Assassin's Creed Syndicate

[PZ]

Well, here's a breath of fresh air for me - a new game with no online game play, no multiplayer.  Releases today for the consoles and the middle of next month for Windows. Set in old London, and is said to be 30% larger than Paris (which I thought was a bit small)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-l-5vuYpSw

[fragger]

Nice :-X

[PZ]

I might actually consider this game after reading several reviews and watching a few videos. What has me interested is that a few reviewers wrote that this was the best since AC2 or Brotherhood.  Although there were a couple of graphics glitches, none were game changers, and people seem to think that the huge bug list in Unity has been fixed.  However, the best news is still that there is no online MP or co-op, which means that the programmers can focus on the SP aspect of the experience.

As you can see, I am trying to talk myself into this game.  :-()

[OWGKID]

The game has some Unity style glitches. I would not call them severe as AC: Unity thought

Here is a couple of videos showing some silly/hilarious glitches 

https://youtu.be/j613Uo-E93M

https://youtu.be/7Mdn5Tn1zBo

[Art Blade]

UBI? -- I'm off.

[PZ]

Funny, GKID!  :-X

We already knew that you would not partake, AB - unless another publisher developed the game  :-()

[PZ]

I had not noticed this before watching the first video, but the circular warning indicator displays a sort of sound wave in the direction of the originating sound - kind of cool because the amplitude appears to be relatively accurate.

[Binnatics]

I will skip this too. Don't want another Ubi-SOF ;D

[PZ]

I guess I'm just a sucker for the AC games, although there have been a few others lately that I've not had on my radar.  I'm intrigued by the grapple hook - love that method of travel in JC3

[PZ]

Evidently there is a reasonable day/night cycle, and Ubi appears to have done a reasonable job simulating the landmarks

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-assassins-creed-syndicate-timelapse

Some people claim to be pleasantly surprised by Syndicate, and I'm encouraged that mention was made that the map is the best ever.

http://kotaku.com/tips-for-playing-assassins-creed-syndicate-1739702219

Another year, another Assassin's Creed game.

Or should I say, another Ubisoft game? At this point, the company has turned homogeneity into an art form – the huge open worlds full of collectibles, the towers you climb up to unlock parts of the map, the microtransactions, it's all turning into a finely ground sludge from which picking individual games has slowly become fruitless.

That said, however, Assassin's Creed Syndicate may actually be able to stand out from the grey soup that is Ubisoft's game library, given that it's the first decent Creed game in years and boasts some much-needed refinement to what is an archaic, overworked horse of an annualized franchise.

http://www.thejimquisition.com/2015/10/assassins-creed-syndicate-review/

Assassin's Creed Syndicate has slotted straight in at number two on my all-time favourite Creed games, behind the brilliance of Assassin's Creed II. Syndicate is almost everything I want from an Assassin's Creed adventure, and a refreshing return to basics for veteran players.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is a rejuvenation of what made the early games great. It removes the bloating, but hides most of it for those that wish to seek it out, and better structures the story and side missions to craft the most compelling instalment this generation. London is fastidiously recreated in an amazing open world, and Evie and Jacob Fry are the best protagonists since Ezio. The quirks of Creed are never going away, but for players that have learned to live with them, Syndicate is the Assassin's Creed you've been asking for.

http://mmgn.com/ps4/assassins-creed-syndicate-review

I have a feeling there are a lot of lapsed Assassin's Creed players out there. Hell, I'm one of them. I loved Assassin's Creed II so much I played it until my thumbs hurt. Then the third one was such a letdown I gave up after six hours of boredom. I've dabbled with the series here and there in recent years, but none of the games have pulled me in, until now. To top it off, this is one of the most interesting settings yet in an Assassin's Creed game, and the historical information is fantastic. New encyclopedia entries unlock as you progress through the game, so you can learn about the history, characters, and landmarks if you take the time to read them. It kind of felt like I was on vacation in the setting, reading an entertaining tourist guidebook.

http://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/assassins-creed-syndicate-you-wanted-better-you-got-it.html/

[fragger]

Ubisoft improved on something!? ??? I'm going outside to see if there are any pigs flying over.

[PZ]

  :-X

I'm not going to hold my breath, but I did get the game a couple of days ago for the PS4.  it was a simple install and it offered to do a 500 mb update, but you were not required to do so.  After it installed, it listed DLC, some of which was for pay, and two that were completely free - new missions of some sort.  I also went to the Uplay store because I received an email letting me know that there were other things to check out - free outfit upgrades - a couple of minutes and I had that too. 

I started the game, and it immediately launched into the scenes that began the game as seen in the walk throughs.  However, I had to get things done and put it away before continuing.  Anyway, I've been too tired to fire it up - maybe tonight.

[PZ]

Well, I moved the PS4 back into the bedroom so while the wife is sleeping late in the mornings, I'm able to game on the console, which is where I start with "maybe good" games.

I'm still really early into the game, 3-4% or so and so far there are things I like and others that are not so good.

The good:

   
• It feels like going back to the old AC games (starting with 2 and ending with Revelations). The movements are really good - fluid, and looks almost lifelike. We've always been able to run up buildings, but the ability to run down without falling is definitely a plus.
• Graphics are even better than ever before, but not surprised since it was designed for newer hardware
• I love the database where you can read about the people and places
• It is fun to drive the carriages through town - reminds me of the Leonardo carriage ride down the mountain in AC2
• I really like the fact that the rooftops are not covered with guards - much more realistic to have them empty, especially since you are rather weak and require death from above techniques
• The map is now sort of 3D - you can slide from top to oblique view.
• Much of the map is available to explore and reveal.
• It appears that they have taken the best parts of the prior games and incoporated them into this game

The Bad:

   
• So far, the combat is not so good - I have brass knuckles and a pistol, but no the weaponry that I have experienced in prior games - that makes me vulnerable (much more so) than in prior games
• Fast travel is convenient, but not as immersive as prior games.  It is more like most of the games today - "liberate" an area and you can fast travel

[PZ]

I guess I have finished the intro sequence because I now have the grapple hook/zip line plus my hideout which is a train. This version in the series has elements from several prior games:

   
• The grapple hook combines the best of the tool from Just Cause and the zip line from one of the prior AC games.  You can grapple to the tops of tall buildings, and then set the line to the top of another building. Your character does not simply zip line to the destination, but you more hand over hand and can stop midway as an assassination target approaches.
• Alexander Graham Bell appears to be the new Leonardo, as he fixed my grapple hook and gave it to me.
• The train hideout has a map which allows you to purchase and renovate businesses as before.

All in all, I'm beginning to enjoy the game much like the earlier AC games.  Maybe Ubi has resisted the temptation to include a boss.  I don't mind having a worthy opponent (like the Pope in AC2), but would have been extremely disappointed if he had turned into a huge red devil.

[fragger]

It's nice when a new game turns out to be fun, like a game is supposed to be :-D :-X

lol the comment about the Pope turning into a huge red devil There's got to be a joke there somewhere.

[PZ]

  :-X

Yeah, it is fun when you can recognize elements in a new game that you appreciated in prior games.  In this instance, I had to play as Evie in the grapple hook training, and the missions was quite fun. The following is a spoiler, but I doubt that others here are going to play so here it goes:

Alex Bell gave me a mission  to install new electrical fuses atop Big Ben and two other locations.  Bonus XP was issued if you stayed above 30 meters the entire time, and did a zip line assassination.  The best part - you had all the time you need to plan your attack - the best of all the types of open world missions I like.  Rated that mission 5 stars.

[fragger]

 :-X