Posted Sat Oct 24, 2015 at 09:37 AM PDT by Justin Clark
Yo dawg, we heard you like 'Assassin's Creed', so...
'Assassin's Creed Syndicate' just hit yesterday, to some rather strong reviews. The short version is that the idiocy that caused 'Unity' to happen has not been repeated. That's good news as it is. However, it appears that Ubisoft has been holding out on even most reviewers when it concerns one of the game's most impressive narrative/technical feats, and done something amazing. This is DEFINITELY spoiler territory so, we'll give you a nice buffer area to prepare. The spoiler free version is that new players should definitely be keeping an eye on the unstable data boundary of the map a little more for a little icon that kinda looks like one of the helix shards scattered throughout (the actual glittery shards that kinda look like they activate the Fortress of Solitude, not the map marker). They hide....something wonderful. Heres your buffer. For you folks that opt out, heres a lovely video of Austin Wintory talking about the great little turn of the century ballads written about each of the Frye twins' victims. Under that video lay spoilers. Last chance.
Still here? All righty then.
Although 'Assassin's Creed Unity' was a trainwreck, even the most bitter players admitted that the portal sequences, in which Arno Dorian had to jump through a glitch in the Animus, and would up in a completely different time period, were pretty amazing. Never ones to not seize on a good idea, Ubisoft's taken it to the next level: 'Syndicate' apparently has a portal, offered by the alien intelligence Juno, that takes players to World War I, playing as a Frye descendant named Lydia. Not just to some tiny little artificially walled off playground either. This is a full on open-world area, with a new, playable character, new missions--Winston Churchill even makes an appearance!--viewpoints, collectibles, the whole shebang. Basically, UbiSoft has ANOTHER 'ASSASSIN'S CREED' HIDDEN IN AN 'ASSASSIN'S CREED'.
Not only did that have to be a bastard to pull off from a technical standpoint, but I've actually played and beaten the game. 46 hours I clocked in this thing, and THAT PORTAL ICON NEVER CAME UP. This is trading on the kind of crazy promise 'Bioshock Infinite' made in its closing hours, from a series folks were all too ready to write off last year. Ubisoft deserves some serious kudos on this. Check out video of the segment below, courtesy Polygon.
You can find the latest info on 'Assassin's Creed Syndicate' linked from our Video Game Release Schedule.
Source: Polygon
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