A Black Flag Remake Shouldn’t Be An Assassin’s Creed Game
Ubisoft seems to have finally realized the truth (or at least, they’ve made it known). Skull and Bones, their ship-fighting game, appears to be struggling and sinking in development hell. However, according to sources from Ubisoft, a remake of the highly desired pirate game, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, is indeed in the works. It’s a no-brainer to fuse the seafaring technology developed during Skull and Bones’ lengthy development period with the resources from the mainline Assassin’s Creed series to revive one of the most beloved games in the franchise.
At this early stage, the term “remake” can encompass various possibilities. It could be a recreation in a new and improved engine, similar to The Last of Us: Part 1. Alternatively, it could be a more comprehensive remake like Dead Space, with redesigned maps, missions, and a refined story, while maintaining the narrative and thematic elements.
Or perhaps, they could go even further. They could turn Black Flag into a reboot, abandoning the Assassin’s Creed prefix entirely, and allowing the game to flourish as the open-world pirate adventure it was always meant to be. By freeing it from the constraints of the tired old Templars, Asbergo, and time-travel elements, the game could truly soar. With the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Infinity aiming to expand the franchise even further, does the Assassin’s Creed IP really need more?
“Black Flag” is the only title in the Assassin’s Creed series that has the potential to become its own standalone series. While Black Flag was praised for its pirate theme, it fell short in terms of the core Assassin’s Creed elements. The assassination contracts felt simplistic, the Caribbean towns lacked the depth of other AC games, and the protagonist’s motivation to join the Creed felt forced. Additionally, the protagonist, Edward Kenway, lost some of his charm once he became more serious and focused on the Creed.
A Black Flag remake should certainly have an overarching storyline, but it doesn’t need to follow the same arc as before. The pirate fantasy is captivating enough to stand on its own without relying on the familiar Assassin’s Creed tropes. Just look at Sea of Thieves, a game with minimal story and straightforward mechanics, yet it remains incredibly popular due to its simple pleasures of high-seas exploration with friends. Black Flag, being a narrative-driven game, can venture into uncharted waters by disconnecting itself from Assassin’s Creed 4.
The setting could be the Caribbean or a similar alternate reality, reflecting the cultural and colonial conflicts of the Golden Age of Piracy, while incorporating fantastical elements like sea monsters, ghost ships, and Lovecraftian architecture. If players are attached to Edward Kenway, Ubisoft could create a new antihero with a surprising story instead of treading the familiar Creed path.
A Black Flag game doesn’t have to abandon stealth mechanics and assassinations (as they are not exclusive to Assassin’s Creed), but it could introduce more bar brawls, conflicts over rum distilleries, clandestine alliances, and a faction system involving different pirate and colonial powers. It could also offer simulation elements, allowing players to engage in illicit smuggling operations and manage their pirate businesses. In fact, invading other players’ games, similar to Elden Ring’s mechanics, could add an exciting dimension to the gameplay.
The name “Black Flag” alone evokes the essence of a pirate game and carries a decade’s worth of goodwill from the community. While Assassin’s Creed is a popular IP, there are creative and narrative limitations that come with it. Sometimes, taking a leap of faith is necessary to keep a premise fresh. For those who crave another Assassin’s Creed game, rest assured that there will always be Mirage and future installments. However, for those seeking an open-world pirate adventure, it’s worth considering whether keeping it tied to the Assassin’s Creed universe is truly the best approach or if Black Flag should break free and venture into uncharted territories.
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It looks like the penny’s finally dropped at Ubisoft (or, at least, now we know it’s dropped). With its ship-fighting game Skull and Bones seemingly struggling to stay afloat and sinking in development hell, Ubisoft sources have told Kotaku that a remake of the pirate game we actually want, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, is indeed in development.
With Skull and Bones presumably (you’d hope) having knocked up some good seafaring tech in the 73 years it’s been development for, and with Ubisoft being able to grab the tech, engine, and other resources from the mainline AC series, a fusion of the two to revive one of the most deservedly beloved games in the Assassin’s Creed series seems like a no-brainer.
Of course, at this early stage ‘remake’ could really mean anything. It could mean a like-for-like recreation in a shiny new engine, like The Last of Us: Part 1 (please Lord, not that one); or perhaps it’ll be a more comprehensive remake like Dead Space, with redesigned maps, missions, and a tightened up story, while holding onto the narrative and thematic broad strokes.
Or dare they go a step further still? Turn Black Flag into a rebootdrop that damn Assassin’s Creed prefix once and for all, and let the game fly as the open-world pirate adventure it’s always wanted to be rather than weighing it down with the tired old Templars and Asbergo and time-travel machine stuff. Besides, with regular mainline games and a mysterious upcoming service game in the form of Assassin’s Creed Infinity that sounds like it wants to swallow the whole universe, hasn’t the Assassin’s Creed IP got enough going on?
‘Black Flag’ is the only suffix in the entirety of the Assassin’s Creed series that’s strong enough to roll off into its own series.
One of the complaints (or highlights, for some) about Black Flag at the time was that, wonderful though it was hitting the high seas as Eddie Kenway and getting together a boozy, shanty-singing ship crew, it wasn’t that great at the actual AC stuff (not that the series was ever that great at it, in my opinion); the assassination contracts felt simplistic, the ramshackle port towns of the Caribbean weren’t nearly as compelling to explore as the rich cultural hubs of other AC games, and the hero only joins the Creed because he’s at an emotional lowpoint in his life (y’know, like how cults recruit people). And frankly, Kenway just wasn’t as fun once he became all earnest and purposeful and Creedy. I’m not saying the Black Flag remake shouldn’t have an arc and just leave you to your piracy (though a bit of letting you live the pirate life a la Sid Meier’s Pirates! wouldn’t go amiss), but does it really need to be that same arc again?
The pirate fantasy is a powerful one, with enough blubber on its bones that it doesn’t need to lean on those overly familiar Assassin’s Creed trappings. Just look at Sea of Thieves. That game has basically no story and simple-ass mechanics, yet remains ludicrously popular to this day thanks to its simple pleasures of high-seas exploration alongside your pals.
The difference with Black Flag is of course that at its core it’s a narrative-led game, but by de-anchoring it from Assassin’s Creed 4, it could go into all kinds of uncharted waters. Do you set it in the Caribbean, or a ‘Caribbean-like’ alternate reality, broadly reflecting the cultural and colonial conflicts of the Golden Age of Piracy, while injecting more fantastical elements like sea beasts, ghost ships, or, I dunno, eldritch monstrosities and Lovecraftian architecture down in the darkness deep beneath the cerulean waters up above? If people are so attached to Edward Kenway (whose main draw seems to be that he was a rakish pirate without any grand allegiance throughout the early parts of the game) and Ubisoft is really short on imagination, then why not create a Kenway-like antihero whose story can actually surprise us instead of trodding down that well-trodden path of the Creed?
It’s not like a Black Flag game would have to do away with stealth mechanics and assassinations (Assassin’s Creed doesn’t exactly have a monopoly on those), but it could do with more bar brawls, scuffles for control of rum distilleries, clandestine allegiances, and some kind of faction system entailing different piratical and colonial powers. Keep the great semi-mythical pirate heroes of yore, but also offer a bit of simulation that lets you toy around with the politics and systems of the time. Run illicit smuggling operations, get passive income from a rum business, why not even ‘invade’ other players’ games, Elden Ring style? I still remember that Black Flag had this great little app that synced to the game and let you run your cargo fleets from it. I’d love to see that expanded upon to include other elements of pirate business management.
To this day, I think that ‘Black Flag’ is the only suffix in the entirety of the Assassin’s Creed series that’s strong enough to roll off into its own series. The name evokes all the things you’d want a pirate game to evoke, and of course it’s loaded with a decade’s worth of goodwill from the community. Yes, Assassin’s Creed is a reliably popular IP, and sure it’d be a commercially safe bet for Ubisoft to just stick it to every open-world game they make in this mold, but there are creative and narrative limitations that come with that, and sometimes a bit of a *ahem* leap of faith is needed to keep a premise fresh.
For people who want ‘another Assassin’s Creed game,’ don’t worry, there’ll always be Mirage and whatever comes two years after that and whatever comes two years after that (as well as whatever the hell Assassin’s Creed Infinity is). But if it’s an open-world pirate adventure you’re after, then it’s worth asking whether keeping it locked into the Assassin’s Creed universe is really the best way to achieve that, or whether Black Flag should break free from its colonial Creed overlords and set sail into the unknown.
