- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced Playtest
Written by Chris
Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be invited down to London to get some hands on time with Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. Going in, I didn't really know what to expect as I had never done something like this before, and as a result ended up spending a lot of my playtime trying to do a little bit of everything and not spending too much time on the one task. A lot of this article will be to show instead of telling. I've gathered some clips and I will give my general impressions of it.
This article will contain some story spoilers that include references to the original games and quests, a new way to to do an old quest, and an playthrough video of a brand new quest.
Inventory Menu
We started off from the very beginning of the game and instantly one of my biggest fears about the whole thing was vanquished. I had been worried that too much would have been changed from the moment to moment gameplay, but I quickly realised that the game was playing out exactly like before, and this was a great first impression. I was also actually really surprised at how smooth the game was running and how beautiful it was, considering I think we were streaming the game?
There was such a palpable sense of familiarity yet having a growing thought that there was lots to newly discover. This was observed in the first ten minutes of the game. As I was going through the prologue I noticed that the piece of land I was on had the same general layout as before but did in fact seem to have some differences in it. It was beautiful to see the game through this new highly detailed lens.
I wanted to make my way to the sea shanty to test an old collection trick. I bring up my map and I can see the shanty, it looks to be on the higher bit of ground running on the east side of the area. When I try to make my way there I cant seem to find the path. Usually there was a small path going round and up to the second area. I spent about five minutes trying to find this area then gave up as I didn't want to waste too much time on this one thing.
For reference; There was a trick in the original game, if you got as close as you could to the shanty without looking at it with the camera, it wouldn't fly away and you could collect it without chasing it. I later discovered that this trick is not present anymore. I did try it and the shanty flew away even though I wasn't looking at it.
After this I moved on. It was at this point I remembered to try photomode. I clicked both sticks in but alas, it didn't work! The photomode had been disabled for this playtest so I wasn't able to try any of that out.
The parkour and climbing felt fast and smooth. Between Assassin's Creed Origins and Shadows, this is probably the best parkour has felt. there is still a small hint of stickiness from point to point, but this is quite minimal compared to where we came from with Origins. In the options there was the choice of having the advanced parkour on or off. I chose to play the game with it on and as a result was able to back/side eject as well as ledge grabs.
I can also confirm that the usual factions for hire were still dotted around the map, like dancers and drunken pirates.
The game was playing out just like before except with the added pizazz and flair. After the first mission we ended up doing a section that we couldn't record or talk about so I'll just skip right past that and talk about some of the ship combat.
Team Cat
I sailed out of the Havana Port and quickly decided to attack a fort as it was always one of my favourite things to do. Everything felt good on the high seas but with such an information overload from the day, I completely missed how to use my spyglass and ended up using my mortar to see further ahead.
Ship combat felt really nice with everything I tried, from attacking ships and forts with all the Jackdaws arsenal to boarding a hunter ship and clearing the deck like they never saw it coming!
The whole time I was sailing around the Caribbean, which wasn't that long, I never came across a proper storm or any rogue waves. As I didn't experience a rogue wave this reminded me of something and actually brings me to my biggest issue with the game... The mini map and how there isn't one!
In Resynced they have decided to remove the mini map and replace it with the more common compass. I never had a problem with this at first but then I realised how much I relied on the mini map in the original game! The map was incredibly useful to not only know when a rogue wave was coming but exactly which direction it was coming. I also used it a lot for judging the distance between the Jackdaw and a piece of land or even a sandbar or rocks jutting out of the water. These dangers were all presented on the mini map.
I do to an extent understand why they have made this change to the game but I hope to see an accessibility option for a mini map.
Jackdaw Menu
Below I have posted a full playthrough of one of the new quests in the game called Wanted, in which you need to rescue and recruit a new ally for the Jackdaw. You will get to see a bit of stealth gameplay and some cutscenes, as well as me confirming the possibility of a ledge grab on the side of a ship. Spoilers ahead.
Next up is three short videos, one of the Great Inagua Viewpoint, one of me getting into a fight with some very defensive boar and deciding to fall back, and one of a Data File collection. The first two videos don't need further explaining but the last one is interesting.
The Data Fragments from the original have be replaced with Data Files. Now when collected they give you a text document to read in the Animus Hub! In the video I'm seen collecting one and then accessing the Hub and reading it.
Great Inagua Viewpoint
Strong Boar
Data File
I'll now show you a playthrough of the old quest, Diving For Medicines. This quest again plays out exactly like before until you get to the part where you would normally buy the Diving Bell. You can just buy it like normally or you can talk to Adewale to get a tip on the whereabouts of one to steal. Spoilers ahead!
The fight with the boar and the video below of me getting into a fight with a large group of pirate vagabonds, show that either the enemies are really spongy or I was really underpowered in terms of my weapon and armour, and I really hope its the latter!
Even though Edward seemed to show multiple pistols on his person, I still only had one to use. So I definitely could have upgraded that but in terms of everything else, the enemies were just tanking hits.
I do however like the changes to the combat. It isn't as easy as before and that's a good thing! The enemy ai seems to get wise to a constant barrage of the same attack and will straight up just deny your hits. You really need to take advantage of the full combat system to make an advance through large groups, making full use of the new leg sweep, dodge and parries.
Conclusion
In conclusion I really enjoyed my time with Resynced. There is always a huge sense of worry and apprehension when you find out that a classic game is getting a remake. What will they change? will it still feel as good?
Ubisoft have one hundred percent put some love and care into this project. As someone who has completed the original well over ten times and knows the game like the back of my hand, I can safely say that this is a good remake.
The game feels familiar enough without being boring and has enough small changes across the board to make it feel like its own thing. That's not to say there isn't problems. As I mentioned before, I personally don't like the mini map changes or that the combat could possibly be really spongy. but these are things that can be changed and tweaked. and I hope this feedback will inspire the developers to maybe have another look at these things.
I look forward to July when the game releases and we can all finally get to jump in and raise the black!
Feed a Turtle
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