Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced - intervju med regissören Richard Knight

I slutet av april flög jag till Frankrike på inbjudan av Ubisoft för att utvärdera kommande Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced, en omarbetad nyutgåva i samma spelmotor som driver Assassin's Creed Shadows från förra året. Ryktena haglade, få var troligtvis förvånade - spelet avtäcktes officiellt via en trailer dagarna innan jag själv satte mig ned för att spela det i cirkus fyra timmar. En remake på piratspelet som i år blir 13 år gammalt - men det finns av förklarliga skäl otaliga förbättringar, utökat innehåll och inslag man putsat på inför denna publikfavorit. Jag genomför min absolut första intervju i hela mitt liv (bortsett från dejting) tillsammans med spelets regissör och överhuvud, Richard Knight, som även var inblandad i originalet från 2013. Killen kan med andra ord sin karate, och är av allt att döma rätt man på rätt plats.

Jag smet faktiskt från platsen för att ladda batterierna efter att ha suttit naglad framför min spelstation då jag betade av vad som bjöds lite för snabbt, mest för att smälta intryck och andas annat än svettdoft och dricka Red Bull - för att några timmar senare återvända och bolla frågeställningar med regissören, en trevlig herre med svar på tal då han har en lång historia inom Assassin's Creed - för att inte nämna nära till skratt. Vilket jag uppskattar. Mycket nöje.

Först och främst, tack för att jag fick komma och för att ni bjöd in oss till den här exklusiva visningen och vara bland de första att få spela Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced. Spelet ser enligt min ringa mening helt fantastiskt ut i alla avseenden baserat på min tid med det. Jag har några frågor, som jag hoppas få svar på.

"Hur länge har Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced varit under aktiv utveckling?"
- Since 2023, so it's been around... three years now? And we're still finishing it right now.
Med en kommande lansering, 9 juli?
- Yes.

"Känns Resynced som att ni bevarar en viktig del av Ubisoft's arv, eller handlar det snarare om att korrigera inslag som ni upplever att originalet inte riktigt satte eller lyckades med?"
- That's an interesting question. I would say that, it's kind of in the name, Resynced, right? We want to remake the original. Because there's certain things that, you know, just are a little bit old or doesn't hold up as well. But the original still holds its own, you can still play it today. You can still buy it, it's still, it's just fun, I can finish it. Um, but-uh, we always had this dream, okay - what if it was today; what if we had the latest Anvil [engine]; what if we had some of the gameplay from Shadows or Mirage? What if we put all of these things together, what can we get?

So there's a little bit of preservation for sure, and we wanted to preserve Edward's story and flavour. It's still got to feel like him. But at the same time, we're like, you know, we have to dream a little too. We have to see, okay - but what would it feel like making that game today?

Med dagens tekniska standard och senaste spelmotorn, Anvil Engine, som ju är riktigt vass av det jag tagit del av.
- Yeah, and not just the visuals but in gameplay too, where can we take it?
Ja, helt klart och det var något jag uppskattade, det var en grym upplevelse.
- Yes! [laughs]

"Vad är det mest... det här är en ganska rolig fråga. Vad är det mest historiskt felaktiga inslaget [Richard skrattar] som ni har valt att ta med [båda skrattar] i spelet, helt enkelt för att det är kul och förhöjer spelglädjen? Och finns det några minispel eller nya sidoaktiviteter som lagts till för att hålla spelarna underhållna mellan uppdragen och huvudstoryn?"
- Okay, so there's a bunch of questions. Yeah, the first part, let's just say, our goal with this is to be authentic first and foremost to the original game. And that means even if they made historical- you know, mistakes. It's just... that was how they played with history at that time and we wanted to follow that. So, you know, we still have things like harpooning and animal hunting. A lot of this is what you think of those today, they were things that made a lot of sense in the original game and we don't want to betray player's trust by not including those. But yes, it also means that we have little fun elements like the bicorn versus tricorn-debate and the Spanish flag debate. So there's certain things, we're just like, okay, there's a bunch of nuance to the discussion, but we're going to stick with what's authentic to Black Flag, then.
Ja och det blir en hel del flörtande med fansen också, kan jag tänka mig.
- Of course.
...och för att det är ett fantastiskt spel.
- Um, we... to the second part of your question, we didn't add new mini games per se, but you know, pretty much all of the old ones are there if you want to harpoon or hunt or play a boardgame, those things still exist. But I guess the one little thing I like to add is that now we have a "chanty player", so, if you're just a person who likes to keep sailing and sing a certain song and you hold a button on the D-pad right now it'll bring up like a visual sort of iPod player and you can choose what song you have the crew sing.
Ja, det märkte jag, väldigt smidigt.
- Yeah, yeah - and it was important for us to do that, because we're like, we're going to add new chanties [laughs] like: "Oh no, what happens if the player has to randomize 50 times" to find the one they want, right? So just a little thing, but, you know sometimes it's just the little things that kind of get you between A to B. The other thing we do, it's worth mentioning just quickly - is that, as most modern games do, is that we have fast travel. So if naval travel isn't that much of your thing and you really just want to go back to Havana you can just go to the map and click.
...och det laddar riktigt snabbt också.
- Yeah, yeah.

"Om man spelar nyversionen och sedan återvänder till originalet från 2013, vad hoppas du känns avsevärt förbättrat i den nya versionen, och vad hoppas du upplevs precis som förr?"
- What I hope remains the same - for sure - is the spirit. Like even if the mechanics are different and you can crouch anywhere, that you'll still go like "Oh, I feel like I've already been having this experience with Resynced". What I hope feels improved... I hope the combat feels new and more relevant to games today. It's, you know, it can still be quick and brutal but there's still some more skill expression with it. I hope you all appreciate the new naval combat options we offer with the alternate fire weapons and the officers and the abilities they bring, and like, I hope you feel "Oh wow - those things actually help." and you know, maybe they feel a little bit missing in the original.

And then finally, I hope that you also appreciate the- just the flow of the game as well. There's certain things we bring - the rope dart - much sooner in the game now. We bring the "ram dash" ability that happens much sooner in the game. We're doing certain things with, kind of realizing that players like these things and they like these a little bit earlier to give them more choice, more expression. And I hope that - as much as I like the original game - maybe you appreciate it, but I can do those things sooner.
Det är i princip en 2.0-version av Black Flag?
- Yeaaah... or...
På sätt och vis?
- In a way, in a way.

"Ett stort fokus i Black Flag har alltid varit tiden till sjöss och sjöslagen. Ni har tagit bort laddningsskärmarna när man tar sig i land. Är spelet helt sömlöst nu utan några laddningstider alls? Och dessutom, finns det några justeringar eller nya funktioner när det gäller skeppet - The Jackdaw, eller havet som är helt nya eller som ni har byggt vidare på i Black Flag Resynced?"
- So, we do have one big open world map. And so the map has been expanded a little bit to have, you know, the tip of Florida and Cuba and some other things that were a bit harder to get to. We only do jumps to other places for... there's two parts that people might remember from the original game, which was North Carolina, was one of them, and Charleston, so some places in the United States. And those ones, you know, we're not going to add, you know, 200 kilometres of sea to get to.
Nej, nej - jag fattar, det där skulle bli alldeles för omfattande för att ro i land... [båda skrattar]
- But the great thing is that with, you know, modern technology, the load is extremely fast to get there. And then if you want to come back, it's also extremely fast. So we make a point of, of otherwise having one big cohesive world with just a little bit of... extra stuff, extra implies and places to visit on the way. Um... what was the rest of your question?

"Finns det några justeringar eller nya funktioner gällande skeppet [Jackdaw] eller havet i stort som är helt nya eller som ni har byggt vidare på i Resynced?"
- So the big thing for us was the new abilities through the officers and then the new alternate fire weapons for the Jackdaw - which is really cool in my mind because when you get one of these new alternate fires; like for example for the broadside, you just have to press a button at any time, there's no going into a menu and choosing the right thing. It's just, it's there...
Det är mer följsamt?
- Yeah, yeah. And so you can make that tactical decision on the fly on what to do. Similarly, the officer abilities. They're, I mean, they're just... they just turn on and then, but you know, whether it's the "Lucy's perfect brace" which is about, you know, it's a skill based timing to reduce damage, or a dead man's extra shot which requires, might sound like "Oh, free more damage!" but you still have to wait for that extra volley and aim it properly, and maybe you're bracing at the same time. There's a lot of factors to consider. So we think it adds an interesting sort of extra step of management to ships. Beyond that, it's just, you know, if you go find your nearest harbor master or captain's cabin, you can change the look of your ship. I mean, some of these things were in the original game too but we made a point of making sure you want to have different sales and different... all these things.
Kosmetiska föremål, och få spelaren att känna-
- Yeah, just so it feels all the way.
...och göra det mer anpassat efter egen smak.
- You want to have that really weird blue ship...? But okay.
[skrattar]

"Ni har nämnt att ni har uppdaterat och anpassat Black Flag Resynced till en mer modern Assassin's Creed-standard. Vad har tidigare titlar som Valhalla, Mirage och Shadows lärt er - och har ni hämtat inspiration från något av dessa och sedan implementerat det i Black Flag Resynced?"
- Absolutely. I mean, all of them, to a certain extent. You have to be, because it's, you know, a remake. We have to be kind of historians and look at what works best in certain games and then decide what works the best for Black Flag Resynced. So in some cases, like, there's something that works perfectly and in some cases there's something we won't take. You know, Shadows, there are certain things that we took. Like the light/shadows-gameplay, that is amazing. But then we don't need Edward to crawl around on the ground prone. So it does not make sense for him - so, you know, we take what makes the most sense. And the same goes for the other games too, though. So you know we have certain animations from [Assassin's Creed] Unity even, right, just like in the case of some of the combat takedowns. If it makes sense, if it's something that Edward would seem to do, and we - and it's sufficiently, you know, inexpensive for us to use, and then we'll use it, right? But similarly, if it's something that only makes sense for Samurai, we won't do it.
Ja, det låter väldigt rimligt-
- So, it's just the cool thing about the Anvil Engine and, you know, working with part of this brand is that, you know, we can - to a certain extent, we can take the things that make the most sense, or at least adapt them to what makes some sense for us. And in some cases that just means brand new stuff to you and it doesn't matter what the past did, we need to do something new going forward. But it's really helpful to go like "Oh, how did a blow dart work 10 years ago?"

"Så, valdes Black Flag av någon specifik anledning? Det finns ju äldre delar i serien som också hade kunnat gynnas av en remake eller en totalrenovering, till exempel det allra första spelet i serien. Varför föll valet på just Black Flag? Är det är en publikfavorit?"
- It is definitely a fan favourite! [laughs] That is part of it, uh-but what I would say is, if you think of it beyond numbers; going one, two, three, four, five - we try to think of what the brand is, these different experiences, different points of history, different exciting characters. And so when you look at Black Flag, it's like, okay. Check, great character. Check, great place, Caribbean - check! You could be a pirate and you could be an assassin, like, it checks all these boxes. And then it checks the final box, which is - it's old enough, and as much as it holds up, there's a lot of exciting things we thought we could do with it.

So, okay, cool. So they take that to the brand and then they also go, "Okay, ah, and you're Ubisoft Singapore, you worked on the original Black Flag, you worked on the games before Black Flag!" So you have this long history with the brand. We also have a background in water tech and naval gameplay. So all these things just kind of made it more of a shoe-in. But it really came down to, you know, how much of an exciting opportunity was it? Like, is it, does the character work, does the setting work? Are these things that we're ready to come back to?
Ja, och det uppskattar jag. Så för min egen del är jag supertaggad på det.

"Ni introducerade nya karaktärer i den allra första trailern som har egna uppdrag och tar plats i berättelsen. Var det svårt att integrera helt nya inslag och karaktärer i en redan existerande värld och handling, vilka utmaningar gav det här upphov till?"
- I couldn't say it's difficult anymore than game development is already difficult. It was like an exciting opportunity in the sense of, okay, we've always wanted to add these officer characters to kind of help establish the family of the Jackdaw and the people working under Edward's command. Because that reflects on him too - what kind of pirate leader he is. But, you know - we also thought about it in a gameplay perspective, what kind of gameplay benefits would they bring?

And then the final element to this is that, you know not everybody remembers, but Black Flag is actually - even though it's a fast epic, it's a bit of an epic. It has time jumps, it has multiple places where Edward's imprisoned - you know, there's places for us to fit. There's certain stories that haven't been completely told, you know, there's Blackbeard and certain other characters. So there's all these little places where we can add a little bit. And with the officers in particular - yeah, they're new characters. But they sort of feel at home on the Jackdaw, and so as long as we make sure they fit in from a gameplay perspective and a narrative perspective, I mean, the rest will kind of...
Ja, och de lägger ju till fler speltimmar, jag menar, det är ju nytt innehåll?
- Yeah, and certainly when you make a remake, some people are like "Okay - but you're going to give me new content, right - please?"
So, of course we wanted to make sure we had some and it just seemed like a natural way to do it because, we really... Edward's story had already been told, right? We're not here to write a brand new ending "in the next 10 years of his life", we're here to tell the story. So we wanted something that kind of fits within that story and helps maybe book in some of the things that happened within it.
Ja, och det hjälper till att bygga vidare på arvet samtidigt som det passar in i hela berättelsen och spelvärlden.
- Yeah.

"Sista frågan: Finns det några nya hemligheter, easter eggs eller dolda mål som ni har lagt till som du kan dela med dig av? Kommer vi att få strida mot Kraken [Richard skrattar] eller kanske andra fasor i djupet?"
- [keeps laughing] ...as always, I can neither confirm nor deny any secrets, ahh- just to say developers love secrets. But yeah, that's all I can say.
Ja, och det köper jag [båda skrattar]. Det sammanfattar det hela ganska bra. Det har varit ett nöje och en kul upplevelse att få vara en del av den här spelvisningen och att få komma hit och utvärdera det!
- I'm glad we could get it for you and I really hope you'll have some thoughts too about the game when it comes out.
Ja, det har varit grymt, och jag hoppas absolut få utvärdera slutprodukten.
- Cool.
Tusen tack, tack ska du ha Richard.
- Yes, thank you.

Jag tackade för mig, som fick dagens sista intervju innan hotellet som agerade samlingsplats skulle göras i ordning för nästkommande dag där nästa flyglass med speljournalister skulle trängas om upplevelsen.

Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced lanseras 9 juli till Playstation 5, Xbox Series X|S och PC. Räkna med en recension lagom tills dess.