It’s worth officially codifying the game’s bugs, too. But it would be more impressive if there were anything to fill up that space besides half-hearted stabs at side content and a bunch of collectibles. Congratulations to the people who do research on the period. It’s the one consistent “improvement” every year, and Ubisoft boasts that Syndicate‘s London is the largest of any of the Assassin’s Creed cities. Contrast that with Unity‘s depiction of Paris burning. At one point in the story, characters in Syndicate tell you “all of London is rioting.” If so, it was a very quiet sort of riot-the type where nothing gets broken and people say “Good day” to each other in the streets. ![]() Syndicate‘s London feels stagnant and empty by comparison, with not a single crowd that can match what we saw in Unity last year. Syndicate takes this to an extreme, forcing all of its present-day exposition into tedious cutscenes.Īnd the crowds, which Ubisoft pushed hard in Unity, are apparently a victim of that game’s bug-ridden delivery. The stories are predictable, and the modern-day aspect now resides in a hellish limbo-still present enough to annoy those who don’t care, but minimized to the point it feels inconsequential. But the longer Assassin’s Creed goes without a major overhaul of its core design principles, the more it feels like a weird holdover from another era-say, 2010 when Brotherhood came out.Įven after Unity‘s tweaks the parkour feels stilted, and in Syndicate the introduction of a grappling hook that lets you bound to the top of a building with the press of a button renders your character’s climbing skills almost comically useless. Despite the lackluster and repetitive mission structure, there was much to be admired-the (impressive at the time) parkour, the grim story, the reactive crowds, the size of the world and the way it blended historic fact and legend. I still remember the excitement around the first game in the series, way back in ye ol’ 2007. What’s, I guess, sad to me is that at one point Assassin’s Creed truly was novel. Charles Dickens stays around for slightly longer so you can hunt London’s “ghosts,” giving them a “I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for that assassin and his/her hidden blade” moment. Alexander Graham Bell shows up, for instance-and then disappears from the story after you do some menial tasks for him. The rest of the cast is less successful, with cameos that often go nowhere and feel largely interchangeable. It’s not the most unique dynamic, but it keeps Syndicate moving. Even Evie, the more “practical” of the two, is full of witty one-liners, always equipped with a sigh and a snide jab when Jacob inevitably screws up. ![]() Their sibling rivalry leads to Syndicate‘s best moments, the pair leveling barbs at each other and adding some much-needed levity to the proceedings-something the self-serious Assassin’s Creed Unity was sorely missing. ![]() Jacob plays the now familiar role of “Ezio-In-A-Different-Time-Period,” wisecracking his way through situations and generally not giving half a damn about the Creed part of Assassin’s Creed, while Evie is more levelheaded and focused on the brotherhood’s teachings. ![]() If Syndicate is saved from mediocrity it’s because of the quality of its lead characters, the brother/sister Assassin duo of Jacob and Evie Frye.
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