At 13 years old, AC4: Black Flag is still among the most thrilling gaming experiences
This is one of the Black Flag screenshots I made last week. Here, sailing through a raging storm in pursuit of a British vessel, Jackdaw crested a towering wave just as lightning split the dark sky. A fine day on the high seas for Edward Kenway - killer, scoundrel, pirate, assassin, free man.
Ironically, I will not be getting Resynced because I don't typically go for remakes/remasters. But I'm really glad to revisit this 13-year-old classic all the same (mainly due to my daughter's reading Treasure Island lol). Imo, even by today's standards, Black Flag remains a masterwork of delivering the experience and vibe of a pirate adventure, in all its swash-buckling, storm-riding and wave-crashing glory.
I used the words experience and vibe, because in terms of core gameplay, Black Flag is actually not very deep or expansive. In some aspects it's actually a smaller and simpler game than its predecessors as Ubi replaced much of the land-based areas with naval content, which if we're being honest, is somewhat repetitive.
But you don't feel it because Ubi figured out what matters the most in a pirate game. Experience. Vibe. The moment-to-moment visual and audio cues. The strenuous toss of your vessel, the shanties of stalwart mates, "Tops'ls, gallants, royals, stuns!", down to Kenway's powerful steering of Jackdaw's wheel. Everything you see, perfection, and sometimes that's enough to make an otherwise average game timeless. (not saying Black Flag 4 is not a good game otherwise, it also stands out with arguably the franchise's best writing)
And really, the point of this post is, you don't have to get Resynced if you don't want to, because Black Flag remains an all time great either way.
Posted Jun 27, 2026, 7:23 AM UTC