Despite the many problems of Assassin's Creed: Unity, I felt it provided decent model to build more of these games from. Although Syndicate is very much following in the footsteps of Unity and feels like a more complete and refinied game, it also is a step back in certain areas.
The main area that I think is worse in Syndicate is the parkour. A lot of people did not like the movement in Unity so perhaps they made the right call but it's just so much less interesting for me. They give you a zip launcher which essentially replaces to need to even use the parkour. One button press will bring you all the way to the top of buildings in no time or bridge the gap between buildings without having to think about it. The streets are much wider here to give you room to drive carriages so the gaps between buildings are massive and you're going to need to keep using the launcher if you want to stay on the rooftops. They take away a number of your parkour options too such as the game not allowing you to make unsafe jumps. It's pretty frustrating when Evie or Jacob just stop at the edge of platforms and refuse to jump. Although you can sidehop in Syndicate, it feels a lot less consistent so I rarely used it. Overall, I feel London here is little less fun to move around in and there were less interiors to jump in and out of.
I can go back and forth on the stealth in Syndicate. It does have some of the best stealth missions in the series. The black box assassinations, which were already pretty good in Unity, are fantastic in Syndicate and its Jack the Ripper DLC. I'm not saying they're are as good as the Hitman series but the unique kills are usually pretty fun and there are still a few options if you don't want to follow them. The toggle into stealth mode felt a bit weird compared to the hold to crouch from Unity but it was at least funny to see Jacob take his top hat on and off. The tools don't feel as fluid to use in Syndicate and I do miss the phantom blade. The throwing knives essentially serve the same purpose but they're not as fun. The combat is certainly better in Syndicate even if the sped up animations look weird but it somehwat discourages stealth since it's fairly easy.
The game is more refined than Unity which is most obvious with the side content. It is mostly the same stuff as previous games where you clear out areas and although it can get a bit repetitive, they do a decent job of making the veraious activities feel different. Adding the loyalty meter for the game's side characters makes it all a bit more satisfying to do. Although I don't like exploring London as much as Paris, I really did enjoy how fun crossing the River Thames is.
The story is pretty standard Assassin's Creed stuff. Assassins tearing up Templar influence, magical Pieces of Eden, modern day barely existing. Evie is a pretty charming character but Jacob is annoying goober. I'm not sure how intentional it was but I found it interesting that they explored the overly simplistic Assassin philosophy of just killing the bad guy in front of you to fix all your problems. Jacob keeps doing that and then there's a mission afterwards of Evie trying to fix the mess he created. Jacob does start to realise by the end of the game how short sighted he was so at least there's some growth for him. It just is unfortunate that you are saddled with him for most of the story missions. He gets most of the assassinations despite Evie being the more stealth focused character. At least we get more playable Evie in the Jack the Ripper DLC.
Overall, it is an enjoyable game but it's not going to sway anyone if they are done with this formula. It is essentially the last AC game in this format. AC is probably my favourite 3/5 series. It's rarely amazing but I always have a decent time with them and Syndicate certainly captures that feeling.
The main area that I think is worse in Syndicate is the parkour. A lot of people did not like the movement in Unity so perhaps they made the right call but it's just so much less interesting for me. They give you a zip launcher which essentially replaces to need to even use the parkour. One button press will bring you all the way to the top of buildings in no time or bridge the gap between buildings without having to think about it. The streets are much wider here to give you room to drive carriages so the gaps between buildings are massive and you're going to need to keep using the launcher if you want to stay on the rooftops. They take away a number of your parkour options too such as the game not allowing you to make unsafe jumps. It's pretty frustrating when Evie or Jacob just stop at the edge of platforms and refuse to jump. Although you can sidehop in Syndicate, it feels a lot less consistent so I rarely used it. Overall, I feel London here is little less fun to move around in and there were less interiors to jump in and out of.
I can go back and forth on the stealth in Syndicate. It does have some of the best stealth missions in the series. The black box assassinations, which were already pretty good in Unity, are fantastic in Syndicate and its Jack the Ripper DLC. I'm not saying they're are as good as the Hitman series but the unique kills are usually pretty fun and there are still a few options if you don't want to follow them. The toggle into stealth mode felt a bit weird compared to the hold to crouch from Unity but it was at least funny to see Jacob take his top hat on and off. The tools don't feel as fluid to use in Syndicate and I do miss the phantom blade. The throwing knives essentially serve the same purpose but they're not as fun. The combat is certainly better in Syndicate even if the sped up animations look weird but it somehwat discourages stealth since it's fairly easy.
The game is more refined than Unity which is most obvious with the side content. It is mostly the same stuff as previous games where you clear out areas and although it can get a bit repetitive, they do a decent job of making the veraious activities feel different. Adding the loyalty meter for the game's side characters makes it all a bit more satisfying to do. Although I don't like exploring London as much as Paris, I really did enjoy how fun crossing the River Thames is.
The story is pretty standard Assassin's Creed stuff. Assassins tearing up Templar influence, magical Pieces of Eden, modern day barely existing. Evie is a pretty charming character but Jacob is annoying goober. I'm not sure how intentional it was but I found it interesting that they explored the overly simplistic Assassin philosophy of just killing the bad guy in front of you to fix all your problems. Jacob keeps doing that and then there's a mission afterwards of Evie trying to fix the mess he created. Jacob does start to realise by the end of the game how short sighted he was so at least there's some growth for him. It just is unfortunate that you are saddled with him for most of the story missions. He gets most of the assassinations despite Evie being the more stealth focused character. At least we get more playable Evie in the Jack the Ripper DLC.
Overall, it is an enjoyable game but it's not going to sway anyone if they are done with this formula. It is essentially the last AC game in this format. AC is probably my favourite 3/5 series. It's rarely amazing but I always have a decent time with them and Syndicate certainly captures that feeling.