The Cohhilition

Okay, so let me start off by saying that Assassin's Creed has now become a seemingly love/hate franchise with gamers, so this thread is intended for folks who enjoy the series and not for people who want to discuss how terrible it has become. Deal?

So, on to the topic at hand: Syndicate. After the utter disaster that was Unity, what are your thoughts on this game? I've been a huge fan of the series throughout, like most fans, the Ezio trilogy being my particular favorites. I also found Rogue to be quite enjoyable, which I feel a lot of people overlooked. Unity, for the most part, has now been fixed of most major glitches and I recently played through it in it's entirety. My main complaint is not technical, but story-wise. It's pointless and unsatisfying in that regard.

The story of the AC games has always been a little convoluted and hard to follow, but during the "Desmond Era", it at least seemed to have a goal. I remember reading an interview from the Ubi Devs when Black Flag came out and they said they would never again do a playable protagonist like Desmond in the "current day" setting as their metrics showed that most people hated the present day stuff. But, I think the most hardcore fans of the series really care about it, and it was such a shame that Black Flag, Rogue, and Unity did away with it.

Well, in a more recent interview regarding Syndicate, they're saying that the current day story is back and will explain everything and start a new story arc. I'm now not sure how to feel about this. It feels like they said screw you to the big fans of the game and wanted to focus on mass appeal by getting rid of the modern day story bits, but after they royally fluffed up the last few games, they are trying to target the only people who still care. I guess that's a good thing for fans like myself, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on Syndicate and the series as a whole? Is this the last chance you're giving Ubisoft to right the ship? Can the series survive another failure like Unity?

The series is not aging well. Syndicate is a last shot and honestly, it is taking another abrupt turn in the "Black Flag" direction. For many, myself included, that is a good thing, as BF is my favorite of the series so far. Those who are like minded may think the same, but those purists who think that AC 2 was the pinnacle, this might not be their bag of tea.

I think it's hard to say it hasn't aged well as it's really been a roller coaster of quality throughout. I thought AC2 and Brotherhood were great, Revelations and AC3 were a little weak, Black Flag and Rogue were great...and then well, Unity. So, certainly it has had ups and downs.

For me, AC2 is the pinnacle of the games story-telling. Black Flag was certainly the best gameplay I think. It's odd, at first, I didn't care for BF because it was such a departure from the rooftop running of the previous games, but after going back to the rooftops in Unity, I certainly missed the freedom of the open seas.

So, I really hope that Syndicate does something new. I still stand behind the Ezio trilogy of games being the overall strongest in the series, but aside from the bugs and all that, Unity showed you can't go back to that old formula, it doesn't work now.

AC2 is my favorite of the series. I enjoyed the story and the settings, running around in those Italian towns. I'm liking the look of syndicate so far, hope it is as good.

I wouldn't mind if they took a break from all the quick releases and gave the series some time to chill before a new sequel comes out. For business purposes I can see why they don't.

I'm guessing the series will go on regardless of how syndicate performs?

Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. The best thing that Ubisoft could do for the series is to give it a rest. These once a year releases just don't allow enough time for innovation and fine tuning. I mean, jesus, the series is now 8 years old and they still haven't perfected the free running system. I still found myself running up the wrong thing or jumping in the wrong direction in Unity.

But yeah, it's quite a cash cow at this point because poor saps like me keep buying, even after they over promise and under deliver. But I really, really want Syndicate to be good. I'd also like to seem them take us back in the timeline, rather than closer to the current time. 1800's London is a cool setting, but I fear they keep thinking they have to one-up themselves with the weapons and such, so they give us more guns and crazy contraptions. I quite liked the simple blades that Altair used. Next thing ya know, we'll have sniper rifles.

Unless Syndicate completely and utterly fails to sell, there will undoubtedly be another Assassin's Creed game next year. And given that they are filming the AC Movie, I highly doubt they are going to slow down the production of the games. Gotta feed that hype train!

I'm optimistic that Syndicate will put things back on track, but as a die-hard fan, I really would like to see them take a step back, reassess where this series should go, and then take the time to make the best game possible instead of rushing another one out.