I’ve come to terms with the fact that video games are swarming with unnecessary remakes. I can enjoy them in the moment, but when studios are being bought up or shut down everywhere, I wish devs were more free to create their own history rather than recreate someone else’s. I’m used to it, I can accept it, and they’re interesting curiosity to experience. But Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag ꦍis takingღ it too far.
I’ve heard the excuses for why remakes are so important to the ecosystem. I’m not sure I believe it. We’re told they’re a way to test the waters ahead of classic series being brought back - but six years after 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Crash Bandicoot’s return was a smash hit, the studio got shoved into the Call of Duty content mill while he’s ‘starring’ in a lightweight MOB🐈A that ignores all of his qualities and turns him into a money-making mascot.
Either that, or remakes are supposed to modernise greats to ensure audiences don’t forget them. But did 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Last of Us need this treatment only nine years after launch, or was it 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:always a vanity project? Couldn’t 168澳洲🧔幸运5开奖网:gaming history be more secured൩ by playing one of the many, many, many 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Resident Evil 4 versions on modern consoles rather than rebuilding it? And more broadly, shouldn’t more games from the past be readily available as they were?🍎 For the record, I think RE4 m𝄹akes strong changes for the player experience, but are we really preserving history when the result is to forget about the originals entirely?
This comes to a head with Black Flag. It’s my personal favourite of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Assassin’s Creed series, so I’m not against the game in principle. But I don’t believe it’s a legendary great to be preserved, and it’s already readily accessible on modern consoles anyway. There’s also no need to test the waters for Assassin’s Creed with a pirate ship throwback - this was a divisive entry in the series and AC is still going strong, with Mirage out in Oct🏅ober and several projects slated for years to come.
On Friday, it emerged that Ubisoft might be planning a remake of Black Flag, dressing the game up with new software a la The Last of Us Part 1. If any of this is true, it clashes heavily with the plan for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Skull & Bones. Ubisoft isn’t showing a lot of faith in Skull & Bones as it is with numerous delays, development reportedly restarting, and little in the way of marketing despite a closed beta launching next month. A Black Flag remake smells like planning for its long-gestatin🌳g pirate game to fail. Leaving aside how you feel about remakes, this feels like a quick palette cleanser for a game it expects to leave a bad taste.
Ubisoft Singapore, the team behind Skull & Bones, is allegedly involved in the remake due to its ocean rendering technology, but to take the one good thing 🧸from Skull & Bones and use it for a quick paint job rather than anything fresh or interesting is very disappointing.
This is not to say Assassin’s Creed can never do the pirate thing again. Skull & Bones doesn’t have exclusivity on the genre, especially as it started as a Black Flag spin-off and has been beaten to the punch by 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Sea of Thieves anyway. But if this leak is true, it’s bad timing ahead of🍸 Skull & Bones’ inability to stick to a launch date, and shows a startling lack of creativity.
A little while ago, there was (very disingenu▨ous) talk of a Black Flag sequel, which turned out to be a web comic. But doing one for real is what the game de🌳serves - I don’t think any of us have even moderate hopes for Skull & Bones at this stage, so if we want Ubisoft to take us to the waves again, Black Flag 2 is our best bet.
I’d love to return to the world of Black Flag, and it’s t꧑his feeling that stops me from writing off Skull & Bones completely. But a remake doesn’t hold much appeal when it’s the same game as befits but the ocean is more oceany. Unfortunately, we live in a world of remakes, and it feels like modern gaming ideas are a sin🉐king ship.