad when they appear. This crap has got to go.