Rousing seafaring anthems are as vital to Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced as they are in the original, but sea shanties do not exist in isolation. Waves crash rhythmically against the hull as birds join the chorus of voices on-deck. Wind snaps the large black sails to and fro, a meditative drum beat as The Jackdaw journeys across Dry Tortuga. It's everything I remember from Black Flag, only better.
"I think that's one of the good things about a remake: that there was a blueprint that we could follow." Sitting down with Ubisoft's Erik-Jon Evangelista, audio director for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, it's clear this is a blueprint he knows intimately. He's been with Ubisoft since 2012, having served as an audio designer for the original Black Flag and 10 others among the best Assassin's Creed games, but Resynced is a very different beast.
"It's an iconic game, so we had to be faithful and familiar, but not necessarily the same. So I tasked my team with three different things – three different pillars: to recreate, elevate, then innovate."