The Ezio Collection is still a notable absence but Ubisoft continues to bring its back catalogue of Assassin’s Creed titles onto Nintendo Switch, this time with The Rebel Collection – combining the last two last-gen series entries into one release. Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag and AC Rogue are now available on Switch with all DLC included. It’s a whopping 20GB install in total, so what does this actually deliver? Are we getting a mildly upgraded last-gen experience or a hybrid release with some of PS4 and Xbox One’s enhancements?
First up, I think it’s worth stressing that it’s a genuine pleasure to see these games again. Black Flag re-invigorated the series, adding an emphasis on ship-to-ship battling, taking the series from parkour to large scale naval warfare. Calm coral blue bay areas quickly turn to stormy seas – a battleground beholden to wave deformation. It’s exhilarating to watch and looks wonderful in both games, which are well-delivered on Switch and in many respects, superior in play compared to the PlayStation 3 version.
Yes, they are ports – but some thought has gone into the conversions. Quality of life improvements are made, for example. The HUD is adjusted, HD Rumble is supported and there’s also the ability to use the Joy-Cons’ motion controls for aiming. If you liked the approach to Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 3 Switch port, this follows suit. In terms of basic rendering specs, that means you get an impressive upgrade over last-gen’s native 720p resolution, with both Black Flag and Rogue delivering a dynamic 1080p when docked. Standard 1920×1080 is the upper bounds there, but resolution will drop in intense scenes.
