Review Black Flag Resynced: Accomplished on All Consoles - but a Cut Above on PS5 Pro

Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced stands as a technical triumph, but how does the game scale across different consoles, from Xbox Series S to PS5 Pro? And which of the game's 10 platform and mode configurations produce results worth sticking with?

Let's start with the most popular current-gen console by sales: the base PS5. Here, the game offers three visual modes: performance, fidelity and balanced. The fidelity mode uses ray-traced reflections to enhance the Caribbean environment with perspective-correct details, particularly on the ocean surface, whereas the performance mode drops RT reflections for SSR. In most games this wouldn't be a big issue, but it does stand out more in the coastal Black Flag world.

Lighting adjustments between modes are evident too. The performance mode leans more on screen-space shadows to supplement shadow detail at a distance, which produces obvious artefacting in foliage-rich areas. Crucially, the game's real-time global illumination (RTGI) is preserved in performance mode, offering a more satisfying lighting presentation than seen in the equivalent mode in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Further visual compromises in performance mode include reduced foliage density and simplified cloth simulation on ship sails. Hair rendering is also simplified during gameplay, and the game delivers less satisfying image quality. These descriptions just scratch the surface - our conversations with the Resynced dev team suggest that thousands of variables are tweaked between modes.

In terms of PS5 frame-rates, the fidelity mode targets a locked 30fps, while the performance mode offers a stable 60fps. A third option, the balanced mode, targets 40fps, and is exclusive to users of 120Hz displays. This mode offers a visual experience similar to fidelity mode, providing a middle ground for players prioritising a higher refresh rate without significant graphical downgrades. Cutscenes are limited to 30fps on all modes. Resolution counts stand at ~1080p internally for performance and balanced modes, versus around 1440p for fidelity mode.

The PS5 Pro leverages its additional GPU power to reintroduce RT reflections into the performance mode, alongside the return of strand-based hair rendering. Other settings appear similar, including the use of screen-space shadows. Fidelity mode appears to offer higher-res RTGI over the base console, producing sharper indirect diffuse lighting, but offers fewer settings bumps otherwise.

Image quality is raised across the board on the Professional though, with higher internal and output resolutions - even performance mode resolves to a crisp, 4K-like image. Sony's second-gen PSSR works extremely well here across all modes. (Weirdly, saves brought over from base PS5 to Pro don't currently engage PSSR correctly, instead adopting TAAU with its characteristic artefacts. Fixing this requires completely wiping save data at the console level, though this bug will be fixed in a post-launch patch.) Performance also remains solid, at a locked 30fps, 40fps or 60fps output depending on mode.

Xbox Series X provides an experience essentially identical to that of the base PS5, with negligible differences in settings or resolution and no remarkable differences elsewhere either. The Xbox Series S, despite running a single 30fps visual mode, manages to retain RTGI, which is a commendable achievement given the memory constraints of the junior Microsoft console. While the image is softer and hair rendering is noticeably simpler - relying on card-based sculpts rather than strand-based hair - the game maintains a consistent aesthetic across all platforms.

Ultimately, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced is a highly polished console experience that sails smoothly on all platforms. Ubisoft has successfully scaled the game to suit various performance targets without compromising the visual core of the remake.