Latest ‘Creed’ best yet

By: Ben Boezinger

Darting through the streets of Victorian London, the smog rises over the city and diffuses through the air. The sounds of horses’ hooves pound the cobblestone street as the sun glares off the puddles spread across.

This is just one of the many masterpieces that is in “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.” The setting is what makes the game. The diversity throughout the streets and across the brick ridden roofs is so entertaining in itself. The game uses the setting to it’s advantage. You can use this during missions and side quests. You can dart on top of the roofs and pick off guards one by one. You can brawl all the guards at once. The options that are available to take back oppressed 18 century London are endless.

GAMEPLAY

“Assassin’s Creed” has always been known for it’s gameplay — the seamless and effortless parkour that’s used to tour the cities and the opportunities for you to stroll the city while simultaneously freeing a templar-ridden district of both time and setting.

This year is no different. London is your playground. You can use the carriages to escort yourself across the city or chase down a fleeing enemy.

Transportation is different than it ever has been in this year’s edition, not only by vehicles but also by the new grappling device. This is by far the most impressive, fun and game-oriented weapon in the series. Now you can glide over open streets without ever touching the ground. You can fly up to the tops of buildings and towers and drop onto an unsuspecting target. You can drop in and out of a mission area, stealthily without drawing any unwanted attention to yourself and without compromising the mission.

The other major way you can tour London is the horse drawn carriages spewed all around the city. As easy as it is to pick up a controller, that’s how easy it is gallop across the cobblestone streets.

The carriages impose themselves throughout the game and story. You use them in side quests that require stealing them and transporting goods from the rival gang. You can use them across the open world basically in any mission, and some missions even require you to use them.

Maybe the best part is the fact you can fight and take down your enemies on the roof. Or how you can drive and shoot at the same time. Along with the carriages are the trains that were introduced during this century. Using a locomotive as your base, you can ride them basically throughout the city and see the tremendous graphics and 18 century buildings.

The side quests that involve train robberies are the most fun and extremely rewarding, including the loyalty that you get with one of the supporting characters. Speaking of loyalty, when you complete side quests, you get loyalty points and the more loyalty points you get, the more  weapons, gear and upgrades you unlock. This is probably one of my favorite parts of the game, as it actually makes me want to complete side quests for super exclusive gear.

STORY

Previously in the series, storylines have varied in strength, recently suffering in the previous installment, “Assassin’s Creed Unity.” This year it’s incredibly better.

The twin duo of Evie and Jacob Frye combine two completely different play style that cross paths in efficient ways. While Evie mostly focuses on finding the relics from the First Civilization, Jacob is keen on taking down London’s secret rule, Starrick.

Enshrouded in controversy, Starrick controls every part of London’s ecosystem and rules with an iron fist. Each cog in Starricks system is brutally slayed as Jacob marches on through swamps of backroom deals and modern day controversy. While the buildup is extremely fun and well worth it, the ending is somewhat disappointing. It gave me the opinion that it was rushed, and that it couldn’t reach it’s full potential.

On the other hand, Evie’s storyline is equally as riveting. Completely differing from Jacob’s style of think first act last, Evie takes trying to find the relics slowly and stealthily, like her play style. While the buildup is slow, it’s not boring. The continuous searching is both fun and exciting, not how I expected for it to go at all. Each mission is carefully crafted and fun. The ways that you can execute the plan coincide with both the character’s playstyle and yours, but still the ending left a sour taste in my mouth.

This year’s addition to the series is most likely one of the best in the series. The story is riveting and the characters’ evolution and communication with other historical characters and themselves is extremely entertaining.

The storyline and the gameplay are the best I’ve seen in awhile. The only real problem with the game is the ending, but I think that the sidequests and Charles Darwin missions well make up for it. I give it a score a 91/100 and think that this is definitely one of the best the series has to offer. If you’ve skipped out the past few years, then this is the year to pick it back up.

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