Assassin's Creed: Syndicate - The artistry formerly known as Victory

[Blue Blood]

I thought Revelations was good. Only thing I didn’t like were the Tower Defense parts.

 

Revelations is where the lethargy began. It was more or less a carbon-copy of AC2 and ACB, but will a less interesting story, more bugs and a distinct feeling of having been "churned out". The gameplay didn't develop at all. It was still a good game, as AC games continue to be really, but it brought about problems that haven't gone away since.

[Patticus]

Revelations' only flaw to me was its length - a city like Istanbul should surely be the focus of a Brotherhood-length game, surely? Parts of it felt incomplete, too - there was a series of wells you could blow up the covers on as part of a little side story related to liberating the city, but it was a thought that was never finished.

 

Everything else was great, even the parts where Desmond reflects in that weird first person VR part were good, especially the music.

 

Revelations' lethargy was acceptable to me, in large part because Ezio was the best character Ubisoft has created to date in any of its many series'.

[Carbo]

please stop Ubi

just stop

[Blue Blood]

And so, it starts. Do you think it'll beat Watch Dogs in levels of stupidity?

 

[KHCast]

Guess Ubisoft didn't learn a god damn thing from Watch Dogs.:/

Really, this is just giving me more of a reason not to purchase this.

@Athena about unity: word is, even after the patches Unity is still a mess of a game, and still has glitches. On top of being really underwhelming and samey, I wouldn't expect it to be anything but mediocre.

[Gabz Girl]

Yippee, more special editions with stuff that's only exclusive for certain editions! >>

 

I swear to God I think we've gotten to the point where this is seriously suffering from Franchise Fatigue.

[Patticus]

Well, it looks like the dev team is learning from the errors made during the development of Unity.

 

 

Promising, but it's all just talk so far. Still though, I'm feeling hopeful right now that this could still be pretty good, despite the stale gameplay. London has changed dramatically over time, so I'm still holding out hope for an English Civil War-era AC, with London in its pre-Great Fire heyday, etc, and I wouldn't mind seeing some light piracy and naval warfare mixed into an ancient Roman or Greek Assassin's Creed game. Running about Carthage and Rome and battling at sea during the Punic Wars, for example, or getting involved with the events surrounding Rome's internal strife building up to Caesar's wars and ascension, or the Greco-Persian Wars. Lots of potential.

 

Hell, I still think that Ubisoft should take Black Flag and turn it into a separate game series, maybe partner with Disney to tie it into the Pirates of the Caribbean series, or simply go it alone in a new IP.

 

For example, they could tell the story of a fictional pirate family whose members rubbed shoulders with all the famous pirates of the day in their many adventures. Start the series off in the 1640s and finish it up in the 1760s. Each generation of the family gets involved with some great mystery/conspiracy or other, which in some way involves a famous pirate and the major powers from that era. Include the open world, shanties, and gameplay of Black Flag/Rogue, then expand the overworld to cover more territory and cities/islands in all directions (from Tinidad and Barbados to New Orleans, from Charles Towne to Cartagena, etc), allow for more customization of your ship, outfits and hideout, and add in things like looting peoples' clothing/uniforms and such alongside the regular looted cargo. The base is already there, it just needs to be built upon.

[Junko]

I swear to God I think we've gotten to the point where this is seriously suffering from Franchise Fatigue.

We got to that point the moment Desmond's story ended. I liked 3 and I hella enjoyed the present day storyline. Then they killed Desmond off and the overarching storyline went to shit. Still haven't finished 4, haven't touched Unity. Honestly it's kind of a vote with your wallet situation even though a new game will be out next year anyway. I might pick up Syndicate, I dunno.

That being said they've cut the multiplayer from Syndicate and are focusing purely on single player, perhaps that's what's been holding the franchise back since Brotherhood? I suppose we'll find out.

[Milo]

Yippee, more special editions with stuff that's only exclusive for certain editions! >>

 

I swear to God I think we've gotten to the point where this is seriously suffering from Franchise Fatigue.

 

We've been long past that point, honestly. This isn't franchise fatigue, this is franchise insomnia. :/

[Gabz Girl]

Mmmyeah I guess Franchise Fatigue has surrounded this series since Revelatons or AC3, but it's even more obvious now than ever before. I mean judging from places like NeoGAF, even most die-hard Assassin's Creed fans think Syndicate looks lame!

[Sami]

1. Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent

"I would not have drawn attention to us. I would not have taken the life of an innocent." ―Malik Al-Sayf at Solomon's Temple.

 

 

2. Hide in plain sight

"Let the people mask you such that you become one with the crowd." ―Al Mualim.

 

hey guys remember the creeds these games used to be about who needs those right lol lets run some people over neigh neigh motherfucker

[Mauro Fonseca]

being fair the point of this character seems to be "all this time later these guys pretty much devolved into thugs with martial arts training", at least that was the vibe I got from the announcement trailer

[Blue Blood]

Because we're no longer alone.

[Mauro Fonseca]

bugs being animus glitches are brilliant though and should've been purposefully implemented from the start

since if they start doing it now no-one'll believe them

[Junko]

hey guys remember the creeds these games used to be about who needs those right lol lets run some people over neigh neigh motherfucker

I understand the point you're getting at but, I dunno, shit changes over the course of 7 centuries.

[Blue Blood]

I understand the point you're getting at but, I dunno, shit changes over the course of 7 centuries.

 

It's a shame the gameplay doesn't.

[Radiant Hero Ike]

I've never actually played one of these through. But I did enjoy watching my dad play AC3, and the small parts I played were enjoyable.

This one looks cool too. I'll play it when my dad inevitably buys it.

[Sami]

I understand the point you're getting at but, I dunno, shit changes over the course of 7 centuries.

[Junko]

Then they should rename the game to Grand Theft Horses: Gang Wars because none of this shit has anything to do with assassins or their creed.

[Detective Shadzter]

Ubisoft is taking the game on tour around E3 time to give fans the chance to try it out.

https://assassinscreed-event.com/

[Gabz Girl]

https://ubisoft.fluidsurveys.com/surveys/ph/acs-opinion-crm/

Ubisoft is doing a survey on Assassins Creed. Apparently this survey also reveals that there's definitely a Red Dead Redemption sequel on the horizon! 8D

[Pawn]

So NeoGaf became ablaze with speculation when Video Gamer remarked that one particular major game is likely to release in a broken state.

Now I was confident that it wasn't AC: Syndicate because I couldn't imagine Ubisoft letting another massive blow connect to their flagship franchise, whether it meant hiring a lot more people or delaying the project. Unfortunately, it's looking like it may be this one:

http://www.videogamer.com/ps4/assassins_creed_syndicate/preview-3945.html

Now, they don't actually say that it's "completely broken", so perhaps this isn't the game that they were talking about. Either way, at best it looks like we have another Unity on our hands, running at an unstable 30fps at what sounds like a resolution of 900p. A rumour has surfaced that engine itself was rushed and is to blame.

I'm surprised in a way, but being burnt out on these games I had decided not to buy it anyway. It's disappointing to hear regardless and I really hope that more people will resist the urge to preorder this year.

Edited September 26, 2015 by Pawn

[Kaze no Klonoa]

If people haven't learned their lesson from last time, they better now.

The fact that this is still continuing to happen shows Ubisoft's disregard for improvement and loyalty to gamers. Sorry, but either give the devs more time or stop making Assassin's Creed games.

Edited September 26, 2015 by Kaze no Klonoa

[Pawn]

Aaaand the reviews are in: 78 on Metacritic. For a range of reviews:

Gamespot thinks it's the dog's bollocks with 9/10

IGN says great at 8.2/10

Video Gamer ain't pleased at 5/10

The Telegraph considers it pretty shite at 2/5

A mix, but still higher than what I imagined overall. From what I'm reading, 78 seems a little generous. I might give it a look when it's around half price next year, but mainly for the fact that it's Victorian London more than anything else. Well, unless I buy a PS4 and have the whole PS exclusive library to catch up on. Or if there are lots of games coming out. Or if I have better things to spend my money on. I guess it's unlikely that I'll play this any time soon.

Edited October 22, 2015 by Pawnkin