Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced launches this Thursday, July 9, on PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, and PC, and I’ve been playing it on a PlayStation 5 Pro ahead of release with a code provided by Ubisoft. My full review publishes Wednesday, July 8 at 3:00 AM Pacific (6:00 AM Eastern). Until then, here’s a rundown of what the remake actually includes, along with a first batch of screenshots from the opening hours of the game.
Resynced is a ground-up remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, which is largely considered a fan favorite of the series. Ubisoft Singapore leads development on the latest version of the Anvil engine, the same technology behind Assassin’s Creed Shadows, following Ubisoft’s confirmation of the project in March and the July 9 date announcement in April. Original Black Flag writer Darby McDevitt returned for the remake, and Matt Ryan is back as the voice of Edward Kenway alongside the original cast. The story remains Edward’s, a privateer-turned-pirate chasing fortune through the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy, and the opening hours take him from his introduction to the streets of Havana and out onto the open sea.
Combat has been rebuilt around a parry system driven by color cues, where a golden flash marks an attack that can be parried and red signals one that has to be dodged. Perfect Parries chain into takedowns against multiple enemies, and Ubisoft says enemies adapt their tactics when players repeat the same moves. Stealth and parkour have been upgraded as well, per Ubisoft, and the remake adds granular difficulty options that can be tuned separately across different parts of the game.
On the water, the Jackdaw’s weapons now carry secondary fire modes, and boarding returns as an alternative to sinking a defeated ship. Captured vessels can be sent to Kenway’s Fleet to run missions for passive income, broken down to repair the Jackdaw, or used to lower Edward’s Wanted Level and shake off Pirate Hunters. Resynced also introduces three recruitable officers, shipwright Lucy Baldwin, a Master-at-Arms called the Padre, and gunner Tobias “Deadman” Smith, each granting a naval perk once their questline is completed.
The remake’s other headline changes cover the world itself. A new Dive Anywhere feature lets Edward swim underwater across the map, new islands have been added to the Caribbean, and Edward’s Hideout on Great Inagua has been expanded with upgradeable buildings, which Ubisoft detailed alongside the game’s new missions in June. Ubisoft says the remake carries around six hours of new narrative content, including expanded storylines for Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet and a new chapter of endgame missions. The original game’s modern-day Abstergo sections are gone, replaced with optional quests called Rifts, and the remake adds ship pets and a photo mode.
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is priced at $59.99 for the standard edition in physical and digital formats, while a digital-only Deluxe Edition runs $69.99. On PC, the game is available through the Ubisoft Store, Steam, and the Epic Games Store, and it’s also included with Ubisoft+. The screenshots were captured on a PlayStation 5 Pro during the opening portion of the game, and the full FullCleared review arrives Wednesday, July 8 at 3:00 AM Pacific (6:00 AM Eastern), one day before launch.
