"It's a Video Game! - Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

Well, I finally made it. Other than Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and maybe a couple of non-main console AC games, I’m done with the Creed. I started this journey through the games in 2018 and thought it wouldn’t take too long to do it. I was wrong on that front, and it was this game’s fault! While Syndicate wasn’t exactly drawing me in, it’s also possible that I was burnt out on the franchise. Besides, there was other stuff to play. Anyway, I can finally say that I finished this race.

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate was released on October 23^rd, 2015 for the PS4 and Xbox One. Of course, I didn’t get around to getting this game until last year maybe. I’m not sure. I probably got it around the same time I got Unity last year. In the pretty lackluster present day story, you’re back as “Blank: the Helix Player”… yeah, I got no good name for this person. Anyway, you’re tasked by the Assassins to play the memories of two twin Assassins: Jacob and Evie Frye. You also see familiar Assassins like Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings as they search for an Isu artifact called the Shroud of Eden.

In the past (1868), you can play as either Jacob or Evie Frye. Unlike how Odyssey does later, you can switch them out during gameplay and play as either. While both are trying to take down the Templars in London, they have different goals. Jacob wants to chew gum and kick Templar arse while Evie is on the search for hidden Isu artifacts like the Shroud. They aren’t the only ones searching for the Shroud though since Starrick, the Grand Templar in London, has his associates out there running the place and looking for the Shroud. Add in a lotta Cockney accents, child labor, gangs, and overall calamity.

PROS

 While Jacob was...eh, Evie was okay.

While this game didn’t do a lot to bring me in at first, it was still pretty fun to play. While I have liked what Ubisoft has done with Origins and Odyssey, going back to Syndicate felt like coming home. We have the more recognizable Assassin/Templar conflict, we’re stuck in just one big city, and we have a crapton of providences to free from Templar control. At least the folk you save aren’t throwing out the same jargon like “I’ll just be staying home for a while” or something like that. We’re also in a somewhat recognizable era with Victorian Era London.

While the Frye Twins aren’t great protagonists, I did like them. They both had different personalities. Jacob was more boisterous, jokey, and brutish. Evie was more stealthy (well, sometimes with me), intellectual, and had more finesse. Of the two, I honestly like Evie more in terms of mission and personality. Her missions did require more than “Kick the arse of this Templar.” That’s not to say that Jacob’s missions were bad though. They were just more of the usual “Fighty McFightenstein” (Copyright Andrew Leyland). The villains this time around were your stereotypical Templars, but there were a couple of okay ones. Also, the Jack the Ripper DLC provided a nice villain to straight-up hate.

The rope launcher is pretty fun.

The gameplay is more or less the same from Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Things do seem more refined though. The combat is pretty much the same but a little smoother. The parkour and traveling is still the same though. I also liked how you had some variety with your main Assassinations. You could just go in and shank the mofo, or you can use some finesse and trickery.  There is one new invention that I gotta mention. You get the ability to create ziplines with your gauntlet. Think the Grappler from the Batman Arkham games but much more realized and limited. I had quite a bit of fun with it since I was able to mix it in with the roof-running.

I’ll touch on the story more below, but there were some okay things done here. While Jacob barely gets any development, Evie does develop a little in that she stops being so overly dedicated to the Assassin life. You also get to run into some historic figures like Alexander Graham Bell, Queen Victoria, and others. They also contend with Jack the Ripper in a pretty interesting way. If there was one story you may want to check out here, it’s the Jack the Ripper DLC. The graphics were pretty good, and the music was quite nice. I will say that the music wasn’t as memorable though.

CONS

While it was nice to see these two again, I hate that it had to be like this

As for the dislikes, I gotta admit that the story itself was kinda “meh” overall. Jacob and Evie barely get to develop as characters over the span of the game. When you’re getting more enjoyment more from the repetitive side missions than the main story, you got a bit of a problem. There just wasn’t a lot to soak me in with this one story-wise. Even some of the lesser games like Unity and Rogue had something to them even though they weren’t executed well. At least this story doesn’t go down the “REVENNNNNGE!!!!” route. I will say that the story for Jack the Ripper was actually pretty good at least. Also, the villains were pretty one-note. Outside of Starrick, who was kind of on a “Make London Awesome Again” motif, the rest of the villains were pretty forgettable.

Of course, the modern story was pretty nonexistent. I know it can be a bit of a chore for some to get through, but I do like it when we see the modern day in these games. It’s where the main story for the franchise is. While we do get a little bit of something involving the modern-day Assassins, you can’t interact with it at all. I see why they ultimately brought back a main protagonist like Layla Hassan, and while that hasn’t been great, it’s much better there than here.

While Starrick was alright, the rest of the Templars were a bore.

Things can also get a bit repetitive with the missions themselves. Basically, you either got to capture someone, save the children, or just cap someone. The gang fights did provide some variety, but not a lot. I also wish the weapons themselves had more variety. I know swords weren’t in style around Victorian London, but some variety was needed. The boss battles you get here are also pretty lackluster. I know that final one with Starrick was. Other than these things and other nitpicks, this was a fine game.

……………………………………………….

In the end, Syndicate is far from the best of the series. It still does bring the fun at times. I can see why Ubisoft ultimately went with something different afterwards. While I do miss the older style of Assassin’s Creed, I wouldn’t want it to stagnate. You’d end up getting a game like this that feels like AC but misses the mark in the important things like character and story. Well, I would say that I’m done with the franchise for a while, but with Cyberpunk 2077 being unplayable at the moment, I think it’s time to see what these Vikings are up to. Don’t know when that’ll come here though. Anyway, I’m outta here. Peace, God Bless, and remember to not pre-order hyped games.

No, I didn’t pre-order Cyberpunk 2077, but I did consider it.