Wait... Rogue is the first AC game I didn't buy because I've never played it 😅 When I saw Desmond the dog for the first time I could not believe it, what an absolute meme 😅 Also I did not give myself time to play the WWI sequence or the DLC. I know I know I know I'm a bad person. Maybe I'll play them and then do some kind of big DLC review at some point? Maybe rank the DLCs? Is that too much ranking? Can someone rank too much? 🤔
WWI part was awesome, but the dlc was eh. Cool to hear your thoughts tho, if you do em. I took this game as why they couldnt do AC in modern time, even tho the watch dogs crossover shows that it could work
This is coming from me a gamer who stoped playing AC or Ubisoft games since Watch Dogs 2 and Syndicate. If you like AC3 and want to finish off what AC3 started then you will like Rogue. Rogue is the prequel of AC3 and also the Prequel to Unity without giving away much. It's also a short game compare to other AC games.
I don't really remember what was happening with people at the time. I didn't have a PS4 until almost 2 yrs ago & I was a bit sick of looking that hard into games I couldn't play. One thing I have noticed that's pretty universal, though, is that we're at a point of being so used to media now, that people can come into something with preconceived notions which are so powerful, they actually affect how the person sees or connects with a movie/ show/ game/ song &, unfortunately, they often can't until enough time has passed that they don't care anymore & no longer feel anything one way or the other. I've even noticed that general mood is capable of messing with people. If life is depressing, they can view something as worse from a perspective of it holding little to no importance in the grand scheme of things & they can enjoy something more than usual if they are happy.
@@MrChristianDT I guess people hold expectations so big that when they dont meet their own they get dissapointed and just give up on it, they dont appreciate the little things anymore
Just peoples bs expectations. Every assassin after ezio has been shit on basically for not being ezio. Not being born in the same time and having different origins/reasons for joining the creed. Connor was shit on for not being as cheerful and happy and charismatic as ezio when he just grew up in a different time. He was more energetic and curious as a child/teenager than he was when he came to a lot of realizations about the world he was actually living in. But literally if you aren’t ezio the fan base doesn’t really like you, I dislike ezio for this reason. Brotherhood is still in my top 3 AC games but the love for him I think is too blind and sheeplike. He’s great but there are other good characters who never get appreciation because of lack of understanding of the time period and how things/people were then. And also following the herd of not liking anything since ezio. I think unity was more AC like than most AC games. Syndicate isn’t better than unity but it’s still better than alot of what came after it. IMO Jacob gets alot of flack for not being funny, but someone from that time period wouldn’t be funny to most modern people anyways due to lack of understanding of the times for the most part.
Idk what it is. There is something about the world design. Something about the atmosphere of victorian era London combined with the music that gives me this comfy feeling. Making me want to come back to play it. It's not without its fault but it's the video game equivalent of good box of fries. Idk. Just how it feels.
I get exactly the same feeling Syndicate at night on a rainy day in a suburban neighborhood All those lights and the random pedestrians plying the guitar by the stairs just gave me a feeling of deep nostalgia And comfort This is the only game that gave me that feel
Syndicate is truly underrated for me! I love the Victorian era the Jack the Ripper DLC in particular, although I must admit the celebrity characters were overplayed. Assassination missions were some of the most fun we’ve had in the entire series, London is an absolute spectacle to behold. I actually really liked Jacob and Evie as a pair of assassin is working together but disagreeing over how they should actually go about it I thought that was a unique and fresh approach for the games, Evie definitely needed more story time and I almost always played as her in the open world. I think there was a huge missed opportunity to not have an achievement in this game called Frogger for making it across the Thames by jumping and not landing into the water at all
I think what it was brilliant is catering to both stealth fans and combat fans. You can really max out Evie as a stealth heavy character and max out Jacob as a heavy combat character and you get the best of both worlds.
I think the rope launcher was literally a perfect addition. It is necessary for parkour, as you mentioned, but it also fits SO well into the setting of the Industrial Revolution. Innovation and rapid progress are characteristics of the Industrial Revolution, which the rope launcher perfectly reflects. The soundtrack was just so good, I loved it. Also, the reason you only have a small selection of weapons is, that openly carrying weapons was illegal at the time, so it makes sense that you use knives cane swords and knuckles.
Agree, also agree with how cool it felt to kinda batman with Jacob and Evie. Syndicate feels in its combat and rope launcher like there were influences from the Arkham games.
I just wish there was more you could do with the rope launcher, you know? If I could use it as a perch point or as a trip wire that would have made it an even better tool. I also did not like how little you could interact with it while moving. The Arkham games had it so you could gain incredible speed and height with the grapel boost and I kind of wish the rope launcher here had a similar system with like air canisters or something. Or have it so if you timed key presses you could go even faster, like how catwoman's wall climbing had to be timed in Arkham City. To me, the rope launcher is a great and necessary tool for AC Syndicate because of the map's layout but it also kind of took away from some of the parkour elements - which would have been fine if there was more to do with the rope launcher! Still enjoy the hell out of Syndicate though.
@@space4166 wasn't it great to completely dumbing down the entire system the series was built on and mindlessly repeat the same action every time with no sense of style or anything at all? Right guys?
I love this game particularly because of the tone, the setting, the feelings it gives you when you play. The parkour is simple but I think it does the job. London feels alive, it feels active, moving, and it feels like it is part of a much bigger world. I honestly like Jacob because of his funny and sarcastic tone. The over the top action/combat, the fast paced music, the quick witty and not to be taken seriously dialogue, it just feels like a Guy Ritchie movie for me.
Was it really? I'll agree that the atmosphere of london was incredible, but all the characters felt like 1 dimensional tropes given form in a world that deserved so much more than that.
Thing is there is NO ASSASSIN influence in London, it's a Templar stronghold and you got two low level Assassin rebels breaking the rules to take on the Templars so the plot doesn't facilitate a traditional creed experience, that being said I like the concept and execution well enough. It stands well enough on it's own and there is enough Templar vs Assassin's to keep it interesting imo
The setting was well done also. I dony know if I just miss more realistic settings or it's the denser cities but the acs following syndicate haven't attracted me to much.
@@datownkidd Definetly the cities for me. Assassasin's Creed was always about a historical city up until Syndicate. It was a character on its own. The latest trilogy is just mostly plain fields with smaller cities thrown into it. I just want another city again :/
after origins.. all sucks for me.. i gave origins a chance because I can say ahhh ok its where Assassin's started.. but after it. they need to change the game title.. :/
Syndicate was the first AC game I ever played and I absolutely loved it. After watching this video, I understand how long time AC fans may have found it to be unfaithful to the original creed style. But from a person who didn’t have any understanding of AC when playing through syndicate, I thought this was a really really fun game.
@@jonnysac77 It was small step down from other AC games released before it. But after games like Origin, odyssey, valhalla released I think it was ok to call syndicate better because it was the last game that felt like assassins creed before ubisoft turned AC to make it feel more like Witcher and God of war.
A thing i liked very much about Syndicate and it's usually overlooked, is the homage they paid to the first AC game, were when they killed a Templar, they dipped a handkerchief in the targets blood, to comconfirm the kill, much like what Altair did with the eagles feather in the first game
The atmosphere both Unity and Syndicate displayed are the best to date tbh 🤷♀️ The dreary, hostile and gloomy chants and riots that happen just on the street below your feet in Unity just ingrain on your mind. And the trilling violin and train whistles along with the shouting newspaper boys sets the smoggy, and inspirational air of industrial London in Syndicate.
I’ve always enjoyed Syndicate, and am thankful to see a well balanced and thought out review. Being English... walking around this map, and seeing the cricket and football games going on... despite the 150 year gap between the setting and today... felt very “home” and “English” for me. Because I remember doing that as a kid; playing football, and cricket in any bit of space available. Most English kids did this.
I've said this on Reddit and I will say it again: Syndicate is fun. It has a different tone to the other games and in a way is a brutal 180º to Unity and other games of the franchise. But that's not bad! It was my companion throughout this month while grieving my grandma. Jacob's quirky jokes actually made me feel a little bit better. I wish some plot lines would be better, as the ending feels a bit rushed. And comparing it with Valhalla, I think Unity and Syndicate beat it in terms of environment. the NPCs are ALWAYS doing something The city feels very much alive all the time. Although it needs to be said that sometimes the NPCs are a bit...broken. It's also interesting how Syndicate also doesn't have a laundry list of side quests, and while they are fairly repetitive, they feel more engaging than Valhalla's. If anything, I actually feel the difference in the city between the areas that have the rooks, versus the ones with Blighters. WWI was also a nice surprise, although it made me think that an Assassin's Creed in that period, perhaps even featuring Mata Hari (as a supporting or antagonistic character) would be interesting.
It had good stealth. But combat was uninstresting, batman hook made freerunning pointless, Grand theft Horse carridge is just plain weird, It was the first AC that made the whole level up a thing (Unity levels didn't matter unless you were 1 star vs 4-5 star, which never happend), Evie and Jakob being "Unique from each other" was false advertisement, weapons had no identity and there was very little reason to explore the world. the ww1 scenario was pretty cool though.
@@bluntlyhonest6803 Exactly, and to add to that the story is pretty uninteresting past a couple of the early sequences. Although the atmosphere is really fun and immersive
Jacob's character was based on typical london gang which most reviewers simply doesn't get. Why they are expecting an assassin from this era to act like an assasins from ezio's era is crazy. Jacob's attitude is typical and fits well.
@@theclassicmanila-style8435 I don't know why people dislike him so much, I've played every assassins creed and even so syndicate is still one of my favourites. It's nice to have a loose, fuck it sort of personality for once.
@@gsgs4101 because most people based their opinions about certain characters just by playing the game and with less reference outside the game. I've seen some british gang movies and series and jacob is exactly what I expected him to be. Jacob is very typical and the first thing that comes to mind when I think of british gangster from that era, I guess it failed for some since somehow they were expecting a wise, silent, serious assassin from an era that was closer to us than the previous games 😂
I remember reading about how the character creators described his character and it legit sounded like a gangster. So to expect an Ezio-like character out of him was just crazy. I loved him as well.
Syndicate is by far my favorite AC. It plays the lore of Assassin’s Creed so we’ll, the gameplay is revolutionary in terms of parkour, combat, and gadgets, and is just overall so compelling. If Ubisoft is going back to this sort of gameplay instead of pure RPG, it would be a smarter and fantastic move
I won't argue with any of your points but one. The parkour in syndicate is the opposite of revolutionary. Unity introduced revolutionary parkour. Syndicate neutered it.
@@MetaCinemaYT honestly I played syndicate before unity and when I finished syndicate and tried unity I actually felt no difference in the parkour, just how the environment encourages fluid parkour
@@Actiontime70 In syndicate they removed the ability to jump on command, which used to help with getting over obstacles quicker. It also removed the ability to jump off a surface that has no target landing point. So if a ledge is too far away or you’re at the edge of a tall building, you can’t jump off. In Unity this was huge. You could leap off a tall building if needed and eat the damage in an emergency. You could jump to a building that was just a bit too far to land on but at least grab the wall and catch yourself. Syndicate’s parkour feels like you’re magnetized to the rooftops.
Syndicate is so underrated it's insane. The world first of all is the best in the series. YES, the best. Just walk around town and observe people. It's interesting what you'll find people doing. The scenery is just really beautiful too, like the parks, the palatial grounds, Big Ben, the chimney stacks, the clothing and art, all great. Syndicate is also the only AC game where you can seamlessly switch from a male Assassin to another female Assassin, and while there isn't much difference between Evie and Jacob functionally, it's still a great plus. I also like the fact that their gear is relatively basic and much more inconspicuous. You don't feel like a walking tank from the old days.. And while the Templars' motives aren't as explored as I wish they were, if you pay attention to the dialogue a lot of them seem to have good arguments for their actions, and even some good counterarguments to the entire premise of the game. For instance, it is Evie and Jacob's goal to 'liberate' London from 100 years of Templar control, but in the aftermath of events the city's economy goes under and new threats surface to fill the power gap. They had good intentions but failed to consider the ramifications of their actions and what the effect would be on the general populace. I also thought that the activities for once had a lot more pertinence to the life of an Assassin, barring boxing and racing. I just really enjoyed all the sabotage missions and theft/hijack missions. In addition to that, the Black Box missions should also have been a staple for all future AC games. Very Hitman, very enjoyable. I'd also say that the menus, the music, and the general aesthetics were superb. Just an absolute BALL of a game if you ask me.
Syndicate is so good and underrated imo. The best thing about the game are charactes; especially Evie and Jacob, the union, the bond and the friendship between those two is really good, well crafted and believable. Feels like a legitimately friendship between siblings. Almost kinda like Tommy and Trish from F13 the final chapter.
Was it really that bad? You should ask this to Origin, Odyssey and Valhalla. Syndicate was the last real AC game for me. All new combat system with badass multi-kill combos, no godly powers and no RPG elements. Just a unique AC game I always wanted.
Origins was amazing. It shouldn't be in the same category with Odyssey and Valhalla. My only problem with it is the simplified parkour. Everything else was on point.
@@selfloathingweekly Writing was pretty messy, jokes were obnoxious, world was very copy pasted especially tombs and caves, mercenaries system was annoying, naval combat was simplistic and stale, combat was way too easy, stealth skills sucked etc.
@@dodowater4300 Repetitive fetch quests and copy paste camps everywhere, braindead "my number is bigger than yours" combat, tedious inventory management, and a total lack of restraint regarding supernatural/fantasy elements and first civ bs. I love the setting and I really enjoyed exploring those tombs (Djoser's pyramid in particular felt really creepy and atmospheric), and the architecture of the actual historical locations is great, but ultimately it's just too much of a mediocre thing.
I really enjoyed Syndicate. It was actually one of my favorites in the old style of AC games. I miss those games...Anyway, if you haven't played it, I feel like the DLC for this game is worth playing and highlights Evie more. Jack the Ripper storyline. It almost felt like it made up for her being the 2nd most important character in the main game.
I can tell you from the perspective of a young fan, that AC syndicate was the first one I played and it was one of my favourite games for quite a while. I also really liked Jacob as a character because, while he doesn't feel like a sophisticated assassin, he's just a fun bastard and I loved that.
I’d also say that Jacob had a very practical solution to allow Eve to search for the shroud. The Templar’s controlled the government, industry, and the streets. The assassins needed something to give for them to have breathing room to move around in, and Jacob gave that to them through the Rooks.
It's extremely funny to me that Jacob is basically the only one that makes the plot go on. Almost every sequence is "Jacob goes and kills off a Templar without giving a crap what outcome it'll have for London, Evie tries to fix the problems that arose from the time Jacob did this last sequence and looks around for a Piece of Eden", most of what Evie does is fixing the messes Jacob makes while pulling the plot on his back
It’s definitely a shame that Evie didn’t get the playtime she deserved, but in the case of Origins, I do think it was the right decision to focus on Bayek, but I wish they would’ve also given Aya her own game later down the line (Ideally a Bayek trilogy in which you can switch playing as both Bayek and Aya)
I actually think there's way too much Aya in origins. She's both too stupid and too headstrong, which is a terrible combination. One or the other, people.
Yeah, there's a reason many players would like a Bayek sequel. He was a great character. Aya on the other hand... didn't really liked her that much to be honest. MAybe it was because she didn't get as much screentime, so she couldn't develop much.
I agree both Bayek and Aya desserved their own games. However if only one game was to be, it should have been Aya's as her role was already established in lore and she was the protag the writers wanted. So I think it was wrong to focus on Bayek from that point of view even if I did end up liking th character. Buisides we dont know how different Aya and Bayek would have been as people and characters had the develpors had the creative freedom to make the story they wanted to make. As whats done is done, I enjoy origins for what it is and just hope Aya gets her own game at some point. There is plenty of timeline left for Aya to explore with a game of her own. And while we are at it, a full proper game for Shao Jun as well please. And maybe a sequel to Unity where we have Conner Arno and Shay meet (no they dont have to kill each other, In fact I think it would be more interesting if they didn't because all 3 are pretty unusual in their Assassins/Templar views which could allow for more interesting interactions then murder attempts/murders.) Their stories seem unfinnished. Hell, Shay was written in such a way you could almost make an uncharted like game for him where he hunts down treasure (isu artifacts) to destroy them. Maybe he bumps into Kassandra and they pair up for a while on isu destruction shennanigans. I love seeing new protags and stories, but I do think they could return to some old faces every few games or so. Ezio got 3 games, there is no reason other characters cant have more as well.
Syndicate has always been in my top 3 AC games, and the setting and world definitely does make up a huge reason for that, but also some of the gameplay elements that got left behind after this make me so nostalgic for wanting to replay it now
It wasn’t a bad game. It gave me that Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes feel. However I didn’t really play it much because I was getting burned out with AC. After the Kenway trilogy(3,4 & Rogue) I was pretty much done. I love the historical setting for those three games but as for the modern era story I was not interested. After Ubisoft killed off Desmond I Lost interest in the modern story. 🤷🏽♂️
I think Evie still fits the assassin role perfectly, she tries to finish her fathers job and is quite serious overall, at the same time she's kind of hindered by her brother who doesn't take the ac business that serious. Still, considering that the story is playing in industrial London, that also fits perfectly. The assassins start losing relevance over time, so why would Jacob, just because he's the son of one, also strive to become a real, full-on assassin? Ubisoft did an amazing job building the game around the era it plays in, writing the story and all. Obviously it can't be like the original 1400s assassin games anymore.
When playing this game that was exactly my thoughts on the rope launcher. The sheer size of this world is just too tedious to have to run everywhere. Loved its addition
Actually it was one of my favorite AC games. The more relatively modern era in London was remarkable. I liked Jacob and Evie. The story was relatively good for an AC game. All in all it was a more memorable AC game in a good way.
This game was brilliant in my opinion. Maybe i have a level of nostalgia for it seeing as it was the first game i chose to play on my ps4 on christmas day in 2015 but i also had a lot of respect as being British, we never really get many games set in London or the rest of the country for that matter so it was special to me in that way.
There are 3 Ubisoft games alone set totally or partly in London (AC Syndicate, Watch Dogs Legion, AC Valhalla). America has loads more games set there than anywhere else, but England isn't doing too badly! I am also a huge fan of Syndicate 😍 Mainly because I'm fascinated by Victorian London!
I replayed this game recently too. At the beginning of September 2020, I decided to replay all the AC game chronologically, it's my favorite gaming franchise and I wanted to play them all leading up to the release of Valhalla. Holy crap what an undertaking. It's 13 months later and I'm near the end of AC Origin - Curse of the Pharaohs. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be playing AC game for over a year. But Because I've played all of them up to Black Flag multiple times, I really wanted to get a second opinion on the later games I only played once. Unity was better than I remembered but still fell short for me because of the issues with it's story and it's design around co-op. Thankfully Syndicate was a single player game and because of that had a more focused story. The game play was fun too, as they took more liberties with the combat system, one the was similar to the Batman Arkam series, but still based is AC. I liked that the weapons had to be more modest as you couldn't openly carry swords or spears in a more modern setting. Speaking of the setting, London was awesome and I loved the soundtrack. There was always an opportunity to something whether it was a boat or train raid, protecting, stealing or racing wagons, or beating up on the rival gang. The stealth wasn't as good because London wasn't as populated as Paris was. The group of Templars weren't anything special really, but the mission to assassinate them were top quality. I like the games story here too, and I though the characters all balanced out. Jacob was happy go luck and sarcastic through and trough while even was stern and focused. I like how they were falling out but upon completing their mission brought them back together. Jack the Ripper DLC might be some of the best additional content yet. The additional fear inducing abilities were fun to use. It was a nice gameplay change after about 50+ hours with the main game. The story of that was well written as well. All in all, I never thought Syndicate deserved all the negative criticism it got. After all, it is the last of the classic style AC games we have now. I really enjoyed it my second play through with it.
I’m doing the same thing, replaying all of them over again. I’m just about start my journey. I was thinking it might take me a few months to complete all of them. AC is one of the best franchises imo. I’m trying to get that nostalgic feeling.
@@S.T-Money LOL a few months LOL. I started in September of 2020 thinking I could do it in a few months time. It's been nearly 16 - 17 months and I'm still on Odyssey. I'm at the end, the main story quests and the 3 First Blade DLCs are done. I just started the first Atlantis DLC. It is a massive undertaking. I'm dying to play a JRPG or something else but I'm so close. I have yet to play Valhalla so that's keeping me motivated. Its Been fun though, I've gain new perspective on a few of the later games. My message to anyone who wants to replay the entire series is good luck and I hope your schedule is blank for the foreseeable future. LOL
I actually loved the time period. Late 1800s/early 1900s industrial revolution era time is my favorite historical period. The combat was fun, too. Being able to set up brutal combo kills and not just being a counter kill frenzy. I also loved the zipline and being able to be a Batman who drops on mooks with a stab to the throat was a lot of fun.
this year I've been replaying these games myself and one thing has struck me this time round. the crowds are so well done, so much thought went into them. I played every game as they came out and i think AC 1 killed me with the NPC's that run into you that i gravitated towards rooftops only. but this time i was so immersed i am constantly blown away...
I actually really like this game, the only “problem” for me is the traversing part of the rope launcher. I don’t know why, it is just something that bothers me for some reason. Maybe because you never see them anchor the rope where they stand in the animation or something. I would have personally preferred it to work for up and down movement.
Syndicate was my introduction to the series (got it as a Christmas gift knowing absolutely nothing about AC) so I guess I’m biased towards it lol. I’m playing through all (well, _most_ ) of the games in chronological order for the first time, but part of me is still looking forward to returning to Syndicate
A nuanced review of an AC game….How refreshing lol. I really liked this game. The WW2 memory you go back in time to was a nice touch. I like Unity better, but I still consider it to be a really fun game.
I love London so I love the setting of this game, the industrial revolution is really cool and I love the combat and grapple hook. I HATE the fact they downgraded the parkour and weapon variety from unity though.
The visuals & sound effects was one of the top attractions to me. I personally loved Evy's aggression in fights. The rope mechanism was pretty decent, also the overall optimization. I would say it was a pretty decent & a successful game. I always enjoyed playing it. Just one thing that along side with Horse-Carriages, Evy would
Syndicate is the most underrated AC game. It's a fantastic gaming experience. It also has the most astounding soundtrack; it's a truly original soundtrack, sounding very little like anything else in console gaming.
This is a great AC game whatever people says, i play it right now for the first time, just finished Unity few days ago also for the first time, i love both games but i think i like syndicate just abit more bcs how well is polished and smooth it is and waay better story then Unity, i like Unity also bcs challenge and parkour, overall both great games.
arno: becomes an assassin so he can avenge his adoptive father 🤓 evie and jacob: destabilised the economy, forms a gang, commits grand theft auto and kills victorian waluigi cuz they got bored 😈
*SUPER EPIC DEEP VOICE* The Frye Twins.. They became BORED.. so now they've decided to go to Templar London.. and LIBERATE it after 100 years of consolidated control with ZERO backup from the Brotherhoooodddd.. Recruit your own murderous gang going against the tenets of the CREEEDD.. and take back London one district at a time putting the economy into the CRAPPERRRR.. Bring your TOP-HATS.. (*fight scenes*) and your CANES (*more fight scenes*).. And experience the series that REFUSES to die even after a catastrophic last launch.. ONE. MORE. TIME! *some AC Syndicate promo*
To avenge both of his dads*, the biological and the adoptive one. And are you making fun of the reason why most of assassins became assassins? For real? Arno lost his dad when he was like 6 by the protagonist of ac rogue (dont remember his name), he also lost his adoptive dad by a traitor, he went to prison for "supposedely" killing his adoptive dad (he obviously didnt, it was another guy who did it and lied saying it was Arno), he literally killed himself to rebirth as an assassin, fought for his love til the end, the only family he had left (even thought she died at the end sadly), he didnt wanna avenge his adoptive dad just for satisfaction, but also to make his love feel better... I mean... If that doesnt sound much deeper, sadder, and more ac-ish type of story I dont know what it does....
@@abigailslade3824 tbh i felt the same and thought Kukri won't suite evie at all, but after few minutes it actually feels pretty good on her, and infact she has a sheath of Kukri on her leg. Although i played most of the part as stealth
I found your channel by chance (RUclips algorithm). I waited to play Syndicate and Origins until 2020. Your reviews are spot on in my opinion. I loved this game and it brought back the nostalgia of Unity for me. This is great content man. Thank you.
Mechanically I agree, it is the refinement of the old AC mechanics and the best version of them. The rest of the game needs help. The story, tone, mission structure and characters (with exceptions in those areas) are pretty bad. Great mechanics in an otherwise mediocre to poor game unfortunately. I'd love a game with Syndicate's mechanics but really well written with consistent and proper tone and solid mission structure.
@@darksavior1187 "The story, tone, mission structure and characters (with exceptions in those areas) are pretty bad" to you ;) Please make sure to make that distinction when talking subjective stuff. Because to me, the story is great (could've used a bit more, but certainly was a lot better than the predictable story in Unity), tone was AMAZING wtf are you on about, mission structure is excellent and is the only AC game where I truly WANTED to 100% the game and the characters are fun and loveable. See the difference? Just because you dislike something (which is fine), doesn't make something bad. I absolutely DESPISE Skyrim, I think it's a horrible game with bad mechanics and bugs and is way overrated for what it is. Does that make it an actually bad game tho? No, because millions of people love it, so clearly there's just something to it that I am personally not vibing with.
When I went through and ranked every AC game I actually had Syndicate at 5 above some other beloved installments of the franchise (parts 2 and 3 in the Ezio trilogy and 3). The story is alright and the combat is decent, but what made me love this game was the completion/open world aspects to the game. For example, if you run around the world enough you start recognizing places more easily and that then you are rewarded for with the music boxes you can find all around the map. Syndicate has the most polished open world in all of the AC games (but I think Unity is the best) and it’s just a joy to see everyone going about their day in so much detail and it’s a shame that it hasn’t been full utilized since that (in my opinion). I also kinda find it funny now that I’m playing Watchdogs Legion that it’s pretty obvious that the used Syndicate as a skeleton of sorts for the game’s world. The stealth also just feels amazing and is some of the best the series has ever offered.
Fans: I'm getting tired of AC, if they are going to keep releasing games the saga needs a huge change. Ubisoft: Ok, people, we give you AC Origins! Fans: This is not an Assassin's Creed, we want another game that is exactly identical to Ezio's! (Now, I now Ubisoft is far far far from being perfect and I don't pretend to defend them. To me, they should have let the saga rest and release a game every two or three years. But let's be honest, there's a reason the Simpsons has a whole scene about how sometimes the fans don't even know what they want).
I don't think it had anything to do with the formula as much as it did the annual releases causing burnout. It's not a game like COD where multi-player is present in every game with different maps. AC has primarily been a single-player experience with the exception of a few titles. Also, a lot of people played for Desmonds storyline. That was the real driving force behind the games. After his death, there was no mystery left to the AC franchise. Nothing to speculate. Nothing but "Hey, let's play in this historical setting."
Ur comment is wrong on all lvls! Black Flag is a loved game among the fans, but when Unity came out buggy ppl start complaining! It is not that we wanted “something else” we wanted something good, finished polished games! Instead… they changed the formula completely, ofc ppl are angry!
People talk about not having the creed in Syndicate, but it doesn't have much because the creed in London was finished. The only assassin in London at that time was Henry. So it has creed.
Surprisingly all your gripes that you had and felt about the characters and setting I personally loved it. The twins are some of my favorite characters. I personally liked it better than unity but unity also holds a special place in my heart
Woow, someone who actually appreciate Syndicate 😢 I was ready to hear its bad points, to be honest it was weird that someone actually complimented Syndicate. It is my favorite AC game, but I am also aware its flaws. For that! Imma add this video into my favorites. I give credits to your honesty, seeing both its good and bad points 👍
I really enjoyed Syndicate. I'm just a sucker for victorian London and Syndicate did that setting really well. I agree with most of your criticism. The only real dealbreaker for me was the focus on Jacob though. He was just obnoxious and far too over the top. I'd have been happier if the story would have focused on Evie with Jacob as the side character. I'd probably rate the game with an 8/10 - in which case I have to disagree with your "every AC is at least an 8/10" argument. Not every AC is an 8/10. No game is a perfect 10/10 after all. There are highs and lows in AC and - frankly - I believe that the newer games are quite worse even if they're more popular. Origins was a good Stealth/RPG hybrid which still somewhat maintained the AC identity for me and felt like it had its own identity. Odyssey and Valhalla were - in my opinion - a mess though which I'd rather rate 6 or 7/10. There is a reason as to why Ubisoft gets criticized for its bland and mediocre open worlds after all. PS: I really loved the detective DLC for Syndicate. That was really awesome and I'd really love to get more of that.
Completely agree. I think Jacob was meant to be a loveable rogue, but I found him immature and self-centred. He was just so irritating. I much preferred Evie. It doubly pisses me off that not only was I forced to play as Jacob sometimes, but because of Ubisoft's sexism (and their belief at the time that a video game with a female protagonist wouldn't sell), Jacob was in the trailer and all the advertising, and he had centre stage on the game's front cover, with Evie hovering in the background. She deserved so much better 😤
Yeah no dude, Odyssey and Valhalla are easily 2 of the best games in the franchise, as proven by their continous sales sucess, and for Odyssey by its critical acclaim. Ubisoft gets criticized for their bland open world by a small minority of people, and mostly because their games comes out very often so it's more remarkable. The reality is that Syndicate (which i really like btw) was were people were ACTUALLY fed up with the AC formula and Ubisoft did exactly what it had to do to revive it, and not just with Origins.
@@SuperBallani The thing is that it's quite difficult to compare since the gaming audience in general grew exponentially during the last 5+ years. In that regard, you have to put sales in perspective. Another factor to consider is that Ubisofts new formula profits quite heavily from the standardized open world formula which became laregely popular due to Witcher 3's success since it's more or less a (inferior) carbon copy. Another factor to consider is that less and less games get released due to longer development cycles. The audience in general has become a lot more tolerant. I don't think that Odyssey and Valhalla are good games. They are mediocre open worlds. While their storyline may be tolerable, their narration is utterly flawed by too much filler content. The same goes for gameplay and the open world itself. AC also lost its own identity by trying to replicate the open world formula that is currently en vogue. These games also aren't "critically acclaimed". The games media is not to be trusted and the user scores on metacritic are fairly objective in rating Odyssey with a 6.something out of 10 (which is comparable to Syndicate) and Valhalla with a 7.something out of 10. That doesn't mean that you can't enjoy the game. It just means that they are overrated by games media.
At first, while I enjoyed Jacob’s humor and attitude, his impulsivity annoyed me but then he really grew on me and I really enjoyed the balance between him and Evie. Him starting the freedom of people and her fixing the mess left by it. I always played as Evie when I could since I preferred her character, stealth and outfits, but I did really start to love Jacob. His personality really fit the times and his wit is wonderful because he’s a fresh break from the other assassins.
On the rope launcher: Yes, it is necessary for the way the map is designed. However, the only reason it is necessary, is because the devs were too lazy to give you a freerunning alternative. In order AC games, some buildings were also too far apart to jump to. So they gave us ropes that went between the two buildings to allow for crossing. They have us elevators for walls that are too tall to climb. in AC2, they gave us poles to spring-board from across gaps. This made the environments feel more dynamic, and made freerunning fun, even with increased spacing. Maybe that is harder to do for a game on the scale of syndicate, but that is why the company has thousands of people working on it. its not an indie game, and should be held to a higher standard. The rope launcher is a bandaid that they introduced into the game to solve a problem that was caused by a discrepancy between they player character, and the environment. If your player character can't traverse incredibly fast, they you should have a more tightly populated city, not give the character a way to x10 their traversal speed to fix your fuckup with the level design.
i felt like i was going insane nice to se someone who agrees lol, the rope isn’t necessary at all, the map being big is nothing more then a bad excuse for terrible level design, why is the map big at all? people say o the map is big as if it being big is a constant of the equation, unless you’re willing to admit that you only think is game is good because it has a big map then that argument is terrible, and most people know it, they just see pretty graphics and bought the game for money they don’t want to feel they wasted so they gaslight themselves into thinking the game is good, the devs can either have better level design or make the map smaller, but the grappling hook is terrible and its the reason parkour is non existent in this game and it’s partially the reason i hate this game with a passion.
To me, the best part was the soundtrack. I love how they went all in with the period sound. I also loved the street performers you run into performing different period songs and tavern music from previous games. Plus, it's a nice touch you can find guys singing songs about the target you took down in the previous sequence.
I think this series is very different for me, because I only started playing them in 2018. And I’ve played them completely out of order. That said, Evie should have taken the spotlight. Jacob annoyed me for the most part.
@@sm-zt4ut Ubisoft is Extremely stupid... The same was planned for Origins and Odyssey yet in Origins they brought Bayek and in Odyssey Alexios was there and in Valhalla they did not care for female character much... It would be more better if the game has Beautiful enough fatty and not skinny Characters it would look just perfect
@@bex8306 Why would they have fat characters? It's a historical series and considering historically food was often scarce for much of the population and people did much physical labour, people were generally quite skinny and only the rich/nobility who had very inactive lives and unhealthy diets were fat.
Syndicate was a great game for me. I loved the feeling of getting cornered by enemies and then whistling and seeing the mandem barrelling round the corner in a five person carriage and then all getting out and lighting up the enemies like no one's business.
Two things I loved the most about this game is the dlc where you are like investigating a crime scene and how you can choose how you assassinate the main targets
Can't wait for the Rogue review, It's always been one of my favourites and yes I know it's many flaws but I love the characters, the shift from the carribean to the icy north which perfectly reflects the story's shift from a more light hearted story of a man finding his purpose to the more cold story of a man who realised he is on the wrong way and does everything he can to correct the damage. Rogue for me has always had a great feeling to it that according to me hasn't been matched with the many different locations and fantastic characters, so excited for you to play it and I hope I didn't give too much away, even if the game is almost seven years old now :)
I love the industrial revolution atmosphere, and I loved this game since the release. The only problema that I found was the IA and various bugs(both still happened less than the new trilogy assassin's Creed)
No joke: I happen to be wearing the AC Syndicate shirt I got with AC Syndicate in 2015 and I happened across the hardcover strategy guide I got with the game in 2015 just before I sat down at my computer and saw this video. The universe is calling attention to this game :) I enjoyed it and felt like they downgraded the graphics a tiny bit from Unity to focus on gameplay. The rope launcher bugged me too. I think the devs were probably playing the latest Arkham game and thought it was a cool mechanic.
Been really bored with the new school Valhalla, Odyssey, Origins trio and how individualistic it felt yet the only games prior to these I’d played were AC1, 2, BH, Rev, 3 and Black Flag so seeing your videos for the inbetweeners felt super refreshing and I’m hopping on em ASAP. Thank you much!
only thing i disliked about syndicate: the combat felt less powerful in 3, each time i killed a redcoat, i felt on top of the world, like i was ready to take on a full army and anyone who witnessed it knew that, but in syndicate, i killed a big guy and that's about it. the combat feels satisfying, but nowhere near as weighted and strong as the older games, especially 3. although, it's very hard to compeat with the almost savage like double kills 3 had
@@Dogge497 I feel that. There’s nothing wrong with liking it, for sure. I just personally like the more somber, serious tones that are throughout the earlier titles. I wouldn’t mind the jokes as much if they didn’t mock the series. Jacob is specifically written to kinda make a joke of it all, and that’s not my favorite thing
@@wolfmanwilliam5801 True, but every game up to that had a very serious tone, especially unity. Thats why in my opinion, having one jokey game felt kinda nice. Ofc though I respect all different opinions though
Understandable if you didn’t enjoy the jokey aspect, for me it’s one of the reasons I prefer Syndicate. It feels more fun that way. I was always looking for ward to Jacob’s quips. I didn’t really see it as a mockery however, just a shift with the era it took place in and such.
If I could "mix" together my own perfect Assassins Creed game, it would have an open world like Syndicate´s, parcour like Unity and an AC III type of combat (at least for the direction of the animations)
@@airgoku4208 Definitely. Ezio and Edward were some top tier characters. I wish that they`d come up with a protagonist with that much depth again. After Edward, they only managed to make me care for Bayek, rest was way too shallow. Especially Eivor now, who literally didn't make me care about his story at all.
The thing that shocked me most about this game is that the main characters are from my town in England. Literally no one even in England knows about my town, when I say where I’m from people are like “where the fuck is that?”
I've played AC 1, AC 2, AC 3, AC Black Flag, AC Unity, AC Rogue, AC Syndicate, AC Origins, AC Odyssey and AC Valhalla. In my opinion AC Syndicate is my favourite for so many reasons, followed by Black Flag and Origins.
I don't think it's amazing in the ac series, but I definately enjoyed it alot when it came out. It just feels good to basically ignore all the deep lore and story of the series, and just enjoy all the different game mechanics I enjoy. Also, I find the two leads very charming in their own way, I don't feel bored when I play either of the twins
This review made me love Syndicate a lot more! I still prefer Unity overall and Odyssey is my favorite, but it's now on my top 4, just behind AClll, love your videos, they are great, truly, i'm happy you had fun!
i think you nailed it when you said that letting go of the hope for a purist AC game like the early ones even a bit makes you realise how great the later ones like syndicate (and even odyssey) are
I feel like evie should have been more of the main character. I feel like this could have been her origin story having a closer connection to her father who was an assasin but it is what it is
Ubisoft executives are sexist as hell and don't believe female-led games will sell well. It's the reason you can play as Kassandra's brother in Odyssey even though she's the canonical character. They just couldn't commit to a female lead.
I love Syndicate. A lot of it is flawed, yes, but I enjoyed playing it so much, and I wish they could make another game like it. Also, I didn’t dislike Jacob that much. I thought he was pretty decent, and Evie on the other hand was always a smug know it all.
Agreed, if youre a fan of this series I would recommend trying all the games at some point excluding valhalla till its polished to just experience them since theyre all unique
@@bartoszjaroszynski4711 i hope ur joking but if ur not valhallas detection still doesn't work properly stuff like that is what i mean by wait till its fully refined
@@sahilp8727 well, i picked it up yesterday and i already habe 8 hours of playtime. For context: I played (in order) syndicate, unity, brotherhood, valhalla. What makes valhalla a big deal for me, is stealth. I love bush/nature stealth. You can roll around everywhere, the hood you can put on makes the vibe even better. You look like a hunter in this game. Its not an assassin like we all know from the other games, its like a viking assassin hunter mix, which i love. The graphics are at its best and the skills are great. The series evolved in a big open world Rpg, which i mostly dont like, but this game is still pretty easy to understand. You can think of the story what you want, i think its great, allthough i don't see it as an assassins creed story. My point is, that its a great game, ignoring that it has been labeled an assassins creed game.
@@bartoszjaroszynski4711 Origins is still the best out of the 3 in my opinion. No annoying leveling because you can change it in the settings, and enemies aren't usually that much higher in level than you. Better stealth, combat isn't as deep but it's satisfying, not damage spongy and not to mention Egypt is visually more stunning than Norway or England. Also the story is probably the best ac story in years, also you're actually an assassin. But like I said just my opinion.
Unfortunately, I never got to play the original AC games and haven't really ever played an AC game as it was fresh and new, and syndicate was the first AC game I ever got my hands on. As such, it has a special place in my heart and it definitely has some flaws, but I genuinely enjoyed playing it because it felt fun for someone who had never really played an AC game for themself. Having seen all the cool AC outfits and hidden blades and axes and all that but never being able to get into it, I wasn't looking for any of the creed/brotherhood elements early fans had been steeped in, so AC Syndicate will, in my eyes, always be if nothing else, a good time
Syndicate is my favorite in the AC franchise (also, is one of my comfort videogames)! I love the design of an Industrial London, both Frye siblings have engrossing personalities and although the game has a smaller map, I love everything in it.
When I first played Syndicate the formula was starting to feel a bit tired. Like it felt like a repeat of the previous games too heavily. Replaying having looked at later games I miss the dense cities that are more interesting to parkour around, Odyssey landscape is pretty but parkour barely features. I would like AC to have more climbing puzzles like with the Ezio games, I like the whole hidden entrance stone wall turns into door type thing.
I loved this game so much, I’ve played it so much and almost finished it 100% on like 3 different Xbox accounts. And finished all the DLC 100%. I was pretty much obsessed with this game from 2015 to 2017. 😂
DUDE. I haven’t played assassins creed in years… I stumbled across your videos and I just want to say THANK YOU. You honestly make really really really good videos and they helped me a ton. Just downloaded a few ;)
Guys, here me out: Assassins Creed: WW2. Basically, the templars are tje axis powers, and the assassins are its own thing, not the allies, but they help them
You can just play Call of Duty and imagine the rest. But in all seriousness, I think it would be extremely hard to make an AC game in a WW2 setting. It certainly can't be a true AC game, but I don't know how close we can even get.
@@rubenlungu5763 if they managed to make a viking assassins creed game, it must work. Theres a short ww2 part in unity, but you just climb the eiffel tower while getting shot at
I’ve heard someone say this before like Jayvee said you might not even know they are assassins because of how basic their robes look but I feel like that’s a good thing if your a targeted member of the templars and saw someone like Ezio with Armour a hood a sword sheathed and a dagger you’d run but if you see Jacob that’s basically just a cloak with a top hat you wouldn’t know he’s an assassin until it’s too late
If this had Unity's combat and not that fast forward arcade RPG system, this would have been a great game. That would have made the fighting styles between Jacob and Evie actually varied between the two. I loved the rope launcher as it felt like a natural evolution in terms of traversing the environment. The music and environment were quite possibly my favorite, and the underground fight clubs were awesome
Unity's combat was ruined by too many enemies with guns. Was better in the DLC but it was too little too late -- "throw smoke bomb to win, or die" is not exactly engaging.
Syndicate is my favourite game. I prefer the silly/fun tone and happy ending, not really one for tragedy. Also, another thing no one ever gives it credit for is how diverse it is. You got a trans character, women playing prominent roles as gang leaders etc, Evie's interracial romance, Jacob and Roth. Those things might not seem that important but it's so nice to see myself represented in my favourite universe.
I didn't even think about that that much but now that you said it it's so true I got so tired of ubisofts treatment of women specifically that I was surprised they really improved with this, loved that Ned didn't turn out to be a woman in disguise like they did with James/Mary
@@raiden6428 "They aren't supposed to have happy endings because they are political killers." - says who? there is no One True Way an AC game should be. And jack the ripper ends with Evie and Jacob alive and reunited, after which they will raise Jacob's granddaughter together.
@@raiden6428 Bayek is a fictional character. He does not write games nor decide what they're "supposed" to be like. Yes, him and Aya and many other assassins made great personal sacrifices for the greater good. That doesn't mean that it has to be this way, always. Evie's whole story in Syndicate is in fact a refutation of that, as she comes to learn that she can be an assassin and still have room in her life for love. Also, not every story in which tragic things happen is a tragedy. Oedipus is a tragedy. Man gets tortured; is rescued by sister, is decidedly not.
@@raiden6428 Hum no. Assassin's Creed was OFTEN a tragedy but that doesn't mean that it's a rule or anything in the series. Syndicate is precisely the proof of that and was a nice change, and yet, I am someone who ADORE tragedy but I do think that Syndicate is an breath of fresh air in the universe, and something that they sometimes would have to do again in order to keep a good balance in the universe between tragic endings and happy endings. I don't see at all how you consider the Jack The Ripper DLC to be a tragedy. Of course, not everything is rosy, but in the end Evie defeats the enemy, she saves her brother and the last frame literally ends with the twins in each other's arms as Evie is back in London and the threat is gone. Much like the original game, the DLC on ends on a happy note, even though the tone of the DLC was darker. Tragedy is not a rule in an Assassin's Creed, just a habit and Syndicate broke that habit, making it one of the most original, unique and refreshing games in the saga.
I really loved Syndicate's 'Black Box missions'. It had so much potential and it fits the Assassin's Creed franchise so well. They should have expanded on that in the sequels. It's very unfortunate that they didn't. Hopefully one day they bring it back some day.
Years ago someone told me to give Syndicate a try and I'm glad I did I actually started falling out of love with AC around 3, and this game really got me back in. Kinda sad the AC games aren't like this one anymore.
Wait... Rogue is the first AC game I didn't buy because I've never played it 😅
When I saw Desmond the dog for the first time I could not believe it, what an absolute meme 😅
Also I did not give myself time to play the WWI sequence or the DLC. I know I know I know I'm a bad person. Maybe I'll play them and then do some kind of big DLC review at some point? Maybe rank the DLCs? Is that too much ranking? Can someone rank too much? 🤔
WWI part was awesome, but the dlc was eh. Cool to hear your thoughts tho, if you do em.
I took this game as why they couldnt do AC in modern time, even tho the watch dogs crossover shows that it could work
If you haven't done this already, go and read the database thing about Desmond. This made me laugh, I bet you would too lol
This is coming from me a gamer who stoped playing AC or Ubisoft games since Watch Dogs 2 and Syndicate. If you like AC3 and want to finish off what AC3 started then you will like Rogue. Rogue is the prequel of AC3 and also the Prequel to Unity without giving away much. It's also a short game compare to other AC games.
Please do a Rogue video!!!!
I really enjoyed the FreedomCry DLC from BlackFlag..there’s some other good ones too but the game play elements aren’t too expansive
It was never a bad game, I think alot of people was just sick of AC games at the time
I don't really remember what was happening with people at the time. I didn't have a PS4 until almost 2 yrs ago & I was a bit sick of looking that hard into games I couldn't play. One thing I have noticed that's pretty universal, though, is that we're at a point of being so used to media now, that people can come into something with preconceived notions which are so powerful, they actually affect how the person sees or connects with a movie/ show/ game/ song &, unfortunately, they often can't until enough time has passed that they don't care anymore & no longer feel anything one way or the other. I've even noticed that general mood is capable of messing with people. If life is depressing, they can view something as worse from a perspective of it holding little to no importance in the grand scheme of things & they can enjoy something more than usual if they are happy.
@@MrChristianDT I guess people hold expectations so big that when they dont meet their own they get dissapointed and just give up on it, they dont appreciate the little things anymore
@@a.g.m9078 its funny cause this'll apply to gta 6 if it releases too early, ik this is about ac but still.
Yeah, it's a solid game
Just peoples bs expectations. Every assassin after ezio has been shit on basically for not being ezio. Not being born in the same time and having different origins/reasons for joining the creed. Connor was shit on for not being as cheerful and happy and charismatic as ezio when he just grew up in a different time. He was more energetic and curious as a child/teenager than he was when he came to a lot of realizations about the world he was actually living in. But literally if you aren’t ezio the fan base doesn’t really like you, I dislike ezio for this reason. Brotherhood is still in my top 3 AC games but the love for him I think is too blind and sheeplike. He’s great but there are other good characters who never get appreciation because of lack of understanding of the time period and how things/people were then. And also following the herd of not liking anything since ezio. I think unity was more AC like than most AC games. Syndicate isn’t better than unity but it’s still better than alot of what came after it. IMO Jacob gets alot of flack for not being funny, but someone from that time period wouldn’t be funny to most modern people anyways due to lack of understanding of the times for the most part.
Idk what it is. There is something about the world design. Something about the atmosphere of victorian era London combined with the music that gives me this comfy feeling. Making me want to come back to play it. It's not without its fault but it's the video game equivalent of good box of fries. Idk. Just how it feels.
Good box of *fries* , eh? I see=)))))))
I get exactly the same feeling
Syndicate at night on a rainy day in a suburban neighborhood
All those lights and the random pedestrians plying the guitar by the stairs just gave me a feeling of deep nostalgia
And comfort
This is the only game that gave me that feel
@@undaijoubunii-chan586 fr fr
Not about the fact that it’s about Victorian batman that kills
I totally feel that too I keep replaying it it has some weird thing that keeps attracting me back to it
Syndicate is truly underrated for me! I love the Victorian era the Jack the Ripper DLC in particular, although I must admit the celebrity characters were overplayed. Assassination missions were some of the most fun we’ve had in the entire series, London is an absolute spectacle to behold. I actually really liked Jacob and Evie as a pair of assassin is working together but disagreeing over how they should actually go about it I thought that was a unique and fresh approach for the games, Evie definitely needed more story time and I almost always played as her in the open world. I think there was a huge missed opportunity to not have an achievement in this game called Frogger for making it across the Thames by jumping and not landing into the water at all
I think what it was brilliant is catering to both stealth fans and combat fans. You can really max out Evie as a stealth heavy character and max out Jacob as a heavy combat character and you get the best of both worlds.
Imagine if syndicate had the same parkour and combat as unity? It would be the perfect ac game
Yeah I played as Evie more just cuz I liked her more and Jacob was a hardhead
I whole heartedly second the frogger achievement idea 🤣
Jack the Ripper was amazing. I wish an AC game would dedicate to that tone for an entire entry
I think the rope launcher was literally a perfect addition. It is necessary for parkour, as you mentioned, but it also fits SO well into the setting of the Industrial Revolution. Innovation and rapid progress are characteristics of the Industrial Revolution, which the rope launcher perfectly reflects. The soundtrack was just so good, I loved it. Also, the reason you only have a small selection of weapons is, that openly carrying weapons was illegal at the time, so it makes sense that you use knives cane swords and knuckles.
Agree, also agree with how cool it felt to kinda batman with Jacob and Evie. Syndicate feels in its combat and rope launcher like there were influences from the Arkham games.
One of the best parts about about the rope launcher with how good an addition it was, is that it felt like something Da Vinci would have given you.
I just wish there was more you could do with the rope launcher, you know? If I could use it as a perch point or as a trip wire that would have made it an even better tool. I also did not like how little you could interact with it while moving. The Arkham games had it so you could gain incredible speed and height with the grapel boost and I kind of wish the rope launcher here had a similar system with like air canisters or something. Or have it so if you timed key presses you could go even faster, like how catwoman's wall climbing had to be timed in Arkham City. To me, the rope launcher is a great and necessary tool for AC Syndicate because of the map's layout but it also kind of took away from some of the parkour elements - which would have been fine if there was more to do with the rope launcher! Still enjoy the hell out of Syndicate though.
You lost me at the last part. I get it was illegal but the main part was the devs got lazy lmao.
@@space4166 wasn't it great to completely dumbing down the entire system the series was built on and mindlessly repeat the same action every time with no sense of style or anything at all? Right guys?
I love this game particularly because of the tone, the setting, the feelings it gives you when you play. The parkour is simple but I think it does the job. London feels alive, it feels active, moving, and it feels like it is part of a much bigger world. I honestly like Jacob because of his funny and sarcastic tone. The over the top action/combat, the fast paced music, the quick witty and not to be taken seriously dialogue, it just feels like a Guy Ritchie movie for me.
It's terrible stop pandering to the idiotic review
I find it funny that this came out at the same te mission impossible rogue nation came out with them finding the syndicate
I actually really like Evie and Jacob, their personality is basically
“Follow the plan“
“No“
i love when you get into trouble and the violin hits, great vibes
I love it to now 😍
To be fair it was pretty good at the time, the atmosphere was incredible and the characters were interesting, it just felt too short
Was it really? I'll agree that the atmosphere of london was incredible, but all the characters felt like 1 dimensional tropes given form in a world that deserved so much more than that.
Yeah it was to short like the first 2 sections are 1 level and the third one is 2
Not if you went for 100 percent and played the dlc.
It's not fucking too short. You, you're part of the problem.
It's only short if you hush the campaing....i took me several weeks almost a month to finish it..because i always do side missions in between mains.
The most frustrating thing about Syndicate is, there are no badass chase missions at river Thames. Its a huge missed opportunity!!!
It would have been difficult having chases with barges
I’m still traumatized from the Charles Lee chase scene 😰
Syndicate has one chase mission
@@wizardbfmv and thats a bad thing
@@terra_the_nightingale135 he’s far easier than those pickpockets in AC2 and Brotherhood.
Thing is there is NO ASSASSIN influence in London, it's a Templar stronghold and you got two low level Assassin rebels breaking the rules to take on the Templars so the plot doesn't facilitate a traditional creed experience, that being said I like the concept and execution well enough. It stands well enough on it's own and there is enough Templar vs Assassin's to keep it interesting imo
The setting was well done also. I dony know if I just miss more realistic settings or it's the denser cities but the acs following syndicate haven't attracted me to much.
They literally do not even progress as characters at all over the entire game. Only on the last mission do they work together, but it's not earned
@@datownkidd Definetly the cities for me. Assassasin's Creed was always about a historical city up until Syndicate. It was a character on its own. The latest trilogy is just mostly plain fields with smaller cities thrown into it. I just want another city again :/
Honestly I adored Jacob and Evie as their own characters. And the parkour and Victorian London was my favorite
Didn't ezio take out alot of templars with the only training being some sword combat and streetboxing?
Considering what the AC series has turned into now it really makes you appreciate Syndicate a hell of alot more!
You said it best
after origins.. all sucks for me.. i gave origins a chance because I can say ahhh ok its where Assassin's started.. but after it. they need to change the game title.. :/
I think the only bad ac game is valhalla
The only people who don't like Valhalla are the ones who haven't even played it.
@@Kharn526 that's untrue. I completed it smd left unsatisfied
Syndicate was the first AC game I ever played and I absolutely loved it. After watching this video, I understand how long time AC fans may have found it to be unfaithful to the original creed style. But from a person who didn’t have any understanding of AC when playing through syndicate, I thought this was a really really fun game.
I think it's faithful, I just don't like it and see it as a massive step down from Unity
I'm exactly the same way.
@@jonnysac77 It was small step down from other AC games released before it. But after games like Origin, odyssey, valhalla released I think it was ok to call syndicate better because it was the last game that felt like assassins creed before ubisoft turned AC to make it feel more like Witcher and God of war.
@@siddharthakoirala8146 origins wasn’t bad tho
@@ezezezez5300
I am not talking about the story. Only the great thing they did in origins was to put a good storyline.
I still don’t understand why people say syndicate doesn’t feel like assassins creed, feels like textbook creed to me
If not, then what is THE Assassin's Creeed game?
Textbook creed? He literally explains why thats not the case compared to Unity and previous games.. The creedness is barely there..
Nah syndicate felt more of an ac creed more than the modern ones i dont care about playing a greek god or a warrior just let me play as an assassin
@@Valyntin A parody of an assassin in syndicates case.
I think the mean the characters(maybe the unrealistic combat at least compared to others).
I thought this game was underrated, not badly received.
I personally like Syndicate more than Unity.
Same!
Same, the story in Syndicate was better too
Campy London gang was fun af
Yeah it's really fun
The parkour was kinda bad but it was a decent game overall.
naur like it's one of my fav games
A thing i liked very much about Syndicate and it's usually overlooked, is the homage they paid to the first AC game, were when they killed a Templar, they dipped a handkerchief in the targets blood, to comconfirm the kill, much like what Altair did with the eagles feather in the first game
The atmosphere both Unity and Syndicate displayed are the best to date tbh 🤷♀️ The dreary, hostile and gloomy chants and riots that happen just on the street below your feet in Unity just ingrain on your mind. And the trilling violin and train whistles along with the shouting newspaper boys sets the smoggy, and inspirational air of industrial London in Syndicate.
My favorite part about this game was the incredable music track. It makes you feel like you are in the time and its beautiful.
I’ve always enjoyed Syndicate, and am thankful to see a well balanced and thought out review.
Being English... walking around this map, and seeing the cricket and football games going on... despite the 150 year gap between the setting and today... felt very “home” and “English” for me. Because I remember doing that as a kid; playing football, and cricket in any bit of space available. Most English kids did this.
As a fellow English I can agree playing football was the shit
I've said this on Reddit and I will say it again: Syndicate is fun. It has a different tone to the other games and in a way is a brutal 180º to Unity and other games of the franchise. But that's not bad! It was my companion throughout this month while grieving my grandma. Jacob's quirky jokes actually made me feel a little bit better. I wish some plot lines would be better, as the ending feels a bit rushed.
And comparing it with Valhalla, I think Unity and Syndicate beat it in terms of environment. the NPCs are ALWAYS doing something The city feels very much alive all the time. Although it needs to be said that sometimes the NPCs are a bit...broken. It's also interesting how Syndicate also doesn't have a laundry list of side quests, and while they are fairly repetitive, they feel more engaging than Valhalla's. If anything, I actually feel the difference in the city between the areas that have the rooks, versus the ones with Blighters.
WWI was also a nice surprise, although it made me think that an Assassin's Creed in that period, perhaps even featuring Mata Hari (as a supporting or antagonistic character) would be interesting.
It had good stealth. But combat was uninstresting, batman hook made freerunning pointless, Grand theft Horse carridge is just plain weird, It was the first AC that made the whole level up a thing (Unity levels didn't matter unless you were 1 star vs 4-5 star, which never happend), Evie and Jakob being "Unique from each other" was false advertisement, weapons had no identity and there was very little reason to explore the world.
the ww1 scenario was pretty cool though.
@@bluntlyhonest6803 Yeah the combat was messy sadly.
@@bluntlyhonest6803 Exactly, and to add to that the story is pretty uninteresting past a couple of the early sequences. Although the atmosphere is really fun and immersive
Oooooooooooaoooooooooooooooooolapaoooooooooooopooopopopooloopooomooooopooooooo
@@bluntlyhonest6803 I love the end animations, there so fun to look at
Damn I’m surprised he didn’t like Jacob I love his cocky personality
Jacob's character was based on typical london gang which most reviewers simply doesn't get. Why they are expecting an assassin from this era to act like an assasins from ezio's era is crazy. Jacob's attitude is typical and fits well.
@@theclassicmanila-style8435 I don't know why people dislike him so much, I've played every assassins creed and even so syndicate is still one of my favourites. It's nice to have a loose, fuck it sort of personality for once.
@@gsgs4101 because most people based their opinions about certain characters just by playing the game and with less reference outside the game. I've seen some british gang movies and series and jacob is exactly what I expected him to be. Jacob is very typical and the first thing that comes to mind when I think of british gangster from that era, I guess it failed for some since somehow they were expecting a wise, silent, serious assassin from an era that was closer to us than the previous games 😂
@@theclassicmanila-style8435 exactly, I'm not sure what people expected
I remember reading about how the character creators described his character and it legit sounded like a gangster. So to expect an Ezio-like character out of him was just crazy. I loved him as well.
Syndicate is by far my favorite AC. It plays the lore of Assassin’s Creed so we’ll, the gameplay is revolutionary in terms of parkour, combat, and gadgets, and is just overall so compelling. If Ubisoft is going back to this sort of gameplay instead of pure RPG, it would be a smarter and fantastic move
i dont mind RPGS as long as they keep the stealth mechanics
Origins is wayyy better
I won't argue with any of your points but one. The parkour in syndicate is the opposite of revolutionary. Unity introduced revolutionary parkour. Syndicate neutered it.
@@MetaCinemaYT honestly I played syndicate before unity and when I finished syndicate and tried unity I actually felt no difference in the parkour, just how the environment encourages fluid parkour
@@Actiontime70 In syndicate they removed the ability to jump on command, which used to help with getting over obstacles quicker. It also removed the ability to jump off a surface that has no target landing point. So if a ledge is too far away or you’re at the edge of a tall building, you can’t jump off. In Unity this was huge. You could leap off a tall building if needed and eat the damage in an emergency. You could jump to a building that was just a bit too far to land on but at least grab the wall and catch yourself.
Syndicate’s parkour feels like you’re magnetized to the rooftops.
Syndicate is so underrated it's insane.
The world first of all is the best in the series. YES, the best. Just walk around town and observe people. It's interesting what you'll find people doing. The scenery is just really beautiful too, like the parks, the palatial grounds, Big Ben, the chimney stacks, the clothing and art, all great.
Syndicate is also the only AC game where you can seamlessly switch from a male Assassin to another female Assassin, and while there isn't much difference between Evie and Jacob functionally, it's still a great plus. I also like the fact that their gear is relatively basic and much more inconspicuous. You don't feel like a walking tank from the old days..
And while the Templars' motives aren't as explored as I wish they were, if you pay attention to the dialogue a lot of them seem to have good arguments for their actions, and even some good counterarguments to the entire premise of the game. For instance, it is Evie and Jacob's goal to 'liberate' London from 100 years of Templar control, but in the aftermath of events the city's economy goes under and new threats surface to fill the power gap. They had good intentions but failed to consider the ramifications of their actions and what the effect would be on the general populace.
I also thought that the activities for once had a lot more pertinence to the life of an Assassin, barring boxing and racing. I just really enjoyed all the sabotage missions and theft/hijack missions. In addition to that, the Black Box missions should also have been a staple for all future AC games. Very Hitman, very enjoyable.
I'd also say that the menus, the music, and the general aesthetics were superb. Just an absolute BALL of a game if you ask me.
Syndicate is so good and underrated imo. The best thing about the game are charactes; especially Evie and Jacob, the union, the bond and the friendship between those two is really good, well crafted and believable. Feels like a legitimately friendship between siblings.
Almost kinda like Tommy and Trish from F13 the final chapter.
Completely agree! I also loved the side quests with Evies love for Henry, they made me feel all fuzzy lol
@John Donovan Caca dau
Was it really that bad? You should ask this to Origin, Odyssey and Valhalla. Syndicate was the last real AC game for me. All new combat system with badass multi-kill combos, no godly powers and no RPG elements. Just a unique AC game I always wanted.
Origins was amazing. It shouldn't be in the same category with Odyssey and Valhalla. My only problem with it is the simplified parkour. Everything else was on point.
@@nenadmilovanovic5271 what was wrong with odyssey?
@@selfloathingweekly Writing was pretty messy, jokes were obnoxious, world was very copy pasted especially tombs and caves, mercenaries system was annoying, naval combat was simplistic and stale, combat was way too easy, stealth skills sucked etc.
I still don’t understand why people dislike Origins. One of the best AC for me and I love Egypt.
@@dodowater4300 Repetitive fetch quests and copy paste camps everywhere, braindead "my number is bigger than yours" combat, tedious inventory management, and a total lack of restraint regarding supernatural/fantasy elements and first civ bs. I love the setting and I really enjoyed exploring those tombs (Djoser's pyramid in particular felt really creepy and atmospheric), and the architecture of the actual historical locations is great, but ultimately it's just too much of a mediocre thing.
I really enjoyed Syndicate. It was actually one of my favorites in the old style of AC games. I miss those games...Anyway, if you haven't played it, I feel like the DLC for this game is worth playing and highlights Evie more. Jack the Ripper storyline. It almost felt like it made up for her being the 2nd most important character in the main game.
I can tell you from the perspective of a young fan, that AC syndicate was the first one I played and it was one of my favourite games for quite a while. I also really liked Jacob as a character because, while he doesn't feel like a sophisticated assassin, he's just a fun bastard and I loved that.
he is just having fun running around causing troubles and fixing things, i like that about him. :)
I’d also say that Jacob had a very practical solution to allow Eve to search for the shroud. The Templar’s controlled the government, industry, and the streets. The assassins needed something to give for them to have breathing room to move around in, and Jacob gave that to them through the Rooks.
It's extremely funny to me that Jacob is basically the only one that makes the plot go on. Almost every sequence is "Jacob goes and kills off a Templar without giving a crap what outcome it'll have for London, Evie tries to fix the problems that arose from the time Jacob did this last sequence and looks around for a Piece of Eden", most of what Evie does is fixing the messes Jacob makes while pulling the plot on his back
It’s definitely a shame that Evie didn’t get the playtime she deserved, but in the case of Origins, I do think it was the right decision to focus on Bayek, but I wish they would’ve also given Aya her own game later down the line (Ideally a Bayek trilogy in which you can switch playing as both Bayek and Aya)
Hopefully one day Aya will get her own thing
I actually think there's way too much Aya in origins. She's both too stupid and too headstrong, which is a terrible combination. One or the other, people.
Yeah, there's a reason many players would like a Bayek sequel. He was a great character. Aya on the other hand... didn't really liked her that much to be honest. MAybe it was because she didn't get as much screentime, so she couldn't develop much.
I'm a beta male ;)
I agree both Bayek and Aya desserved their own games. However if only one game was to be, it should have been Aya's as her role was already established in lore and she was the protag the writers wanted. So I think it was wrong to focus on Bayek from that point of view even if I did end up liking th character. Buisides we dont know how different Aya and Bayek would have been as people and characters had the develpors had the creative freedom to make the story they wanted to make. As whats done is done, I enjoy origins for what it is and just hope Aya gets her own game at some point. There is plenty of timeline left for Aya to explore with a game of her own. And while we are at it, a full proper game for Shao Jun as well please. And maybe a sequel to Unity where we have Conner Arno and Shay meet (no they dont have to kill each other, In fact I think it would be more interesting if they didn't because all 3 are pretty unusual in their Assassins/Templar views which could allow for more interesting interactions then murder attempts/murders.) Their stories seem unfinnished. Hell, Shay was written in such a way you could almost make an uncharted like game for him where he hunts down treasure (isu artifacts) to destroy them. Maybe he bumps into Kassandra and they pair up for a while on isu destruction shennanigans. I love seeing new protags and stories, but I do think they could return to some old faces every few games or so. Ezio got 3 games, there is no reason other characters cant have more as well.
Syndicate has always been in my top 3 AC games, and the setting and world definitely does make up a huge reason for that, but also some of the gameplay elements that got left behind after this make me so nostalgic for wanting to replay it now
Same the nostalgia is drawing me back to this game
@@sebastiangreen2364 yh im literally gonna boot up my ancient ps4 for this
Lol no it's trash
@@markdove5930 compared to Valhalla and Odyssey, you have to admit Syndicate is amazing
@@scissorluv8207 Naw, they were both vastly better, especially odyssey
It wasn’t a bad game. It gave me that Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes feel. However I didn’t really play it much because I was getting burned out with AC. After the Kenway trilogy(3,4 & Rogue) I was pretty much done. I love the historical setting for those three games but as for the modern era story I was not interested. After Ubisoft killed off Desmond I Lost interest in the modern story. 🤷🏽♂️
I think Evie still fits the assassin role perfectly, she tries to finish her fathers job and is quite serious overall, at the same time she's kind of hindered by her brother who doesn't take the ac business that serious. Still, considering that the story is playing in industrial London, that also fits perfectly. The assassins start losing relevance over time, so why would Jacob, just because he's the son of one, also strive to become a real, full-on assassin?
Ubisoft did an amazing job building the game around the era it plays in, writing the story and all. Obviously it can't be like the original 1400s assassin games anymore.
When playing this game that was exactly my thoughts on the rope launcher. The sheer size of this world is just too tedious to have to run everywhere. Loved its addition
Was still slow and ugly
Actually it was one of my favorite AC games. The more relatively modern era in London was remarkable. I liked Jacob and Evie. The story was relatively good for an AC game. All in all it was a more memorable AC game in a good way.
This game was brilliant in my opinion. Maybe i have a level of nostalgia for it seeing as it was the first game i chose to play on my ps4 on christmas day in 2015 but i also had a lot of respect as being British, we never really get many games set in London or the rest of the country for that matter so it was special to me in that way.
There are many good games set in london. I, as a german, i hate seeing only war games being set in germany
There are 3 Ubisoft games alone set totally or partly in London (AC Syndicate, Watch Dogs Legion, AC Valhalla).
America has loads more games set there than anywhere else, but England isn't doing too badly!
I am also a huge fan of Syndicate 😍 Mainly because I'm fascinated by Victorian London!
@@bartoszjaroszynski4711 LMAO😂
You guys got Forza Horizon 4. We in the USA still waiting.
@@Mew_York_Kitty oh sh*t yeah can't believe i forgot about that one. I think one of the Crew games has all of america in it
I replayed this game recently too. At the beginning of September 2020, I decided to replay all the AC game chronologically, it's my favorite gaming franchise and I wanted to play them all leading up to the release of Valhalla. Holy crap what an undertaking. It's 13 months later and I'm near the end of AC Origin - Curse of the Pharaohs. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be playing AC game for over a year. But Because I've played all of them up to Black Flag multiple times, I really wanted to get a second opinion on the later games I only played once. Unity was better than I remembered but still fell short for me because of the issues with it's story and it's design around co-op. Thankfully Syndicate was a single player game and because of that had a more focused story. The game play was fun too, as they took more liberties with the combat system, one the was similar to the Batman Arkam series, but still based is AC. I liked that the weapons had to be more modest as you couldn't openly carry swords or spears in a more modern setting. Speaking of the setting, London was awesome and I loved the soundtrack. There was always an opportunity to something whether it was a boat or train raid, protecting, stealing or racing wagons, or beating up on the rival gang. The stealth wasn't as good because London wasn't as populated as Paris was. The group of Templars weren't anything special really, but the mission to assassinate them were top quality. I like the games story here too, and I though the characters all balanced out. Jacob was happy go luck and sarcastic through and trough while even was stern and focused. I like how they were falling out but upon completing their mission brought them back together. Jack the Ripper DLC might be some of the best additional content yet. The additional fear inducing abilities were fun to use. It was a nice gameplay change after about 50+ hours with the main game. The story of that was well written as well. All in all, I never thought Syndicate deserved all the negative criticism it got. After all, it is the last of the classic style AC games we have now. I really enjoyed it my second play through with it.
I’m doing the same thing, replaying all of them over again. I’m just about start my journey. I was thinking it might take me a few months to complete all of them. AC is one of the best franchises imo. I’m trying to get that nostalgic feeling.
@@S.T-Money LOL a few months LOL. I started in September of 2020 thinking I could do it in a few months time. It's been nearly 16 - 17 months and I'm still on Odyssey. I'm at the end, the main story quests and the 3 First Blade DLCs are done. I just started the first Atlantis DLC. It is a massive undertaking. I'm dying to play a JRPG or something else but I'm so close. I have yet to play Valhalla so that's keeping me motivated. Its Been fun though, I've gain new perspective on a few of the later games. My message to anyone who wants to replay the entire series is good luck and I hope your schedule is blank for the foreseeable future. LOL
It's taken me three years just to complete the two main story arcs of Odyssey...
I actually loved the time period. Late 1800s/early 1900s industrial revolution era time is my favorite historical period. The combat was fun, too. Being able to set up brutal combo kills and not just being a counter kill frenzy. I also loved the zipline and being able to be a Batman who drops on mooks with a stab to the throat was a lot of fun.
Ww1 sequence exists
So goated
this year I've been replaying these games myself and one thing has struck me this time round. the crowds are so well done, so much thought went into them. I played every game as they came out and i think AC 1 killed me with the NPC's that run into you that i gravitated towards rooftops only. but this time i was so immersed i am constantly blown away...
Same, I absolutely hated those beggars who overcrowded you. If it didn't take away hp every time, I'd kill them instead of trying to escape
Syndicate was amaaaazing and so underrated i loved playing it, roaming around in london with the great music the feel it gave was the best
This was the last Assassin's creed experience for me since it kind of resembles unity! Then it all went RPG!
I actually really like this game, the only “problem” for me is the traversing part of the rope launcher. I don’t know why, it is just something that bothers me for some reason. Maybe because you never see them anchor the rope where they stand in the animation or something. I would have personally preferred it to work for up and down movement.
Its so usefull though, and rope drop assassinations are fun
I love the character development of jacob going into the jack the ripper dlc, he grows so much as a person.
Syndicate was my introduction to the series (got it as a Christmas gift knowing absolutely nothing about AC) so I guess I’m biased towards it lol. I’m playing through all (well, _most_ ) of the games in chronological order for the first time, but part of me is still looking forward to returning to Syndicate
It’s always been my favorite of the series, and I feel like people are finally starting to give it the appreciation it deserves 😂
A nuanced review of an AC game….How refreshing lol. I really liked this game. The WW2 memory you go back in time to was a nice touch. I like Unity better, but I still consider it to be a really fun game.
WW1 it was Unity that allowed WW2, but way too short.
I love London so I love the setting of this game, the industrial revolution is really cool and I love the combat and grapple hook. I HATE the fact they downgraded the parkour and weapon variety from unity though.
The visuals & sound effects was one of the top attractions to me. I personally loved Evy's aggression in fights. The rope mechanism was pretty decent, also the overall optimization. I would say it was a pretty decent & a successful game. I always enjoyed playing it. Just one thing that along side with Horse-Carriages, Evy would
Syndicate is the most underrated AC game. It's a fantastic gaming experience. It also has the most astounding soundtrack; it's a truly original soundtrack, sounding very little like anything else in console gaming.
I liked this game a lot, and knowing its the last "classic" AC game, I think I enjoy it even more
This is a great AC game whatever people says, i play it right now for the first time, just finished Unity few days ago also for the first time, i love both games but i think i like syndicate just abit more bcs how well is polished and smooth it is and waay better story then Unity, i like Unity also bcs challenge and parkour, overall both great games.
arno: becomes an assassin so he can avenge his adoptive father 🤓
evie and jacob: destabilised the economy, forms a gang, commits grand theft auto and kills victorian waluigi cuz they got bored 😈
Victorian Waluigi? I'm definitely stealing that!
Well Evie did restabilize it in Jacob’s wake. Jacob wanted to play gang leader. And Victorian Waluigi is the best thing I’ve heard
*SUPER EPIC DEEP VOICE*
The Frye Twins.. They became BORED.. so now they've decided to go to Templar London.. and LIBERATE it after 100 years of consolidated control with ZERO backup from the Brotherhoooodddd..
Recruit your own murderous gang going against the tenets of the CREEEDD.. and take back London one district at a time putting the economy into the CRAPPERRRR..
Bring your TOP-HATS.. (*fight scenes*) and your CANES (*more fight scenes*)..
And experience the series that REFUSES to die even after a catastrophic last launch.. ONE. MORE. TIME!
*some AC Syndicate promo*
To avenge both of his dads*, the biological and the adoptive one. And are you making fun of the reason why most of assassins became assassins? For real? Arno lost his dad when he was like 6 by the protagonist of ac rogue (dont remember his name), he also lost his adoptive dad by a traitor, he went to prison for "supposedely" killing his adoptive dad (he obviously didnt, it was another guy who did it and lied saying it was Arno), he literally killed himself to rebirth as an assassin, fought for his love til the end, the only family he had left (even thought she died at the end sadly), he didnt wanna avenge his adoptive dad just for satisfaction, but also to make his love feel better... I mean... If that doesnt sound much deeper, sadder, and more ac-ish type of story I dont know what it does....
If you want to feel the flow of Syndicate combat, you should switch off all user interface marks. And choose cane-sword.
No, Kukri is perfect for this combat style
Cane for Evie, Kukri for Jacob
@@abigailslade3824 Kukri is actually perfect for syndicates fast pacing fight system. Cane feels slower
@@shinobimsh5687 for Jacob I agree, I felt the cane sword worked better for Evie
@@abigailslade3824 tbh i felt the same and thought Kukri won't suite evie at all, but after few minutes it actually feels pretty good on her, and infact she has a sheath of Kukri on her leg. Although i played most of the part as stealth
I found your channel by chance (RUclips algorithm). I waited to play Syndicate and Origins until 2020. Your reviews are spot on in my opinion. I loved this game and it brought back the nostalgia of Unity for me. This is great content man. Thank you.
“This is supposed to the be villain” *Villain Slams Desk angrily*
It's weird that people think this isn't a true AC game because if anything it''s like the culmination of everything that pre-Origins AC was going for
Mechanically I agree, it is the refinement of the old AC mechanics and the best version of them. The rest of the game needs help. The story, tone, mission structure and characters (with exceptions in those areas) are pretty bad. Great mechanics in an otherwise mediocre to poor game unfortunately. I'd love a game with Syndicate's mechanics but really well written with consistent and proper tone and solid mission structure.
@@darksavior1187 "The story, tone, mission structure and characters (with exceptions in those areas) are pretty bad" to you ;) Please make sure to make that distinction when talking subjective stuff.
Because to me, the story is great (could've used a bit more, but certainly was a lot better than the predictable story in Unity), tone was AMAZING wtf are you on about, mission structure is excellent and is the only AC game where I truly WANTED to 100% the game and the characters are fun and loveable.
See the difference?
Just because you dislike something (which is fine), doesn't make something bad. I absolutely DESPISE Skyrim, I think it's a horrible game with bad mechanics and bugs and is way overrated for what it is. Does that make it an actually bad game tho? No, because millions of people love it, so clearly there's just something to it that I am personally not vibing with.
@@blinkachu5275 don't worry I'm with you
@@blinkachu5275 bruh who cares
When I went through and ranked every AC game I actually had Syndicate at 5 above some other beloved installments of the franchise (parts 2 and 3 in the Ezio trilogy and 3). The story is alright and the combat is decent, but what made me love this game was the completion/open world aspects to the game. For example, if you run around the world enough you start recognizing places more easily and that then you are rewarded for with the music boxes you can find all around the map. Syndicate has the most polished open world in all of the AC games (but I think Unity is the best) and it’s just a joy to see everyone going about their day in so much detail and it’s a shame that it hasn’t been full utilized since that (in my opinion). I also kinda find it funny now that I’m playing Watchdogs Legion that it’s pretty obvious that the used Syndicate as a skeleton of sorts for the game’s world. The stealth also just feels amazing and is some of the best the series has ever offered.
Fans: I'm getting tired of AC, if they are going to keep releasing games the saga needs a huge change.
Ubisoft: Ok, people, we give you AC Origins!
Fans: This is not an Assassin's Creed, we want another game that is exactly identical to Ezio's!
(Now, I now Ubisoft is far far far from being perfect and I don't pretend to defend them. To me, they should have let the saga rest and release a game every two or three years. But let's be honest, there's a reason the Simpsons has a whole scene about how sometimes the fans don't even know what they want).
lol the fans wanted a game that was Assassin's Creed but wasn't shit. Unity and Syndicate were awful games. Thats why they were hated.
Very well said.
I don't think it had anything to do with the formula as much as it did the annual releases causing burnout. It's not a game like COD where multi-player is present in every game with different maps. AC has primarily been a single-player experience with the exception of a few titles. Also, a lot of people played for Desmonds storyline. That was the real driving force behind the games. After his death, there was no mystery left to the AC franchise. Nothing to speculate. Nothing but "Hey, let's play in this historical setting."
Ur comment is wrong on all lvls! Black Flag is a loved game among the fans, but when Unity came out buggy ppl start complaining! It is not that we wanted “something else” we wanted something good, finished polished games! Instead… they changed the formula completely, ofc ppl are angry!
@@connordrew2634 the first example of a fan who doesn't know what he wants:
People talk about not having the creed in Syndicate, but it doesn't have much because the creed in London was finished. The only assassin in London at that time was Henry. So it has creed.
Syndicate was polished as hell. Refined everything and they did outdid themselves with this engine
Surprisingly all your gripes that you had and felt about the characters and setting I personally loved it. The twins are some of my favorite characters. I personally liked it better than unity but unity also holds a special place in my heart
Woow, someone who actually appreciate Syndicate 😢
I was ready to hear its bad points, to be honest it was weird that someone actually complimented Syndicate. It is my favorite AC game, but I am also aware its flaws.
For that! Imma add this video into my favorites. I give credits to your honesty, seeing both its good and bad points 👍
I really enjoyed Syndicate. I'm just a sucker for victorian London and Syndicate did that setting really well. I agree with most of your criticism. The only real dealbreaker for me was the focus on Jacob though. He was just obnoxious and far too over the top. I'd have been happier if the story would have focused on Evie with Jacob as the side character. I'd probably rate the game with an 8/10 - in which case I have to disagree with your "every AC is at least an 8/10" argument. Not every AC is an 8/10. No game is a perfect 10/10 after all. There are highs and lows in AC and - frankly - I believe that the newer games are quite worse even if they're more popular. Origins was a good Stealth/RPG hybrid which still somewhat maintained the AC identity for me and felt like it had its own identity. Odyssey and Valhalla were - in my opinion - a mess though which I'd rather rate 6 or 7/10. There is a reason as to why Ubisoft gets criticized for its bland and mediocre open worlds after all.
PS: I really loved the detective DLC for Syndicate. That was really awesome and I'd really love to get more of that.
Completely agree. I think Jacob was meant to be a loveable rogue, but I found him immature and self-centred. He was just so irritating. I much preferred Evie.
It doubly pisses me off that not only was I forced to play as Jacob sometimes, but because of Ubisoft's sexism (and their belief at the time that a video game with a female protagonist wouldn't sell), Jacob was in the trailer and all the advertising, and he had centre stage on the game's front cover, with Evie hovering in the background. She deserved so much better 😤
Yeah no dude, Odyssey and Valhalla are easily 2 of the best games in the franchise, as proven by their continous sales sucess, and for Odyssey by its critical acclaim. Ubisoft gets criticized for their bland open world by a small minority of people, and mostly because their games comes out very often so it's more remarkable. The reality is that Syndicate (which i really like btw) was were people were ACTUALLY fed up with the AC formula and Ubisoft did exactly what it had to do to revive it, and not just with Origins.
@@SuperBallani The thing is that it's quite difficult to compare since the gaming audience in general grew exponentially during the last 5+ years. In that regard, you have to put sales in perspective. Another factor to consider is that Ubisofts new formula profits quite heavily from the standardized open world formula which became laregely popular due to Witcher 3's success since it's more or less a (inferior) carbon copy. Another factor to consider is that less and less games get released due to longer development cycles. The audience in general has become a lot more tolerant.
I don't think that Odyssey and Valhalla are good games. They are mediocre open worlds. While their storyline may be tolerable, their narration is utterly flawed by too much filler content. The same goes for gameplay and the open world itself. AC also lost its own identity by trying to replicate the open world formula that is currently en vogue. These games also aren't "critically acclaimed". The games media is not to be trusted and the user scores on metacritic are fairly objective in rating Odyssey with a 6.something out of 10 (which is comparable to Syndicate) and Valhalla with a 7.something out of 10. That doesn't mean that you can't enjoy the game. It just means that they are overrated by games media.
At first, while I enjoyed Jacob’s humor and attitude, his impulsivity annoyed me but then he really grew on me and I really enjoyed the balance between him and Evie. Him starting the freedom of people and her fixing the mess left by it. I always played as Evie when I could since I preferred her character, stealth and outfits, but I did really start to love Jacob. His personality really fit the times and his wit is wonderful because he’s a fresh break from the other assassins.
@@SuperBallani Odyssey is easily the worst ac game...
On the rope launcher: Yes, it is necessary for the way the map is designed. However, the only reason it is necessary, is because the devs were too lazy to give you a freerunning alternative. In order AC games, some buildings were also too far apart to jump to. So they gave us ropes that went between the two buildings to allow for crossing. They have us elevators for walls that are too tall to climb. in AC2, they gave us poles to spring-board from across gaps. This made the environments feel more dynamic, and made freerunning fun, even with increased spacing. Maybe that is harder to do for a game on the scale of syndicate, but that is why the company has thousands of people working on it. its not an indie game, and should be held to a higher standard. The rope launcher is a bandaid that they introduced into the game to solve a problem that was caused by a discrepancy between they player character, and the environment. If your player character can't traverse incredibly fast, they you should have a more tightly populated city, not give the character a way to x10 their traversal speed to fix your fuckup with the level design.
i felt like i was going insane nice to se someone who agrees lol, the rope isn’t necessary at all, the map being big is nothing more then a bad excuse for terrible level design, why is the map big at all? people say o the map is big as if it being big is a constant of the equation, unless you’re willing to admit that you only think is game is good because it has a big map then that argument is terrible, and most people know it, they just see pretty graphics and bought the game for money they don’t want to feel they wasted so they gaslight themselves into thinking the game is good, the devs can either have better level design or make the map smaller, but the grappling hook is terrible and its the reason parkour is non existent in this game and it’s partially the reason i hate this game with a passion.
To me, the best part was the soundtrack. I love how they went all in with the period sound. I also loved the street performers you run into performing different period songs and tavern music from previous games. Plus, it's a nice touch you can find guys singing songs about the target you took down in the previous sequence.
It's underrated af. Seriously.
Edit: And yes, I agree that you should give the game another chance.
This game has my favorite AC map, loved the city, the moving train hideout and grapple hook.
I think this series is very different for me, because I only started playing them in 2018. And I’ve played them completely out of order. That said, Evie should have taken the spotlight. Jacob annoyed me for the most part.
agreed
Evie was originally planned to be the protagonist but Ubisoft decided against having a female lead.
@@sm-zt4ut Ubisoft is Extremely stupid...
The same was planned for Origins and Odyssey yet in Origins they brought Bayek and in Odyssey Alexios was there and in Valhalla they did not care for female character much...
It would be more better if the game has Beautiful enough fatty and not skinny Characters it would look just perfect
@@bex8306 Why would they have fat characters? It's a historical series and considering historically food was often scarce for much of the population and people did much physical labour, people were generally quite skinny and only the rich/nobility who had very inactive lives and unhealthy diets were fat.
Syndicate was a great game for me. I loved the feeling of getting cornered by enemies and then whistling and seeing the mandem barrelling round the corner in a five person carriage and then all getting out and lighting up the enemies like no one's business.
Two things I loved the most about this game is the dlc where you are like investigating a crime scene and how you can choose how you assassinate the main targets
Can't wait for the Rogue review, It's always been one of my favourites and yes I know it's many flaws but I love the characters, the shift from the carribean to the icy north which perfectly reflects the story's shift from a more light hearted story of a man finding his purpose to the more cold story of a man who realised he is on the wrong way and does everything he can to correct the damage. Rogue for me has always had a great feeling to it that according to me hasn't been matched with the many different locations and fantastic characters, so excited for you to play it and I hope I didn't give too much away, even if the game is almost seven years old now :)
I love the industrial revolution atmosphere, and I loved this game since the release. The only problema that I found was the IA and various bugs(both still happened less than the new trilogy assassin's Creed)
No joke: I happen to be wearing the AC Syndicate shirt I got with AC Syndicate in 2015 and I happened across the hardcover strategy guide I got with the game in 2015 just before I sat down at my computer and saw this video. The universe is calling attention to this game :) I enjoyed it and felt like they downgraded the graphics a tiny bit from Unity to focus on gameplay. The rope launcher bugged me too. I think the devs were probably playing the latest Arkham game and thought it was a cool mechanic.
Been really bored with the new school Valhalla, Odyssey, Origins trio and how individualistic it felt yet the only games prior to these I’d played were AC1, 2, BH, Rev, 3 and Black Flag so seeing your videos for the inbetweeners felt super refreshing and I’m hopping on em ASAP. Thank you much!
only thing i disliked about syndicate: the combat felt less powerful
in 3, each time i killed a redcoat, i felt on top of the world, like i was ready to take on a full army and anyone who witnessed it knew that, but in syndicate, i killed a big guy and that's about it. the combat feels satisfying, but nowhere near as weighted and strong as the older games, especially 3. although, it's very hard to compeat with the almost savage like double kills 3 had
If they hadn’t made it a Buddy Comedy, it would’ve been one of the best. As it stands, it’s a bit of a mockery of the Creed
I kinda liked the kinda jokey tone, it felt a bit more refreshing and gives it a bit more of an identity in my opinion, but I get what you mean
@@Dogge497 I feel that. There’s nothing wrong with liking it, for sure. I just personally like the more somber, serious tones that are throughout the earlier titles. I wouldn’t mind the jokes as much if they didn’t mock the series. Jacob is specifically written to kinda make a joke of it all, and that’s not my favorite thing
@@wolfmanwilliam5801 True, but every game up to that had a very serious tone, especially unity. Thats why in my opinion, having one jokey game felt kinda nice. Ofc though I respect all different opinions though
@@Dogge497 100% agreed, to each his own! As long as people enjoy the series, that’s what matters
Understandable if you didn’t enjoy the jokey aspect, for me it’s one of the reasons I prefer Syndicate. It feels more fun that way. I was always looking for ward to Jacob’s quips. I didn’t really see it as a mockery however, just a shift with the era it took place in and such.
If I could "mix" together my own perfect Assassins Creed game, it would have an open world like Syndicate´s, parcour like Unity and an AC III type of combat (at least for the direction of the animations)
Story like 2 or revelations with a mix of black flag
@@airgoku4208 Definitely. Ezio and Edward were some top tier characters. I wish that they`d come up with a protagonist with that much depth again. After Edward, they only managed to make me care for Bayek, rest was way too shallow. Especially Eivor now, who literally didn't make me care about his story at all.
Syndicate is great. It's one of the best in the series. Just recently finished replaying it.
The thing that shocked me most about this game is that the main characters are from my town in England. Literally no one even in England knows about my town, when I say where I’m from people are like “where the fuck is that?”
I've played AC 1, AC 2, AC 3, AC Black Flag, AC Unity, AC Rogue, AC Syndicate, AC Origins, AC Odyssey and AC Valhalla.
In my opinion AC Syndicate is my favourite for so many reasons, followed by Black Flag and Origins.
Now that AC has lost all sense as a series, I’ve learned to like Syndicate, instead of taking the series too seriously.
I don't think it's amazing in the ac series, but I definately enjoyed it alot when it came out. It just feels good to basically ignore all the deep lore and story of the series, and just enjoy all the different game mechanics I enjoy. Also, I find the two leads very charming in their own way, I don't feel bored when I play either of the twins
This review made me love Syndicate a lot more! I still prefer Unity overall and Odyssey is my favorite, but it's now on my top 4, just behind AClll, love your videos, they are great, truly, i'm happy you had fun!
i think you nailed it when you said that letting go of the hope for a purist AC game like the early ones even a bit makes you realise how great the later ones like syndicate (and even odyssey) are
I feel like evie should have been more of the main character. I feel like this could have been her origin story having a closer connection to her father who was an assasin but it is what it is
Ubisoft executives are sexist as hell and don't believe female-led games will sell well.
It's the reason you can play as Kassandra's brother in Odyssey even though she's the canonical character. They just couldn't commit to a female lead.
I love Syndicate. A lot of it is flawed, yes, but I enjoyed playing it so much, and I wish they could make another game like it.
Also, I didn’t dislike Jacob that much. I thought he was pretty decent, and Evie on the other hand was always a smug know it all.
Agree. Evie was the Assassin link - but Jacob was like playing an English Ezio that didn't lose his father. That oafish innocence. It's magnificent
Agreed, if youre a fan of this series I would recommend trying all the games at some point excluding valhalla till its polished to just experience them since theyre all unique
Wait, valhalla is the only good one of the 3 new ones
@@bartoszjaroszynski4711 i hope ur joking but if ur not valhallas detection still doesn't work properly stuff like that is what i mean by wait till its fully refined
@@sahilp8727 well, i picked it up yesterday and i already habe 8 hours of playtime. For context: I played (in order) syndicate, unity, brotherhood, valhalla. What makes valhalla a big deal for me, is stealth. I love bush/nature stealth. You can roll around everywhere, the hood you can put on makes the vibe even better. You look like a hunter in this game. Its not an assassin like we all know from the other games, its like a viking assassin hunter mix, which i love. The graphics are at its best and the skills are great. The series evolved in a big open world Rpg, which i mostly dont like, but this game is still pretty easy to understand. You can think of the story what you want, i think its great, allthough i don't see it as an assassins creed story. My point is, that its a great game, ignoring that it has been labeled an assassins creed game.
@@bartoszjaroszynski4711 you can love it all u want idrc just be wary that the arcs can feel really long and repetitve so my advice is take ur time
@@bartoszjaroszynski4711 Origins is still the best out of the 3 in my opinion. No annoying leveling because you can change it in the settings, and enemies aren't usually that much higher in level than you. Better stealth, combat isn't as deep but it's satisfying, not damage spongy and not to mention Egypt is visually more stunning than Norway or England. Also the story is probably the best ac story in years, also you're actually an assassin. But like I said just my opinion.
Unfortunately the vocal minority can ruin a games reputation. I’m playing Syndicate now. And I just love walking around the game world 🙂
Unfortunately, I never got to play the original AC games and haven't really ever played an AC game as it was fresh and new, and syndicate was the first AC game I ever got my hands on. As such, it has a special place in my heart and it definitely has some flaws, but I genuinely enjoyed playing it because it felt fun for someone who had never really played an AC game for themself. Having seen all the cool AC outfits and hidden blades and axes and all that but never being able to get into it, I wasn't looking for any of the creed/brotherhood elements early fans had been steeped in, so AC Syndicate will, in my eyes, always be if nothing else, a good time
Syndicate is my favorite in the AC franchise (also, is one of my comfort videogames)! I love the design of an Industrial London, both Frye siblings have engrossing personalities and although the game has a smaller map, I love everything in it.
When I first played Syndicate the formula was starting to feel a bit tired. Like it felt like a repeat of the previous games too heavily. Replaying having looked at later games I miss the dense cities that are more interesting to parkour around, Odyssey landscape is pretty but parkour barely features. I would like AC to have more climbing puzzles like with the Ezio games, I like the whole hidden entrance stone wall turns into door type thing.
I love syndicate so much! I love the setting and it’s a lot of fun to play.
I loved this game so much, I’ve played it so much and almost finished it 100% on like 3 different Xbox accounts. And finished all the DLC 100%. I was pretty much obsessed with this game from 2015 to 2017. 😂
Lol same! 100% on 3 different systems. I love this game so much!!
@@sensoeirensen That’s awesome!! I love your profile picture!!
DUDE. I haven’t played assassins creed in years… I stumbled across your videos and I just want to say THANK YOU. You honestly make really really really good videos and they helped me a ton. Just downloaded a few ;)
I’ve been playing unity alottt lately and I’ve been enjoying it so much I regret ever sleeping on the game
Guys, here me out: Assassins Creed: WW2. Basically, the templars are tje axis powers, and the assassins are its own thing, not the allies, but they help them
You can just play Call of Duty and imagine the rest. But in all seriousness, I think it would be extremely hard to make an AC game in a WW2 setting. It certainly can't be a true AC game, but I don't know how close we can even get.
@@rubenlungu5763 if they managed to make a viking assassins creed game, it must work. Theres a short ww2 part in unity, but you just climb the eiffel tower while getting shot at
@@rubenlungu5763 or the assassins could be an underground force in poland, and the germans are the templars
I loved Syndicate. Being able to play two different styles l, playing in London, loved it.
I’ve heard someone say this before like Jayvee said you might not even know they are assassins because of how basic their robes look but I feel like that’s a good thing if your a targeted member of the templars and saw someone like Ezio with Armour a hood a sword sheathed and a dagger you’d run but if you see Jacob that’s basically just a cloak with a top hat you wouldn’t know he’s an assassin until it’s too late
Exactly 💯
I absolutely love Syndicate. It is one of my favorite AC games. I am working on my 2nd playthrough right now. This game is sooo much fun.
AC Syndicate is actually my favourite game out of all of the AC games, well this and Odyssey
If this had Unity's combat and not that fast forward arcade RPG system, this would have been a great game.
That would have made the fighting styles between Jacob and Evie actually varied between the two.
I loved the rope launcher as it felt like a natural evolution in terms of traversing the environment.
The music and environment were quite possibly my favorite, and the underground fight clubs were awesome
Yea the combat was a deal breaker for me. It’s way too fast and weightless for me to think I’m doing anything at all
Unity's combat was ruined by too many enemies with guns. Was better in the DLC but it was too little too late -- "throw smoke bomb to win, or die" is not exactly engaging.
@@isodoubIet Yup. Snipers and guns really ruin Unity's combat.
Syndicate is my favourite game. I prefer the silly/fun tone and happy ending, not really one for tragedy. Also, another thing no one ever gives it credit for is how diverse it is. You got a trans character, women playing prominent roles as gang leaders etc, Evie's interracial romance, Jacob and Roth. Those things might not seem that important but it's so nice to see myself represented in my favourite universe.
I didn't even think about that that much but now that you said it it's so true
I got so tired of ubisofts treatment of women specifically that I was surprised they really improved with this, loved that Ned didn't turn out to be a woman in disguise like they did with James/Mary
@@raiden6428 "They aren't supposed to have happy endings because they are political killers." - says who? there is no One True Way an AC game should be. And jack the ripper ends with Evie and Jacob alive and reunited, after which they will raise Jacob's granddaughter together.
@@raiden6428 Bayek is a fictional character. He does not write games nor decide what they're "supposed" to be like. Yes, him and Aya and many other assassins made great personal sacrifices for the greater good. That doesn't mean that it has to be this way, always. Evie's whole story in Syndicate is in fact a refutation of that, as she comes to learn that she can be an assassin and still have room in her life for love. Also, not every story in which tragic things happen is a tragedy. Oedipus is a tragedy. Man gets tortured; is rescued by sister, is decidedly not.
@@caruusel who's the trans character? I didn't even realize that
@@raiden6428 Hum no. Assassin's Creed was OFTEN a tragedy but that doesn't mean that it's a rule or anything in the series. Syndicate is precisely the proof of that and was a nice change, and yet, I am someone who ADORE tragedy but I do think that Syndicate is an breath of fresh air in the universe, and something that they sometimes would have to do again in order to keep a good balance in the universe between tragic endings and happy endings. I don't see at all how you consider the Jack The Ripper DLC to be a tragedy. Of course, not everything is rosy, but in the end Evie defeats the enemy, she saves her brother and the last frame literally ends with the twins in each other's arms as Evie is back in London and the threat is gone. Much like the original game, the DLC on ends on a happy note, even though the tone of the DLC was darker. Tragedy is not a rule in an Assassin's Creed, just a habit and Syndicate broke that habit, making it one of the most original, unique and refreshing games in the saga.
I really loved Syndicate's 'Black Box missions'. It had so much potential and it fits the Assassin's Creed franchise so well. They should have expanded on that in the sequels. It's very unfortunate that they didn't.
Hopefully one day they bring it back some day.
Years ago someone told me to give Syndicate a try and I'm glad I did I actually started falling out of love with AC around 3, and this game really got me back in. Kinda sad the AC games aren't like this one anymore.
Mirage