The Verdict
If the previous page didn't already tip you off with the small amount of negative points to talk about, Assassin's Creed Syndicate is a stellar game. I can't promise that those who suffer from AC fatigue will feel re-invigorated with Syndicate, as it's still largely the same experience, albeit with some new flashy tricks. However, there is no denying that the team at Ubi that worked on Syndicate took the time to make sure that this iteration didn't end up being a buggy mess.
Amazing setting, entertaining protagonists, well-written dialogue and some truly fun new gameplay mechanics make Syndicate shine above the rest. It may not match the excitement of being a pirate assassin on the open seas of the Caribbean, but Syndicate proves that perhaps this eight year old franchise still has some new tricks up its sleeve.
The Positives
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Let's tackle the giant elephant in the room first, performance. The game runs at a way better framerate. Sure, there are still very slight dips here and there when things get hectics, but it's in no way a disaster like Unity was.
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London is a fantastic setting. Even though it's very brown and washed out, the actual city is fantastic and a joy to explore.
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Some new tools like the grappling hook make climbing tall structures a breeze. With a press of a button, you can scale an entire building in mere seconds. You might think that a tool that makes climbing obsolete in a game about climbing would be a bad thing, but it just works oh so well.
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The grappling hook can even attach itself between two structures, which then allows the main characters to zipline down, and even perform air assassinations. It's also a helpful tool to reach some deviously placed collectables.
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However, I have to praise the climbing the mechanics, as they feel super fast and super fluid. Even the traversal mechanics feel perfect. There was once instance during a mission where I was inside a factory, standing on a guard rail. In front of me was an angled jumped with another guard rail higher, and a ladder that was facing the opposite side. Just looking at that path made me cringe, as previous Creed games would have made that nightmare to fluidly traverse through. However, when I made the jump perfectly, scaled the railing and my character even flipped over to the other side of the ladder, without me even breaking a sweat, that's when I knew the controls were vastly improved.
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The new kidnapping mechanic is really fun. Some missions task you to kidnap, rather than kill an enemy. You essentially have to sneak up and press a button to grab their arm and then lead them to your destination. During this, you can walk past enemies but you have to keep an eye out on your captive, as they can try to break free and make a run for it.
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Hijacking stage coaches, GTA-style! It's great that the Creed series finally got some sort of in-city vehicles, outside of just riding horseback. Driving stage coaches feels great, from steering, to boosting and even taking sharp corners. It's also ridiculously fun to take down other stage coaches by ramming in them.
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The progression system is fairly straightforward, and works. For every 1000XP, you get a skill point. Spend enough skill points, and you get a level. Skills range from things like double kills, more health, better stealth, lockpicking and gaining more resources from chests. The districts of London have their own level suggestion, which lets you know whether you need to level up Jacob or Evie. However, it is important to note that you can still beat a higher level area if you're good enough, and play carefully.
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Speaking of districts, they're actually pretty easy to take over, as each one has a single mission tied to it. Once the mission is cleared, collectibles and other items appear on the map. What's great though, is that Ubisoft scaled back on filling up the map with pointless collectibles. I no longer have anxiety from looking at the map, since they used to be littered with icons in games prior.
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Jacob and Evie Frye are fantastic characters, each with their own personality and goal. Their interactions between one another, and other notable characters are also really great. Jacob likes to get things done, and tends to charge headfirst, while Evie is a bit more level-headed and calculated. They both have their faults, yet those complement each others perfectly. They're certainly up there with Ezio and Edward.
- During your time roaming the city, you can recruit members into the ranks of The Rooks, a gang started by Jacob and Evie that works similarly to the Brotherhood of Assassins. They'll follow you around, and with a press of a button attack any enemies you mark. There are also numerous gang upgrades which can unlock new types of gang members, as well as certain perks throughout the city such as cheaper consumables and ammo, or even bribing the cops so they'll turn a blind eye to your misdeeds.
The Negatives
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It's clear that Ubisoft had to scale back in the graphics department. While facial animations are still superb, the environment doesn't look nearly as good as it did in Unity. Though, I guess it is a tradeoff for a more stable framerate.
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Being an open world game, with a pretty massive city, it's expected for glitches to happen here and there. Despite that, it still belongs under the negatives.
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While the stealth mechanics work, and for the most part, are par for the course for an Assassin's Creed game, I can't help but think back to The Phantom Pain's excellent stealth gameplay, and much smarter AI.
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Assassin's Creed allows you to tackle missions from a few different vantage points, but they're always clearly marked for you with an icon that outright states "Entry Point." The Phantom Pain, on the other hand, respected the player's intelligence by letting them form their own plan of infiltration. Syndicate feels like scripted-freeform gameplay, whereas MGS was freeform at its purest.
To make sure that history didn't repeat itself, I went into Syndicate with my expectations low. I admit I was pretty hyped for Unity, and while it wasn't a terrible game, it wasn't a really good one either. Couple that with some serious performance issues, and it ended up being one of my least favorite Creed games to date. But it also seems like Ubisoft is also taking a rather careful approach with Syndicate. It's easily one of the most under-advertised Ubisoft games to date. Hell, I even forgot it was launching this week!
It's a pleasant surprise then that Syndicate actually manages to once again return to the series' former glory, up there with games like Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Black Flag. Sure, it doesn't have the vibrant colors of the carribean, the charming Edward Kenway, or the joy of being a swashbuckling pirate. However, Syndicate has some great evolutionary advances of its own, not to mention a fantastic cast of characters, and a duo of great assassins, that you can switch between on the fly.
It also helps that the franchise goes to the more modern era during the Industrial Revolution, bringing with it some fantastic new gameplay mechanics that fit in right with the era.
Let's look at what Ubisoft did right, what still sucks, and our final verdict.
