Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

This is one of the best AC games in my opinion. To be fair, I have not played through all of them, but this one has far superior combat to any predecessor (except perhaps Black Flag). The story remains fairly interesting as opposed to many AC games that really suffered from poor story. The massive London map is beautiful, detailed, and a joy to explore. If you are looking for the greatest Assassin's Creed gameplay, I would recommend either this one or Black Flag.

Deeply annoying that you can't re-load at certain points. I was supposed to kidnap someone, the mission was going really well, dropped the body whilst I assissinated someone but instead it was the "Kidnapee" I killed. Amusing, but annoying af that you can't go back.

Coming off of a really humbling release with Assassin's Creed: Unity, a follow up was either going to kill this franchise or bring it back to glory. Syndicate is an interesting follow up, as it came out as a much better release than Unity... yet it didn't quite have the popularity that the typical Assassin's Creed game had. Which is a shame, because Syndicate feels like the game that Unity should've been.

It makes use of the same framework as Unity, but everything feels MUCH better implemented. The gameplay is a lot more polished and consistent. Combat is responsive and snappy. Freerunning/parkour offers a little bit more control than Unity, while still keeping the flashy animations. The mission design is relatively the same as Unity, although it's much more realized and almost akin to the first Assassin's Creed at times. Blackbox missions feel a lot more nuanced in their presentation and gameplay offerings, while normal story missions take advantage of the game's core elements. I also quite like the side content - as you have base liberation missions with optional objectives, some story-driven side missions with different historical figures, diverse collectibles that are rich with lore, as well as various random events and side activities. London might just be one of the best maps in the series, as it is brimming with life, content, and polish. It's condensed enough to offer plenty of parkour opportunities, there's enough points of interest, and the content is well implemented.

Visually, Syndicate looks a lot more polished than Unity and can look absolutely stunning at times. From the environmental design to the character models, everything just looks sharper and more consistent. On PS4, the performance can be a bit choppy and is limited to 30fps, but the recent PS5 update enhances the frame rate to 60fps. Syndicate also seems to be free of a lot of bugs, since I haven't encountered many during my first playthrough in 2023.

The story is where things get a bit inconsistent for me. Syndicate is by far the most lighthearted story in the mainline series, which isn't a bad thing. It's just that the comedic tone is at odds with the dark setting and backdrop. For a game taking place during the industrial revolution of Victorian London, Syndicate seems to avoid the darker aspects of the time period as much as possible. And while I understand the lead writer's decision to make a more light-hearted story, especially within a series filled with moody and grim narratives, I can't help but feel like it was applied to the wrong backdrop and timeframe. Luckily, the story itself is pretty decent. It's a bit more on the simple side, but it feels like a MUCH more interesting and eventful reiteration of Brotherhood's underwhelming story. Compared to Unity's mess of a story, Syndicate's simplified and focused narrative feels a bit refreshing. The episodic structure from AC1 makes a return and the pacing of the story is pretty good. The plot, while very familiar, is made compelling by the charming characters and some occasionally great writing. The Frye twins are fun protagonists, but their motivations and backgrounds are admittedly a bit predictable and uninspired. I'm quite impressed by the antagonists of Syndicate, as they're respective plotlines develop their personality to varying degrees. While the main villain could've used some quality characterization himself, his writing was still quite enjoyable and gave the character enough layers to work with. The VERY brief modern day segments are easily the weakest and most boring aspects of the story, and the overall ending of the game leaves a lot to be desired.

There is a lot to like about Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, as it feels like Ubisoft put some genuine effort into redeeming this franchise. If you haven't given it a chance as an Assassin's Creed fan, do yourself a favor and check it out. The gameplay is some of the best that the series has seen. The open world is filled with quality content, tons of detail, and soul. While the story is quite flawed and streamlined, it feels a lot more focused and still manages to be quite cohesive, as a result.

A significant improvement in gameplay to many of its predecessors but probably lacking more in terms of storyline to others. I still enjoyed the game but I certainly didn't feel as emotionally invested in the outcome or completely hooked in like others in the series not the best they've done but not the worst either if you enjoy the series you'll almost certainly enjoy this.

The setting of 1868 London is beautifully created with a gritty "back alley" feel. Populated with colorful and interesting NPC's. It was a joy to explore. The characters dialogue and interactions were spot on. The story, while interesting, became lost amidst an endless barrage of formulaic side quests. Side quests that were essentially the same half dozen or so but on another section of map, which was barely distinguishable. Have you played the Godfather games? Grand Theft Auto? Don't expect there to be anything new here. The game play itself becomes repetitive after three hours, and painfully repetitive after six.

All in all, once the splendor of a dirty 1800's London wears off the game becomes a chore. Definitely worth a play, perhaps don't buy it and just play it at a friend's house for a few hours.