Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was one of the high points of my modern gaming life. Back in 2013, my Xbox 360 had my PS3 collecting dust in the closet. Black Flag just felt like an Xbox title, a telltale sign of a console that simply possessed the secret sauce.
It’s easy to isolate this game and say it’s the one that most deserves an updated look, but if you look back at the time, the AC series was riding a fantastic high. Even though AC3, one of my personal favorites, had a bumpy critical launch, it sold like gangbusters. It did well enough, in fact, to get a fresh graphical upgrade just six years after its original release. I love AC3. Playing it on an Xbox Series X is an absolute treat; you get the original look and feel of the game paired with all the modern updates and lightning-fast load times. That remaster was perfectly executed. Most importantly, they kept everything intact.
It’s a little strange that it took Black Flag twice as long to eke out an upgrade. It looks sharp, but I'm really interested in how it plays, so I downloaded it last night to see for myself. Will it be good enough to keep Pirates! and Cyberpunk at bay?
A Few Dangling Thoughts on Pirates! and Cyberpunk
It’s hard to overstate the cultural contrast between these two games and how the player feels while experiencing them.
Pirates! is an incredibly fun game. Being a pirate is certainly part of the appeal, but it’s more than that. You’re playing a Treasure Island, Jim Hawkins-style character: young, dashing, and excitable. Your objectives are treasure, ships, and the governor’s wishes (as well as his daughter). It’s fast, fun, and colorful. There are lots of smiles, not just from the player, but within the game itself.
Cyberpunk 2077 is an entirely different feeling. This is my third attempt trying to plow through it. It has so many outstanding elements, but it’s hard to shake the dreariness of it all. It’s supposed to be like that, but the fact that it is one of the best-selling games of all time with a fairly recent release date says a lot about the modern world we live in. The enjoyment I get from it is a different breed entirely. That’s what games are all about, I guess, different experiences, but the contrast to Pirates! is stark.
Anyway, good luck, Black Flag Resynced. I’ll see you tonight!