Thirteen years after players first sailed the Caribbean as Welsh pirate Edward Kenway, the remake is here – and it is far brighter than the original.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, released in 2026, has been rebuilt from the ground up, according to the BBC's Tom Gerken, who played it. The game opens with pirate ships in battle, then a lush tropical island on a sunny day. Underwater, a fantastic coral landscape greets divers.
“Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced remake arrives 13 years later with brighter visuals and cut modern-day segments.”
The original Black Flag, launched in 2013, suffered from what gamers call the "muddy era" – when developers used darker colours to make games look gritty and realistic. The remake abandons that entirely, filling the screen with bright colours befitting its Caribbean setting.
Assassin's Creed is one of gaming's most popular franchises, with an estimated 230 million copies sold across all versions. Ubisoft, the publisher, chose Black Flag as the first game in the series to get the remake treatment – hardly surprising, given it is widely regarded as one of the best.
Andy Farrant, co-editor of the YouTube channel Outside Xbox, told the BBC he was excited. "I firmly believe Black Flag is the best Assassin's Creed game," he said. The original's only downsides, he added, were "the boring modern day bits" – sections set in a Montreal office that have been axed in the remake. "The world and the characters of Black Flag is what made it so appealing," Farrant said. "The chance to dip back into that world with some shiny new visuals and more screentime" is what draws him back.
For now, the question is whether the remake can live up to the original's legacy – and whether the 13-year wait was worth it.