Assassin’s Creed® Black Flag Resynced Review

I feel my relationship with Assassin’s Creed® is in a strange place. I love the franchise, and I think the lore is some of the best we’ve gotten from a video game. And I’ve found their world’s exciting to immerse myself in and explore. But since, I assume 2017’s Origin, the series has walked an odd line. One which intends to blend the RPG elements Odyssey successfully implemented in 2018, while retaining its pedigree that traces all the way back to the original 2007 release.

And the result is Assassin’s Creed® Black Flag Resynced.

The game takes place in the Golden Age of Piracy, somewhere between the 1650’s and 1730’s, and you play as Edward Kenway. Kenway is a young go-getter chasing purse in the hopes of joining the Noble class. Matt Ryan, of Constantine fame, portrays the likable rascal. And their slow descent into the world of the Creed is one of the best in the series. His journey slowly strips away his identity, as revelations surface that perhaps his lineage always led to the way of the Assassin. It’s just going to take a few seas to get there.

Those familiar with the series know parkour is its main bread and butter. The difference in Black Flag is the sailing. ‘Tis an age of pirates after all. And the latest iteration of the Ubisoft Anvil engine brings it to life in a way that makes you think: “I bet this is how it looked when I first played it”. Though “first played it” not only applies to the 7th generation of consoles, but also the 8th. You will scour the Seven Seas, which in this case, mostly takes place in the Caribbean and do…a lot. Which when presented behind the stunning visual facade, makes you wonder who this game is for.

I’m in shock.

While reflecting on what I just said, I had to wonder when Shadows was released. And it was somehow almost over a year ago. And I think it’s good to look back on that, as I suspect Shadows shares a lot of the issues I have with Black Flag Resynced (BFR). Issues which are, no doubt, exacerbated by BFR’s ‘Frankensteined’ nature. It wants to be where the franchise is heading, while retaining what the series was. And it does suffer for that. The upheaval in the combat system, sees less options and less animations. But you could argue changes such as better movement, hood removal and manual crouch could make up for it. The AI’s aggression and damage flails between matching your current difficulty, to being absurdly dumb or overpowered. And these small transgressions really take away from the nature of the open world, where often the best choice to make is to follow the story, rather than to make your own decision.

Continuing their ‘alignment’ with the franchise, BFR earns itself an expansion at the cost of the modern day Abstergo storyline. That’s right gamer. We are plugged into the Animus 24/7 now. But the new Officer storylines, additions to beloved supporting characters and Rift Anomaly missions make me wonder if they were necessary. Especially when the writing feels very jarring. It often feels like the Edward we see in these, is one that doesn’t exist in the main story.

Though for the Rift Anomalies, this is the point.

And much of BFR feels like ‘the point’ of what Ubisoft are aiming to do. To further push the franchise into something that is parts live-service, while riding the coattails of its heritage. The positive to this being the gorgeous Anvil engine. While what we’ve said may sound detrimental, the rhythm of the game is fun. I think that’s something I probably said in my Shadows review too. They know a good beat. And when you just follow that, it often makes up for the ‘jank’ and ‘clunk’ of it all. Though I often fell victim to it and would just as often release my more toxic side in response.

So what is the ‘worst kept secret in gaming’ like? It’s fine. It is a fine enough game. It pays respect to the original, and presents itself anew to an audience which may have missed it the first time round. I don’t think it’s any worse than recent entries from the franchise, and I’m more than happy enough to say that it is much better than 2020’s Valhalla. And I am going to set out to get the Platinum trophy for this game. Whether it’s in spite of, or because of, the game.

With stocks so high in 2018’s Odyssey, post-Nolan/Homer epic, I hope that whatever Ubisoft delivers next for the franchise is more than just another addition to the timeline feature on the main menu. While uniformity is certainly something to celebrate, when nothing is true. And everything is permitted. It doesn’t really make sense for everyone to be following the same dance. Especially when you play as the likes of the great pyrate, of undisputable and roguish fame, known as Edward Kenway.