Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resync's Launch Roadmap Details Hidden Blade Takedowns, Naval Upgrades and a Pet Monkey

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resync just got its full road to launch breakdown, and it is packed with details. Ubisoft gave us new gameplay we had not seen before, launch timings, preload dates for every platform and a long list of additions to the original game. Every time I see this game I keep thinking Ubisoft is really cooking with it.

Combat Overhaul: Hidden Blade Takedowns Become a Reward for Perfect Parries

The road to launch article goes into detail about the overall gameplay loop and the combat loop, which revolves around breaking an enemy's defense. You hack and slash, and Edward has access to a full arsenal of tools aimed at breaking the enemy's guard so you can perform takedowns. Landing a perfect parry now triggers a hidden blade takedown, and that contextual reward is the thing I keep coming back to.

As much as I know people want hidden blade combat and unarmed combat to be a full standalone system, making it a contextual takedown as almost a reward is a good decision. Hitting that hidden blade takedown is genuinely rewarding. You start a fight in a dance of hack and slash and block and dodge, and once you break the enemy's defense you get to hit them with the hidden blade. That said, I do think the hidden blade combat is something Ubisoft should add post launch as its own system, even though it will not be there at launch.

You can also chain hidden blade takedowns into up to four nearby enemies, and there are a lot of takedown variations, including wall and ground takedowns. One change I really like is the rope dart. In the original game you did not get it until around sequence 10 or 11, which is pretty absurd. In Resync you get it in sequence 3, which changes how combat flows in the early game. There is also a new enemy type called the demolitionist who lobs grenades at you.

Ubisoft is building onto the combat system established in the original Black Flag while trying to stay faithful to it. From my time played in the preview event, the combat is really addicting and really fun.

Stealth and Parkour Get Meaningful Upgrades

Stealth got some love too. Edward can now crouch anywhere, and there is a proper visibility meter in the HUD. You can also sneak up on wildlife like boars and jaguars for a clean assassination instead of getting pulled into an all out brawl, which addresses one of my concerns from my initial playtest, since some of those animals were really tough to beat. Hopefully that has been pulled back a bit, but we will have to wait and see at launch.

The blowpipe returns with sleep darts and berserk darts, smoke bombs are back, and social stealth is fully there as well. You can hire dancers to distract guards and blend into crowds. Parkour also got a rework with an advanced parkour toggle and a manual jump for better control, and new zip lines have been scattered across the open world.

Naval Combat Adds Three New Officers and Brings Back Legendary Ship Battles

The deep dive went into detail on naval combat and new content. There are three new officers you can recruit for the Jackdaw. One new officer gives you a ram dash with its own dedicated camera and unlocks early in the game. Another gives you a perfect brace that lets you mitigate damage if you time it right. A third gives your mortar a saturation fire mode where you can manually control where every projectile lands.

There is also a dive anywhere feature where Edward can now swim underwater basically anywhere. Kenway's fleet returns, and the legendary ship battles are now replayable. On top of that, the hideout has been fully expanded with new buildings like the fisherman's wharf and the treasure dealer.

New Story Content Includes Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet and a Chapter Called A World Without Gold

On the story side, there are new officer side quests, Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet quests, additional animus rifts, and a brand new in-game chapter called A World Without Gold.

Sea Shanties, Legacy Outfits and Yes, a Pet Monkey

All 35 original sea shanties are returning, plus 10 brand new ones. All of the legacy outfits are back, and there is a photo mode. And yes, you can have a pet monkey on the Jackdaw, which honestly is probably going to do more for the overall copies sold than everything else on this list, because who would not want a pet monkey on their ship.

Global Release Times and Preload Windows for Every Platform

Ubisoft dropped the full global release map. Console versions unlock at midnight local time on July 9, so no matter where you are in the world, if you are on PS5 or Xbox the game goes live at 12:00 a.m. on the 9th in your region. PC is different, with a hard global unlock at 2:00 p.m. UTC on July 9, meaning everyone on PC flips the switch at the exact same moment. In the US that works out to 10:00 a.m. Eastern and 7:00 a.m. Pacific, so console players get it at midnight while PC players on the East Coast are waiting until mid morning.

For preload, Xbox Series X and S players have already been able to preload. PlayStation 5 preload was set to open July 7 at midnight local time, and PC preload was set to open July 7 at 2:00 p.m. UTC, which is kind of a wild spread. Xbox players really had a big head start here.

PS5 Pro Optimization and Steam Deck Verification

Ubisoft dropped the full PlayStation console specs, and the PS5 Pro optimization is legit. On the base PlayStation 5 you get three modes: performance runs at 60 fps, fidelity at 30, and balance at 40 fps, all upscaled to 2160p. On the standard PS5, performance mode only gets standard ray tracing, which handles global illumination for diffuse lighting. To get extended ray tracing you have to drop to fidelity or balance mode, meaning either 30 or 40 fps.

The PS5 Pro is where things get better. It runs the same on all three modes at the same frame rates, but delivers extended ray tracing across all three modes, including performance mode. So on Pro you get 60 fps with full reflective ray tracing at the same time, which the base console cannot do. The PS5 Pro also uses PSSR for its upscaling. One thing to note is that the balance 40 fps mode requires a high frame rate display, either 120 or 240 hertz, and an HDMI 2.1 cable.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resync is confirmed to be Steam Deck verified at launch, which is great news, and honestly I did not think they would be able to pull that off. Ubisoft says ray tracing and dynamic weather are both working on the Steam Deck, so either the optimization is really good or the Anvil engine is just a powerhouse.

My Take: This Could Kick Off a New Golden Age for Assassin's Creed

From everything shown so far, it certainly seems like Black Flag Resync is hopefully going to live up to expectations. The original Black Flag is one of my favorite Assassin's Creed games of all time, and I would say it is probably one of the last truly peak Assassin's Creed games. That is not to say I did not enjoy the others. I was a big fan of Odyssey, I liked Origins, I loved Unity and Syndicate. But I have got a soft spot for Black Flag that I cannot fully explain. When I think of Assassin's Creed back in the day, that game is the pinnacle of pure Assassin's Creed glory.

There are parts of the original game I did not like, which I have talked about before, but my expectations are pretty high for this remake regardless. I like the combat overhaul. As much as I would love to see unarmed combat in the game, that is unfortunate that it is missing, but overall the combat overhaul is a pretty big improvement. The tech is impressive too. This world looks beautiful, and I think Ubisoft is punching way above its weight in terms of how graphically insane this game looks.

We will have to see the quality of the new content, whether it is as good as what we are expecting. That is something we will just have to wait and see on. But the big question is whether, if Ubisoft sticks the landing on this launch, it is the start of a bigger Assassin's Creed comeback. That is hard to determine, but they have got momentum. If they stick the landing, they start rebuilding trust, and if they really cook with the next game, we could be in a new golden age of Assassin's Creed. Since this is a game about the golden age of piracy, it would only be fitting if it is what kicks off that new golden age.

Are you planning to pick this up at launch, and if so, are you going PS5, PC or Xbox?