Assassins Creed Syndicate on PS4 – The DVDfever Review

Assassins Creed Syndicate is out now and it’s that time of year again when we have multiple games landing within weeks of each other, all fighting for the Christmas Number 1 spot in the games charts. Over the past few weeks we have had the new FIFA (amongst other sports games), Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3, Fallout 4 and this latest entry in the Assassins Creed series. Then, to top that off there is also a new Rainbow Six, Just Cause 3, Star Wars Battlefront and numerous other titles in the run up to the festive day. It is a busy time of year for game developers and publishers, fine tuning and polishing their software ready for us to be getting our hands on it!

Syndicate has a lot to live up to after what happened with Unity literally 12 months ago. Unity was a bit ambitious and they really should have held that title back to get it fixed properly and release it at a later date, thankfully I didn’t get it till June this year shortly after I got my PS4 and it had been fixed by then. Either way, that was then and now it is time to move forward and welcome Assassins Creed Syndicate to the fold.

So, after our trip to Revolutionary France we hop across the channel to Victorian Era London, a city that is thriving with industry, unfortunately the city and each of its districts is under Templar control. This is where Jacob & Evie Frye come in, born into the order these 2 assassins must reclaim each borough of London and finally stop the tyranny of Crawford Starrick.

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Assassins Creed Syndicate Gameplay Walkthrough Part 1 [1080p HD PS4] – No Commentary
– MKIceAndFire

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As you will notice, there I have mentioned two main protagonists – Jacob and Evie Frye who are twins. Their father was an assassin before them, hence, why they were born into the order. After 2 missions that start the game – 2 missions that would put a Bond movie opening to shame the way it ends! – the pair of assassins take it upon themselves to travel to London to sort the ever growing Templar problem out against order wishes and also to retrieve a piece of Eden.

Now, Jacob is a no holds barred type guy – he gets things done, up close and personal. He commands a gang called The Rooks. Whenever there is a fight for control after doing the various missions in a borough, he is at the forefront fighting the opposing gang leader. It’s just the way he is and his stats and skills reflect this. Now, Evie on the other hand, is more interested in looking for the pieces of Eden, and she has a cerebral-type approach to various objectives, rather than getting into the thick of it like Jacob. Her style is faster and more stealth-orientated. Both characters are available to play when just doing the various objectives and liberating the boroughs. However, some missions like the aforementioned gang fights must be done with Jacob and, as an example, Evie has to do the opening Alexander Graham Bell mission.

Gameplay is much like the previous Assassins Creed games. Ubisoft though did decide to remove all multiplayer and co-op components from the game (a decision made from the outset). .It is a single player-only experience with plenty to see and do round the map. The map, itself it, the usual Assassins Creed fare: 2 or 3 viewpoints to unlock in each area and numerous different tasks to be completed, not forgetting all the various collectibles. This time round, you will be kidnapping key templars (annoying missions I felt), rescuing kids from forced labour factories, taking over gang strongholds and various other tasks for Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Dickens and the various factions. One of the really cool new features is your base of operations. After completing the first borough and defeating the gang leader, you get a train that travels London in a circuit. This train is your base and, from it, you can upgrade your gang members, collect money and check progress on what you are doing.

Go to page 2 for more thoughts on the game.

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Assassins Creed Syndicate Gameplay Walkthrough Part 2 [1080p HD PS4] – No Commentary
– MKIceAndFire

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Visually, Assassins Creed Syndicate looks fantastic on the PS4. Nice, long draw distances and beautiful work on textures. The city itself really captures the feel of the industrial era, much like Unity captured Revolutionary France. It is still awe inspiring when you climb a viewpoint and the game pans out showing the city from up a height, seeing key landmarks like Parliament and Big Ben and the docks with ships running on the river. My stomach still churns when doing a leap of faith from one of these viewpoints to this day (maybe I’m sitting to close to the TV!!).

The city itself is bustling with activity: people on the streets around exteriors to shops (not as many as Unity which I feel is a good thing, as getting round could become a chore at times), horse and carts/carriages on the streets including fire carts, which can be hijacked GTA-style if you so wish but without the guns to get around quicker! The only thing I would really say is that it is very typecast with the characters and the way they are portrayed. If you are not from the UK, I imagine it is how you would perceive Dickens world to be – ragtag kids, cockney-type gangsters that are similar to the workhouse charge hands and so on.

Sound is what you would expect from an era specific game: chatter as you pass through the streets, shout-outs towards you when spotted by rival gang members or Police when being chased, the tapping of horse hooves on cobble stones and so on. The city is thriving and each district is quite distinct. On the river, you hear the running water with boat engines and horns etc. Cutscenes are fully-voiced with the option to enable subtitles from the menu. To name a few of the actors used there is Paul Amos (Murdoch Mysteries & Lost Girl), Kris Holden-Ried (The Tudors & K-19: The Widowmaker) & Victoria Atkin (Hollyoaks), there are quite a few other actors that have contributed voice talent to Assassins Creed Syndicate (see cast list below)

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Assassins Creed Syndicate Gameplay Walkthrough Part 3 [1080p HD PS4] – No Commentary
– MKIceAndFire

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Conclusion

Assassins Creed Syndicate is a welcome return to the series roots – not quite Ezio Auditore, but both Evie and Jacob are charismatic and likeable, unlike Connor from Assassins Creed III. London provides a great new playground with icons littered across a huge map split into numerous boroughs. If you are like me and love this style of game, you are going to enjoy it for what it is. If this is the first Assassins Creed game you have played, then you may find it a little confusing as to what is going on.

Not once have I encountered a single issue with the game or graphical glitch.

So for players of games like the Batman series and, recently, the excellent Mad Max, you really should jump into this new Assassins Creed game. It is what Assassins Creed is at heart. There is no real need for multiplayer or even co-op in these games. Co-op on Unity, I felt was overly chaotic – there was no reserve or stealth being used whenever I tried it on Unity.

This is Assassins Creed as it should be – a welcome return to the series core mechanics and I for one cannot wait to see what is available in the Season Pass and the next game in this ever evolving series.

I also recommend revisiting Unity after playing through Syndicate, as it has been fixed and it is an excellent game and a great period in history.

All gaming footage featured is from the MKIceAndFire Youtube channel.

Assassins Creed Syndicate is out now on on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

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Assassins Creed Syndicate Gameplay Walkthrough Part 4 [1080p HD PS4] – No Commentary
– MKIceAndFire

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Important info:

• Publisher: Ubisoft
• Players: single player

GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT	9 8 9 8
OVERALL	8.5

Director: Ramiro Bélanger
Music: Austin Wintory

Cast:
Evie Frye: Victoria Atkin
Jacob Frye: Paul Amos
Crawford Starrick: Kris Holden-Ried
Frederic Abberline: Sam Crane
Henry Green: Jaz Deol
Robert Topping: Gavin Fowler
Charles Darwin: Julian Richings
Charles Dickens: Des McAleer
Karl Marx: Matthew Marsh
Galina Voronina: Patricia Summersett
Alexander Graham Bell: Mark Rowley
Mary Anne Disraeli: Jill Frappier
Catherine Gladstone: Alex Dallas
William Gladstone: Damon Redfern
Dunleep Singh: Avin Shah
Maxwell Roth: John Hopkins
Rupert Ferris: Alan Cooke
Arthur Conan Doyle: Eamon Stocks
Clara O’Dea: Amariah Faulkner
Ned Wynert: Ferelith Young
Jonnie Boiler: David Greig
Florence Nightingale: Helen Johns
Benjamin Disraeli: David Ferry
Dr John Elliotson: Ian D Clark
Philip Twopenny: Clive Walton
Henry Raymond: Andrew Gillies
Howard Roberts: Bruce Beaton
Bishop: Kate Todd
David Brewster: Peter Messaline
George Westhouse: Peter Mikhail
Enzio Capelli: Morgan David Jones
Pearl Attaway: Nathalie Toriel
Winston Churchill: Rick Miller
Edward Hodson Bayley: Shaun Austin-Olson
Lydia Frye: Lisa Norton
Malcolm Millner: Craig Warnock
Dr Wilburn: Stewart Arnott
Miss Cuthbert: Roanna Cochrane
Jude Boyd: Zachary Bennett
Richard Owens: Philip Craig
Shaun Hastings: Danny Wallace
Rebecca Crane: Eliza Schneider
Juhani Otso Berg: Andreas Apergis
Violet da Costa: Lucinda Davis
Dr Alvaro Gramatica: Marcel Jeannin
Additional voices: Laura Aikman, Nicola Stapleton