The Bold Assassin's Creed Syndicate

‘Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’ was released by Ubisoft in October 2015, and was immediately greeted with fan love and appreciation. This game was the next title in the long-running ‘Assassin’s Creed’ franchise, and it had fans excited because the historical setting of this game would be the most “modern” game yet in the series, meaning it is the closest time period yet to modern day, set during the year 1868 in London, England during the famous Industrial Revolution. This era in history was a great setting for the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series to visit, as ‘Syndicate’ had to change things up in order to accurately match the authenticity of London during this time. Previous games in the series were set further back in history, so certain elements of the era then were quite different from that of previous historical settings. Specifically the way people lived and acted during the Industrial Revolution. People did not walk around carrying swords on their hip anymore, so Ubisoft had a challenge to be different from the past games, while also making the game realistic to players. Ubisoft took a different path than what fans were used to in prior ‘Assassin’s Creed’ games, by still giving players the option to carry around and customize their weapons, but not sacrificing the authenticity of the era. Ubisoft introduced new weapons and elements to the game that made sense in this era.

Instead of the protagonists carrying around swords and daggers strapped to their belt, they instead introduced weapons like cane swords, which were common during that era, having a large blade hidden inside a cane like one used for walking with. Ubisoft also brought in brass knuckles for the very first time, which also made sense in this era. Gang members and fight clubs used these weapons frequently, making Ubisoft’s attempt at historical accuracy a win for the company, and still giving fans the full experience of an ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game without worsening the experience for players and still being true to the Industrial Revolution in London. 

Aside from the weapons that were introduced in ‘Syndicate’, Ubisoft also had to face the challenge of transportation. People in this era got places in different ways. Horse pulled carriages were very popular at the time, the majority of all major streets in the Industrial Revolution London were filled with carriages. So, Ubisoft brought the idea of being able to ride or hijack carriages seen throughout London, and being able to use them as destruction devices. You were able to ram other carriages to damage or destroy enemies pursuing you, or to catch the enemies running away you had to chase down. It was a breath of fresh air for the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series, as mechanics like this were brand new in the franchise. Ubisoft also had to introduce the important railroad system. Trains were all the rage in this time period in London, the railroads were used for everything back then, meaning Ubisoft had a challenge to implement this important factor in history into their game. Ubisoft took advantage of the opportunity and made the trains a big part of the game itself. A little bit into the story, gamers had access to their own train. It was a full on homebase almost, as everything you did in the game, a lot of it came down to your train. You could earn money through a safe on the train or upgrade your supplies needed within your group. It was a great deal of creativity from Ubisoft, as they had to face big challenges by being authentic to 1860’s London. 

Ubisoft also introduced the first dual-protagonist system, a first for the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series. Previous games had you mostly playing as one character throughout the majority of the game, so having the choice to switch characters freely at any time was a welcome addition to the series. Ubisoft also allowed gamers to play as a female protagonist for the very first time. This was significant as every prior playable main character in the games were all males. The two characters were twin Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye, who you could switch to either character at any time during the game. The game even had missions designated for both Jacob and Evie, meaning you got to use both of them equally in the story, and still have the freedom to play as whichever Assassin you wanted while exploring London and what the massive city had to offer. Many fans had been asking for years to finally play as a female protagonist, and Ubisoft delivered in ‘Syndicate’. The template of a male and female lead-character in an ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game was in a way, a precursor to the future of the series. Each game following ‘Syndicate’ offered the choice to play as either a male or female protagonist, showing the importance that ‘Syndicate’ provided. 

Ubisoft also brought in a very unique addition to the series by introducing a new way to scale and zip across buildings and towers across London, a new rope launching grappling hook. This device was used to quickly climb buildings and structures without the need to take time to physically scale the walls. This was a very unique addition for fans as it was something unseen in the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series before. Gamers could use the rope launcher to escape combat against enemies and quickly disappear without taking too much damage or being outnumbered, and the players were also able to use this launcher as a zipline. If two buildings were far apart and separated, gamers could zipline across the two structures and get there fast without having to possibly encounter enemies and be spotted in your stealth mission. There were also unique things you could do while on the zipline, such as assassinating enemies from above. This addition to the game is still a fan-favorite feature in the series that made ‘Syndicate’ more unique than any other ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game.

‘Syndicate’ faced a hefty challenge for its release. The ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game released prior to this one, ‘Assassin’s Creed Unity’ in 2014 was met with criticism upon its launch. There were a significant amount of bugs and glitches that hurt the fan experience when the game was released. These issues put Ubisoft in a tough position. They now had to gain the trust back from the fanbase, and also had to deliver a relatively bug-free game after ‘Unity’. Ubisoft had not been in this position before, so they knew they had to recover with ‘Syndicate’ as expectations were high and fans wanted to see a game that was well-polished and fun to play. ‘Syndicate’, however, did in fact, deliver to fans who were anticipating its launch. The game ran and played particularly well when fans got their hands on the game in late 2015. ‘Syndicate’ also marks a significant timeline for the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series. It is considered the “final” game of the original formula that the series was created in. After the launch of ‘Syndicate’, Ubisoft took a full year off from creating an ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game. This was a major decision from Ubisoft, as all games in the series were annual releases, meaning a new game was launched every calendar year. The tradition of annual releases in the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series began in the early days of the franchise. The last time an ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game before ‘Syndicate’ took a year break was 2009’s ‘Assassin’s Creed II’. Which was released two years after the original game in the series which began in 2007. Ever since then, an ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game was released every single year until the break in 2016. 

Ubisoft decided to reevaluate the series after ‘Syndicate’ and instead of releasing a major game that year, they focused their time on the anticipated release of the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ movie, and also released a collection of remastered games in the series that were heavily popular among fans, which was always labeled ‘The Ezio Collection’ which was a tribute to the franchises most famous protagonist, Ezio Auditore, who had three main solo games to himself, a feat still no other game in the series has yet to touch, as Ezio is still the only main character to receive more than one game. So the launch of this collection of his three games were a requested bundle from fans and gamers alike. While 2016 was technically a year off for the franchise, it was still filled with great and exciting projects for fans to enjoy while they waited for the next installment in the series. 

‘Syndicate’ still marks the close of the classic format the series had grown so accustomed to, because after the 2016 pause, Ubisoft rebooted the franchise with ‘Assassin’s Creed Origins’ in October 2017. This game was very unlike any previous games in the series. It introduced new gameplay mechanics the series had never seen, and created features like a new leveling system, RPG elements, an abilities tab where you can equip special abilities to give you an edge against enemies, and even the option to scan and examine your surroundings with your own pet eagle. These features were brand new to the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series, and for the majority of the fanbase, were a welcome sight. The significance of ‘Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’ still remains evident today. It was clearly the most creatively bold game in the series to date, and also the end of a long run of recurring mechanics and gameplay styles that the series had known for so long. 

Ubisoft had to be bold with ‘Syndicate’ as they knew the importance of the game, knowing they were under pressure to regain fan trust and to create a game that plays and feels authentic to the Industrial Revolution in London. It took a lot of creative gambles and choices to historically honor this era of history while also remaining true to the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series and its fanbase. It's unclear if Ubisoft will touch on a similar time period again as we have seen with ‘Syndicate’, or if the series will visit another era this relatively far up in history, but the importance and relevance of this game remains vital. Ubisoft faced a big challenge while creating ‘Syndicate’, as they had many important factors to take into account while creating this game. To many gamers today, ‘Syndicate’ remains a fan favorite for the series, and clearly the boldest ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game to date.