Why Is Assassin's Creed: Syndicate So Underrated?
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- Опубликовано: 6 июн 2024
- Assassin's Creed is one of gaming's most influential franchises, winning over the hearts of fans with its fluid traversal systems, gorgeous environments, and unique stories across different time periods.
However, there is one game on this list that stands out... by not standing out? Assassin's Creed: Syndicate has one of the most charming concepts out of any game in the series, yet, for some reason, it sits at the bottom of the franchise's barrel. Why?
Today I decided to ask myself this question by taking the game apart, piece by piece, and looking at some of the problems that limited its potential to become one of the greatest games in the series.
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•Discord Server: / discord
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©Credit:
•All Background Music is part of the Assassin's Creed: Syndicate OST by Austin Wintory & Others: • Assassin's Creed Syndi...
•Outro Song: / coldblood-1 (Artist: / sinbeatzz )
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0:00 - Intro
01:39 - 1) A troubling time of release.
04:13 - 2) Graphical downgrade, but a striking world.
06:24 - 3) Gameplay: a double-edged blade.
14:05 - 4) Story and substance.
16:04 - Outro 
Игры
![Dimension 20: Never Stop Blowing Up Trailer [Dropout Exclusive Series]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xYeXpbHnGEM/mqdefault.jpg)
Best music in an AC game. Change my mind.
TRUER WORDS HAVE NEVER BEEN SPOKEN 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Revelations has the best music
@@codbfhalo98653 hmm, that's one I've never played. Thanks for the advice.
I think ac 2 had the best soundtrack, even though I wasn't a fan of the game itself
@@hamzajamil3543 It's a matter of taste I guess. It's just that Syndicate has a wide variety of music everywhere; on the streets, parks, pubs songs .. oh yeah the soundtrack too.
Its so hard to understand why some people hate on the "topp hat and elegant outfits" that Jacob uses as its probablly the best meaning of "hide in plain sight"
People probably hate it because they played AC Unity first which had more customisation.
I actually liked ac syndicate when I went back to gaming in 2022 I went where I left off of rouge cause I beat ac black flag my highschool days after playing rouge I wanted more then I try unity it was decent parkour is what really made me stay the story could of been better but syndicate felt different and the variety u have when u being stealthy
I love the top hat and switching from that to the hood. I just hate how you are forced to crouch to initiate that function. Horribly botched implementation. It should be a toggle option.
Cuz people like to look like an assassin. Duh
A lot of people are willing to sacrifice immersion for the sake of "cool" visuals unfortunately. They just think the hood looks cooler
the ability to switch from stealth just to put on the top hat to look like a normal person can actually kind of change the way to play which I really love and I'm glad you brought up
incase you could not tell I LOVE this game
The fact that you HAVE to crouch in order to wear your hood is horrendous implementation though. You have exploit a glitch in order to stand with your hood on.
I love Syndicate, London felt so alive with all the random events with NPC's and just the look of the game in general. Also I live in London too so being able to play in the map was really fun. The parkour was really good nearly on par with Unity if not for the baby-proofing of not being able to jump off buildings.
I loved everything but the story I just can't get over the cartoon villain and the fact you only see him for like 20 minutes total and half of that being in cut scenes where he's acting like a 12 year old, if you compare him to any other villain you can see he kind of just pales in comparison, I mean Roshan from Mirage is a better final boss because she has a reason for doing what she did and not because she's childish you also get to see her character more
Evenrs ar enot random npc interactions are minimal and what they do is scripted
Most npc in london are decorations
Yes versetike decorations but they repeat each other often in the game which a bit ruins the immersion
Out of quests you dont really see any random events, except some street quests which are very repetative and boring
But yes if u dont pay attention while running around london feels alive and it was interesting and fun watching some noc fighting or playing football in the streets during the initial hours of gameplay
The game was ok but had a potential to be much better
Overall it was always fun stealthing with uvy and punching gang members with jacob
The game totally has negative aspects but it was entertaining to play it
I have played all of the AC games for the first time over the past 1.5 years, so I have a pretty fresh memory of all the games and my views of Syndicate weren't tainted by anything or any previous game's shortcoming/bugs when I played it. I absolutely love Syndicate and just about every single thing about it. It easily sits in my top 3 AC games for sure (I hesitate to put it at my number one spot, but it is extremely close to being my favorite AC game, period). It has my absolute favorite open world of any of the games as well, and it just feels like a giant playground where you can spend hours just exploring and participating in the world events like stealing cargo carriages and stuff like that. There were soooo many times when I would be on my way to play a main story mission but would wind up just getting distracted for hours by all of the fun side content in the world itself, and I see that as an absolute win.
Additionally, there has been no AC game that has been as good at that 30-second rule (which basically means that in a good open world game you should never be able to go more than 30 seconds without coming across something that catches your attention and that you can participate in) as Syndicate was. The gang wars were a really fun bit of side content as well that I thoroughly enjoyed. I even love the grappling gun so much, too. The setting is absolutely beautiful and the amount of awesome London landmarks makes it even more fun and immersive, IMO. Plus, the black box assassinations are by far the best out of any of the AC games and some of the most fun and cool missions in any of the AC games as well.
I think if players go into the game like I did with zero preconceived notions about the game or its predecessors they will have a great time with Syndicate. There are a few things I don't really like about it (weapon choice being the biggest one) but there is nothing in the game that I straight up hate or even strongly dislike. It really is just a damn fun game and I hope more people start to rally around it like we have been seeing with Unity over the past few years. It deserves its fair shake, and when given that fair shake, becomes one of the most vibrant and fun AC games in the whole series.
Well said!!
You sold me, been trying to figure out if I should go back finish my personal favorite, AC3, or go back and finish Black Flag, or play Syndicate, which I never played. And syndicate it is lol
@@quewieeee oh yeah man, out of those three options, choosing to play something new to you like Syndicate will definitely be more entertaining than replaying other games. Don’t let the bad wrap that Syndicate has get in the way of playing a really fun game. Like I said, if you keep an open mind, I truly do think it’s impossible for an AC fan to dislike the game.
A full, alive and beautiful city; great stealth; the best black box missions out of any AC game; the best side content out of all of the games. It’s just a straight fun game from beginning to end.
Also, Ubisoft+ is like $17 for a month and gives you access to all AC games. You can probably finish Syndicate in a month, so you could feasibly play this game for $17 rather than buying it at full price. Please let me know if you like it if you remember lol
I feel u I really like rouge Shay was a complex character like haytham was but odyssey an Valhalla got my heart putting over 200-300 hours on both
@@STSGuitar16i went back to it last night honestly I’m having hella fun with it specially with ezio outfit on Jacob look so cool with it
Jacob and Evie were born into the Brotherhood
One of my favorite games in the series by far. Although not perfect, it still is very fun. I like the option to play between either Jacob or Evie. I hope they give more options like that in the future.
I usually play as Evie, I think she fits the "Assassin" look a lot more with some of her outfits compared to Jacob. I also like her out outfit "The Aegis", when you complete Secrets of London.
rumor character switich in Red. We shall see.
Thing is, Jacob suits the games better. Evie is not the right personality for a game about a criminal syndicate. Jacob is a great assassin and gang leader. Evie is just an OK assassin. I say only OK, because she didn't hunt any templars at all.
Great great video. I hope one day Syndicate will be able to get its flowers, the game definitely deserves some recognition and lots of love
This video is too Underrated, Top Tier YTber right here.
What I love about Syndicate?
Victorian London
Jacob's Outfits
DLC Jack The Ripper
Music
And Ragdoll specially
First time watching a video from this channel you are hella underrated, i love syndicate i just replayed it with the raytracing mod and its awesome.
❤🔥
I'm currently playing Syndicate and this video couldn't come out at a better time. Dude, everything said here was so accurate to what I'm thinkin! In my humble opinion, it's got one of my favourite stealth in the series as of late. Glad to know there are some Syndicate enjoyers at this day and age.
:)))
Honestly I enjoy all the assassins creed games some just don’t hit as the other ones doesn’t mean is a bad game like origin is very good for having a good story an character like I really sympathy with bayek after he lost his son an odyssey I sympathy with Kassandra cause of what she went through Valhalla u see evior is a good kind heart person who care for her clan
I’ve always loved AC Syndicate since 2015. I 99% completed it and it’s still one of my favorite AC games. London became one of my favorite cities because of this game. 😁😁😎😎💯💯🔥🔥♥️♥️♥️🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
YES FINALLY SOMEONE SAYS IT! AC Syndicate is like AC gameplay fully realized, the first game where the assassin part is in its full potential. The first game where I really felt like an assassin
People still say unity is underrated, it's getting milked to death now, this game is actually underrated.
great video brother
Damn bro I only realised you posted a new vid like 20 mins ago. I mean what can I say, respect. The editing, the commentary the structure keeps getting better with each upload. It's Crazy to imagine where you started and where you are now, albeit you still have along way to go but nonetheless its unreal how good your content is. I only wish you success and growth 💪💪 keep grinding man. ( My bad for being 2 months late 😂 )
My man! Forever glad to see you here, thanks for the support!!! 🔥🔥🔥
Honestly my biggest complaint about Syndicate is that you cant choose which twin you want to use for the main missions. I mean, i get being forced to play as both in the first 2 missions, but it should have been players choice after that. The crafting requirements can be a little annoying too fwiw... but i have *_never_* understood the hate for Syndicate except for it possibly being lingering bitterness about Unity's launch. I mean there is always going to be some physics mechanic in any Ubisoft game that is going to annoy you.
Syndicate had amazing mission design, the blackbox missions were just stunning better than Mirage and siege of paris. Syndicate has the best side-content, I wouldn't say story is weak but Jacob and Evie relationship was so entertaining. Story would have been better if they didn't reveal who's the main antagonist at the start. I hated combat in the streets but loved the fight club it was soo fuckin fun that I spent most of my hours in the fight club. Parkour is really amazing! Huh oh and the game has a amazing set-piece something Assassin's Creed will never have now. What else? Syndicate had the best DLC's, Jack the ripper serves as the best conclusion to the frye twins, I didn't expect frye twins would have such an emotional conclusion something very different from main game. Syndiate really had creative developers and it really feels like a game made out of passion and love unlike Valhalla and Odyssey which is made out of corporate greed.
Parkouring through river thames just hits different 👌
it had its moment, but it pushed the grotesk too much and turned the whole game into a joke and mockery of the franchise. The worst thing for me was open combat. Which was spongy and the movement so stupidly unnatural fast that it looked like absolute trash. It was massive downgrade compared to Unity, which had its problem, but people can say what they want, Unity was the most Assassin game in the franchise. The coop was amazing idea and I am sad they scrapped it instead of making it better. Sadly I didnt have any friends who played AC games so I could not enjoy full potential of it because randoms always went guns blazing :(
The ripper dlc nearly made me dislike the game. That's how badly it treated the story, Jacob, the history, and the lore.
Wait wait odyssey was made by the same people who made syndicate an when I play odyssey I felt the love and passion an the side quest wasn’t boring at all it had a story tie to it an the world felt alive Valhalla on the other hand was just a lil empty wish was kinda sad cause odyssey felt more alive
@@jojocasimir1118 nope. Syndicate wasn't created by the odyssey team. The odyssey team had smaller roles on the Syndicate development team, but none of them were the creative or leading minds behind Syndicate. They simply take credit for what they didn't do.
@@chrismoore5333 wow how come a lot ppl be saying that Ubisoft Quebec was the one who made syndicate even online be saying it but I guess it could be wrong
Something that separates Syndicate from all the others for me are the villains. Unlike most of the AC games these villains really had a chance to make a connection with Jacob or Evie before finally meeting their demise. I wish more AC games handled their villains with this much screentime and actual importance for character moments between them and the protagonist.
This is nonsense, Starrick literally has only one encounter with the twins and is in the final mission of the game
@@S1LV3R.GH057 villains with an s. Im not talking about Starrick, Im talking about the others.
@@fineanddandee the others have a few appearences here and there excepting Lucy Thorne but i don't think they're better than the rest
@@S1LV3R.GH057Roth is a villain that surely proves the other guys point. You are just a syndicate (mainly a jacob) hater.
@@fineanddandeeignore that ghost fool, they literally have nothing positive or honest to say.
I am playing right now. Just like the top comment said, I really like the music. Especially the music when you are standing on observation points, it really feels like London.
BABE WAKE UP, SHXDOWBOY POSTED!!!!!!!!!!!!
Syndicate is my most favorite in the franchise personally, London felt lively, Jacob was so relatable for me, he helped me out through rough times. Unlike most games in the series Syndicate introduced consequence, everything Jacob did to Assassinate his targets affected society itself making it that much compelling that was I feel I never got from previous and later entries, not to mention it was the only game that went to the 19th century which I find to be my most favorite historical setting.
I agree with you on this as well!
Jacob has a lot of depth and character development in the story. He is a great assassin, but one that fits the drawing modern age. I just wish we had another dlc or game dedicated to Jacob as the protagonist, alone and away from evie. They did that for her. Why not for him?
Also, for me, as a gay man, Syndicate was the first time I could see anyone "like me" as the main protagonist in any AAA game or movie. Jacob is a great character regardless, but he is also a really special character for some of us. Evie is supported under the grounds she is "inclusive," yet the ironic thing is, she is actually oppressive, as her presence diminishes the actually inclusive protagonist, Jacob. Evie being pushed is the equivalent of someone saying that women's representation matters more than gay/bisexual men's representation.
@@chrismoore5333Big facts to this Evie was only there just to Strech the gaming hours and pad it out, I'd honestly do anything for a Jacob DLC where he visits Belle epouqe France to meet Van gogh or Maybe partake in the Franco Prussian war.
@@FutureIndustrieseditz That was exactly my idea! Jacob could visit Paris in the late 1800s. Van gogh would be a really interesting character for AC lore, and the birth of terror attacks was in that city and time as well, so Jacob could have some really interesting conflicts, as those attacks painted themselves as for the people, which of course Jacob would disagree with, given the harm they caused to innocent lives. I'd love a new story for Jacob. Just anything besides his ending being bait for evie in a bad and disrespectful dlc. And still, evie fans don't think it's enough for her. I mean, leaving the franchise first and only canon gay or bisexual male protagonist in an asylum during the victorian era is just homophobic given the history. I know it was an accident, but come on. Ubisoft needs to do better.
@@chrismoore5333Ubisoft really needs to do better, Because Varinson and Alexios ain't enough to redeem them when they disrespected their first Queer character.
@@FutureIndustrieseditz utterly agree with you in every way. But so many people get angry with me when I say this much. It is sad. I blocked a fan page on Facebook because I got only negativity, people laughing at me, and bullying, all because I said Jacob needed to be the focus instead of evie, due to how badly ubisoft treated their lgbt male fan base.
I've always loved the time period even before they even thought of doing a game in it. Love how fast and brutal the kills are. The gun combat is a huge step up they could've tweaked it to be a bit of a shooter along with the stealth. And the stealth is my personal favorite of the series because it felt like other stealth games i like more than the rest of the series, like Hitman, Splinter Cell, etc. My main issues are the story, the lack of different weapons or stealth kill animations for those weapons, and the fact there's no jump button.
AC Syndicate is amazing and full kudos to Ubisoft for creating such an immersive experience. The attention to detail is jaw dropping and its my all time favorite game. Never thought MGS1 on the PS would ever have its crown stolen! Thanks for an awesome video retrospective and keep up the great work.
Thank you!
Not magical powers. It's science from the ISU.
needs more views and likes
Personally loved syndicate, and it's one of my favourites.
I played on pc back in day and it was extremely good looking at highest settings.
It wasn't exactly changing, but it was really really fun. The fighting mechanics made it very easy to feel overpowered, but fuck me it was fun.
The parkour was the best it's ever been imo.
I loved the setting, the humour and even the challenges didn't necessarily feel like bloat, because...it was fun.
Origins is probably my favourite, but that's more to do with Bayek, the fight mechanics and parkour are definitely less fun and more dark souls esque
It sucks how so many of these issues in media like these only took a slight change of outlook in its conception. It wouldnt have taken more work at all really.
I have one more mission to finish the story and i loved the journey. It has such a different story that never took itself seriously at all
Ive got this game free from ubisoft, and i cant love it more ❤😊
thank u for making this.
Thank you for watching!
Currently playing every game and I’m ok this game rn, and genuinely this game is the most pure fun I’ve had since black flag
The only reason it was neglected was because of Unity and AC games exhaustion at the time. Playing it after the years is a treat.
i always thought that it was a bit of a far cry 3 vaas situation with the story, with roth being a far more interesting villain character than starrick and he should have really been in more than 1 segment with just jacob. i think if his anarchist views came into conflict with both, jacob being shown that his devil may care attitude taken to extreme can cause a lot of damage to innocents and evie having to come to terms with roth being actually more of an assassin than a templar with his notion that life without freedom isn't really worth living, maybe even a cheeky: "isn't that part of your creed ms frye? "everything is permitted" wasn't it?" would have made things more memorable.
Great video, Syndicate is in my opinion the one that stands out, giving that I live in London, and is more realistic and detailed than Watch Dogs Legion. I love playing the game with headphones on and listening to the RPGs, the game is graphically pleasing and the Graphic downgrade adds to the rawness of olden times, plus the music being played around the city adds to the aesthetics, I still play this game today and wish that they would make a second part to continue the story. I played Odyssey and wasn't a fan of the changes of the new style graphics.
you have a bright future, my friend
:))
I liked Syndicate, but I think what a lot of People dislike about it, is how it came pretty close to the modern World. Industry, Machines, Electricity etc. It was like all the innovative Stuff the Assassins had, weren't anything special anymore. For Example the hidden Blade. It was just there. No fearsome Weapon any longer. And since the Age of heavy Gunpower had long arrived, nobody would actually be scared of some Knife that would pop out of your Sleeve.
The industrial revolution, experience. I liked this game
They probably removed the option to jump to prevent people accidentally jumping to their death. Used to be a bigger problem in the pre unity days
Which is frustrating. Give me the fcking freedom to parkour. Good thing they brought it back now but it was so fucking frustrating.
yeah which sucks because there’s absolutely no freedom
I absolutely love Syndicate, London always feels so alive, seeing the historical sites are amazing, the collectibles are fun, especially the posters for me.
The WW1 sequence was a genuine surprise because it was never advertised at all prior to release.
Sure Syndicate can be goofy but it has a charm no other AC has. I still play Syndicate, I just don’t get every upgrade because I enjoy more of a challenge in my AC games.
Oh yes, I should've mentioned the WW sequences! Both in Unity and in Syndicate, these scenes really were a pleasant surprise!!! It's great that they took the extra effort to make a small part of these games so memorable.
Assassin's creed syndicate is my first assassin's creed game and idk how any one would hate it.
I personally liked Syndicate as the best Assassin Creed open world, but it needed more work, if Ubisoft got rid of its 1 year policy and worked more on its games for longer.
AC series after Syndicate is like playing Baldur's Gate, Diablo , Witcher 3, etc. In short, it is completely different than the predecessors.
Spot on analysis. Syndicate is a strange beast... it doesn't rank at the top of my favourite ACs but it ranks very high among the ACs I had the most fun with. It's hard to explain, I even keep coming back to it more often than to ACs I would rate higher. Something about the old London, the stealth and the trains is so unique and irresistible.
Agreed!
I love syndicate, it's always somewhere in my top 3 and the setting plays a really big role in that coz I just love the aesthetics of victorian london
Ubisoft is a French company and they went all out for Assassin's Creed Unity. Ubisoft is a French company, they didnt put nearly as much care into london.
Syndicate is one of my top 5 favourites!
Im so happy i played AC Unity the day it came out and never had one single bug
I never had a problem with stealth in any other game in this series besides this one. I found myself fighting a bunch of guys all the time. wtf
I used to like unity more than syndicate but after taking years off of gaming and coming back to it, I like Syndicate way more and I find Unity frustrating. Maybe its because im so rusty and the difficulty of Unity makes it way less accessible to me. Syndicate is way easier to play. I also like the world itself. The only thing i cant stand is the fact that you have to crouch to put your hood on.
Black Flag, Unity and Syndicate is my Favorite games in terms of gameplay Mechanics and Graphics...All you said in this video I agree to it...Rest all the AC games was not Fun..Even I have finished the New AC Mirage Game but still I would put Unity and Syndicate on the Top in terms of Gameplay Mechanics, Graphics and lot's of Weapon's Options
with the part where you were talking about Evie and Jacob's characters and questioning how they even got into the brotherhood, there is actually in game explanation for their unprofessional behavior! :D If I remember correctly, they are the only assassin presence in London at this point. They're part of the brotherhood because their father was in the brotherhood, but he died ages ago, and they were left in the care of a family friend that was doing his best to teach them the ways of the brotherhood with very limited resources. Evie took to the teachings a lot more than Jacob did, which leads to the constant arguing and disagreements, as well as Evie's' focus on finding artifacts, and Jacob's focus on purely making a gang lol. I think it was an interesting take on the formula for what an assassin is supposed to act like in this series. Sure they may not have a lot of the traditions and teachings that come along with being in the brotherhood, but they are sincere about wanting to improve things in London, and Evie is excited to finally get to work with a real assassin aka Henry Green. I love their characters so much you got no idea lol
Good points well made, where Jacob wanted to help the people of london and take down templars, evie went after the shroud. The reason is that Jacob is the personification of "everything is permitted" and wanting to get freedom no matter what. Evie is the personification of "nothing is true" slow to act, and sometimes hypocritical, but she wants to defend the truth from lies, in a way. The pair of them learn that they are the opposite of what they wish to be. Jacob is naturally a great assassin, and he learns this by the end of the story, as he gives up his quest for personal freedom, in order to better serve the brotherhood and the people of london. This is really what Roth and Jacob's fight was about. Roth favored freedom no matter the cost, but Jacob cared more for the people in the end. Evie on the other hand, wished to be a great assassin and follow her fathers vision, but she isn't naturally good at that and let her only target escape, and she allowed Starrick to get the key to the shroud, ultimately she is the reason Jacob didn't defeat Starrick out right, but evie is the reason Jacob's work didn't get to out of hand as well. The ending perfectly shows this. Jacob stands alone, having wrestled between being a ruthless gang leader and an honourable assassin, he has finally chosen to be an assassin. Evie bas actually done the opposite. She wants to be free to live a life of love with Henry in India. It's interesting that most fans miss the importance of this moment. Jacob is briefly focused on more than any other character in the final cinimatic, to really hammer home the fact that he is alone, because of his choice to be an assassin no matter the personal cost.
@@chrismoore5333 man their arcs are so good, I don’t understand people who think it should have only been one twin in the game, they are great together
@@sprire2840 I often say I wish it was only Jacob, but this is because of the toxicity in the community of some evie fans, and also that the cut story ideas for AC victory were so cool! Originally when Jacob was the only protagonist, Jacob had a mentor character who dressed like lydia, but with darker colours on her outfit, and had a silver mask, she was a plot twist villain, and the idea behind her was late recycled into watch dogs legion's Sabine. On top of this, AC Victory had two extra male characters, and two extra female characters, all four of which were the co-op modes playable characters. The co-op levels would take these characters across all of the UK in set level designed areas like Edinburgh or Stonehenge.
All of this in consideration, I think the best thing that could happen now, is Jacob to get a sequal that restores many of AC victory's concepts and ideas, and gives Jacob the ending to his story that he deserves. This should be set after the ripper dlc. Jacob could face the order of the golden dawn, and climb the construction site for tower bridge. We could see him restore his brotherhood of assassins as well.
As for evie, she should have a story set in the 1870s about India and the rebellion that went on in this time.
@@chrismoore5333 I think those would both be really cool ideas for sequels! And I had seen others talking about the mentor idea that had been scrapped, and that also sounds like it would have been really really cool, I don’t know if I would have liked the game as much without the sibling banter and clear conflict between them (I related a lot as I had bad arguments with my sibling growing up despite caring about each other) but I gotta admit, that does sound like a really cool plot to have played through :)
@@sprire2840 I feel you on that! Me and my brother are similar to the dynamic ubisoft were going for with Jacob and evie. But I do feel frustrated that with the dlc that dynamic was basically ignored entirely, and we were just left constantly missing Jacob in the entire story of the dlc. Even evie herself was always mentioning Jacob at any given chance. I'd love to see those sequal ideas I had, become a reality someday! Imagine that if Jacob and evie had their one game/dlc story each, the fans would be much more calm and happier.
Im going to be honest. All of the AC games are amazing to me. If Ubisoft would actually develop all the games at a slower and more methodical rate, Syndicate and Unity could both possibly be the best in the entire series and that goes for Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla, and Mirage. Imagine if Origins and Odyssey both had six years of development or Valhalla 6 to 8 since its massive. Mirage could have been a 10/10 smaller stealth focused game if Ubisoft would just take their time. One reason I'm hyped for Shadows is the long development cycle which I believe was saud to be six years. That's two more than the masterpiece known as Origins. My take is everyonr should play each game as each one is obviously garnered to pull in fans of a certain fantasy, Mirage was clearly stealth and assassinations, Origins was about the foundations with the setting be the major want for people, Odyssey for the battles, naval combat, and legendary spartan hero fantasy. Valhalla and Black Flag brought the pirate and viking fantasy to a major series and I don't think any of the games are horrendous in their goals. They just needed more time in the oven to bake a perfect cake.
I have a soft spot for Syndicate. I loved the Victorian Era setting and exploring this time period was very fascinating to me. The game feels far more polished and refined compared to Unity, which is why I like it more
My issues, however, come with the narrative and tone. I really think it should have focused on Evie Frye only, since she is more compelling and interesting compared to Jacob with an interesting arc exploring grief and moving on from her father, which I liked. (In addition she just has a superior character design that I love too).
The tone should have been far more darker and serious, with a hint of gothic aesthetic to the vibe of the setting, as opposed to the more light hearted tone we got (think Peaky Blinders instead of Mary Poppins). A more serious tone to be game would have benefitted it so much more, especially exploring the more grim side of the Victorian Era like child labor, exploitation of the working classes and prejudice & bigotry
Edit: Oh, and the soundtrack was fantastic too. One song stood out to me, called 'cathedrals of steel'. It captures the essence of the setting perfectly, with its somber melancholic sounds.
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I agree. The tone is a big issue that could've been done so much better. As with most Ubisoft games, we have a lot of wasted potential here.
Also yes, the soundtrack is heavenly!!!
This game was made great because of the open world and amount of content that wasnt just boring crap
The grappling hook in this game missed HUGE opportunities. It lacked additional gameplay mechanics, as evidenced by official concept art showing its potential use in combat. Imagine how cool that could have been! The hook could have been used to drag enemies and silently take them out (giving you control over the battle), or disarm those pesky knife and gun enemies.
However, the hook we received was slow and clunky, serving as a reminder of Unity's parkour system, which was intentionally replaced by the hook.
I'm replaying this game now. Just for the setting.
I liked AC syndicate especially the investigation missions. I will play it again cuz I didn’t play the DLCs
One of the hot takes I didn't expect was Jacob over Evie. Me, personally, it's Evie over Jacob, but hey ho. Opinions. We can all have them.
Something I really love from this game and from Unity though which I don't see mentioned a lot, though summarised here in the side missions, I really enjoyed the murder mysteries. Especially in Syndicate, though. Solving crimes like Sherlock Holmes in 19th Century London before Sherlock Holmes even existed at the time, it's so good!
This game has the best stealth mechanics in the series. It's not even close.
I agree, syndicate is soo underrated. You forgot to say the blackbox missions are absolutely awesome, some even better than those of unity
Syndicate is the only ac that i gave up on before completing..
One of my Fav AC games. Followed by 3 and Origins.
ACS is the first AC game that i play. Fall in love and I thought the next AC would be great as well but...
As a rogue fan I’m crying (jk) but fr we exist as mythical as we may seem
No Rogue fans were harmed in the making of this video*
Debatable lmaooo, but I’d love to hear about your thoughts on rogue or any other ac games :)
I’m playing Unity and Syndicate side by side right now and Syndicate is by FAR the better game. The movement/ parkour in Unity feels straight up broken. It’s just not very fun to play.
My favorite Assassin Creed settings are III, IV, Egypt, and Syndicate. I always thought an 1840s to 1860s Old West setting would be fun. Most guns were short ranged enough and reloaded slow enough back then that while they would be a factor they wouldn't be a solution to everything which I feel would be an issue with Assassin's Creed games with a main setting after Syndicate's.
The sad thing is that it improved on previous small things like the top hat switch but the sad part is that it didnt do anything too new on the major parts like the story.
And because of that its not really that much better than unity but not really that much worse either.
But anybody who says that syndicate or unity is worse than odyssey, origins, valhalla or mirage....most definitely not
No one will mess around when they see a top hat
Exactly.
Syndicate was where the fanbase was suffering burnout, annual releases that were becoming formulaic and since the end of III the connective tissues of the modern day taking a dip. Sure, Unity garnered interest but it wasn’t enough to carry the series for long and after Syndicate the annual release schedules were dropped and the gameplay retooled to be more RPG in genre starting with Origins (which did have the unfortunate result of leaving the Juno storyline to be resolved in the comics). Syndicate is where the series suffered a major case of diminishing returns in the eyes of fans.
One positive point about Syndicate that wasn’t explored as much as it could have been is being able to toggle between two leads for overworld exploration, and switching for character specific story missions. Previous games had playable characters for certain missions like Altaïr for a Bleeding Effecf sequence in II, the Masyaf disc memories in Revelations, and Haytham being the first historical protagonist in III before reaching the point Connor would have been conceived and his son’s memories being picked up. The very next game would have missions where Aya was playable including one at the very end of the main story. Jacob and Evie are consistently across the story and having their own missions playable either separate from or working with their twin (to various degrees of teeth clenching). I mentioned Aya just before, had Origins done more with her, having story content separate from Bayek where she’s playable and cutting down Order members while Bayek is doing the same elsewhere that could have elevated an already great game. Alas the executives at Ubisoft don’t think female leads sell, despite the success of Horizon Zero Dawn where the lead is a woman.
In my opinion, I always thought Syndicate was a *REAL* assassin game. Now before I receive flack, hear me out.
I’ve played a number of the games from the franchise and liked each one for what they had to offer. One thing I personally liked about Syndicate was that the Hood-Swap mechanic. To me it was the MOST assassin part of the franchise for it (as you stated in the video) captured the “hiding in plain sight” principle of what makes an assassin opposed to being THE ONLY person in a point in history to walk around with a hood in the name of being inconspicuous.
Syndicate was definitely a slept on game for sure.
I am playing the game right now, I was actually suprised how i started enjoying traversing the city thanks to the infamous batmanhook in the game, which the idea of before I played the game hated, tho I must say the villain are lame, otherwise its a fun game
My two favourite games are AC 3 and AC Syndicate
Love that you mentioned the addition of Marx. Especially because the examples of templars in this game were bland but marx made a compelling story against the conservative Templars in government
This video is pretty spot on. Keep it up man!
the top hat and not being able to walk with the hood on single handedly ruined this game for me. the combat was enjoyable but man, navigation was rough, there was almost no connection between blocks of street. they should've taken the approach that The Order: 1886 took with regard to the city.
I know its just an' opinion
But' the atmosphere in this game is great.
Realy liked the story and combat too' never undertood the hate for this game.
Its underrated because people are sheep, and their decisions are manipulated by majority. Victorian London in this game is so rich with so many details it feels like alive city, you just simply stand in city, and you see how many random things happen, even weather changes and daytime, its like being transported to 1800s. Story with DLC is quite long and interesting, graphic is nice, based on what screen you play, looks amazing on 43 inch TV.
I found open world very fun to explore cus I luv London myself since I'm in uk. The characters are okay overall story is average. Have yet play jack ripper dlc but I heard it way better than actual story. I'm replaying it since same ppl behind it r bk this yr to make ac red 😂
I appreciate some of what you said in this video, but you completely failed to make an argument that the game is underrated.
You agreed that the parkour was a major downgrade and borderline unusable; You also recognised that the games story is fairly abysmal; You said you liked the combat because it's fast, and didn't elaborate further; You called the stealth one of the best systems in the series (which it is); And you also said the world was atmospheric
Your argument boils down to the stealth system being good and the world having cool vibes, but concluding the video by saying 'that is why Syndicate is underrated' is completely disingenuous. You just explained why basically everyone who played it dislikes it. The complete misuse of the phrases underrated frustrates me to no end, and I wish it wasn't such a view-increasing buzzword.
Your channel has great potential. I'd recommend making more tangible arguments, and breaking things down more critically. You're great at explaining why things aren't well made, but you need to learn how to explain why things are well made, or why you enjoy them. I'd heavily recommend studying Whitelight, Leo K Rogue, Walshie, and Fizhy in that regard.
Much love
These are the comments I live for! Thank you so much for taking your time to critique my work.
I try my best to improve the points I make in my videos every time. In this case, I believed the game was "underrated" because it was not acknowledged and appreciated enough, judging by what I saw on the internet. And, being honest, yes, it is a buzzword. But it is straight to the point, which is why I thought it would be the most applicable.
Oh yeah, and you may have slightly misinterpreted the way I ended the video. "That's why Syndicate is underrated" wasn't meant to be a POSITIVE remark necessarily, I just stated the reasons WHY the game failed to capture the hearts of players, and why it stays so deep down the series' list.
Frankly, I was planning to list all the reasons why the game might've left a bad impression, which as you said, I succeeded in. My point, at the end of the day, though, was that even with all these major hiccups in mind, the game is underappreciated for its creativity above all else, and all the little things in between. (music, environmental detail, style, historical accuracy, etc.). I tried proving that even though many surface-level aspects of the game seem shallow, if you look deeper under the surface, you can find a new appreciation for the game.
I am a fan of Whitelight, I think it's apparent that I take inspiration ;). I will check out the others as well!
Oh, and I will definitely keep your critique in mind for the future! Thanks again for the support and critique!
I find the controls terrible for example I have to press circle to drive but also if I press circle I get off the wagon.
Larger gaps between buildings. There is a theoretically higher chance for a player to accidentally jump an impossible gap and die which would create unnecessary inconvenience.
sad truth: using london was bad for most of the games unless they were holmes based
ye man tbh I never played this one oddly.. played all the other ones, fuck it gonna download it rn
Let me know what you think!
@@Shxdowboy its been really nice man, super nice emphasis on stealth, and parkour feels smooth
Enjoy 🔥
Here’s my take yes I was playing these games on day ones but unity I never had any problems I was an anomaly of this glitch and I didn’t have any problems. With that being said those who experience that glitch were definitely leaving the door so yes when syndicate came out those were left were still having a raging boner over Edward (who wasn’t an assassin at all until the end just liked the pirate shit) or those who still had a boner over ezio stilll and still to this day I get it nice memories but just give it a rest like another character open you mind to another character not just ezio (bc if that ur only fav character you sir or ma’m are overrated) with being said my experience with syndicate great characters were good enough (we had two instead of one) eve was stealth and Jacob the brutal mate so they gave you two options on how to engage and had a nice balance within the story so yeah the parkour again the building were changing the rope was an option not forced on in some cases yes but most of it wasn’t forced they had a button for a reason but did you want to parkour up Big Ben for 5 mins straight bc I bet if we never got that rope then ppl would complain the parkour and the buliding too long soo stop complaining it was the last game to have that assassin creed vibe before they changed it to rpg which isn’t their style sorry assassin creed isn’t a rpg game get out of here if you are thinking that bc your just a new fan this game ac syndicate 8.5
Brooo AC Syndicate is probably in top 5 for me. 1- AC 3 2-BlackFlag 3-Syndicate 4- Unity 5- AC 2,Brotherhood and Revelation-
Best AC game for me
Before origins the games didn't involve magic, everything in the world was based in technology.
For me the only thing in Syndicate that was a bit meh (back then) was a very weird switch in combat system. It was radically different. Too fast, too easy. I can take my time and enjoy it now, but back then after the perfect parry mechanics of Unity it was very weird switch.
I think the worst thing in the whole AC franchise wasn't IN the games, but what they left OUT of games. Cause we got this huge build-up about Juno breaking out, assembling her followers and Syndicate ending was like - here we go, now the s**t's gonna hit the fan. And then we get Origins and it's like nothing happened. I had to go back, find out that the best stuff got dumped into comic books. THAT was the worst thing in AC franchise. We could get such a good game out of assassins and templars team-up to fight Juno's fanatics. Meh. Still sad about it.
Syndicate is amazing! But I do think that Jacob is the main protagonist primarily, similar to how Bayek is the main character, not Aya. In my opinion, that's a good thing in this case because evie js actually overrated, while the game and Jacob are underrated. Jacob is a character with depth and development. He is a protagonist wrestling with being a ruthless gang leader and an honourable assassin. He learns to be a great assassin because that is how he is at his core. Not who he tried to be. The Roth levels are a clear representation of this fact. And the way Jacob is like Altier in the first game, so reckless at first, but becomes a far better assassin at the end. This idea also shows in the Roth assassination level, where Roth uses tricks and smoke and decoys to directly mirror the confrontation between altier and his mentor. The game is a call back to the original and a new unique idea at the same time. But only when playing as Jacob. As we know from leaked images, notes, artwork and videos, Jacob was the soul protagonist in the original plan for the game. Evie unfortunately lacks depth and development, and her fans constantly say how bad the part of the game without her is. Problem is, that is the majority of the game, because the game is about Jacob. I believe that is a major reason why syndicate gets underrated. Because evie has some very bias fans.
gotta say as an Evie fan, I don't understand those that say that the sections without her are bad. Both of the twins are fantastic characters to me, and they play off each other so well. They both have different goals which allows for two very different plots to unravel throughout the same game, while also still being intertwined. I don't think the game could work as it does now without both of them being protags, which maybe that is what people want. I still adore both of them though, and I balanced playing as both of them pretty well throughout my playthrough :) (though I might have played as Evie a bit more, but that's just cause I appreciate being able to play as a girl in one of these games as a girl myself lol)
@@sprire2840 very valid points said in a very well thought out comment from someone who is actually clearly a fan. I must say, I normally favour multiple characters in games for many reasons, one of which us simple. I'm an identical triplet, and me and my bros sometimes used to only get one game to play at a time. So we would pick a character each and play through the story taking turns to use our only games console. Of course as we got older that changed, and we all got our own consoles now. Point is, I ended up playing syndicate as all 3 characters on my second play through, and any play through after that. I stand by my criticism of evie, but a huge reason for how badly I and many syndicate fans feel anger about the evie character, is due to how badly the season pass and ubisoft treat Jacob. As a gay man, I loved that Jacob was a bisexual man. The fact syndicate was written by a gay man, Jacob was realistic and relatable, and true to history. But to then learn that he was originally the only protagonist, and that your minority group was viewd as "not good enough" for ubisoft, is pretty upsetting. To learn that not one but both DLC storylines in the game were going to treat Jacob very poorly, was also annoying. The ripper dlc leaving Jacob in an asylum during victorian times, isn't a good way to treat the franchise first (and now only canonical) gay or bisexual guy as the main protagonist. Blaming him for training the Ripper is just as problematic for equally obvious reasons. It's telling that the dlc wasn't written by the guy who wrote the main game. To see my own minority demographic made none canon in odyssey and valhalla and to see that content was locked behind having kassandra and female eivor, yet despite evie not being canon in most of syndicate's side content, we see evie is able to be played as in most of the game and nothing is mentioned about the canon. That's a huge double standard! Ubisoft treat my minority group as far less than they treat women, and that's simply a fact. Evie isn't even the first of her demographic as a protagonist. In addition to this, evie has many fans who bully Jacob's fans and lie about the game, and this has once again made things worse. The anniversary video for AC featured bayek and aya, but only evie? The same can be said for odyssey actually. Jacob's literally the main character of the game, he's the originally planned soul protagonist, he's more inclusive and progressive than his sister, and he's canon in most levels where you can choose who to play as. (Roth mentions that specifically Jacob was seen taking down the gang leaders, and conquering the city, also Jacob is shown to go after the syrup in the level where Bell gives you the darts, which also is why Jacob is the only one going after the syrup in the levels afterwards, to name but two examples of when Jacob is canon, but the game doesn't tell you.) Anyway, I am just tired of the double standards and false information that slams Jacob all the time. Syndicate would've been fair, if Jacob was playable in all side levels for the ripper dlc, and he shared the final level and boss fight with evie, and he had a third of the story, instead of Jack being playable at all. But that didn't happen. Point is I think many evie fans and journalists and ubisoft have made a situation where most syndicate fans don't like evie anymore. I hope you understand why I feel this way, and this is coming from someone who originally didn't have any problem with either twin.
@@sprire2840 oh by the way, I don't mean to take away from any enjoyment you have of thr game or playing as evie. A games main objective is to be enjoyed, so don't take anything I've said and my feelings on the game, to heart, I guess is what I'm trying to say. As a fan of syndicate who likes Jacob better, I've had plenty people try to ruin the game for me, including ubisoft themselves. Haha. But yeah, I don't want to be like them, so I just want to repeat that it's perfectly fine for us to disagree and both enjoy the game.
@@chrismoore5333 no worries! You have good points, and I know it’s nothing personal towards myself :) it’s nice to have a good conversation about it
@@sprire2840 agreed! This has been a nice change from the usual arguments that occur between fans of Jacob and evie. I always love to see people with real passion for this game, as it means a lot to me.
Is not underrated is one of the best. I like victorian London most people like this. Assassins creed syndicate is last true assassin creed game.
Please make a video about "Hitman" series
I'll look into it!
@@Shxdowboy Thank you so much! Keep up the great work. Your content is amazing.
I wont dislike the video however i would like to take an objective stance against this game. Everything unity had gunning for it was stripped away in syndicate. Apart from 1 possible thing. The side content in unity felt lack luster. The side content in syndicate felt fun. Most of it at least. However that doesn't fix the issues synidcate has to name a few the parkour felt clunky due to an over correction on ubisofts part. The story was (im not saying this bc of the time) felt too self aggrandizing and silly. I used to play this a lot as a kid but post nestalga slaps hard when u start to play after years of not.
Syndicate was basically Spider Man for me lol
I quit because I couldn't get over the story, especially the way they handled the relics. It took entire games to find relics like the the apple of eden and they were always meant to be something special, usually only acquired during a major plot point. In Syndicate they handed the things out every mission like they were some sort of new collectible., The writing was also just awful even from an assassins creed standpoint. Nothing particularly innovative with the gameplay either. Having two characters was an interesting Idea but it was half baked and I just didn't like Jacob. The setting was nice but for me it wasn't enough to carry the game. These are all just my opinions though.
My main hate of this and unity is that unity has heavy and slow running it gets tiresome.. this fixed the issue however added another issue by making strict movement removing the free flow of the parkour which had huge influence on me for liking assassin creed the story however yes it is interesting and i liked the twins and how one is stealthy the other is punchy
Playable on ps5 now? Iirc it had some bugs?🤔
Can't say, though it still has performance problems on PC anyway, so idk, doesn't look too optimistic
The issues got fixed with an update 1 year ago
@@tdoran616 that’s awesome, thanks :)
BTW uh .... at 5:25 you said "River "THAMES" .... it's pronounced "Tems"... The assassination of language goin' on here.
I really tried giving syndicate a fair chance, but the 'death by a 1000 cuts' combat is what made me give up entirely. I hated it.