PREVIEW – As there is no New Year’s Eve without fireworks, these days there is not a year without an Assassin’s Creed. Unfortunately we are getting a numberless sequel, but if that’s all the problems the game will have then we’ll be having a lot of fun with the adventure of Jacob and Evie Fry. According to Marc-Alexis Côté, creative director of Ubisoft Quebec the series will be true to the previous entries, but will be a fresher, faster paced and fun game.

The game has been in development for two years, and probably a lot of fans were waiting for it even when it was not announced. Later unofficial sources leaked a few hints and news about the game. Let’s forget the Victory subtitle, although this year’s AC will probably win at the retailers, and in the eyes of the gamers. Syndicate will offer more, prettier, and better than ever before.

Of course the basic story did not change, which might not be a problem since it is between the eternal conflict of Assassins and Templars. What is different is the location, the historical events, the equipment and the setpieces. Well those changed a lot !

This is London!

Syndicate takes place in Victorian era London and its nearby area. Based on what Côté claimed we can definitely say that London looks magnificent. The different palaces of the rich, the small back alleys full of rats. Every detail is in place that is reminiscent of this era. The industrial revolution can be seen and felt in the gameplay.

“Yes, London. You know: fish, chips, cup ‘o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary fucking Poppins… LONDON!” (Snatch)

The walls are full of advertisements, the building exteriors are slightly sooty, the trains are dirty and the factories fill everything up with smog. The streets are alive, and not like they used to be in the previous games, no more “zombies” to fill up the screen. In its own little way the city is beautiful, no wonder some want to control it.

Two against everyone

Ubisoft is strengthening their story front as usually there is one main character, however here we get to play as two characters the Frye twins. The leader of the Rook band, Jacob is the typical smug, hot headed, but really badass character. His counterpart is Evie who is well balanced, precise and mysterious. Their objective is to take down the government and clean London’s streets of corruption, while also freeing the people.

However two people is not enough for this battle, and the entire Rook clan, and those they saved will need to aid the twins in their battle. These people will be needed as London is full of Templar backed bands that must be defeated in “gang wars” in order to take over their turf.  They line up opposite each other and start beating each other to a pulp until only one side reminds. If the main character wins they take over the district.

Rise and shine

Just like good rebels, plus assassins we won’t be without any weapons. Let’s start with the most interesting one. The Khukuri is from Nepal a machete like weapon. It’s not a giant sword, or a long ranged weapon, but it is a perfect choice for brutal close quarter combat. With its distinct form, and sharpness you’ll be able to get the attention of the guards, especially if you throw it into one of them from the distance.

Until we get our blade back we can use the series’ signature hidden blades to handle combat. Furthermore we know get a new addition which is a grappling hook. It allows us to traverse the levels, and climb buildings faster than ever, or you can jump on to an enemy from midair. There’s also some old classics like the hallucinogen darts. It really is true to the era as we cannot just run around with a big sword, and nothing can be in view, everything must be hidden.

Amish GTA

The travel system has been redesigned entirely. In the old games there were the horses and the people were in one place. Well now Ubisoft banished the people to the sidewalks and the streets are full of horse carriages. Regardless though it is not against the law to not stay on their own end, but the system and respect is in place according to the era. Then there’s the usual horse carriage chase scenes which we will hopefully will not see too much as per the clichés.

Also hopefully the carriages won’t be upgradeable or have mini games with timed races. Luckily no such information has been released as of yet. Similar to Just Cause we will be able to hijack these carriages in motion, or to jump from one carriage to another.

Will it be Victory?

Based on what we seen so far and heard it will be a victory. Hundreds of developers are working to make this game the best for the 23^rd of October. If it is good  for us it will be good for them. A lot of  information is missing regarding the story, the size of the gameplay. The ability to drive trains or ships, any location besides the Animus , and the second main character Evie. Regardless it seems that Ubisoft is putting real effort into this one.

Let’s hope we won’t have Unity tier issues and horror shows, or patches making the game unplayable like with The Crew. Personally I am excited for Syndicate. There are a lot of interesting historical places, and we will be there to bring news about them in future AC releases.

– Dazo911 –

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Quebec

Genres: Action, adventure

Publication: October 23th 2015