I have a theory. And it’s sound. If you think Assassin’s Creed is going to be terrible. It’s good. If you think Assassin’s Creed is going to be great, it sucks.
Roll with me on this one…
— Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood: we thought it would suck. It was amazing.
— Assassin’s Creed III: it looked absolutely amazing. It sucked.
— Assassin’s Creed IV: no-one was expecting much. It was maybe the best one ever.
— Assassin’s Creed Unity: Oh my god! This looks so good! It sucked.
So it makes total sense that Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is really good because I, and everyone else, thought it was going to suck.
Simply put: I knew Assassin’s Creed Syndicate was going to be brilliant because I thought it was going to suck.
How are you finding it so far? It seems like the general consensus is this: many of the problems with Assassin’s Creed persist, but Syndicate is actually pretty damn decent. Is that what you’re finding so far? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments
32 responses to “Community Review: Assassin’s Creed Syndicate”
I get what you’re saying, but my main problem is that I’ve been playing the same game since 2007, with incremental improvements to core features and various layers of mostly unnecessary trimmings. I may play it when it hits the bargain bin in a year or so, but otherwise I feel that there must be far more interesting experiences out there to spend my time on.
This. I’m actually restarting Black Flag in honor of one of the few AC games that tried to do something different =P
Have you gone back to the original?
It’s actually a remarkable change
I agree.. after last years fiasco with the bugs in Unity, I think I’ll wait for the price to drop and the bugs to get ironed out… Then download the mulit-gig patch and play. I may re-play Brotherhood, it was my favorite.
started syndicate on the weekend and have been enjoying it, it’s not quite as awesome as black flag but it plays well… i skipped (but still own) unity… so I’m coming into this off the back of really enjoying black flag and rogue
you could just about ignore the fact that it’s another assassin’s creed game and just enjoy it for being a good, entertaining game…
Im loving it so far. The combat system feel mote refined and the addition of grapple hook and horse carriages adds something fresh to the formula of getting around. Just wish it had more costumes like in Unity.
Does it have micro-transactions like Unity? Unity did have a lot of costumes, but given the sheer number of items and the fact that the top tier items were so expensive, the only chance you had of obtaining every item was to fork out real world money.
It absolutely does have micro transactions, though their more like Black Flags and less like Unitys.
You can buy Helix Credits (the largest pack is $80-AU) or resource packs for their crafting.
I really dislike the way it feels like I’m being driven towards the microtransactions, to be honest, it feels like all the best stuff needs to be crafted.
Other than that… I’m really enjoying it.
So far iv seen that it does but alot of the things you can craft with resource you can get in game. Its more like time saver micro transactions.
Remember when cheats were free?
GTA V does
Would you like to buy some resources? How about in-game cash? Or maybe a new suit is more your taste? We have a wide selection of colours available…
In other words, “yes.”The @markserrels theory works because Ubisoft runs such an obnoxious schedule that it’s a simple a case of never making good on their promises.
If they’re promising new, interesting changes (AC I, III, V) then the game will be a disappointing mess.
If they’re promising a refinement on existing framework (AC II, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, IV and VI) then the game will be what it’s disappointing predecessor should have been.
Does that make sense?
It also has to do with their engine updates. Both III and Unity were huge engine updates for Anvil, and it seemed this distracted from making the actual game good.
What the hell is AC 2.3???
It doesn’t exist. For some reason I thought they made a fourth game in the ACII series.
AC 2.1 = AC II
AC 2.2 = Brotherhood
AC 2.3 = Revelations
My theory is that Ubisoft is only interested in getting the game out each year for profit, then hiring more temps after the backlash for being so lazy. Only to repeat the process.
I really wonder how much they’re saving every year by reusing the same assets.
People have been crying for an Asian-themed location for years.
Syndicate is good, and I love the zip line. Going to miss it next year unless they come up with some convoluted reasoning to keep it.
Assassins Creed Asia will pop when they have financial trouble.
European AC’s are easier to churn because a lot of the infrastructure is similar across varying timelines. e.g. the buildings have similar climb points going back to AC-3, Unity, the Italian games and this one. Going for another continent or infrastructure requires a lot more work and might involve making all game assets from scratch.
Agree with the article content (except I didn’t like Black Flag thaaaat much because I wasn’t a fan of the sailing stuff). So far finding Syndicate really enjoyable.
Although I feel like if I’d actually invested the time into finishing any of the titles after AC3 I’d be even more burned out on the series and probably wish Syndicate did more to stand out.
That said the setting is great, the music is phenomenal and that now-en-vogue zipline mechanic makes getting around fast and fun.
I guess my only real disappointment is seeing the kind of game Ubi’s studios can churn out on a yearly cycle and wondering how great the next AC game could be if we maybe just don’t see it until 2017…
Wouldn’t be good if next year instead of Assassin’s Creed IX, they subbed in Watch Dogs 2 and alternated the two series
I’d rather have nothing for a year than Watch Dogs 2 tbh…
I agree with the article but have to admit, AC3 kind of ruined the whole series for me, I’ve never been able to invest back into it since, I bought black flag because people were saying it actually didn’t suck, but sailing is not really my thing and even though I do think it was a good game, I only got about halfway through it then for some unknown reason I never went back to it
I play the series again when they’ll make it first person, ala Dying Light.
I remember being really excited for Brotherhood and it ended up being really good.
I wanted revelations to be good but it disappointed because it tried doing too much.
ACIII was for me, the worst in the series to date, main issue being with the story being uprooted half way into the game and suddenly youre thrown into a character that you dont give a shit about.
ACIV: Black Flag, I also wasn’t a fan of, I didnt feel like an assassin and the fact that there was nothing that furthered the story just made it not worth playing a second time.
Sailing was fun, but tbh, if I want a sailing game, I’m going to go play Wind Waker.
Unity tried to be ACII, the time period was supposed to feel similar, but I didnt care about the character, the set pieces were cool and I often find myself playing a bit more just because of how beautiful the game looks, but overall, the gameplay suffered because your actions didnt seem to have consequence.
I havent played Syndicate, but after watching this video by Gamespot:
I feel like this guy absolutely gets how I feel about the series.
The worlds dont feel like they keep on turning without you playing, the game worlds feel engineered specifically for you (the player) to muck around, but games like The Witcher 3 feel like a living world that you have to play in.
The first assassins creed was great because if you fucked around too much, the guards would fuck you up or the templars would fuck you up.
The combat was genuinely difficult because the focus of the game was on stealth. But it isnt anymore.
TL;DR:
Watch this video, it sums up how I feel nicely.
Played a couple of hours last night. Pretty good.
But still seems to me that they need to overhaul the movement system . Same as the first few AC games, i still find myself gettin stuck on walls I didnt want top jump on, climbimg up when I want to hang, Jumping left when I want to jump straight. Silly shit that pissed me off in black flag and made me stop playin it. It seems sluggish while running, like it has to slow you down to drop to a ledge that its registered as the next hop in the parkour.
A great addition is the jump down option.
There is way less shit on the map which at this stage of the game im at. Which is good.
Will see how many more hours i spend with it or if it just fades away .
Everything since II has been a let down. Brotherhood wasn’t that good, I’ve not heard anyone rave about it (personally the whole thing to me felt like one big DLC, cheap and rushed). 3 was ok, but mostly let down by the over-all stupid modern day story conclusion. Black Flag was so over-hyped, seriously. Unity was a total mess. It’s a series that’s going on my Steam Wishlist for gifts/sales. Don’t think I’ll ever both buying it on Day One anymore.
I’m really enjoying it.
I love tooling around London
I love playing as eyvie. She is possibly the best AC character we’ve played as.
There are some things that are bugging me though.
Free running up or down is vexing… say you want to get over a balcony rail, despite climbing up over it, that’s actually a freerun down movement.
Half the time the grapple rope is actually aiming at the building behind you… not the one you’re looking at.
I rented it from EB and as I expected it’s pretty bad imo. The first thing you do is walk around a room and turn off some switches. Really? It’s another beautiful world wasted on lifeless gameplay – push the stick forward while holding R2 and watch the game play itself. Truly riveting stuff.
I just don’t get the appeal.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My thoughts as of 25% completion: The setting is interesting, the name-dropping is almost comically hamfisted, and the mission variety is pretty decent. Adding the grappling hook makes navigating the city or infiltrating a factory feel like you’re playing Batman in 19th century London (aided in no small part by the fighting system, which ain’t half bad). Also really like that Evie and Jacob have different playstyles, so you can play most missions either stealthily or bashy, but you have to commit to that playstyle, which rather adroitly avoids what made Dishonored so enjoyable but also made most missions devolve into “go sneaky, screw up and kill everything in a desperate dash for the exit.” 😛 Hoping gadgets add to longevity, as I’m on the last line of the skill tree for both characters, and have only just crested 25% completion (maybe 35-50% through the story).
On the downside, AC macrotransactions are back in full force, and it feels like they’ve made resources more scarce than they should be as a result. Most of my gear, weapons aside, is still starter gear, and my gang has about half the first row of upgrades unlocked – plenty of money coming in, but not enough resources to craft/buy the upgrades, everything I find goes into keeping my weapons in line with my level. Thankfully, a throwing knife to the face tends to kill anyone under twice my level, so it’s not too big a deal. 😛
Really enjoying it so far.
My favourite part was when you go to the Kenway mansion, and the code for the secret door is the first few bars of Lowlands Away. Ahh, memories of the sea 🙂
I’ll let you know in a month #pcmasterohhhhhhhhhh
I’ve been playing Syndicate since Sunday and I’m at level 7, and about 25% complete. My review is basically “meh”
The graphical quality has gone downhill since Unity. The game just doesn’t look as good. It looks more like an Xbox 360 game with “smoke” added. I’ve seen some really AWFUL glitches and bugs which are common and expected now in any AC game. Every AC game since #1 is full of glitches — and I do believe, along with most people that the Ezio trilogy is where the series peaked.
The MAIN thing I am jaded about with the series is after they killed off Desmond in AC3 — there is NO F-ING STORY to this game anymore. The whole “abstergo” crap is just tossed in randomly and basically has no BASIS of even BEING in the game anymore.
With the Desmond games, the whole jumping back and forth between ancient times, and the modern day made sense. In the next 2 games where the “modern day” sequences switch to a completely first-person view with no actual TIES to the story in the past — just makes no sense whatsoever.
And now in the Syndicate game these are just cut scenes with what seems to be the view from some sort of Insect Drone? WTF is this stupid crap? The store devolved from being a REALLY IMMERSIVE story where I cared about what was happening and couldn’t wait to see what happens next to — “picking up crap from the street and the tops of roofs, and killing a bunch of people”
The story of “Call of Duty” games is more cohesive and immersive than an Assassin’s Creed game is now. Whoever is writing the crap story for these games should be fired.
Overall it is fun to play, and I enjoy the AC gameplay. Over time it has become a bit boring because it never gets MORE challenging. I am at the point where I can complete “Suggested Level 7” missions when I’m at a level 3 or maybe even a ONE.
I beat Black Flag through to the end without having a character that was upgraded much at all from what I started with. It’s awful that you can complete a game like that and be 12% done with the ENTIRE completion rate.