As a big fan of Assassins Creed I couldn’t wait to hear about Syndicate, the next instalment of the series that is to be set in 19th Century England. The game features the twins Jacob and Evie Frye as they carry on the tradition of assassination. Let’s have a breakdown as to what the new title is going to bring to the table.

A hot headed, brash and rebellious brother, teamed up with a relentless sister who doubles as a master of stealth. Both Jacob and Evie seem to be great new characters for the game. Especially since they have conflicting personalities and allow the players to switch between them at any point during the game. Of course there are certain mission that can only be played by either the brother or sister, but that is only to assist with the progression of their own personal stories. The plot involves these two assassins heading into the city of London near the end of the industrial revolution. They wish to free the hard workers from poverty and stage an uprising against an oppressive establishment concealing the Templars.

One big change the new instalment brings is that the game returns to being strictly a single player experience. Ubisoft, after being questioned about this move, responded that they wanted the team in Quebec to focus on the largest world we had ever seen in an assassins creed game to date. They also stated that the map would be roughly thirty percent larger than unity’s map.

Now has Ubisoft made the right move in making some pretty big changes to the series? Let me give you my two cents. First off the theme, I have to admit it is pretty awesome to witness. The trailer showcased a lot of features around London and some very true to history remarks about the slum filled streets and the arrogance of the men & women at the top of the food chain. The style of both the characters is well thought out also, but I can’t help but think that Jacob took a lot of inspiration from Bloodborne.

Secondly the decision to make the game a single player only experience will only improve the story as well as the overall presentation of the game. When multiplayer was first introduced to the series, I was very much entertained by the idea of assassinating my friends online. However, the concept being repeated in every instalment for me ruined the single player experience. It always felt like the campaign could have been fleshed out more and had way more detail added in but there were restrictions due to the inclusion of multiplayer. I for one am looking forward to possibly one of the best stories in the series since my time playing Assassins Creed II with Etzio.

Finally I find myself very happy to see a female protagonist being played out in this world. We have seen female assassins in the series before but now we get a proper chance to see what Ubisoft is capable of creating with a fully fledged lead character. I am looking forward to their design and decisions, especially since the character so far seems really good. A strong woman figure that is very passionate about getting the job done and is so good at her role that she has been dawned a master of stealth. That is nothing short of badass in my book and I cannot wait to see more about her and her brother as we get closer to the release.

The game is also no longer being developed on previous gen consoles and is staying with the PS4, Xbox One and PC. Some people will be upset by this, but Unity did show some promise on the next gen consoles. Hopefully with full dedication from the dev team, we can see this world given the justice we know it should have. As well as see a tremendous lack in launch day bugs, no matter how hilarious some of them may have been.

What are your thoughts on Assassins Creed Syndicate and the future of the AC series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

by Dominic Coles | May 13th, 2015