For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Join the club
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you're a vampire, you know the two most beautiful words in the English language: free blood. And if you caught the recent Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced reveal and were left uneasy by the lack of cherry syrup, you'll be extra pleased to know that blood is coming, and it will be free.
Producer at Ubisoft Singapore Justin Ng took to X to get in front of fan concerns that the game's violence had been toned down. In a post Thursday, he said "A few things to quickly address I guess (without getting into trouble hopefully). There WILL be blood in the final game, and it will not be a paid DLC. We hear the feedback on the VFX and audio cues on fights. It's being toned down."
If you're wondering where this is coming from, players have voiced concerns on social media this past week, worrying that the new game's combat might have a squeaky-clean sheen. Reddit user decimus_87 said of the reveal, "I hope they get rid of or at least change the cartoony sparks during fighting." In a reply on the same thread, Minute_Tomorrow_7935 commented "I hope they add blood. Shadows has quite satisfying blood animations so it seems odd if they've fully removed that from this game."
Article continues below
While it's impossible to appraise the full game from some brief footage, it seems natural that people are scrutinizing the fights. An overhaul to combat is one of the remake's big selling points, so without a multiplayer revival to round things out (yes, I'm bitter about it, can't you tell?), it's hard to say how appealing Resynced will be without some top shelf sword-swinging.
Ng assured fans further down in the aforementioned X thread that non-combat systems should feel familiar, too. When asked if social stealth would be back, Ng simply said "It's still there. #Faithful." It should be welcome news to any fans of AC's swashbucklingest entry.
And while it might sound ridiculous to even suggest that blood might come in the form of a paid DLC, there is certainly precedent.
Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
Join The Club
