Assassin's Creed Syndicate (PS4)

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Jacob always ends up uncovering some plot which he will put an end to in the sequences final act, while Evie takes a stealthier route as she tries to find the Piece of Eden. The most prominent new mechanic is the grapple-gun, and on the whole, it’s well implemented and fun to use. The next games I will mention about will not be about story because in comparison to all other games AC2 has the best story so far and after AC3, the story of AC franchise has gone haywire. Many mission cutscenes give you very little context, and the mission prompt often feels like it has nothing to do with the preceding cutscene.

One last note is that there are microtransactions in the game, but you can easily ignore them if you choose too and they only act as a method to get better gear and skills faster, but they do not spoil the game in any way nor are they intrusive. Eventually, at some point in Sequence 4 or 5, I realised you have to do the “Evie head”, “Jacob head” or “Skull” icons on the map. Now, I’m no fan of Ubi’s end of game credits, which are often longer than the game itself as they list every human being that has ever lived, and their pets. Kidnapping Templars adds a nice spin on the assassination missions, rewarding the player for marching them away from their allies and bundling them into a carriage.The story missions capitalise on this by exploring different spheres of influence, which when combined with elements like mass transit, heavy industry, and law enforcement, make this feel like a different type of city than has been featured in the series to date.

The various fight clubs show off the game’s simple but solid combat engine, with a host of excellent attacks, counters and finishers.After the beating that Unity took, you'd assume that Ubisoft would do its best to ensure that Syndicate performs. The lack of non-lethal takedowns is a bizarre omission, considering it was firmly rooted in Unity ’s combat system, and despite the listing of a lethality rating (separate from its attack power) for each weapon.

I won’t spoil anything from it but you might be happy to know it actually follows familiar characters this time around – those being Shaun and Rebecca.The game also looks great, retaining and building upon the atmospheric environmental touches of Unity. This is a relatively enjoyable endeavour, save for a couple of poor ones that require a rinse-and-repeat of various specific moves and a trophy for smashing 5000 pieces of scenery in a carriage, which feels like a waste of time.