The Animus Hub – How to Get the Most out of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced

Daniel O'Connor

The Animus Hub makes its return in the recently launched Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced with a few updates and new features since its introduction with last year's Assassin's Creed Shadows. Whether you're chasing rewards, diving deep into lore, or looking for new challenges, the Hub expands how you experience Assassin's Creed. Let's take a closer look.

What is the Animus Hub?

First launching with Assassin's Creed Shadows last year, the Animus Hub is your doorway into the world of Assassin's Creed. Presented as a timeline when you launch the game, it brings together a number of key features in one place, whether you want to track your progress in the games, get exclusive rewards, take on additional challenges, or dive deeper into the story. It's an ever-growing and evolving platform which promises to enhance your experience and get even more out of each game it appears in, whatever you love about the series.

For the Lore Lovers

Assassin's Creed first launched in 2007, and here we are almost 20 years later with 15 main title games and countless comics, movies, novels, animated shorts, and more. Lore and narrative are absolutely key to the series, and we know there are a lot of players who love to discover every morsel of story. The Animus Hub has plenty to offer if that's you!

Recapping the story
The Animus Hub surfaces the latest events and story moments from the game you have launched, so you can quickly pick up where you left off and keep up with the plot. On opening the game you'll boot into the Memories menu, a timeline overview of the games in the series. Clicking on each game will give you access to content like descriptions, trailers, and other overview materials for a quick reminder of a game's story and setting without leaving the platform or loading a separate browser.

Deeper Story Content
With additional gameplay content like Rifts and Projects (more on those later) you'll unlock rewards including lore and narrative content, from journal entries to messages and notes between characters, all available in the Vault. You'll learn more about your favorite Assassins, their friends and enemies, the worlds in which they reside, and more and all of it is accessible right from the Animus Hub. You'll also see encrypted files still waiting to be found and decrypted to aid you on your hunt for lore.

Rifts
Rifts were introduced with Assassin's Creed Shadows, where we encountered the mysterious AI known as "EGO" who has enormous control over the Animus. Starting with the launch of Black Flag Resynced, you'll be able to discover a new kind of Rift, which are "what if?" scenarios, where EGO will show you alternate versions of genetic memories to explore different versions of the characters you'll meet along the way. What if Edward had kept his promise and returned to Caroline instead of becoming a pirate and Assassin? What if Blackbeard had accepted the King's pardon? You'll have to play the Rifts to find out, but be careful, as EGO may have ulterior motives for showing these to you...

For the Challengers

Whether it's reaching your target without being spotted, completing a mission within a time limit, or getting every trophy and achievement, there are plenty of challenges and plenty of players eager to tackle them. The Animus Hub provides challenges of its own to put you and your skills to the test.

Synchronization
Keep track of a variety of challenges, from character and story-based goals to unique Hub challenges, all of which offer rewards unlocked from the Hub screen. Check back often to get your rewards and see any new or pending challenges that you have yet to complete.

Collections and rewards
Projects add an additional layer by grouping multiple challenges into a single objective, unlocking further rewards. Each project is made up of Anomalies, time-limited challenges which refresh each week, and they can be tracked in the Hub to be completed in-game. You'll also find special Crossover Projects, new in the Hub, which are special projects that can be completed within multiple games which feature the Animus Hub rather than being tied to a single game like regular Projects. The very first Crossover Projects, named Riptides and Undertow, are available now in Shadows and Black Flag Resynced and will unlock rewards in both games.

Rifts
Not only do rifts provide a look at story and lore in new and interesting ways, but they also provide some distinct twists on gameplay. Traversing unique and glitched worlds, facing some of the most challenging boss fights, remixing environments you thought you knew, it's all part of the Rifts and they're well-worth exploring. See what's available in the Animus Hub and challenge yourself to something new and different.

For the Collectors

We also know there are those of you who love to see a complete collection, and the Hub will help you both track what you've already got, and that which you have yet to collect. Whether it's outfits, weapons, skins, or anything else that glitters, let's take a look.

Exclusive rewards
Rewards are earned through a variety of means and are often exclusive to the Animus Hub. You'll also be rewarded with currency which cannot be purchased and is only earned through gameplay, to be spent in the Exchange. That means no paid rewards, just items that are earned through playing, and only available to the most dedicated players.

Synchronizations
We already mentioned how synchronizations help you with challenges, but they also provide rewards for completion. See what progress you've made and collect rewards for challenges you've completed.

Projects
Projects of course also offer exclusive rewards, and Crossover Projects not only connect the worlds and stories of different games, but also offer rewards inspired by each. Completing the latest Crossover Projects between Black Flag Resynced and Shadows unlocks exclusive rewards in both games, each inspired by the world and characters of the other title. Check back frequently to discover new Projects and Crossover Projects, as the rewards may not be available anywhere else.

The Animus Hub in Brief

So, to recap everything that you'll have access to in games where the Animus Hub is available:

Get story recaps of recently played events
See a timeline of major games in the series and access quick content about each game (trailers, videos, etc.) without opening a browser
Access Rifts, additional story content with unique and interesting gameplay which offer rewards
Access Projects, sets of weekly challenges that offer rewards for completion
All-new Crossover Projects, which can be completed in more than one game and unlock rewards in each
Synchronization, which tracks progress across multiple challenges and offers rewards for progression
Exclusive rewards that can't be purchased or earned elsewhere
An ever-expanding platform which grows with each new game