Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is gaining momentum after its first official reveal, with fan reactions trending positive. Known for its naval combat and open-sea exploration, this entry has long been a fan favorite and is now being reimagined with modern systems, visuals, and refinements.

With its July launch approaching, we had the chance to go hands-on with a work-in-progress build of Edward Kenway’s adventures to see how it would all play out. After playing on an RTX 5080-equipped PC for around 3 hours of gameplay spread out across naval combat, free roam, and missions that demonstrated stealth and combat, it’s crystal clear that Ubisoft is giving fans what they want. The company is bringing the pirate fantasy back with smoother mechanics, richer detail, and a renewed sense of freedom, albeit safely.

The question now is whether Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced has played it a bit too safe, or have they set a course for uncharted waters to bring something new to the table?

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced Hands-on Preview

The Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced hands-on comprised several sections that covered most, if not all, of the game’s important systems, which we can group into free roam/exploration, naval, and combat and stealth. Edward is introduced through a brief naval battle that sets off a sequence of events involving Duncan Walpole, exactly as you remember from years ago. That’s because Ubisoft stayed faithful to the source material, and it definitely shows how much respect they have for the original.

Upon starting the game, the visual uplift is immediately recognizable – stunning visuals with ray tracing bring Havana’s bustling streets to life, and crisp draw distances make every horizon feel expansive. In this sense, this is not the Black Flag you remember, bringing Havana to life with all the technological advances the latest Anvil Engine can provide. This upgrade is evident across all facets of the game, from character models to textures, lighting, shadows, and more. Havana is bustling, not just with crowds but with chatter as well.

Starting with free roam/exploration, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced exhibits several upgrades to Edward’s parkour skills. Our pirate can perform side and back ejects, along with quicker interrupts to motions to make the movement feel and look much smoother. AC Unity is widely considered to have the best parkour in the series, but players can expect something close to the level that Mirage and Shadows (to a certain degree) have set.

Traversing is not flawless, though, and throughout the preview session, the usual parkour culprits remain, such as landing in the wrong places, accidentally ejecting from walls, and more. This can be chalked up to user error to a certain degree, but it happens too often to be attributed solely to control missteps.

Throughout the map, players can also take on the usual assassination contracts for extra rewards, chase song sheets, and engage in other side activities.

Navigating the high seas in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is also mostly the same as before, with loot and harpoon opportunities still scattered across the seas en route to the next fortress or city. Sailing feels weighty but still responsive, with the Jackdaw controlled by the familiar unfurling of sails to go faster or by pulling them up to slow down.

Sea Shanties, of course, make a return. We can’t have a proper pirate game without them, and the devs have not only brought back the lineup from the past game but have added some new ones. In fact, you can even choose which one to listen to (or sing, if that’s your thing), which is a small but nice touch.

While naval traversal in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced did not receive major upgrades, naval combat seems to have improved significantly. In a couple of sea skirmishes, the Jackdaw was able to employ the usual side cannons, but many of its weapons now have alternate fire modes, like broadsides gaining Heavy Shot, and another having Heated Shots. This obviously translates to more choice with regard to how to outfit your ship, but based on the playtime we had, it’s still too early to say how deeply this will affect naval combat, along with officer abilities.

Interestingly, islands will also receive an upgrade in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, with Ubisoft specifying that new islands will be handcrafted to provide a more unique experience, along with new world moments and new hideout content. There are also new naval officers who can be hired, such as Lucy from Great Inagua, as they add specific abilities once their storylines are complete.

It has to be said that the water in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced looks amazing, thanks to advanced rendering that accounts for refraction, caustics, foam, and more. The result is stunning, and with much of the game set at sea, it’s undeniable that it looks really good.

During the preview, we also tried out various activities, such as assaulting a fort. Like before, players will have to bring down the outer defenses first before invading on foot to liberate the place. Other activities included bell diving, which is pretty much the same experience, jumping from air pocket to air pocket while avoiding deadly sea life such as sharks.

If anything, the Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced preview showed us that combat was arguably the biggest aspect to receive a glow-up. Gone are the RPG systems from the Origins-Odyssey-Valhalla trilogy, as Ubisoft brings this back to the basics with skill-based combat. Pressing R1 orders Edward to slash away, and while there are signs that button-mashing could work for the most part, players will have to pay close attention as enemy AI feels far more aggressive.

As enemies attack, there will be indicators that an attack can be parried (blue light) or is unblockable (red light). The parrying window is extremely generous and, when used properly, will allow Edward to land additional attacks. Perfect parries, on the other hand, have tighter timing but will result in a lethal takedown. Enemies will also have a defense meter that must be broken before a fatal stab can be performed.

Encounters are mostly simple, yet they escalate quickly once multiple troops converge on Edward. During takedown animations, camera focus becomes another foe to contend with. Additionally, there will be troops that wield firearms, and there doesn’t seem to be an indicator (red directional vignette) where the shot is coming from, so the only way is to randomly dodge out of the way or use another nearby enemy as a human shield.

Stealth in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is another aspect that gets a massive upgrade, adopting the light-and-shadow systems from Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Apart from the addition of a manual crouch button, stealth will generally be influenced by the amount of light present at any given time, which, unfortunately, wasn’t entirely noticeable during our time with the game. Social stealth also returns, with hireable groups that can serve as distractions.

Ubisoft also discussed in detail the many technical and audio enhancements stuffed into Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. Stuffed is quite the accurate term because the game is filled to the brim. Audio now supports 3D Dolby Atmos, which really elevates the experience, especially with compatible headsets.

Technically, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced utilizes micropolygon rendering, which is basically the use of high-detail geometry at all distances without visible transitions. The game also uses ray-traced global illumination on ALL consoles and graphical modes, unlike Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Ray-traced reflections also apply to specific modes with lower FPS.

While we have no insight into how consoles would perform, playing on an RTX 5080 PC resulted in extremely smooth gameplay at 4K 60 fps with DLSS set to Quality.

Additionally, Ubisoft mentioned that there will be about 6 hours of new content, including a new chapter and new missions, as well as replacing modern-day sequences with “Rifts,” which we didn’t get to try.

There’s no denying the amount of work Ubisoft is pouring into Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. Apart from the team committing to a faithful remake of the classic title, they’ve included smart technical and gameplay upgrades that elevate the experience. While this 3-hour look was a small chunk in the grand scheme of things, the game is certainly headed in the right direction and is a remake done right, though it feels rather safe so far.

Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced will release on July 9, 2026, for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.