We’re three AC games into the current generation (not counting that three-Vita game portover), and I notice that only Origins has gotten any real discussion here. I know Syndicate’s been out for a while, but it took me a while to get into it. I just finished the main storyline this week, and it’s been so compelling that I’m actually going to do something I’m certain I never would; play it over. (Also I made a whole bunch of rookie mistakes the first time and want to see if I can do better this time.) So, for no other reason that I really want to…my thoughts!
In short: It’s good. Possibly even really good; I’ll have to get more deeply into the sidequests before I can say for sure. My biggest relief is that Ubisoft, true to form, fixed most of the disastrous blunders they made with Unity. Syndicate’s rebound from Unity is almost as big as 2’s massive rebound from 1, which is saying a lot. The principals can actually fight, enemy guns aren’t horrifying Grim Reaper scythes of instant doom, the multiplayer albatross is a thing of the past, it’s much easier to get around, and you don’t lose half an hour of progress every single time you misjudge an escape or stick your neck out a micrometer too far. Optional objectives, while occasionally a bit annoying, never seemed completely out of place or pointlessly difficult. As for what is the absolute worst part of the game, that’s easy: The loading times for starting up, using a fast forward location, or resetting after desyncrhonizing. I find it pretty remarkable that such a powerful system can still have these big delays. I actually usually prefer riding a carriage or ziplining to fast forwarding just because of load times.
It’s structured very well, allowing you to proceed at your own pace and prioritize where you want to place your efforts at any given moment. Personally, I found taking down the Blighter machine piece by piece so satisfying that I barely even touched the main story until only Whitechapel was left. The only real big item you get from the story is the Voltaic Bomb, and honestly, I never found that one all that useful. One of the interesting twists is that it’s possible to get Sequence 8 early if you spend enough time doing your civic duty. Other than cutting down Templars and Blighters, the main task is collecting treasures and other collectibles. While it can get tedious, this is a very worthwhile activity because it can get you tons of experience with little or no risk, especially the Secrets of London.
And as for experience, skill points, perks, and, oh yeah, money…yeah, this is the kind of game that takes time to get good. In fact, that’s another reason I avoided the story for so long; you need to get experience and skill points to get stronger, and you absolutely must get stronger to have any chance of facing the tougher challenges. In fact, one of the toughest tasks for me in my first run was deciding which skills to get…they all sounded so good! The good news is that because nothing is tied to multiplayer, it’s not only possible to get all the skills, but it’ll actually happen fairly early. (Oh, and big plus for having both Assassins earn experience at the same rate, so you don’t have to sweat one of them missing out.) Nonetheless, some are definitely handier than others, and there are are definitely a few you’ll need at a certain point (lockpicking, in particular), so it pays to choose carefully. The good news is that you can switch between the siblings on the fly, so in the early going you can split up their abilities…one can open locked chests, one is good at driving, one can do gun finishers, etc…and pull up the one you need for each specific task. Success definitely begets success here, and cutting your teeth in the easier areas until you have the muscle for the bad parts of town is a must. Higher levels also allow you to use better equipment, which will help you a LOT as you progress in the game. As for money (and to a somewhat lesser extent resources)…there are many, many, MANY demands on your funds this time, so you’re going to have to spend carefully for much of the game. You’re also going to have to go without for a while, since the majority of the big expenditures are long-term deals; either increasing your income or decreasing the cost of other things. This is the only AC game where I spend a lot of time just letting the game run and doing nothing (which the siblings are just fine with, thankfully) while waiting for the coffer to fill.
Now fighting. This is something that’s…honestly not a whole lot of fun, and, outside of the Fight Clubs, you want to avoid it as much as possible. Not because Jacob and Evie are wimps (either could wipe the floor with Arno one-legged), but because fighting is simply the least efficient way of separating an enemy from his life. You have to land a lot of blows just to put him in a “near death” state, and then you have to watch a killing animation. Multiple enemies can make life really difficult because they can tag you before you can even see them, and it can be tough to read three or four indicator bars and gauge your appropriate response. It is possible to pull off some fancy maneuvers, but other than double kills, I don’t have the chops for them (and I’m not even entirely sure how to do a double kill yet).
In fact, one of the things I noticed killing-wise is that you don’t have any leeway for which weapons you get to use and how. You can only fight with brass knuckles, canes, or kukris, hidden blades can only be used for assassinations and finishers, and there are many, many situations where the noise made by a gun makes it an absolute no-no; ditto with the havoc caused by hallucinogenic darts. I’ve found that the quiet, efficient throwing knife is the real ace in the hole when it comes to not failing objectives. In fact, the main reason I find Evie a lot more useful than Jacob in liberating the city is that she has a skill which greatly increases her knife capacity. As for smoke bombs, they’re not really that good for winning fights since you can’t use the hidden blade on a smoked foe (and it’s honestly not that hard to win the fights you really need to anyway) their primary use is getting out of Dodge without a fight, but once you upgrade them enough they’re very effective for that. Oh, one more thing: USE YOUR ROOKS! Especially for enemy-packed areas like child factories, you’ll find very quickly that six pairs of fists are far more effective than one.
As for ziplining…okay, there’s one thing you gotta understand. I don’t spend a ton of time on video games anymore. Lots of reasons for that, but the bottom line is that I only have the time and patience for at most two or three games at any one time. So it should therefore not come as much of a surprise that I’ve never played Arkham anything, and thus have not gotten horribly, horribly burned out on ziplining like all of you seem to have. My verdict: Incredibly handy, a great addition, and just plain fun! Yeah, yeah, Yahtzee said it makes free climbing redundant. Yahtzee whines about everything. That’s his job. I don’t judge anything by Yahtzee.
Oh, and Evie’s inviso-cloaking skill that’s a hideous atrocity for a dozen reasons…honestly, I find it nowhere near as cool as it sounds and largely a colossal disappointment. For it to work, she has to be in sneak mode, and still as a statue, and not currently being sought by any enemy, and not next to anyone, and not aiming a weapon. That’s just way, way too many restrictions for this ability to have any practical use. Just keep your eyes open, have your smoke bombs equipped, and be ready to run like hell.
The story itself? Perfectly fine. I did find the bickering between the siblings to be kinda forced, but never to an outrageous extent. The various players like Florence Nightingale, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Disraeli play their minor parts when needed, no one person dominating the discourse like Leonardo da Vinci unfortunately did. Crawford Starrick is a good villain; he seems to strike the right balance between fanaticism, ruthlessness, arrogance, greed, and bouts of explosive anger, and his motives are always believable. The part I liked the most is that Jacob and Evie are the first Assassins I’ve seen who actually sound like they enjoy the job. No I-will-avenge-you-father, noble-sacrifice-for-the-betterment-of-mankind, let’s-end-this-so-we-can-live-in-piece angst, they fly into danger and slay their foes because it’s cool and because they can.
Oh, and side note: I was really put off by Shaun Hastings in 2 and Brotherhood, but now, damn, I pity the poor bastard. He hates violence and is forced to engage in it regularly, he’s a loquacious thinker who can’t share his knowledge with the world, and nearly all his friends end up dead. Plus having to taste lots of really awful 19th century beer (by far one of the most entertaining parts of the game; I was laughing my butt off at some of those diatribes).
Well, this was more disorganized than I expected, and I’m sure I left a bunch of stuff out, but I’m pretty sure I covered the important parts. So, final verdict: It does what an AC game should, which is keep me going, it’s the most rewarding PS4 experience I’ve ever had, would play all over again, most definitely will play all over again, and looking forward to getting those remaining trophies. Can’t recommend it enough.