Assassin’s Creed Syndicate officially announced, first details revealed

The rumors and speculation can finally end, as Ubisoft officially unveiled today Assassin's Creed Syndicate, the newest installment in its long line of action-adventure titles.

As previously leaked, Syndicate is set in London in 1868, "the center of the industrialized world." It's a world ruled by money where the upperclass still rule the city since they have the power to vote. With little choice, the lower class are forced into organized crime — banning together in groups called Syndicates.

For the majority of Syndicate, you'll be playing as Jacob Frye, "an assassin born and bred poised to take over the criminal underworld of London during the Industrial Revolution." However, Jacob also has a sister, Evie, described by Ubisoft as "a relentless Assassin" and "a master of stealth." In the open-world portion of the game, you'll be able to freely switch between the two, while story missions will restrict the chocie "for narrative reasons."

The two arrive in London as the Industrial Revolution reaches its climax, with those in poverty rising up against the oppressive establishment concealing the Templars. Jacob and Evie will fight alongside the lower class, and among your allies will be some of the most famous Victorians, including novelist Charles Dickens and biologist Charles Darwin.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is single-player only. Ubisoft's reasoning for this was so the development team could "focus on creating the biggest city based open-world that we’ve ever had for an Assassin’s Creed game." To that end, Syndicate's London will be approximately 30 percent larger than Unity's map, and will consist of seven boroughs: Westminster, the Strand, the City of London, Whitechapel, Southwark, and Lambeth. The Thames will act as the major entry and exit point.

Ubisoft highlighted an assortment of new features coming with Syndicate, which Ubisoft describes as having the "fastest-paced" combat they've ever built. Syndicate's combat will be at a much more closer range than in the past, and a intricate traffic system will open up the combat in ways never before possible.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate will release worldwide on October 23rd for PS4 and Xbox One. A PC version is planned, but won't arrive until later in fall.

You can watch 9 minutes of Assassin's Creed Syndicate gameplay here. Stay tuned as we will continue our coverage of Assassin's Creed Syndicate throughout the day.