Assassin’s Creed Black Flag: Resynced Photo Mode Review

Ubisoft returns to a classic for their first attempt at remaking an Assassin’s Creed game. Although other entries might have been more in need of the glow up, Black Flag remains one of the most beloved in the series, making it a shrewd choice. So, it’s off to the Caribbean for some plundering and adventure with the charismatic Edward Kenway. Ubisoft do really seem to be doubling down on their core IPs and if this entry is successful then it would not surprise me if we see more remakes in the future. 

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced doesn’t really break the mould but I don’t think it had too. What was key is to stay as faithful to the original as possible and implement a few new experiences along the way. The core story and gameplay already stood it apart from others, and Ubisoft have managed to modernise without feeling too removed from the original. Black Flag offers a vibrant, and beautifully crafted playground for us Assassin’s Creed fans. Despite most of us knowing the story you don’t really want to miss the chance to sail the high seas in glorious next gen fashion. 

For the first time Assassin’s Creed Black Flag will feature a photo mode so we can all capture and share our adventures with Edward and his crew. 

This latest entry will see us sail the seas of the Caribbean in search of wealth while discovering there is much more than meets the eye. Although this is a remake of the original there are plenty of new experiences to be had. We are once again thrown into a sticky situation that sees Edward chasing down a member of the Creed. For the first time we get to experience an older title blended with the RPG era, but Black Flag Resynced only borrows mechanics of the RPG games, there will be no levelling or gear score. The game remains an action-adventure title that made it so popular in 2013. 

Ubisoft’s strong take on the Golden Age of Piracy remains a standout for the genre, there is just something about the locations and the Pirate themes that just feel homely. Edward does not need an introduction as he remains one of the fan favourite characters in this vast franchise. Although the modern-day elements have been removed and replaced with the rifts which will not be to everyone’s taste. Sailing across the Caribbean and exploring all the beautifully crafted locations still feels magical and fresh thanks to some smaller changes. I did encounter a few graphical glitches in the early stages of the game and there is some flat lighting which isn’t helped by HDR implementation but that has been the case for the last few titles. Once you get past the prologue Black Flag is much more impressive, with vibrant daytimes mirrored with beautifully lit nights. 

As for the gameplay Black Flag continues the fast-paced swashbuckling action from the original. There appears to be a blend of Shadows/Mirage combat that tries to merge in with the more parry focused 2013 version. I do find it very satisfying that the enemies learn your patterns and therefore push you to vary your style. The finishers are as brutal and enjoyable as Shadows. There is a smoothness to the gameplay that I really enjoy, even more so in performance mode. At its core though this is a Ubisoft game and delivers what we have come to expect. The world building is so impressive and vast that you feel like your actually in Edward’s boots as he guides the Jackdaw across the seas. 

The Photo Mode: 

When it comes to reviewing a photo mode, there’s two main things to consider – photo opportunities, and photo mode usability. Now on to the first, Resynced delivers in spades, as it is absolutely gorgeous – the character models are wonderfully detailed, the environments lush and alive, the colours vibrant and the lighting and weather systems truly atmospheric. You won’t be short on photo opportunities.

Usability on the other hand is a different story. Sadly, Resynced delivers possibly the worst photo mode in the franchise since the introduction of the feature with Origins back in 2017. Ubisoft were sitting on an incredible base photo mode with what they introduced with Origins and refined with Odyssey and the later instalments. The photo mode felt like an extension of the gameplay as most functions in the composition mode were mapped to various controller buttons making using it a breeze, and the sliders were all neatly collected in a single, concise list on the edit page. Now, from my understanding they changed the photo mode system for Shadows because of significant changes in the engine and production pipelines, which makes the switch to the generic tabs system photo mode understandable, but no less of a disappointment.

So, if you are familiar with the Shadows photo mode (or practically any generic photo mode for that matter), you should feel quite at home here. Ubisoft haven’t really deviated from the feature set since its inception with Origins. Assassin’s Creed Shadows saw the biggest evolution to the photo mode but even then, it was a fairly standard albeit functional one. Other franchise such as Horizon or Ghost offer much deeper photo modes, but the simplicity can sometimes be widely appreciated, especially if you are new to the virtual photography world. 

For Black Flag we see Ubisoft stick with the newer UI from Shadows. Accessing the photo mode remains the same - with a click of L3 & R3 you are ready to capture the Caribbean. The ability to photograph in cutscenes remains absent, however this isn’t standard practice, so I am not really surprised. With Black Flag using the Shadows engine it’s not a shock that the UI remains unchanged, with the tabs function allowing you to flick between editing options. I must admit I did hope we would see some minor improvements but unfortunately this isn’t the case. What we sadly got were some rather important omissions, which we’ll get to.

The composition mode has minimal on-screen distractions with all your options being confined to a box in the lower right-hand side of the screen. Once again, you can press (triangle/Y) and you will remove the editing functions, allowing you to view your image before capturing it. When doing this you retain the ability to edit the last selected parameter which is a nice touch. But in order to get the UI to reappear you have to press (circle/B) instead of pressing (triangle/Y) again, which is a slightly confusing usability oversight. The movement of the camera was an irritation of mine in Shadows, I feel it’s slightly less sluggish but still rough and lacking the smoothness of the older versions. Range isn’t particularly generous either, in fact it is very restrictive given the absence of an eagle companion. I have already found it impossible to capture the whole of the Jackdaw unless Edward is on land or the ship is travelling at travel speed, an option that isn’t always available (for example getting wide shots of the ship in storms is impossible). There is still the 90-degree rotation so perfect for those of you who like to take portraits or shots focusing on verticality. 

Unfortunately, the zooming function has not returned to the way it worked all the way from Origins up to Mirage, where the zoom was tied to the trigger buttons. Rather we still have the focal length sliders introduced in Shadows. This narrowing of the field of view still acts the same but less smooth and lacking precision, as the sliders move in steps rather than smoothly, which was not the case before shadows. Although I do think its slighter better than Shadows’ system, I would like to see more range on the wide end, especially as the camera range can be quite restrictive, particularly while on the Jackdaw, where the camera is usually at the widest option already. I do like the return of Valhalla’s zooming in sound effect. You still have the sliders which allow us to see the value of zoom, ideal for replicating a shot. The standard grid options are present, but you will likely use rule of thirds the most. 

The common issue of the camera passing through characters persists if you get too close but the overall collision detection with other objects in the world feels better and slightly less restrictive, and the characters seem to reappear faster than in previous games. The underwater opportunities are also quite impressive and lead to some unique photos. 

The depth of field for the most part works the same as Shadows, but that old bug from Valhalla can occasionally appear and cause it not to focus on the correct place, and at times the depth of field only affects the foreground elements. The flicker problem from Valhalla remains absent, so fingers crossed that one has now been rectified. Black Flag sticks with the focus distance and aperture sliders from Shadows. It felt slightly strange last time out but it should be familiar to most users by now as it is pretty common in most photo modes. But regardless of that it is a shame that the old depth of field and focus system has been replaced as it was and still remains best in class in terms of ease of use because it is incredibly intuitive. Here you can use an auto focus toggle, but I did find this is very hit and miss, so I usually manually focused my shots. The focus distance, like the field of view sliders, moves in steps, which can lead to some frustration as it misses the exact spot you would like to focus on and forces you to readjust positioning.

Filters and FX Filters that made an appearance last time have returned and I still believe these to be a good improvement over the original photo modes. Whereas last time I found myself intrigued with the new options, this time I feel underwhelmed. They are all pretty much the same and don’t necessarily fit the setting of the game. I would have preferred something a little more Pirate orientated. I also would like to adjust the FX Filters’ strength but sadly this isn’t possible. 

In addition to the FX Filters, we have other colour-orientated sliders to explore. The standard filters serve as a kind of preset – any of the five available filters adjusts the editing sliders (Brightness, Exposure, Temperature, Tint, Saturation, Contrast) for you, giving you the option to tweak those filters further to your liking. This has in my opinion always been the best way to approach filters in photo modes so I’m glad to see they have stuck with it (though why the Assassin’s Creed Greyscale filters are never actually black and white is still beyond me). You have the option of increasing/decreasing the temperature and tint to better balance the tones. There is also the standard saturation which will increase the vivid outputs. You may need to reduce this however on Xbox as I’ve noticed the HDR can make some photos very oversaturated. Of course, you can still add a little black and white for a more classic feel. The pace of the sliders is still an issue but it’s a minor improvement from Shadows. What we have here though is editing functionality that is not too dissimilar to what we have experienced before and operates adequately enough. 

I am very disappointed that the fog option hasn’t returned. This was a huge miss to Shadows due to its ability to completely change the mood of a shot. Fog had become an almost USP for the Assassin’s Creed photo mode, hopefully Ubisoft will consider adding it at a later date. Bloom is also absent so once again we have to rely on the games weather and lighting. Admittedly Black Flag does have superior levels of lighting to previous titles and the dynamic weather system gives us plenty of variety to play with.

The advancements to lighting that we saw in Shadows have returned. I have felt this is an area that seems to get better with every entry to the series. There are times when the game can look a tad flat and muddy when it shouldn’t, but the landscapes are so magnificent and vibrant. The lighting can be somewhat harsh, as the game takes place in starkly lit, cloudless sun-bleached environments. This works wonderfully for atmospheric landscapes and playing with contrast and shadows, but it can be harsh on portraits, where a softer light usually gives a more pleasing appearance. The lighting pays most dividends at night where light sources actually work to create pockets for photo opportunities. Pre Shadows it was almost impossible to take a photo during the night sections. 

Sadly, we haven’t been given custom lighting options, something that the community often asks for. Maybe this will be saved for future titles. But in my opinion a good time-of-day system can make up for the lack of custom lights. Which leads me to one of the biggest disappointments - after the quality-of-life updates to Shadows I was extremely shocked to find the time-of-day function within the photo mode to be missing entirely. This is almost an essential tool for virtual photographers that opens up photo opportunities massively as it completely transforms even the most mundane of scenes. I hope it can be reintroduced with one of the title updates after launch. 

It is worth noting that Ubisoft has continued with their support to virtual photography by including the ability to capture straight to Ubisoft Connect. Your captures will be compressed but they will be uploaded to Black Flag Photo Mode website for you to obtain. Not only that but they will appear on the world map in the location of your photo. Other players will then be able to view these, making it a great feature for showing off your Caribbean adventures.

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag features the exceptionally likable Edward Kenway, one of the strongest protagonists in the franchise. Ultimately this makes him a great subject to capture, especially for portrait enthusiasts. Unfortunately, the pose and facial animations feature from Shadows does not return limiting us to the in-game movements, a very bizarre decision. We also do not have many customisation options either, in terms of hair style or tattoos. The later I wasn’t really expecting as Edwards does have a quite famous appearance.   

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced offers stunning vista, lush environments, wonderful character models, a great lighting and weather system, and a vast world to explore and photograph. The photo mode just does not make your life particularly east when doing so.  

BUGS

Here’s a list of photo mode relevant bugs and certain nuisances I have encountered in my time with the game so far. Please note that we’ve been playing a pre-release version of the game so some of these may be patched in further updates. The developers have been notified of them and the bugs will be removed from the list if patched.

Swords

When entering photo mode, the swords in Edward’s sheaths essentially respawn, which means they fall down at his sides again. For most walking shots this presents no problem as they won’t collide with anything, but when Edward is perched on something, the swords flail about making them stick out at odd positions ruining the shot.

Hood

The player can manually toggle the hood on and off. While this is a great feature, the lighting ignores the hood at least partially meaning Edward’s face can still be lit up under there. This has been an issue in previous titles as well.

Exits crouch

This is more of a gameplay problem. When exiting photo mode, Edward will stand up if he was crouching before. This isn’t a problem for photos, as you can get a photo of stealthy Edward no problem, but you might reveal yourself to the enemies if you do it.

Disappearing lightning

When opening the photo mode in storms, the lightning will invariably disappear.

UI elements persisting

Honestly, I have to give props here as a lot of the in game markers do disappear when using photo mode. But if you are at low health the pulsating red vignette persists in photo mode, which is very hard or next to impossible to remove. The same can be said for dock markers, water spout markers, whaling markers, cannon aiming guidelines and the like. Rarely is this a deal breaker, but it can get in the way of a shot.

Character outlines

Sometimes when taking a photo of a person stood on a beach against the sea, the reflections on the water can give the characters a visible white outline.

Depth of field

As mentioned, the auto-focus feature is unreliable. Also, the depth of field sometimes only affects the foreground elements, a bug that has been present since Valhalla.

This review was a collaborative effort from Aaron Young & Filip Čop - Thank you to Ubisoft for the early access.