Review by C.J. Bunce
Not everyone gets a do-over. It usually only comes with a lot of money, as in with George Lucas remaking, revising, updating, and inserting new scenes in his original Star Wars trilogy. This summer Ubisoft seized the opportunity to completely redo its 2013 action-adventure game of piracy on the high seas Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, the 15th installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, available on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. Fans of the latest cutting edge video game tech will want to see all the improvements, and they are all spotlighted in the new book The Art of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced, available now here at Amazon. More than any other book about the art of a video game, this book shows the stunning artistry that goes into scenes that just flash by you in real time, all with the look of a full theatrical feature film. But many of these images are practically museum worthy. Take a look inside the book below.
This is not a book explaining how it was done, other than via “modern art technologies,” so don’t look for this as a how-to guide. It’s more of a wall-to-wall celebration of the entirely created locations, costumes, props, and vehicles that went into improving on the now outdated tech of a 15-year-old game. Aside from the always apparent uncanny valley experience of human faces in these games, the environments, the fabrics, and the objects look like the real things you’d find in a behind the scenes book about the latest costume drama.
The author includes comments from many contributors, several who refer to the word “dynamism” to describe their updates. I’m not sure that’s the right word, but it seems to be their term for updating a standard quality video image to something that feels more like 4K and 3D. And nothing looks better than the recreations of 18th century sailing vessels.
Whether it’s taking his ship over the realistic waves of the Caribbean, parkouring over 1700s Havana, or deep diving to shark-infested shipwrecks, the images will pique the interest of anyone who loves pirates and pirate lore.
The fun of the Assassin’s Creed universe is the merger of history and adventure in a way that incorporates both fantasy and science fiction. The science fiction is from the time travel that isn’t. That is, from the vantage point of a seemingly unlimited selection of starting points across history, characters can look back to the past to gain knowledge and answers to essential questions along their hero’s journey, much like in Doctor Who. A catalog of important objects, showcased in this book via detailed artwork, is a treasure trove of fantasy–roleplay devices that propel players and readers through the labyrinthine story. Costume and object images, especially of the weapons, will also be essential resources for cosplayers recreating this world.
Worthy of the expansive universe of the game, The Art of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced is one of the better visual explorations in the fantasy and science fiction genres. Order it here at Amazon and add it your your gaming library.
