Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced lead confirms "social stealth is back," but hidden blade combat isn't

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Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is being billed as a pretty faithful reconstruction of the original game, but Ubisoft isn't leaving the entire pirate adventure intact. While social stealth options will sneak back in, the devs have dug a hidden blade or two into the game's combat.

Developers involved in remaking the upcoming Assassin's Creed game recently took to a Reddit AMA to field fan queries, and as you might imagine, the series' most iconic weapons came up quite a bit.

Asked if Black Flag Resynced's hidden blades would be a selectable weapon (as they were in the original game) or if they'd be integrated into combos (as they were in Assassin's Creed Shadows), creative director Paul Fu says neither.

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"Dual swords are the main weapons Edward will use in battle," Fu explains. "The Hidden Blade is not a selectable weapon, but a fatal, contextual (and BLOODY!) takedown that is available when you break the defense of your opponent!"

Black Flag Resynced introduces a new defense meter that, once depleted, leaves enemies hat-less and open to an instant finisher – Fu argues that slotting the hidden blades into this system turns them into a "critical part of moment-to-moment combat, which was not the case in the original."

Series fans don't immediately agree, however. One writes, "if possible I think you need to change this, a lot of people want this feature back."

Another says, "in an otherwise excellent looking remake this is a massive misstep."

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"Please start incorporating hidden blade combat into AC again," a third replies. "Fans have been asking for this since unity."

Hidden blades might have not made the cut this time, at least not in the way some fans were hoping for, but the series' signature "social stealth is back," according to Fu. Ubisoft developers remain coy about how exactly Edward will move silently through a crowd, but the creative director promises the team will "be sharing more about social stealth very soon."

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced sets sail July 9 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, so we won't need to stay tuned for much longer.

Assassin's Creed 1 remake could be next after Black Flag Resynced, leaker says.

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Kaan SerinFreelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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