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Preview: Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

I had totally forgotten that Assassin’s Creed could be “fun” until I played Syndicate. And I put the word “fun” in quotation marks, because I mean light, funny and entertaining. Syndicate is all of these things and more. It’s not – as far as I can tell – weighed down by taking itself too seriously or a sombre tone. Sure, the Templars completely control London and their corrupting influence can be found in all facets of society, but that doesn’t mean the Frye twins can’t have a laugh and be a bit cheeky while they wipe them out. The last few titles in the series and their respective protagonists – with perhaps the exception of Edward Kenway and Black Flag – have been depressing, self important and far too serious. This isn’t an accusation I can level at Syndicate at all.

This is not an accident. Speaking with Director Scott Phillips, it becomes clear that Ubisoft Quebec set out to differ from the work Ubisoft Montreal had been doing.

“We definitely set out from the beginning for those two to have a really good relationship and be able to tell two sides of a story with them and keep things light,” Phillips explained. “This was the first time that Ubisoft Quebec was the lead studio, in fact it was the first time anyone other than Montreal was lead on an Assassin’s Creed title. It was a lot of fun and a big leap and challenge which we were really excited to take on.”

Perhaps a change in lead developer has reinvigorated the franchise. Playing Syndicate, while clearly falling into established franchise hallmarks – feels fresh. Assassin’s Creed has always been about multiple gameplay elements shifting dynamically on the fly and it’s here that Syndicate proves it’s above and beyond those titles that came before.

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Phillips told me that the team at Quebec worked hard to make sure players had something interesting to do all the time.

“Players shouldn’t miss the general open world content. Being able to tackle a stronghold for example and then experimenting with different approaches, both characters and all of their tools and seeing what you can accomplish with that,” he said. Transitioning from traversal into combat into stealth into vehicles and back again has never been so seamless, something that has held back previous Assassin’s Creed titles.

The open world is much more alive and filled with interesting gameplay to tackle, which is especially impressive when you consider that Syndicate’s London is 30% larger than Unity’s Paris. Phillips explained how the team worked incredibly hard to make London as accurate as possible, while still having it fun to roam.

“We do a lot of research; we have multiple historians on staff, read a lot of books, watch movies and look at old maps. This was the first time period where we were able to look at real photographs of almost that time period and see what the city looked like,” Phillips said. “It’s given us great reference, while at the same time making it more difficult for us to fake things and gamify them. It’s had to be a balance of representing the atmosphere while also not being a 1:1 simulation of the entire city.”

Phillips also told me that Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot’s directive with Syndicate had been “to make the British people proud of London”, and personally it looks as if Ubisoft Quebec has definitely succeeded. Syndicate’s London is bustling, thriving, vibrant and absolutely gorgeous. When you think of Victorian England, usually a grey, drab image springs to mind – like The Order: 1886 – but that’s not the case in Syndicate. Its colours are vivid and scenery, beautiful. On more than one occasion I simply stopped to take in the views. Aside from working from genuine maps and photos from the period, Phillips said the team also had access to consultants who would ensure authenticity with regards the way in which characters look and behave.

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“The city is very alive and we did a lot of work to make sure they way the citizens speak, the jobs they do, the times of day that they’re out and what they’re wearing are as accurate as possible,” Phillips explained. “Our historians would go through lines of dialogue and say ‘That doesn’t work because no one would say that, say this instead’ and then we’ve also got a British comedy consultant for dialogue who’ll punch things up and make things funnier.”

Funny is not usually an adjective associated with Assassin’s Creed, but on more than one occasion I was laughing out loud at the action on-screen. One moment from Sequence 3 in particular tickled me. Jacob and Evie’s contact Henry Green hands Jacob a pistol saying “Perhaps you can make use of this,” to which Jacob replies with a wry smile and enthusiasm, “Oh God I hope so!” Moments like these are spread liberally throughout Syndicate which really drive the personalities and characteristics of the leads home. Jacob is rakish and a bit of a lad. He’s hot tempered, cheeky and good humoured. Evie, on the other hand, is cool and reasoned but still very much up for action. She more than holds her own with her male counterpart and in-fact is often seen to bail Jacob out when he’s temper get the better of him.

The twins’ personalities also feed into the way they play. Jacob favours action, brutality and quick results, whereas Evie prefers stealth and silence. I asked Phillips about the twins’ personalities and distinct play styles and he said, “Jacob enjoys much more the idea of being an Assassin. He enjoys being out there and being able to change the world, believing he can just stab his way to fixing the world’s problems.

“Whereas Evie more closely follows the Creed and tries to get her target through silence and stealth. She thinks about the consequences of killing her target rather than like Jacob who thinks ‘Oh I killed my target! Let’s move on. What’s next?’

“Evie more closely considers the overall results from killing her targets and what will happen around her after she’s succeeded. The two of them create an interesting flow for players.”

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While there have been some numbers floating around about the percentage players will be Jacob versus Evie, Phillips is quick to dispel this. “You play some missions as Jacob and Evie, but there’s this whole range of content that you can play in the open world and other non-story missions that you can play as either one. There’s no real percentage that we can put on it.”

This is great news as in my hands-on time I was mostly in control of Evie whose stealthy, reasoned play style is one I favour myself. That being said, you can play stealthily with Jacob and more brazen with Evie, but the characterisation of the twins is so strong you’ll prefer to use them the way Ubisoft Quebec intended.

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate is the most exciting, action-packed and entertaining Creed in years. Not only that, its two leads are by far the best characters the series has produced since fan favourite Ezio. The moment-to-moment gameplay, transitions between disparate elements and wealth of content feel truly singular for the first time in the series. Syndicate feels like a well polished whole rather than a hodge-podge of cobbled together open world gameplay elements hastily taped together. I’ve not been as excited by a new entry in the franchise since its heyday when Brotherhood was released. For my money, Syndicate is going to be a true and proper return to form for a series that has been floundering since its third numbered instalment.

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Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate will be available for PS4 and Xbox One on 23 October. A Windows PC release follows on 19 November.


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