Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Overview -
This year’s entry in the 'Assassin's Creed' franchise is 'Syndicate', which takes players to Victorian London in the ongoing fight against the Templars for the freedom of humanity. Instead of one Assassin we get two - fraternal twins Evie and Jacob Frye, born into an Assassin family and already trained by the time the game begins. Evie is presented as the stealthier of the two, while Jacob is more of a brawler. It is a wholly single-player experience.
Video Review
Despite being covered in the muck and mire of 1860s London, 'Syndicate' looks delightful. The framerate in the AnvilNext 2.0 engine has been improved, probably by reducing the number of assets on the screen at any given time. There are some lingering bugs and clipping issues but nothing disastrous. New animations have been added and combat looks fresh, even if the abilities themselves are familiar. The unconventional weapons in particular are nice, like the cane sword.
Audio Review
The string-heavy score serves the setting well. London sounds alive, from the ubiquitous hoofbeats and carriage clacking to the cheeky slang of the urchins. The voice acting is superb, particularly the Fryes.
Final Thoughts
Ubisoft took considerable flak from last year’s release of 'Assassin's Creed: Unity', which had some good ideas but suffered from a collection of design and testing problems. To their credit, they appear to have taken it as a learning experience, as 'Syndicate' emerges as one of the strongest 'Assassin's Creeds' in recent memory.