Review
Played on: PlayStation 4
Released: 2015
Released: 2015
From a troubled current generation debut with Unity, review here, Assassin's Creed is back, moving from Paris to the cobbled streets of 19th century London. The series seems to have taken a break from it's yearly schedule at this point. Not a bad idea if they plan on renewing the series with fresh ideas.
It was only a matter of time before Ubisoft decided to travel to London in a AC title, considering how iconic the city is. The industrial age of Victorian times nicely accompanies the city's red brick style. This time around the story is set around two main playable characters rather than one, Evie and Jacob.
It was only a matter of time before Ubisoft decided to travel to London in a AC title, considering how iconic the city is. The industrial age of Victorian times nicely accompanies the city's red brick style. This time around the story is set around two main playable characters rather than one, Evie and Jacob.
Siblings competing and arguing their way to taking back control of the city from a huge Templar syndicate gang. It's an interesting plot and nice sense of progression as you slowly take over all of the city areas and try to keep it under control. Plus, finally we get a female lead in the series!
In typical AC fashion there's a useless main plot set in the future luckily it's downplayed and only shown at the beginning and end of the game. Both Unity and Syndicate may as well have been set in their own time period completely. The modern story line has dragged on too long with minimal progression or any sense of where it's heading.
The actual London story of Evie and Jacob is very good though, each having their own style and personality. There's also interesting historic people you meet along the way, but I found the main bad guy a little weak and not that threatening.
The ease of movement introduced in Unity has been retained, with dedicated buttons for climbing or descending while running. It makes traversing a more enjoyable affair, especially when you're in a hurry. Though. there are still times you get stuck onto ledges or objects, breaking the sense of flow.
I loved the grappling hook they've introduced, it works much like Batman's from Arkham Asylum, so you can instantly fly up the side of a building or across from one rooftop to another.
Perhaps the ease of climbing has been taken a little too far, as trying to reach synchronisation points is rendered a one button affair with the grappling hook, rather than a strenuous and challenging climb. For the most part though, the streamlined controls help the actual gameplay and missions requiring fast movement.
Syndicate looks it's part, sporting the fantastic lighting engine Unity introduced back in 2014. This time around the insane amounts of pedestrians have been dialled back to give room for better performance at a more stable 30fps. Giving room for lots of horses with carriages too. It's a good compromise and perhaps a reminder of how much they pushed hardware in Unity.
Running at 900p with some fairly washed out textures in the distance, the game can go from looking pretty to fairly rough in parts. I get that the scale when you gaze out over London is incredible, but it can also look a bit grey and dull at times. The transition from a huge open city to detailed indoor environments by simply jumping in through a window, or walking in a door, is very impressive though!
I'd prefer more changes to an overused AC formula. Syndicate feels like a repetition of missions you've played over and over in the series. The perfect balance of switching up the use of Evie and Jacob in the final mission reminds me of how cool it would've been if they'd done this in all the other missions. Allowing the player to choose which one of the siblings was best suited for the mission.
Evie and Jacob's abilities on the skill chart should've been more diverse too, it would make it more fun to replay missions. Even the coop missions have been removed this time around, this could've been an opportunity to allow two players coop each of the siblings!
If you enjoyed Unity's debut on either your PS4 or Xbox One and fancy a better game and story, then Syndicate is tailored for you. For those that fancy a more diverse and off-beat AC experience, Black Flag still remains the more innovative and diverse AC release.
If you enjoyed Unity's debut on either your PS4 or Xbox One and fancy a better game and story, then Syndicate is tailored for you. For those that fancy a more diverse and off-beat AC experience, Black Flag still remains the more innovative and diverse AC release.
Overall, a better rounded and solid entry than the previous attempt, making the game that Unity should've been at launch. Sadly, it stays too safe in it's outdated formula in need of change. We can only hope the delayed next title of the AC series is a sign the next entry will bring something fundamentally new to the table.
