Assassin's Creed Syndicate Trailer

Another year, another Assassin’s Creed game, is anyone else feeling tense in the shoulders?

Ubisoft announced, on Tuesday May 12th, 2015, their next title in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Everyone brace yourself, it’s Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.

The game is set in Victorian London, right at the heart of the industrial revolution. There’s some old, there’s some new, and then there’s some interesting. First, let’s get the elephant out of the room real quick.

The announcement was streamed online for everyone to see, and what we saw was an apology.

Do we accept it as fans? It’s hard to say, a lot of us still feel disappointed by Assassin’s Creed Unity. It wasn’t a terrible game, but it didn’t live up to the expectations that AAA titles should have. Will Ubisoft make amends for their last release? We all better have a great amount of cautious optimism as we look deeper into the game.

What’s New in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate?

It’s in London, which means that there was a ton of time saved on the sound for the general public, they were all English in Unity. There are new gadgets and toys, the grapple hook is a big one. That should make scaling buildings easier; as well as going in search of Easter eggs and riddles. The addition of revolvers and brass knuckles is interesting. Ubisoft says there will be a better combat system, to better promote street brawls and alley fights. This is interesting because usually AC games are about stealth. The fact that they’re encouraging giant street brawls is something new. However, that’s not the newest change.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate puts you into the character of Jacob Frye and his twin sister, Evie. After the hooplah last year that Ubisoft couldn’t make a female assassin as the main character (Aveline is amazing and deserves her own console game; not just an upgrade from a PsP,) Ubisoft gives the players a choice. How they do this is yet to be seen, but at least it’s a start in the right direction.

A few thoughts about Syndicate (with thanks to Elliotte Friedman for stealing his 30 Thoughts format.)

There is a different feel already in playable characters. Jacob gives off an Edward Kenway feeling, while Evie has a distinct Aveline quality. They were both strong characters, Ubisoft should play to their strengths.
I have a lot of cautious optimism about Syndicate. Playing AC should be about fun and adventure, not a chore just to get to the good bits.
No multiplayer mentioned at all. While it wasn’t bad in Unity, it did feel out of place. Maybe there’s room for it down the road. I think it deserves another shot.
There’s a great Gangs of New York vibe coming off the gangland activity. I keep expecting Daniel Day Lewis and the Dead Rabbits to show up. Maybe we can see AC back in New York when the character of the city was being forged.
There’s also a giant “We’re sorry” feeling attached to this. I don’t know how I feel about it yet. It comes off as a little sterile and an apology for the sake of apologizing, no real mea culpa intended.
I’m interested to see how the street brawls work. I loved just going free range killing, if they work that into the game, it’ll be a plus.
The industrial revolution is a neat period to place it. It feels like X-Files before the technology and what the new X-Files will be with 21st Century technology. I wonder when we will see our first Assassin snipers.
Jack the Ripper will be involved somehow, it’s almost dropping it at our feet. I hope they keep him anonymous and not actually an Assassin or a Templar. Though, having to take down a rogue assassin would be a neat side story.
Arno was never a character we could get behind. His love story was tragic (spoilers,) but he never lost anything until the end. We didn’t know his father or surrogate father well enough. Watching Jacob and Evie build a mafia empire means we get to grow with them, it should be interesting.
I’m hoping for a Dr. Who/Queen Victoria is a werewolf reference. It’s unlikely, but it’d be an awesome addition.
Dat grapple hook tho.
Bring back the assassin’s blade combat. I missed that a lot from Unity. It was satisfying to take on a group of armed people with just hidden blades, the finishers always looked cool.
The underground fight clubs look like a nice addition. Let’s see how well they get mixed in, brass knuckles are for when regular punching just isn’t good enough.
The using the environment to take down enemies feels gimmicky. It’s new, so maybe it’s growing pains. I have a feeling there’ll be a lot of guards standing under crates or near collapsible walls, with some “Eh? Eh? Drop it on em‘” moments. I’d love to see them work it into a fluid combat without set pieces. Update: Yes you could use scaffolding to make kills in earlier games. This still feels gimmicky.
There were rumours that Syndicate was supposed to be pushed back into 2016, we don’t need an Assassin’s Creed game every year. This is why I think the apology feels sterile. Another game is going through the machine.
Mutton chops and top hats, sometimes it’s all you need.