Assassin's Creed: Syndicate 1886-All

Demosthenes wrote:

Assuming it ships today *refreshes Amazon page again* I should be playing it tomorrow and can put some initial impressions out there. Told myself I wasn't going to Day 1 this after last year, but suddenly hit a major slump in multiple games at once and wanted something new to do.

I am pleased with myself that I have thus far stayed strong. Really want to play this - but don't want to give anyone day one dollars this year. Also Black Friday is coming up!

I have a stupid question, it seems like every other AC game is good and bad. Are they made by the same studio? They come out yearly, which leads me to believe they alternate. Which could be an interesting pattern. Or I could be totally wrong.

The Splinter Cell games definitely seemed to get into a pattern of one good one, one bad one for a time. I'm not sure if this is the same. I sense they give different people a shot at heading the development of the game and some are successful, some not. I don't get a sense that it's an A team and B team taking it in turns type of an arrangement.

I'm looking forward to this game but I plan to play Dragon Age: Inquisition before then. I may be some time.

Reviews are coming in, and are generally positive:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...

maverickz wrote:

I have a stupid question, it seems like every other AC game is good and bad. Are they made by the same studio? They come out yearly, which leads me to believe they alternate. Which could be an interesting pattern. Or I could be totally wrong.

They have several teams all over that make them. When I played Revelations and 3, the opening credits were like 10 minutes long because they had to acknowledge Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Azerbaijan, Ubisoft Ecuador, Ubisoft Akron, Ubisoft Zzyzzx.....

Feminist Frequency weighs in:

I have a PC code for this game looking to trade for a Fallout 4 PC Code.

maverickz wrote:

I have a stupid question, it seems like every other AC game is good and bad. Are they made by the same studio? They come out yearly, which leads me to believe they alternate. Which could be an interesting pattern. Or I could be totally wrong.

It's not a stupid question, I've heard it before but it's also not true. Every AC game has gotten good reviews, it's just that some get better reviews than others.

According to Game Rankings:

AC 1 - good reviews (79 avg)
AC 2 - great (90 avg)
AC 2b - great (89 avg)
AC 2r - good (80 avg)
AC 3 - good (80 avg)
AC 4 - good (82 avg)
AC 4r - good (74 avg)
AC 5 - good (73 avg)
AC 6 - good (80 avg)

They're all good games and thoroughly entertaining. The gaming zeitgeist will tell you that AC2, AC4 and (maybe) AC6 are the best but I don't always like following the crowd.

I think the biggest problem in the gaming zeitgeist is also that the games generally don't vary a lot... so the things that folks focus on are the minor differences, the story, and the extras in each game. Thus, a lot of folks hated Revelations for that awful Tower Defense mini-game. A lot of folks loved naval combat in 3, but hated Conner and the overall story leading to an overall negative perception of the game. A lot of people loved 4 for having the naval combat with some nice upgrades, and the story not being Conner. Some folks were disappointed in Unity for the dropping of naval combat and Arno being... not that interesting (and the story having almost not real direction) while also completely dropping the series' modern day narrative.

One of the things I'm most curious about is that Polygon's review does mention that the modern day stuff is starting to see some real movement (and was positive about that) for the first time since 3 (personally, I think Black Flag actually did a good bit of that too, but whatever).

RooksGambit wrote:
maverickz wrote:

I have a stupid question, it seems like every other AC game is good and bad. Are they made by the same studio? They come out yearly, which leads me to believe they alternate. Which could be an interesting pattern. Or I could be totally wrong.

It's not a stupid question, I've heard it before but it's also not true. Every AC game has gotten good reviews, it's just that some get better reviews than others.

According to Game Rankings:

AC 1 - good reviews (79 avg)
AC 2 - great (90 avg)
AC 2b - great (89 avg)
AC 2r - good (80 avg)
AC 3 - good (80 avg)
AC 4 - good (82 avg)
AC 4r - good (74 avg)
AC 5 - good (73 avg)
AC 6 - good (80 avg)

They're all good games and thoroughly entertaining. The gaming zeitgeist will tell you that AC2, AC4 and (maybe) AC6 are the best but I don't always like following the crowd.

Yeah, I mean, I was commenting mostly on "common perception", I personally really enjoyed AC3 but that could be due to my interest in the Revolutionary period. I found AC:Rev to be a tedious and boring mess, so it was the first AC game I gave up on and Youtubed the ending. And I have no interest in AC4 because pirates don't do much for me and I found the naval stuff in AC3 not very fun. It looks like the general ratings for the games are in the 80s, which is not bad as you say.

I'm really curious as to how this new one does. I have a lot of interest in the French one because the French Revolution seems like a great period for this kind of game, but it didn't seem to be very good.

maverickz wrote:

I'm really curious as to how this new one does. I have a lot of interest in the French one because the French Revolution seems like a great period for this kind of game, but it didn't seem to be very good.

I love Unity. The game got a bad reputation because of a horrible launch and because of serious missteps in monetization and multi-platform integration. Once the problems were fixed, and just ignoring the smartphone app, the game turned out great. Even the co-op was a lot of fun, but you're not likely to find anyone playing it any more.

I never cared much about the modern day stuff anyway. I always thought it was ridiculous. I don't need a framing device to pretend to be a Renaissance assassin. If it's back in Syndicate, that's another reason for me to avoid Syndicate (along with the emphasis on brawling and the carriage chases, which I have always hated).

I think my biggest problems with Unity were largely story related. Arno was certainly better than Conner, but his story was just... I dunno, it just felt so disjointed. The Assassins and Templars had some kind of thing going on that never really made sense and Arno's overall arc just didn't feel very interesting to me. By comparison, his counterpart, Elise, was probably one of my favorite characters for the series. But, even then, we didn't really spend that much time with her.

The only other problem with the game I had was the map being cluttered to the point of ridiculousness. So many chests, so many things, so many everything. Between that and tying specific item upgrades to specific side missions... and then telling you WHICH mission on the item select screen made so many of those side missions feel completely useless. I did one murder mystery mission to unlock the series, then did exactly one more to get an awesome melee weapon and ignored the rest. Every other reward not only didn't hold a candle to that one, none of them, when I unlocked them even compared all that well to the items I already had.

But, hearing great things about Evie, a more clear Templars versus Assassins story, some modern day story movement thrown in, and dropping all the extraneous apps and such... I'm excited now. Surprised they didn't let this review embargo break a few days ago or a week ago to get word out that we might officially be back to a higher point in the series.

I played Unity as a 'run around Revolutionary France' simulator, and I liked it just fine.

BadKen wrote:

I never cared much about the modern day stuff anyway.

I know I'm in the minority, but I love the modern day stuff, and probably wouldn't enjoy any of the games without it.

beeporama wrote:
BadKen wrote:

I never cared much about the modern day stuff anyway.

I know I'm in the minority, but I love the modern day stuff, and probably wouldn't enjoy any of the games without it.

Well the new one apparently has at least some movement on that. Will be interesting to see what.

CptGlanton wrote:

I played Unity as a 'run around Revolutionary France' simulator, and I liked it just fine.

I actually think Unity is my favorite of the entire series, enjoyed the story, and the game play improvements. The co-op, the co-op was just so much fun, the missions but even just running around Paris together in the open world. So good!

I had two long days at work, so I'm a little punch drunk.

I read the reviews.

Victorian England sure is a nice playground.

Downloading now.

BadKen wrote:
maverickz wrote:

I'm really curious as to how this new one does. I have a lot of interest in the French one because the French Revolution seems like a great period for this kind of game, but it didn't seem to be very good.

I love Unity. The game got a bad reputation because of a horrible launch and because of serious missteps in monetization and multi-platform integration. Once the problems were fixed, and just ignoring the smartphone app, the game turned out great. Even the co-op was a lot of fun, but you're not likely to find anyone playing it any more.

I will say I've had no problems finding people to play co-op missions with while playing Unity these last few weeks. Of course, there's no communication or strategy involved in these PUGs, so there's that downside.

It's early yet, but I'm having a lot of fun. I haven't finished an AC game since Brotherhood, but so far I'm really getting pulled in.

I have it downloading now. I showed a trailer to my wife, and the thought of Victorian London made her really, really excited. After seeing reviews and early impressions, it seemed like a fun way to spend the weekend.

I absolutely love Evie and wish they had just based the entire game around her since so far Jacob is just coming off as Generic Rakish Male Protagonist #272856a.

ruhk wrote:

I absolutely love Evie and wish they had just based the entire game around her since so far Jacob is just coming off as Generic Rakish Male Protagonist #272856a.

Yep! Although I like their interplay and Jacob does have his moments.

Certis wrote:
ruhk wrote:

I absolutely love Evie and wish they had just based the entire game around her since so far Jacob is just coming off as Generic Rakish Male Protagonist #272856a.

Yep! Although I like their interplay and Jacob does have his moments.

He does, but I'm totally team Evie. Evie is taking care of the people... Jacob mostly just wants to get into fights and kill Templars. More methodical, compassionate, and intelligent, as well as matching my general preference for stealth over brute force makes her so much better for everything I can play as her.

Random thoughts:

I'm enjoying the story - especially the interplay between the twins. The voice acting is great as well.

This is the most diverse cast in a AAA game I've seen in a while.

I'm so thankful that there is not a lockpicking mini game.

Climbing the rooftops at night in the pouring rain and seeing the glowing face of Big Ben in the distance - magical.

After swearing off buying AC games on launch, I of course went right out and bought Syndicate. I like it so far, specifically the characters and setting. I've noticed a few bugs here and there, but nothing even close to Unity levels. I really enjoy having both characters, especially since they seem to compliment each other's weaknesses. I also like the banter between them as Certis mentioned. Just wrapped up all the major missions in the first area, planning on doing the final mission tonight if I have time.

After playing Metal Gear Solid V for the past month it does feel a bit clunky though, and the graphics on PS4 aren't nearly as good. Both I can get used to, so not really a big deal. This should do nicely to keep me busy until Fallout 4 next month.

I must admit the console reviews are intriguing. I'm still waiting to see if there's really more to do in the game than brawl and ride carriages. I'm a big fan of the Assassin's Creed swordfighting, and if that's gone, well...

My wife played it for about 12 hours this weekend, grinning ear to ear. It's the best AC since Brotherhood, easily. I didn't play but a couple of bits that she had trouble with, but watched most of it. It's just feels like a polished AC game, and Evie is a great character.

Seriously, watching TV last night, she said, "Is it bad that I don't want t finish this show and just play more AC?" I told her that the first weekend with a great game should always feel that way.

This is Victorian London, so no sword fighting, though.

Jayhawker wrote:

This is Victorian London, so no sword fighting, though.

I don't know, I just watched some gameplay videos, and Evie's cane sword looks pretty fun! The guy I watched only showed Jacob pummeling people, though.

BadKen wrote:

I must admit the console reviews are intriguing. I'm still waiting to see if there's really more to do in the game than brawl and ride carriages. I'm a big fan of the Assassin's Creed swordfighting, and if that's gone, well...

Police officers wield clubs and the occasional pistol, and most gang members are using their fists, knives (or in the case of Brutes, cleavers), and the occasional Templar amongst the gangs is using guns.

As such, your weapons are similarly removed from more medieval weapons. The three weapon types you use for melee are Kukris, Cane Swords, and brass knuckles. That said, while there's not the usual clang of a parry with two weapons hitting each other and sparks flying, the combat does feel pretty similar to Black Flag and Unity and works pretty well from my perspective.

Pros and Cons!
Pros:
-VERY diverse game, but in weirdly limited ways.
Both the Rooks and the Blighters are pretty equal in terms of gender composition of the gangs... though not perfect. Brutes are always dudes. Every other role can be either. Still, an awesome step in the right direction. Plus, you have characters like your train engineer, a Scottish woman, who is somewhat bulky in both muscle and fat (as befitting someone who is basically running and maintaining the train. Given that AC has had a history of like every female character being thin, this is pretty awesome too. Race is a little less prevalent here, which is disappointing, but you've got Henry Green who is, I think, Indian, Ned who is Chinese. Both have westernized names, but both are mentioned as having done so themselves. And, as a big plus, Ned is trans, which is quite cool, as he never really talks about being trans, he just is.

-World Map Activities are decently run.
Having low-level assassinations, bounty hunting (with bonuses for bringing them in alive, which gets all kinds of tricky and fun), child liberation (from being workers in mills and such), etc... dropped into the open world in ways that are interesting and fun is not something I would have expected to work, and yet the world does seem to have been well crafted to allow for exactly that. Last night I did a bounty hunt that was actually pretty tricky because the mark was sitting in an alleyway with guards on both ends and not a lot of room to maneuver on the ground, but little "back yard" spaces for each house, leading to lots of hiding places, but very few approaches, as the fences were not high enough to stop someone from seeing you perched up there.

-The twins are awesome.
I saw some reviews suggesting it was weird that their dialogue had romantic undertones to it. I... don't know what game those folks were playing, but this is clearly loving, but platonic, bantering, teasing, joking, and even maternal dialogue. There's nothing romantic about it. Evie is frequently annoyed and troubled by Jacob's actions, and she's frequently snarky, sarcastic, or patronizing to him from his perspective... but from her perspective, she's trying to help mature him, help train him to be a better assassin rather than just a good fist fighter, etc... This doesn't mean that Evie is all serious and dour and proper all the time though, in fact, she's the one who takes on a mischievous grin and urges them to just do it when Jacob says they should just go to London already.
I also love that the assassin who takes the lead based on your controlling them when joining the mission can also influence the cutscenes. Complete a gang war mission with Evie? She'll be the one telling the remaining Blighters that they work for HER now while Jacob is secondary to her in the foreground.

-The story is far more engaging.
Rather than being Arno's bizarre twisting story of joining the Assassins then ignoring the Assassins then being exiled from the Assassins, all while trying to avenge the death of his adopted father figure who most likely murdered his actual father... mostly for the woman he loves who hates him for at least being partially to blame for her father's death (his adopted father figure)...
Instead of that confusing mish-mash, we have two characters who are already Assassins, and both are engaged in the activities of the Assassins, trying to stop the Templars and trying to secure the Pieces of Eden.

-Great Historical Characters
Charles Darwin's missions are goofy and fun and have some very interesting optional objectives. Alexander Graham Bell (as this game's Leonardo) is equal parts amusing, intellectual, and passionate about his cause. Really want to hurry up and find out where Karl Marx comes in.

Cons:
-You can't craft this, you need a schematic.
Seriously, this is so stupid. I'm level 6 now. I'm still using a level 2 hidden blade gauntlet (there's 1 gauntlet for each level), and I, last night, got a schematic for the level 9 gauntlet. Still don't have the schematic for any other gauntlet after level 2. So, I'm running with a level 2 item at level 6 beacuse... schematics appear to be random (or at least they better be, what with a level 9 schematic being in a level 4 area).

-Knock-out seems to be bugged.
Twice now, I've tried to knock out (rather than kill) bounty targets and this made them... invisible and limitedly interactable. I was able to tackle an invisible bounty, but could then never pick her up to take her to the carriage. Out of frustration, I tried to hit her with a dart... and the game crashed.

-Leveling system is a little odd.
I get what they were going for, but seeing "You need to spent 1 Point to level" and not having ANY 1 point skills left, so having to wait for 1 to 3 more skill points to spend that 1 Point is terribly frustrating.

I'm really enjoying this game! I recently unlocked the fight clubs, and they have been fun to play, so I guess I like the combat. I'm still generally sneaking around as Evie and taking out fools, which is quite satisfying.

Thinking of the next installment, how about New York in the 1930's? The Great Depression seems ripe for Templar activity and I can see how the traversal around London could be scaled up to Manhattan's skyscrapers.