A scene from Playstation 4 and Xbox One game Assassin's Creed: Syndicate.
A scene from Playstation 4 and Xbox One game Assassin's Creed: Syndicate.
Assassin's Creed has had a terrible year. Unity, the series' much-heralded entry into the next generation console market was an unmitigated disaster. It came out riddled with bugs. Bystanders ran on the spot, held by invisible walls. Characters levitated. Faces distorted into skinless spectres.
Worst of all, it was boring.
The best new feature was being able to go inside. It was a blessing you didn't have to take your shoes off first. The hero was a jerk, and being him made you feel like an idiot.
If Assassin's Creed: Syndicate doesn't quite kill those game design demons, it at least severely maims them.
A scene from Playstation 4 and Xbox One game Assassin's Creed: Syndicate.
The new title from Ubisoft's home studio in Montreal is a return to form, pushing the series forward without compromising its traditions, and breathing fresh air into its musty gameplay. It does this mainly by focusing on the obvious.
First, the characters. Syndicate's leads are twins Jacob and Evie Frye. While Jacob is another iteration in the Creed series' procession of wise-cracking, egotistical mass-murderers, he at least doesn't prance about like a toffee-mouthed brat in the manner of Unity's risible Arno Dorian.
Evie is a revelation. The series' first playable female character could be its best. She's the game's voice of reason and - between indiscriminately hacking people to death - its conscience.
Crucially, she isn't written as a killjoy.
Syndicate also has it over other Creed instalments with its respect for players' time.
There's still trademark busy work to carry out, but it's more closely tied to achievement. You'll actually get experience points and other rewards for clearing those annoying side missions and mercifully, this time round they're quite fun.
A scene from Playstation 4 and Xbox One game Assassin's Creed: Syndicate.
Less time is spent trying to stave off boredom-induced madness in long sprints between cross-town destinations. Instead you can speed through the city on the back of a hijacked horse-drawn carriage, or zipline your way between rooftops using a custom-made grappling hook. It's no Batman: Arkham Knight, but it's better than sprinting kilometre after kilometre as your mind slowly unravels.
Other improvements: The voice work, from Kris Holden Reid's turn as lead villain Crawford to Victoria Atkin as Evie. Fun-as-hell missions pegging you as the leader of a street gang. Fight clubs. Street races. Blood-soaked mass brawls.
They're not series-defining shifts. What sticks out about Syndicate is how little the game's designers had to do to make Assassin's Creed good again. All it took was putting themselves in gamers' shoes and asking "Is this actually fun?"
Thankfully, this time around the answer is yes.
Game: Assassin's Creed: Syndicate Platform: Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC Rating: R13 Verdict: Fun makes a welcome comeback in long-running series.
