Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

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This article is about the video game. You may be looking for the short film.

"A different revolution is rising. More subtle. A blaze from the ashes of an old brotherhood. We shall rise. Street gangs will be our armies. The slums, our fortress. They say this is the modern era. I say, it's time for a rebirth. And we shall lead the way."

―Jacob Frye.

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate is the ninth main installment in the Assassin's Creed series. The conceptual title and screenshots of the game were first leaked on 2 December 2014, following which Ubisoft acknowledged the leaked assets about Victory as genuine.

The game was released on 23 October 2015 worldwide on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with the PC version releasing on 19 November 2015.

The game is set in 19th century London, during the Victorian era, with twin protagonists, Jacob and Evie Frye, both of whom are playable. The two arrive in London in 1868, as the Industrial Revolution reaches its climax, bringing its lot of inequality and poverty in a city controlled by the Templars. To stop their rule, the Fryes will take over the organized crime in an effort to gather an army and free London.

Development

Ubisoft Quebec is handling Syndicate's lead development, in conjunction with eight other studios from Montreal, Singapore, Annecy, Montpellier, Chengdu, Shanghai, Kiev and Reflections. Teams from Ubisoft Sofia, Barcelona and Toronto are also involved in the game's completion.

Having gained solid brand experience from their contributions to previous entries in the Assassin's Creed franchise, Ubisoft Quebec has reportedly been working on Syndicate for more than two years. They are collaborating closely with Ubisoft Montreal, whose significant contributions to the game include producing London's landmarks, creating "living and breathing" crowds and improving the parkour gameplay's smoothness.

Ubisoft Singapore, who pioneered the naval gameplay seen in Assassin's Creed III and subsequent entries, as well Assassin's Creed: Unity's time anomalies, has focused on new gameplay along the River Thames. Ubisoft Annecy is responsible for the development of the dynamic Train Hideout, a mobile headquarters for the Assassins around which several side missions will center. These missions will feature a strong narrative that enriches Syndicate's "gang fantasy".

One of the game's boroughs, Whitechapel, is being developed Ubisoft Montpellier, who are also working on side missions related to historical figures and specific sections within main missions. Ubisoft Reflections is a developer known for working on racing games, and has been brought in to create the free roaming vehicle gameplay. Along with vehicle degradation and in-vehicle combat mechanics, Reflections has produced several side activities that involve racing with horse-drawn carriages.

Ubisoft Chengdu is responsible for a large variety of boats, environment assets and crowd animations, while Ubisoft Shanghai handles architecture and character assets. As with previous entries, Ubisoft Kiev is working on Syndicate's PC version.

The game's 3 hour long score is composed by Austin Wintory, intended to "evoke the prowess and sarcasm" of the game's two heroes.

Gameplay

Location

Syndicate's London is 30% bigger than Paris from Assassin's Creed: Unity and is composed of seven boroughs: Westminster, the Strand, the City of London, The Thames, Whitechapel, Southwark, and Lambeth. To create as much contrast between these areas as possible, certain architectural styles were isolated to certain boroughs.

Because photography had already been invented by the time of the Industrial Revolution, the developers had a rich bank of real footage and photos to aid them in their recreation of London. Still, the city was streamlined to accomodate gameplay; the landmarks' locations are geographically accurate, but the distance in between them was adjusted. While London is the main setting of the game, locations outside of London will be visited during the storyline.

There are drastic architectural changes between Unity and Syndicate, including larger avenues and more floors in higher buildings. These changes conducted to the addition of the rope launcher to the Assassin's arsenal, to facilitate the navigation through the city.

Transportation and activities

Carriages serve as the fastest vehicular mode of transportation through the city, with the crowds now being restricted to the pavements on the sides of the road. Trains and steamboats also appear, and are primarily used to travel the city, though boats are restricted as freerunning platforms across the Thames, while the Assassins possess a Train Hideout that crosses the city.

To liberate the boroughs of London, various activities are available, including bounty hunting, Templar assassinations, attacking strongholds and liberating children from factories. Once the Templars' control over the area was sufficiently weakened, a gang war would be initiated, culminating in the borough being taken over entirely by the Rooks.

Money is counted in pounds, and can be procured by completing missions, pickpocketing, opening chests, participating in street races, winning in fight clubs and accomplishing train robberies, and cargo escorts.

Kidnapping is introduced as both a stealth mechanic and mission objective. The former allows for any enemy not aware of Jacob/Evie, to be kidnapped and used as a form of blending, allowing access to restricted areas. During kidnapping, a ring appears around the characters, signifying how close other enemies can get before realizing the ruse. It shortens the slower they walk, and increased greatly if running. Occasionally, the victim will try to escape, needing to be restrained. When their purpose is over, they can be assassinated or knocked out. For missions, primarily Bounty Hunts, targets can be kidnapped, and loaded in carriages.

Characters, customization and weapons

Both playable characters will have different skill trees and the Frye twins' play-styles will reflect their different personalities. There will be the possibility to switch at will between characters between the missions. However, each mission will be attributed to only one of the twins, with around 75% for Jacob and consequently 25% for Evie.

As the reckless and brawler twin, Jacob has multiple tools at his disposal: hallucinogenic darts fired from his Hidden Blade, throwing knives that can be used from range – but with the new feature of activating traps in the environment such as hanging barrels – and a six-shot revolver. Owing to the era's stricter regulations on carrying weapons, Jacob also wields a kukri in his trench coat, a pair of brass knuckles, and at some point wields a cane sword, concealing a short sword and a scythe blade at its extremity.

Being level-headed and less exuberant than her brother, Evie is more focused on stealth. She is equipped with the same gauntlet that her brother possesses and will also, at some point, have access to a cane sword. However, her sword will have a different design than her brother's weapon, with the blade splitting in three, like a trident.

Experience points and levelling

By performing Assassin-like actions, such as air assassinations, and completing missions, players gain experience points. For every 1000 experience points, a skill point is unlocked which can then be spent to unlock a particular skill, though higher skills require multiple points. The amount of unlocked skills Jacob and Evie have determines their level.

The Rooks under their control can also be upgraded. This demonstrates as stronger combat prowess, reducing the effectiveness of the enemy, and better vehicles becoming more abundant in the streets.

Combat

Due to the restriction on open weaponry, much of the combat will be carried out through fistfights. The combat mechanics will be similar to Unity, but at a quicker pace. Contextual kills will also make a return from Assassin's Creed: Rogue, and allowing the stunning of multiple opponents, before chaining together a series of quick multi-kills.

Other

There will be no competitive or co-op multiplayer game mode in Syndicate, the developers instead choosing to concentrate their efforts on the single-player content.

Syndicate has also been revealed to offer microtransactions. However, Ubisoft has stated that all in-game content can be unlocked through conventional means; with the microtransactions being there as an option for people who wish to save time on gameplay and accelerate their progress.

Contrary to most previous installments, which spanned for about a decade, Syndicate's main storyline will be set only during the year 1868.

Street Fires

Street fires are darted all through the London area, when enemies are close by get close enough so that the fire is highlighted simply aim and shot your hallucinogenic darts into the fire.

Downloadable content

Two additional singleplayer missions, The Darwin and Dickens Conspiracy and Runaway Train, are available by pre-ordering certain editions. Ubisoft has also announced a Season Pass, which will include the aforementioned singleplayer missions, as well as the following content:

• Jack the Ripper singleplayer campaign - Set in 1888, the rise of Jack the Ripper poses a threat to London and the Assassin Brotherhood; players will join forces with Inspector Frederick Abberline of Scotland Yard to hunt down the infamous serial killer.
• The Last Maharaja mission pack - Jacob and Evie aid Duleep Singh in his quest to reclaim his birthright as the Maharaja.
• A Long Night mission - Jacob tracks down an endangered gang member and brings him back to the hideout in a "fast-paced, wild and dangerous ride".
• Steampunk and Victorian Legends outfit packs
• Permanent experience boost

Marketing

As with previous entries, Syndicate will have content exclusive to the PlayStation 4. Similar to the Murder Mysteries of Assassin's Creed: Unity, "The Dreadful Crimes" will include ten side missions in which the player will investigate kidnappings, murders and other crimes within London. Solving the crimes correctly will reward the player with special gear and exclusive artwork.

Like Unity, the game was promoted at the San Diego Comic-Con with the Assassin Experience obstacle course, and The Syndicate, an animated short directed by F. Gary Gray.

Gold EditionThe Rooks EditionCollector's Edition

• A retail copy of Assassin's Creed: Syndicate.
• The Baker Street Outfit.
• The Season Pass.
• One exclusive single player mission: The Darwin and Dickens Conspiracy.

• A retail copy of Assassin's Creed: Syndicate.
• A collector's box.
• A copy of the official soundtrack.
• A copy of the official artbook.
• A double-sided London map.
• Two exclusive single player missions: The Darwin and Dickens Conspiracy and Runaway Train.

• A retail copy of Assassin's Creed: Syndicate.
• A collector's box.
• The Season Pass
• A 9" Jacob Cross-Road figurine.
• A copy of the official soundtrack.
• A copy of the official artbook.
• A double-sided London map.
• One exclusive single player mission: The Darwin and Dickens Conspiracy.