Thirteen years after gamers first sailed the Caribbean as Edward Kenway, Ubisoft has released a from-the-ground-up remake of one of its most beloved titles: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. The BBC's Tom Gerken, who has played every entry in the series, said the new version "photographs well" and is filled with bright colours befitting its tropical setting — a stark departure from the original's "muddy era" aesthetics.
The game opens with pirate ships in battle, followed by a lush island on a sunny day. Players are soon encouraged to dive underwater, where a fantastic coral landscape awaits. "It all looks good, as you would expect from a big budget game in 2026," Gerken wrote.
“Ubisoft releases Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, a remake of the 2013 pirate adventure, with improved graphics.”
Black Flag, which casts players as fictional Welsh pirate Edward Kenway in the 1700s Caribbean, is widely considered among the best Assassin's Creed titles. The franchise has sold an estimated 230 million copies across its many iterations. Gerken said the original's excellence "mainly comes down to its excellent setting" and that while it was "hardly the first game about piracy, it was by far the most successful".
Andy Farrant, co-editor of the YouTube channel Outside Xbox, told the BBC he was excited to play the remake. "I firmly believe Black Flag is the best Assassin's Creed game," he said. Farrant noted that the original's only downsides had been "the boring modern day bits" — scenes that swapped pirate life for meetings and water cooler chat in a Montreal office. Those sections have been axed in the remake. "The world and the characters of Black Flag is what made it so appealing," he added. "The chance to dip back into that world with some shiny new visuals and more screentime…"
Released at the tail end of what gamers unaffectionately call the "muddy era" — a period when darker colours were used to make games look gritty — the original Black Flag was not the worst offender but still suffered. The remake leaves that era behind, filling the screen with the vibrant colours of the Caribbean.
Why Ubisoft chose this entry for its first remake is no mystery: it was by far the most successful pirate game. Whether the 13-year wait was worth it may depend on how much players value graphical leaps over the original's charm — but for now, the seas are once again open for business.
