STACK #261 July 2026

GAMING FEATURE

visit jbhifi.com.au/stack

• Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is out Jul 9

THE STORY OF ANVIL Fu tells us that Ubisoft’s proprietary Anvil engine has been huge in bringing Resynced to life. “On top of raytracing, Resynced takes advantage of Anvil’s micro polygon tech, allowing us to see extreme details up close, and atmosphere, fuelling our dynamic weather and time of day. Anvil allows us to push dynamism, such as destructible objects

While Resynced retains the classic open world of the original, players will discover changes to how it plays. “The core naval gameplay has been expanded with secondary fire for each of the Jackdaw’s weapons. Secondary weapons work at different ranges, with different functions, so players can switch between them depending on tactical needs in battle. Officers, when recruited, also give you a naval

GENRE: Action adventure MULTIPLAYER: No

FORMAT:

Whether you were a fan of the pirates, or the franchise itself, Black Flag remains one of the Assassin’s Creed series’ most popular entries. Now it returns as Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced , rebuilt from the ground up. We chatted with Paul Fu, the game’s creative director at Ubisoft’s Singapore Studio, to find out more. Words Amy Flower W ith so many games in the series ripe for remaking, we were curious as to why Black Flag received the treatment. Fu is quick to explain. SYNC OR SWIM!

perk, which provides another layer of depth in naval gameplay. “Ground combat has also been completely overhauled to become an action adventure experience. It's a parry-driven system where every move has pros and cons, and the player will find themselves needing to vary their moves to survive.” Modern tech also means less waiting in-game. “Cities are now seamless and no longer require loading,” beams Fu. “Edward can also dive underwater anywhere, which breaks line of sight for stealth gameplay. Plus, he’s now able to heal, with stealth functions such as whistle and smoke bomb more accessible for quick use. We've lost count of the number of new things we’ve added!” These additions include new characters to meet, too, as Fu explains. “Three new officers have as well, adding to both realism and gameplay.”

“ Black Flag has always had a special place in the Singapore Studio,” he says with a smile. “Many of us who worked on the original still remain. Black Flag felt like the right fit, and we went for it!” It’s also personal for Fu. “Also, Edward’s story has always moved me, and he’s one of my favourite Assassins. Edward’s story is a very relatable one. He’s a pirate, but he’s also just a man who wants to provide for his family.” When revisiting a fan favourite, it can be challenging balancing the demands of fans with catering for modern tastes. Fu tells us that they were mindful of potential pitfalls. “We knew going in that the expectations were going to be sky high – so we picked our battles. We focused on keeping the core story authentic and expanded on what we knew fans wanted – more narrative with fan-favourite characters. “We also knew that having new content was important for any remake, so we chose to focus on expanding Edward’s story, with a new end game chapter, as well as additional questlines

been added, each with their own side missions for the player to perform. Two new characters have also been added to the hideout, with bits of narrative for the player to discover. These side missions take you to areas where you may not have been in the original – or completely new crafted locations.” Ultimately, Fu and his crew hope that this remake is received warmly by fans of the original. “ Resynced was crafted as a

with new officer characters. It was a lot to do, but we wanted to do more.” That’s not the full extend of the upgrades, though. “We also expanded the naval core systems and overhauled the ground combat system,” Fu continues. “The parkour community also wanted old school moves, so we added back ejects, manual

love letter to our fans – including ourselves! We hope that fans will love returning to the Caribbean again as Edward Kenway and that they’ll feel our passion when they play the game.”

jumps, and other moves into the mix. In short, we zoomed in on fan feedback way back from 2013, and from community workshops that we ran for Resynced .”

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU’LL LOVE THESE:

Skull and Bones, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection

JULY 2026

jbhifi.com.au

1 0