Review: Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

It’s that time again. What time do you ask? It’s the time of the year when the newest Assassin’s Creed is released and out into the hands of fans and reviewers. Has Assassin’s Creed Syndicate improved enough from last year’s miss-step, Assassin’s Creed Unity? We’ll discuss that in this review. This year is an entirely solo affair, marking the first time since Assassin’s Creed II we don’t have any multiplayer, which allows the single-player to shine.

While I didn’t necessarily hate last year’s Unity, I didn’t much like it either. The clipping in animation, the clunky controls and the floaty parkour made for a mediocre foray into the French Revolution. The game took more hits than it needed. It was a lesson that was needed and something the series needed to find new footing.

It’s now 2015, and this year, Ubisoft has taken us to London during the Industrial Revolution. This is the most modern title in the series and a vast improvement over the previous year. Templars and Jacob and Evie Frye overrun its 1868, London arrived to return control to the city’s people by loosening their enemies’ grip.

These two new protagonists have quickly risen to be favourites following Ezio; their sibling bickering is precisely what makes this the reason. Jacob is brash and doesn’t take the Creed as seriously as his level-headed and collected to a fault sister, Evie. The two of these Fryes are more interested in their own agendas, though, which sets them apart for the campaign’s duration.

The supporting cast is well-rounded, full of memorable and enjoyable characters. Charles Dickens is obsessed with the supernatural, and Henry Greene, an Indian assassin, likes research more than fieldwork. It’s the best supporting cast since Leonardo Da Vinci and the gang in Italy.

New mechanics abound, and the rope launcher allows for a much more streamlined experience traversing the beautiful architecture of the Burroughs of London. Did I mention you can character-swap between both Jacob and Evie? With a button press, you can switch up between the two characters in free roam, each with a specialty each assassin excels at. The only exception is campaign missions which have Jacob taking the lead in the majority of these sequences.

Jacob and Evie have skill trees that branch out to cater to their strengths. Jacob is brutish, acting as more of a tank allowing for better combos and deadlier finishers. Evie, on the other hand, is stealthier, allowing her to, at her most potent to go utterly invisible to the eye.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Is Jovial

From the Fight Club to the Cargo Hijack events to the Train Robberies, there is a ton of side activity to complete. The Templar Hunts help the Rooks reclaim London piece by piece. My favourites were the Return of the Murder Mysteries, but they have been fine-tuned and upgraded to be fun.

Trains were an integral part of London’s society and have created an excellent addition to the franchise. The streets of London have been widened to accommodate the carriages that have been refined for Syndicate. These traversal systems feel right at home here, allowing the protagonists new ways to take on enemies and get around the city.

After last year’s Assassin’s Creed Unity and the mediocre story between Arno and Elise, the return of a coherent and light-hearted story featured in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate make the experience much more jovial in London.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is a return to form for the series. Sadly, many fans are comparing each new release to the original games, drastically becoming an afterthought of the franchise once Ubisoft realized how big a series this could become.

Each new title in the series grows further from the original plan and deviates enough to create a bigger world with more webs to connect and pieces to uncover. Take, for example, the modern-day portion of the series. Fans have been asking for a proper return to form since Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. I agree with the sentiment, as the parallel stories set the series apart from many franchises, adding a welcome plot layer to uncover in the present that pushed forward the animus sections of the game. The ‘you as the protagonist’ gimmick has overstayed its welcome, and a return to what once worked needs to return to the series.

The improvements made to Syndicate more than make up for the faults of Unity. Ubisoft Quebec has turned the franchise around and set it on a new path this year.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate was reviewed with a retail code provided by Ubisoft.