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Before all the tech heads follow suit, I want it to be known that I have always been an ardent defender of Assassin's Creed Syndicate. From the moment I first laid eyes on the Frye twins, shucking off their hoods on the misty rooftops of Whitechapel and proceeding to bicker in that loving yet exasperated way that only siblings can, I knew I'd get on with them. But I never understood why so many others didn't.
Of the best Assassin's Creed games, Syndicate is one of the quirkiest and most charming – and its vibrant characters, missions, and worldbuilding make up for what is admittedly one of the weaker combat systems across the Ubisoft stealth series. It had something of a tough go of things when the game launched in 2015, with a critical eye already being cast on Ubisoft following the painfully buggy Assassin's Creed Unity released the year before. I feel that fact, alongside the constant dragon-chasing factor in the wake of how brilliant Black Flag was, caused many to come down harder on the Fryes than perhaps necessary. But now that the game has received a framerate-boosting update on PS5, PS5 Pro, and Xbox Series X, as hinted on Twitter back in September, this is your sign to take advantage of Assassin's Creed Syndicate's pre-Black Friday sale and fall in love with the twins' saga for the very first time – or, if you're like me, all over again.
Two for one
Assassin's Creed Syndicate review: "it hasn’t been this much fun to wield the hidden blade in years"
If one thing gets you to try out Syndicate, let it be the fact that it helped set the course for the next big Creed RPG way back in 2015. That's because before Assassin's Creed Shadows was a twinkle in Ubisoft Quebec's collective eye, Syndicate marked the first time players got to experience dual protagonists in an AC game.
Fellow Frye enthusiast Heather Wald highlights how she hopes the dynamism of swapping between characters is as fun and integral to Shadows' gameplay as it is to Syndicate's – a sentiment I echo, too. From the joint player-controlled protagonists to the return of a grappling hook-like traversal system, these shared stylistic traits mark both games as identifiable products of Ubisoft Quebec. For that reason, Syndicate feels to me like a mandatory experience in the leadup to the upcoming Assassin's Creed game, showcasing the origins of Ubi Quebec's interest in character-swapping and the implications of doing so on an ever-evolving, overlapping narrative.
Zeroing in on Syndicate specifically, I love stalking the streets of Victorian London as both twins intermittently, getting to know their distinct personalities, strengths, and weaknesses over the course of the game. While I find the impetuous Jacob and his quick-witted charisma far more entertaining than his serious, borderline killjoy of a sister, Evie is my go-to for pretty much all missions – especially ones where I need to be stealthy. The developer did an excellent job at scripting their relationship, the twin's unique characteristics playing off each other and making each of them likeable and important to the narrative in equal measure.
Pair that with some top-class voice acting, and you can't help but be instantly hooked by their journey. Would I have preferred Evie's storyline to pass the Bechdel test and revolve less heavily around a man? Sure, but I also appreciate how her romance with Henry Green proves an interesting parallel to Jacob's budding…something with one of the game's most enigmatic, definitely queer coded villains. But a dissection of Jacob Frye's implied bisexuality is a topic for another day. You'll just have to trust me that Jacob and Evie Frye are a lot more than two wannabe gang leaders; they're fully-formed individuals with goals, complexities, and flaws that had me yearning for a Syndicate sequel before I even rolled credits.
London's churning
Syndicate is the perfect historical fantasy...
The final reason you absolutely need to give Syndicate a shot as a matter of urgency? Why, you'll have the whole of Victorian London at your feet. I ranked it (potentially provocatively) high on my list of best Assassin's Creed maps ranked by aesthetic, because I'm a sucker for a city-based Creed moreso than I am ones set in arid deserts or entire countries – sorry, Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
Syndicate is the perfect historical fantasy, a reimagining of 1800s London that feels both incredibly realistic in its shades of dreary grey and playfully unserious. You can swing by Buckingham Palace to pick up a mission from Her Majesty Queen Victoria before going ghost hunting with Charles Dickens, scaling Big Ben, and causing a riot at Bedlam all within a couple of hours. In contrast, the must-play Jack the Ripper DLC doubles down on the atmospheric nature of Victorian London by removing the comedy entirely. A veil of dread, grief, and impending doom has been cast over the city, reflected not only in the DLC's musical score but the more serious missions an older Evie Frye embarks upon a mission to save her brother and unmask the infamous serial killer stalking the streets of Whitechapel.
Even after 100% completion, I still find so much to marvel at in Assassin's Creed Syndicate. It's one of the few games I refuse to delete from my overstuffed Xbox, frequently returning to it simply to walk about and soak in the ambience– and every time I visit real-life London, the itch to play Syndicate grips me almost instantly. It might be an acquired taste for some, but here's hoping that my words have been enough to convince you to give the black sheep of Assassin's Creed a fighting chance – especially now that Syndicate sports a buttery 60 frames-per-second to take some of the clunk out of those combat encounters.
Check out the host of upcoming Ubisoft games to watch out for, from Assassin's Creed to Anno.
