Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Better than Unity?

Today, October 23, 2015 we have been graced with the arrival of Ubisoft’s newest installment within the Assassin’s Creed Franchise with the release of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. Like most players I was hoping this game would not be a sad repeat of last year’s launch of Unity which was a major flop ranging from glitches, bugs and annoying smaller aspects that some players found irritating. Now as far as Syndicate goes I was not hounded by any game crashing bugs or nasty glitches like I did with Unity, where I was fighting the game to play it.

When playing Syndicate, I felt the button lay out was easier to maneuver and was better for more fluent navigation through the city of London. One feature I found refreshing was actually that you had to initiate the leap of faith instead of jumping off without meaning to from a tall building to a rather hard ground below if it was not in the direction of a hay stack or something. No instead you have to press certain buttons at the same time to do a leap of faith making it easier to avoid the dreaded Leap of Failure. 

What was brought back was the iconic whistle used great for luring enemies closer to use a corner assassination. By pressing down on the D-Pad you can use this feature that was sadly lacking from Unity resulting in you having to wait painstakingly for the enemy to approach or use another approach. Stealth in this game is also boosted to a new level as they give you a sneak option by once again pressing a button. Your chosen assassin will crouch and pull up their hood while moving a bit slower making for more silent footsteps and ease of sneaking up behind and killing targets.

Though what I did realize was that despite Evie Frye being the stealthier of the two, it was fairly easy to be as stealthy most times with her brother Jacob. But as for knife skills; which are a useful stealthy kill, Evie outshines her brother as one knife can take out more health from an enemy when she throws it. As for combat I found that Jacob could land the harder blows as he was much more of a brawler even though Evie herself was very dominate in a fight as she often resorted to using the cane-sword as well as her fists. Though each character has their strengths it seems the other can do the same as well only on a slightly lower level which reveals the reason they balance each other out as a duo.

Another new and very helpful feature I felt was a great addition was the button that appears as an enemy is about to fire a bullet at you. By hitting the button your assassin dodges the bullet (by ducking their head only) and takes no damage because they were supposedly not hit. This makes combat much easier in some aspects as in Unity and other games it was hard to near impossible to block or dodge bullets. In most with the arrival of gunpowder weapons you had to grab an enemy closest to you to have them take the bullet but if they all backed away you’d be hit. Also even if you are running after the bullet was shot at you it felt like it was a heat seeking missile or something because no matter what you’d be hit. This was something I found terribly annoying in previous games.

As for the wide world of London, this city is massive and when compared to Paris is actually quite bigger mostly I feel due to the wider roads and taller buildings. You can travel through the city one of three ways; each more fun than the last. Riding in carriages, within/on trains or once you acquire it; using the rope launcher to zip from one building to another. I actually preferred the rope launcher and on foot exploring a bit more because the fact that the city streets felt a bit over crowded or the trains perhaps took too long for my taste.

No matter your method for travel you will either way notice that the map is the largest in the series from what I have seen in each title I played and to go from one side to the next not only takes time but honestly you shouldn’t enter areas where the Blighters are stronger than you; which brings me to say: Yes there is in fact a leveling system. This was something that was not present in Unity or most previous titles.

In Unity, during my play through I could get the best armor and weapons (that weren’t blocked by multiplayer locks) so long as I had the coin to do so which was easy to do early on. Now in Syndicate you have to be a certain level to use certain weapons. For example if you are a level 8 and see a stronger cape for Evie or belt for Jacob that is level 9 and up only, you will have to level that character(s) up once more before you think to equip the item.

With the talk of weapons in Syndicate I should mention that there is of course the large variety. Returning with the customization level of Unity you will be able to pick from your choice of brass knuckles, cane-swords, and more. This level of customization also goes into that of the outfits for the twin assassins, Jacob and Evie. Though unlike Unity, you will unlock most new weapons and outfit pieces by simply going through the story or unlocking them through side activities. This in my opinion is much better than being forced to play Multiplayer or join a ‘club’ to gain new gear. You can also find some weapons in certain chests throughout the city, or conquering certain areas.

This new system makes it a certain need to explore London by simply killing Blighters, doing side missions or partaking in activities that are spotted throughout the city. Another good part about the level system is the fact that from leveling up you gain the skill points needed to upgrade Jacob/Evie or the Rooks. Where as in the previous title you had to complete missions entirely or find the hidden ones in the Multiplayer to even get all skills. The fact that now it bases off the level system makes it far easier to upgrade the characters and gang leading to the Assassins and gang members becoming an unstoppable force.

Be warned though, levels mean everything in this game. If you’re a level one I strongly suggest not entering higher level areas because at such a lower level the enemies are nearly invincible if you face them head-on and if you don’t well they spot you seemingly easier too. And don’t think you can simply run to the roofs and feel completely safe. They can still chase you while some even climb just as well as you do.

Another form of ‘leveling’ in the game is called Loyalty and this stems from those like Henry or Clara’s Loyalty to you meaning if you want to level their loyalty you will have to complete missions based on their beliefs. With Clara, it’s the Child liberation missions while with Henry it mostly falls to the elimination of Templars. So there may be many stipulations to gaining better gear it all comes together within the game giving everything you do meaning.

The skill trees within Syndicate span out into three sections for Combat, Stealth and Ecosystem. These are the main parts mostly used for leveling up your assassins Evie and Jacob.

As each name suggest the section of course boosts combat, stealth and ecosystem. With the first two being relatively self-explanatory the third is a bit different. The Ecosystem section ranges mostly upon gain more supplies and money or lower prices on certain goods or shops. The Ecosystem section is very useful for gaining more money and needed supplies you may require such as bullets, throwing knives and more.

There is even a section used specifically for upgrading your gang. Yes you heard right, you can make your gang stronger and once at their highest level you can literally send in the rooks to clean house while you sit back and watch like a true badass master Assassin. The gang upgrades are also sectioned out into three parts: Ringleader, Insider, and Swindler.

Make your gang the strongest of the city

Within the Ringleader section, I saw that the meaning behind it was to level the Rooks or allow them to aid you better. You can gain even your own band of snipers called Watchers, the big guys called of course Brutes or finally the Enforcers who are best used for long range weapons that may be needed in fights.  You’ll be able to sabotage carriages, reduce Blighter health, or even ruin Blighter weapons like their blades or firearms. Next is the Insider section, which this part is best useful for bribing the police, scaring your enemies with the simple mention of the name ‘Frye’, gain you little rooks or children insiders, more hanging barrels and dynamite, buy medicines, and more.

And finally we come to the final section: Swindler. This gang upgrading section is best suitable for upgrading and/or gaining things like Discounts, Black market deals, cheaper gang upgrades, new heists, ways to gain more money, increasing the rate of income, business investments, and business activities that further increase your income. Each section of the Gang upgrades are also crafting needed so keep that in mind as you upgrade your gang.

Crafting makes a return and requires you explore London

Crafting makes a well needed return in Syndicate where you can craft pouches for medicine and more with supplies you found in chests around the city as well as some weapons are needed to be crafted. This; like the leveling system will make you want to explore London for not only XP, and skill points but materials required to make certain items. I always felt that crafting gave the Assassin’s creed games a bit more purpose to aspects like hunting that had been introduced into AC III and Black Flag. Though it is not anything outstandingly major I was glad to see that it made a nice comeback within this newest installment which makes me have a better purpose of why I need to explore the city.

As a final verdict of my play through with Assassin’s Creed Syndicate I say it’s a certain step up from Unity but not exactly at the level of AC II just yet. As a score I would give this game an 8/10 but keep in mind I would have given Unity a 3 to 5/10. Ubisoft certainly learned from their mistakes with Unity and improved their game this year. The only thing I say that holds Syndicate back is the minor annoyances, the bad or odd ending (depending upon how you see it) or the larger one, which is the Micro-transactions; though optional they are still annoying to see being put in games.