Ubisoft has just announced their latest entry in the main Assassin’s Creed game franchise, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. The new game will be set in London during the Industrial Revolution and unlike last year’s Assassin’s Creed Unity, which featured a heavy focus on multiplayer interaction and strategy, Syndicate will see a return to the single player focus present in earlier games while continuing to incorporate the large open-world and parkour moves the franchise is known for.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate won’t just build upon what has come before though. It’s also innovating by being the first Assassin’s Creed game to feature two main protagonists, twins, Jacob and his sister Evie Frye. Not only does this make for a different storytelling dynamic but it will also be the first entry in the series to feature a female assassin in a main role. Assassin’s Creed has experimented with female characters in the past with Aveline de Grandpre in Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation and Shao Jun in the recently released platformer, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China but those have been small-scale spinoffs and not part of the central series.
Other announced game elements include street races and gang building but overall the gameplay doesn’t seem too different from previous games. An official launch trailer has been released and does show a few key game mechanics but is overall a pretty bland reveal. For a much better look at how the game will play, make sure to check out the 9 minute gameplay walkthrough video which does a much better job of showcasing the impressively detailed open-world London and its people. Of note is the horse-drawn carriage race towards the end which looks ridiculously fast but should offer some variety to the gameplay in a similar way the sailing did in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag.
Many fans were disappointed with several gameplay elements and bugs in last year’s Assassin’s Creed Unity which has been one of the most critically panned entries in the franchise. Wanting to convince fans that Assassin’s Creed Syndicate will be an improvement, Ubisoft has released a painfully honest video where several staff involved in Unity’s production admit the mistakes they made and even reference the negative reviews they received. They also elaborate on how hard it was for everyone involved to come to grips with something they’d all worked on for several years to be so disliked and promise that Syndicate will be more refined and feature more of what fans liked and less of what they disliked.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is due for release on the 23rd of October on Xbox One in three different versions. Pre-ordering the Standard or Gold Editions will give players access to a special mission called The Darwin and Dickens Conspiracy while the Gold Edition also comes with a season pass. The special Collector’s Edition comes with the season pass, a 9-inch Jacob figurine, a poster of London, an art book, the official soundtrack and The Darwin and Dickens Conspiracy mission. Actual season pass content has yet to be revealed.
Are you going to buy Assassin’s Creed Syndicate or were you turned off by Unity? Share your opinion in the comments below.
Further reading: Assassin’s Creed, Microsoft, Video Games, Xbox One
