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Assassin's Creed Syndicate Review Thread

A

Ashtar

Member
Still waiting on that game trailers review but after listening to the giant beast case I'll probably pick it up around Black Friday
 
E

Eppy Thatcher

God's had his chance.
Kind of feels like a shame that unity was such a mess while reading the better reviews. Black flag got me back into ac so hard and unity completely deflated all the hype in the series.

I'm not remotely interested in syndicate and that's a damn shame if there are any redeeming qualities to be had there...especially a coherent and engaging story/cast.

I am just now realizing how damaging unity was to the franchise.
 
C

CHC

Member
Eppy Thatcher said:
Kind of feels like a shame that unity was such a mess while reading the better reviews. Black flag got me back into ac so hard and unity completely deflated all the hype in the series.

I'm not remotely interested in syndicate and that's a damn shame if there are any redeeming qualities to be had there...especially a coherent and engaging story/cast.

I am just now realizing how damaging unity was to the franchise.
Click to expand...

It was only permanently damaging if you want it to be. These aren't exactly the kind of games where you'll be lost if you miss one. If Syndicate sounds interesting to you why not give it a shot?

I'm in the same boat as you - really liked Black Flag but haven't ever cared for another AC game (or even finished one). Still planning on getting Syndicate at some point though because it just sounds like a good game, AC or not.
 
E

Eppy Thatcher

God's had his chance.
CHC said:
It was only permanently damaging if you want it to be. These aren't exactly the kind of games where you'll be lost if you miss one. If Syndicate sounds interesting to you why not give it a shot?

I'm in the same boat as you - really liked Black Flag but haven't ever cared for another AC game (or even finished one). Still planning on getting Syndicate at some point though because it just sounds like a good game, AC or not.
Click to expand...

Not quite the same boat then i suppose as I've been a pretty huge fan from the first AC onwards.. flaws and all.
My hesitance i suppose comes from the fact that leading up to Black Flag i was already starting to wane and bore of the formula and then was pleasantly surprised to the tune of like 70+ hours for Black Flag (not to mention it was my daughters first video game she ever played. Never selling that disc.) We were both pretty excited for unity and both tried hard to like it but eventually she would ask me to put the "Pirates one back in the ps4". Kind of says it all.

Unity burned me harder because i was a pretty steadfast fan. I'll try it out someday i'm sure. Once a crazy sale comes along. I'd pay 20 bucks for it.
 
Karak

Karak

Gold Member
fidelio_forte said:
Really great review, thank you for sharing. Great coverage of gameplay, music, story, and tech, whilst being genuinely entertaining.
Click to expand...

Thanks man glad you liked it! I have always wanted to do them in that format as a fan of those things they are rarely, if ever, covered in depth so thats why I started. Appreciate the support.
 
L

Loakum

Banned
Bloodworth said:
Just very mixed feelings. Certainly parts that I am impressed with, and I do find it enjoyable overall.
Click to expand...

My copy arrives this Tuesday. I'm hoping they get back to the Truth puzzles with hidden messages. It covered everything from the illuminati, to the Bush vs Gore election, to Tesla vs Edison. I want the Modern segment to actually mean something again.
 
P

Putty

Member
Better than I imagined it would be tbh. I think that current meta score is accurate. I'm only 3 hours or so into but the improvements over Unity are plentiful. London at night evokes a fabulous atmosphere....musically.....I'm not so sure I like what I'm hearing....
 
S

SilentRob

Member
For GermanGAF: I put my review up yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYRo0ktDW9o

We don't use scores but I liked it a whole lot. To give you some perspective: I consider myself a fan of the series, like 1, love 2, Brotherhood & 4, was disappointed with 3, hated Unity. I'd say the more you like the "traditional" Assassin's Creed gameplay (ee.g. Ezio trilogy) the more you'll like Syndicate.
 
TGO

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I'm only on sequence 4 but so far the game is pretty uneventful, it's better than Blackflag but story wise it's the same, you are just randomly doing missions which aren't really going anywhere.
Which is probably why people like it.
Jacob and Evie seem to be a regular pair of Assassins so far like Edward was (kinda shocked Edward was classed as a Master Assassin as the events in Blackflag didn't seem to be when he earn it.
 
C

Count of Monte Sawed-Off

un33dab@dpu$$y
TGO said:
I'm only on sequence 4 but so far the game is pretty uneventful, it's better than Blackflag but story wise it's the same, you are just randomly doing missions which aren't really going anywhere.
Which is probably why people like it.
Jacob and Evie seem to be a regular pair of Assassins so far like Edward was (kinda shocked Edward was classed as a Master Assassin as the events in Blackflag didn't seem to be when he earn it.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think most of the Edward assassin stuff occurred after Black Flag. I don't think he was even officially an assassin in Black Flag.
 
E

erotic grandpa

Member
kinggroin said:
So this isnt ike Unity then? More like the other games?

Meh, hate the series outside of Unity. So this ain't for me.
Click to expand...

Imagine if Unity had snappier combat, Saints Row style district conquests, and less pedestrians doing more diverse and detailed things.

It makes Unity feel more like a proof of concept. So far it's much, much, much better.
 
S

Starsailor

Banned
I will never understand the "hate" about Assassin's Creed just because "one game each year".

And i will never understand the glory around AC2.
I played each entries day one. I'm quite a "big fan" of this saga. AC2 was of cours in 2009 a great game. But now...? Definitely not. Brotherhood is such a better game (better character, side mission with stories and not just "hey run beating this guy" ).
AC3 is still the best AC game for me (characters, best campaign in the whole saga).
AC4 is still loved on Neogaf (i'd rather like AC3 because i didn't like missions, and infiltration who equals "bush" -_- ).
AC5 is a very good game, a GREAT game. Beautiful (so many bugs) and the side quests (and coop missions) are about french revolution so if you just play the main mission you don't see that revolution. Graphism are gorgeous like the witcher 3 ...

But still the hate is here.

AC6 is better than AC5 because much fun, a good gameplay, better stealth (but now AC is ridiculous since MGS5).

But...a game each year when you can travel through time it's FANTASTIC, i will never understand that hate! And the games aren't made in one year but there is many studios.
I see the AC franchise like Final Fantasy. I don't mind about present story since AC1 so...
 
P

PayOffWizard

Member
This thread popping on the first page has reminded me to check its price.
£22.99... I think its time to get my ass creed on whoop!

I've more or less enjoyed my time with all the AC games but never enough to buy them day one. Looking forward to playing this.
 
S

Starsailor

Banned
Well i'm surprised about this AC Syndicate.
It's like AC2 in the mood (discovering a revolution around many topics: medecine, trains, technology), it's really cool. And Evie... she's the best assassin since Haytham or Ezio in Brotherhood.
 
W

woen

Member
Starsailor said:
Well i'm surprised about this AC Syndicate.
It's like AC2 in the mood (discovering a revolution around many topics: medecine, trains, technology), it's really cool. And Evie... she's the best assassin since Haytham or Ezio in Brotherhood.
Click to expand...

Truth is Assassin's Creed games are not good historical games. The setting is the pretext, the excuse. When you read research about how they worked (on AC2,ACB but same goes for the others) you see that only search for functional facts and stories with little understanding of what history is, or can be. Basically it means they want a theme park that fits a representation they already have while using historians and history only when it suits that representation and that theme park. So you think you discovered a "period" and a "location" but in fact it is very poor despite the gigantic cities and thousands of npcs.

Question is why have I learned and experienced after playing the games ? Have I just seen pretty (and less pretty) buildings/landscapes, played features that makes sense with the time period, and seen cutscenes with famous historical characters ?

AC:Unity is for instance the worst story you could have done about French Revolution. The scenario is a conspiracy mess like AC2*, it is strongly biased if you look up at the historiography and even the narrative content that could have been cool (what happens in the streets like bullies and thieves, side-missions or the co-op missions) are massive failures...even if these were honorable attempts.
*you could argue that the whole franchise is based on a conspiracy mess, and that's part of why history is these historical game is so bad​

That's something that should have more place in the reviews because we tend to forget that Assassin's Creed is an historical fiction, one of the most ambitious one. AC combo is "time travel in exotic time period with immediately fun parkour and combat in a fully explorable lively open world". Get back time travel in exotic time period and you lose the formula. But reviews only focus on the little difference(s) between games, the immediate experience.

Ubisoft could make far better historical games if they also took time on that part and changed their point of view. The potential is here, sometimes they almost reached it, but they never achieved what Rockstar did with Red Dead or GTA IV (these games being not focused on delivering a "time travel experience" in the first place but paradoxically achieving that goal way better than every single AC game (didn't play Syndicate yet but I doubt they made a big leap forward))

edit : When thinking about it, AC4:Black Flag (and AC4:the-DLC-with-Adewale) is maybe the one that succeeded the most in the historical part. It really captured something and both the scenario and the narrative worked damn well. A better achieved AC1 I must say.
Digging this topic would be interesting because there is much more to say, and room for debate.
 
S

Starsailor

Banned
I disagree with that.
Does anybody read the database during games? Because it's very good. I'm not an history teacher (but i'm a teacher of sociology and economy) and i'm kind of amazed about that.
I disagree with ACU, the amount of detail about french revolution is awesome...but it's not on the main mission.

I learned many things about historical period like AC3 or AC4...even AC2 or Brotherhood. I was in Rome two years ago and it was awesome to relive those moments with real monuments and historical facts.

I disagree with that BUT i'm agree with the fact that AC is fiction (assassin/templars) around conspiraçy...that's the lore of the game, the mythology around that.
But i read everything each time a pop up (database) came during my play. And i think it's great. I remember all the anthropological details about Mohawks during the american revolution... wow. I studied anthropology and i was amazed by that. It's good history and each time they need to create a game they have those historical limitations.
But sometimes they create things (like the rope launcher in AC6).

But i play AC for History (not the story). I don't care about Juno , Desmond and his pals... i just want to travel through time, learn things and live adventures.
I repeat: i see Assassin's Creed like Final Fantasy.

Edit: sorry for my english, i'm french, and it's not because of that i defend Ubisoft , i don't like far cry or rainbow six ^^

Edit 2: that made me think, everyone wants an AC in Asia (china, japan...). But that will NOT change the lore of the game and the gameplay. Boston, Paris, Kingston, or Tokyo you WILL have sync point, with assassinations missions, side quests and maybe 200 animus glitch to collect, with a database... that's AC. And that's fine for me, i know what the game is.

But i agree with woen, we need a debate around AC. Because just saying "lol AC one game each year"...well megaman was like that, Final Fantasy too...
 
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