Playing AC Syndicate felt like watching a TV show I used to enjoy which should’ve been wrapped up a few seasons ago. There are elements here which have promise, but they are bogged down in a sea of mediocrity.
Starting with the good, visually London is a fantastic location full of memorable landmarks. These landmarks, ranging from theatres to Buckingham Palace, make for great stealth playgrounds in the assassination missions. Stealth is fantastic with open ended encounters and plenty of tools at your disposal, even if the game can be a bit too hand holdy at points. Another high point is the combat animations, with the brutality and fluidity of finishers being really impressive. Unfortunately, the combat looks a lot better than it plays. The combat system is very simple and involves too much button mashing. This is a big problem given how much the game leans on combat with its focus on gang warfare. The gang system itself is quite interesting, with the upgrade system being rewarding, but it just feels a bit lifeless and generic.
Speaking of lifeless and generic, Syndicate’s mission design, other than the assassinations at the end of every chapter, is poor. The pacing is inconsistent, and the game feels padded with unnecessary content in some places. This is particularly prevalent in the ridiculous amount of side content and collectables. There are a few decent missions in there, but the majority aren’t enjoyable and are copied and pasted many times at different locations on the map. Moreover, there is a lot of traversal to get to missions, and London is not well designed for the trademark Assassin’s Creed parkour, with wide streets that take an age to cross. The rope launcher and carriages try to mitigate this, but neither feels that fun to use.
Syndicate’s story is pretty woeful. Evie and the main villain are decent characters, but I did not connect at all with the rest of the cast and famous historical figures. The writing isn’t good and can even be cringey at times. The ending is a real anti-climax and the journey to get there was forgettable.
Overall, I was disappointed with AC Syndicate. I had some fun with its stealth gameplay, but the sub-par combat system, story and traversal, not to mention the numerous glitches, really tarnished my experience.
2015 Ranked
Starting with the good, visually London is a fantastic location full of memorable landmarks. These landmarks, ranging from theatres to Buckingham Palace, make for great stealth playgrounds in the assassination missions. Stealth is fantastic with open ended encounters and plenty of tools at your disposal, even if the game can be a bit too hand holdy at points. Another high point is the combat animations, with the brutality and fluidity of finishers being really impressive. Unfortunately, the combat looks a lot better than it plays. The combat system is very simple and involves too much button mashing. This is a big problem given how much the game leans on combat with its focus on gang warfare. The gang system itself is quite interesting, with the upgrade system being rewarding, but it just feels a bit lifeless and generic.
Speaking of lifeless and generic, Syndicate’s mission design, other than the assassinations at the end of every chapter, is poor. The pacing is inconsistent, and the game feels padded with unnecessary content in some places. This is particularly prevalent in the ridiculous amount of side content and collectables. There are a few decent missions in there, but the majority aren’t enjoyable and are copied and pasted many times at different locations on the map. Moreover, there is a lot of traversal to get to missions, and London is not well designed for the trademark Assassin’s Creed parkour, with wide streets that take an age to cross. The rope launcher and carriages try to mitigate this, but neither feels that fun to use.
Syndicate’s story is pretty woeful. Evie and the main villain are decent characters, but I did not connect at all with the rest of the cast and famous historical figures. The writing isn’t good and can even be cringey at times. The ending is a real anti-climax and the journey to get there was forgettable.
Overall, I was disappointed with AC Syndicate. I had some fun with its stealth gameplay, but the sub-par combat system, story and traversal, not to mention the numerous glitches, really tarnished my experience.
2015 Ranked
FallenGrace
1 year ago