Hi there, travisbickle. Hope you're doing well.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'taking one to the knee,' but I would like to tell you that in the October 2015 U.S. Games Industry Sales NPD Report, Ubisoft's new Console Software SKU and best-selling October 2015 title 'Assassin's Creed Syndicate,' sold 391K units.
This is down significantly from the previous 'Assassin's Creed Unity,' but please keep in mind that the previous title launched in the Holiday Season (November 11th, 2014) and it was included as part of a prominent Xbox One bundle.
Perhaps a more apt comparison is to Ubisoft's 2013 iteration 'Assassin's Creed: Black Flag,' which released on October 29th, 2013.
In the October 2013 U.S. Games Industry report, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag sold 620K units in five days on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 the month before 'next-gen' launched, while in the November 2013 Report when the titles launched on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the title sold 1.2 million units.
It is unlikely that Assassin's Creed Syndicate will leach the lofty heights of its predecessors.