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[darkslayer101]

Been on an AC marathon ever since I stopped playing the series after Black Flag. Earlier this year I started AC Unity and oh lord was it atrocious. The graphics was pretty but the characters were very disappointing and the plot fell flat, not to mention the missions were no fun to play. The multiplayer was pretty neat but I dropped the game soon as I finished the main story.
And WHAT THE HELL IS THIS UBI???

Spoiler

The game rubbed me the wrong way to the point where I started AC: Rogue last month. Rogue was pretty good thanks in part to resembling a lot like black flag and I kept hearing praises for it so I looked forward to playing it. The game was alright, nothing groundbreaking, but the plot to me fell flat. The whole Shay turning Templar was not handled properly (felt stupid and rushed) and most of the side characters AGAIN was severely underused. The American Era of AC was very disappointing to me and the franchise turned to guilty pleasure level to me.

And then came Syndicate.

This is a damn good game but it is still plagued by the errors of the previous American era of AC games. The characters were amazing, especially the twins, the side characters were interesting enough and the plot was not bad. Still it suffers AGAIN from severely underused villains, modern era plot that is completely rubbish and pointless and of course the map littered with collectibles (although it is a lot more tolerable now).

That said the game took so many of the good mechanics of the previous game such as the rope launcher:

(Someone finally noticed it from revelations.)

The graphics was just as superior as it was on Unity but this time London feels lively and atmospheric. (Maybe I have a thing for London exploration). The carriages were great addition and the outfits and accessories were actually good looking or useful. The missions were great and not too taxing such as the ‘tail so and so person forever’ type seen in black flag.

Overall it’s sad that the decline in quality from ACIII onwards kinda overshadowed Syndicate because that game is AC at its finest. If I had to rank em from good to bad mine would be:
AC2 – ACB – Syndicate – Black Flag – Revelations – AC1 – Rogue – ACIII – Unity

Also I feel like either the developers want to stretch out the franchise or they are heavily disconnected from the fans regarding the modern era plot. I am guessing it’s the latter but the thing that made AC worthwhile was that the actions of our heroes had heavy impact and everything felt grandiose. Lately these characters and entries feel so cookie-cutter and adds nothing to the overall franchise. I hope the franchise can get back up by making more stand out characters like Evie

Spoiler

WHO IS FRIGGING HAWT

and Jacob and make a plot that is more riskier and epic rather than just another open world collectible game.

 

[thsantos]

Perfect ranking!

Even though the game has its flaws, I think it was a step on the right direction for the franchise. Let's see what they're doing with the next.

 

[Auctopus]

Possibly my favourite AC, AC2 might be better but honestly, I can't decide sometimes. I loved London as a setting and the unique lighting. I loved the different districts and both the twins were decent protagonists. Evie was much better than Jacob though.

I think back on the game very fondly and sometimes consider re-installing/buying to play the DLC.

 

[MadYarpen]

I enjoyed it, it is a nice game. My first ac since III so I missed quite a lot of the franchise.

What I did not really like was that the game feels mostly like it is about gangwars, and not about fight with Templars.

 

[qatak]

Nice rankings - I'd just switch black flag and syndicate, personally.

Syndicate was so refreshing after Unity. Rope launcher was a huge step in the right direction (my god the parkour got so tedious after all these years). I was bummed that they took a year off of AC after getting back on solid ground, but i'm super curious to see how/if they incorporate lessons learned from syndicate development into the AssCreed 2018.

 

[danthefan]

This one is better than Black Flag?

Guess I'll have to buy it at some point.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

My most played AC game and I got bored of it because the game became so repetitive.

I love the worlds these games create, like London is just so vast and beautiful but what you actually do in the world gets old very fast

 

[Ralemont]

As someone who loves 2 and Brotherhood, Syndicate is better. 2 and Brotherhood were probably better relative to when they came out, but Syndicate wins in almost every head to head category I can think of. Particularly, combat, stealth (especially missions with alternate paths) and traversal are leaps and bounds ahead of the older games. Though I do still miss the traversal puzzles.

 

[Certinty]

For me it was right among the best AC games along with 2. In fact I would say it's one of the best games of this gen altogether.

London looked and played amazingly well. Hard to believe what Ubisoft achieved after the Unity mess, shame this game didn't get the attention it deserved though.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

This one is better than Black Flag?

Guess I'll have to buy it at some point.

I'd put Black Flag above it, but Syndicate is definitely up there.

 

[PapaJustify]

While I agree with you that Syndicate is a great game (especially because of Evie Frye), I want to point out that Unity is wayyyyyy better than what you apparently remember it for.

 

[Aces&Eights]

Maaaaan, I wish people would stop talking about how good Syndicate is. I brushed off the series after Unity and I don't want to go back. Dangit.

Is it really a decent game?

 

[GeeTeeCee]

Maaaaan, I wish people would stop talking about how good Syndicate is. I brushed off the series after Unity and I don't want to go back. Dangit.

Is it really a decent game?

As someone who found Unity to be a bit of a chore in terms of mission design, yes, Syndicate is so much better.

 

[PapaJustify]

Is it really a decent game?

Yes, it is! More than decent actually.

 

[Certinty]

Maaaaan, I wish people would stop talking about how good Syndicate is. I brushed off the series after Unity and I don't want to go back. Dangit.

Is it really a decent game?

Let's put it this way. I bought Unity at launch, played an hour and never touched it again.

Started Syndicate sometime last year and couldn't put it down, completed it in a few days as I was that into it.

So yes.

 

[John Kowalski]

Never tired of beating peeps up with Evie.

 

[killroy87]

Loved AC Syndicate, easily in my top 3 AC games. Evie was a great character, way more fun to play than her bro.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

I had sworn never to bother with this game after the dross that was Unity, but I found this game for an extremely cheap price a few months ago and am currently playing through it. I must say that I agree with you; this is a good game and I've been having fun with it. I hate the stupid kidnapping side quest though. I always play as Evie unless a mission forces me to be her brother.

 

[erotic grandpa]

This one is better than Black Flag?

Guess I'll have to buy it at some point.

Oh definitely. I think I ran into my second tailing mission in the entire game doing a side mission for Dickens (this with having beat the main story and a decent chunk of the side missions). Compared to the tail-and-eavesdrop glut in Black Flag, it's way better.

It also brings back the murder mystery missions from Unity, and they're great.

 

[Aces&Eights]

Let's put it this way. I bought Unity at launch, played an hour and never touched it again.

Started Syndicate sometime last year and couldn't put it down, completed it in a few days as I was that into it.

So yes.

OK, this is exactly what happened with me. Played Unity for an hour or two and just couldn't muster the stamina to continue. Cross between franchise fatigue, performance issues and bloat. Sounds like it's time to return to AC and give it another shot.

 

[SmackAttack]

I haven't played Revelations, Rogue, or Unity but I'd still agree with OP's ranking. I really liked the main characters in Syndicate and they kept me coming back to it. I wish Ubi could get the modern stuff in order and fun because while it still has issues the series is known for, Syndicate was a really fun game in the historical setting.

 

[SomTervo]

Possibly my favourite AC, AC2 might be better but honestly, I can't decide sometimes. I loved London as a setting and the unique lighting. I loved the different districts and both the twins were decent protagonists. Evie was much better than Jacob though.

I think back on the game very fondly and sometimes consider re-installing/buying to play the DLC.

This. I'm one of the few who thought 2 was good-not-great, and that Brotherhood was stronger.

Syndicate is my favourite I think. It is fantastic imo. It's a lot like a third person Dishonored.

Syndicate = Brotherhood > Black Flag > Rogue > 2 > 3 >>> 1

 

[Dr_LucienSanchez]

Playing it right now and finding it very, very enjoyable. And this is also after thinking Unity was basically the worst thing ever.

 

[SomTervo]

OK, this is exactly what happened with me. Played Unity for an hour or two and just couldn't muster the stamina to continue. Cross between franchise fatigue, performance issues and bloat. Sounds like it's time to return to AC and give it another shot.

Syndicate is the most refreshing the series has been in years. Sometimes it feels like GTAV Victorian London.

 

[Chase17]

Syndicate is great. Definitly one of my favorite games in the series.

Also one of my few platinums (screw that driving destruction trophy though)

 

[iTehDroiD]

I am playing through Syndicate at the moment and really liking it. Played and got every single trophy (incl. DLC) in every other AC except Rogue and the Vita one.

One thing I noticed while playing Syndicate is that the core gameplay of AC is not that great. Climbing is fun and looks great but the stealth killing and fighting is not as satisfying as it is in other games like Far Cry, Shadow of Morder etc.

Also in Shadow of Mordor the fighting animations are perfectly synced with the enemies resulting in amazing animations. In AC however the character sometimes misses the entire enemy when stabbing.

 

[Frozenprince]

I find the combat to be more satisfying than the Arkham games. It was really well done.

 

[B00TE]

I need to finish this. I bought it when it came out and hardly touched it. Did play far enough to get the rope launcher though, that was awesome.

 

[RowdyReverb]

I've been a long-time fan of the AC series because you just never know when a new entry is going to end up being great. It's like every year (until this year) I would roll the dice and see what I got, and that kept me coming back for each installment.

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

Seems the really good AC games are always the unexpected ones. AC 2 was a massive improvement over the first, more than expected. AC 3 looked amazing but was a disappointment but Black Flag and Rogue were great and then Unity looked great but was a broken mess and Syndicate was unexpectedly great.

 

[FarFromAnyGame]

AC Syndicate is the only AC game I couldn't finish!

 

[Toa TAK]

I'm pretty comfortable putting Syndicate as one of the best in the series. Miles above Black Flag and gets back to the fun of AC.

 

[Bladenic]

Play Jack the Ripper too OP.

 

[Harmen]

Yeah, it is really too bad that this one took the hit from the overload of AC games and fallout of Unity. It really is one of the finest AC titles. Had a blast with it.

 

[Karak]

Loved AC Syndicate. Fantastic title even with its mistakes.

 

[Falchion]

Friggin hawt indeed. Seriously though, I really liked Evie and it always made me laugh when she would strut into a room like a gym bro.

 

[TemplaerDude]

It kind of overwhelmed me and I just stopped playing early on. Probably more my fault than the games because I was enjoying it, but I may just need another year or two before I can really enjoy another Assassin's Creed game.

 

[Dremorak]

Havent played Unity or Syndicate, but I've played all the others.

For me the ranking would be:

Black Flag > AC2 > AC3 > Rogue > Revelations > Brotherhood > AC1

I know I'm probably alone in this thinking tho haha.
I really enjoyed 3, I never knew any of the details of the American Revolution, and so it was super interesting to me. I even liked Connor (shocking I know)

 

[Eggbok]

Maybe it's just me but visually Syndicate is not above or on the same level as Unity.
It looks great definitely but Unity > in my mind.

Syndicate is without a doubt the better game though. Syndicate is the first Assassin's Creed since 3 that I finished within it's release week, even got the Platinum trophy. Playing Unity directly before Syndicate made my experience 100% better because I hated almost everything about Unity. The gameplay in Syndicate felt so refreshing coming straight from Unity.

 

[Mossybrew]

Still slowly making my way through the game and enjoying it. And honestly the game surprised me in a way few games have when it introduced a whole new element, I was so glad I hadn't spoiled myself on. Just when you are in a comfortable routine about midgame, wait, what's this map icon here? No fanfare, it's just there. Wonderfully played Ubi.

 

[dcx4610]

I'm playing through Unity right now on PC and will play Rogue and Syndicate after.

My biggest problems are they are just too easy and silly now. I loved how in 1 and 2, you saw a building to climb and it was a challenge. You had to find footings and a way to climb. Now, you literally run up and down buildings like Spider-Man and don't even have to look to climb. Stealth is all but gone as well. Once again, in 1 and 2, it was super difficult to hide if you were caught and you had to hide bodies if you killed anyone. It was super challenging. Now, you can go on killing sprees and just run away.

I still like the series but they need to get grounded again and back to their roots.

 

[dreamfall]

I loved Syndicate. I'm still waiting on the Season Pass to hit $10 on PS4 to have a go at it, and in the meantime I found its spiritual successor in Mafia III.

 

[Violence Jack]

Syndicate was the first AC game since AC2 that I actually wanted to Platinum. I never got around to it, but I loved the hell out of that game.

 

[fvng]

Man I read too quick and was hoping this thread was about the Syndicate series

 

[tearsintherain]

Syndicate was pretty good but it felt a bit too bland, none of the characters really "popped" as heroes or villains. The guy twin did some incredibly stupid shit but it never really crossed the line into villain, and the girl twin basically just was always cleaning up his messes. Even the love stuff was tepid and bland.

I think the game would have been far, far better if it didn't have that "design by committee" feel and Jacob (guy twin) crossed the line and did some really reprehensible stuff, and Evie had to choose between him, Templars, or Assassin's. The bank heist stuff was one of the best bits, where you saw the effects of good intentions turning into chaos but it needed a LOT more of that kind of thing to become a good game, imo.

 

[Bladenic]

Yeah I didn't like that Evie took a huge backseat to Jacob in story missions and hers basically amounted to "oh no Jacob is literally ruining England, better clean up the huge shit he took on the country." Except for when

Spoiler

you kill Lucy, that a fun mission and ironically better than most if not all of Jacob's. Only the asylum was comparable I thought.

 

[disappeared]

Still planning to play this. Can you main Evie for most of the game?

 

[OfTheOverflow]

Have been playing through it recently OP, was thinking about doing my own lttp. I pretty much agree completely, it's a good game but coming from games like Uncharted in particular, it just makes it all the more obvious how TRASH AC games control. Everytime they say they've 'revolutionised' either the movement or combat systems, this means nothing to me. At the end of the day, your character is going to be jumping on random bits of scenery, not getting through doorways, and just generally misinterpreting your instructions.

Aside from that, Jacob and Evie are great. Felt like they were testing the waters a bit to see how a female-only lead would be received. Yes, there's Liberation but it was largely a handheld game.

Having RPG elements with enemies and your protagonist having a 'level' is interesting, but at the end of the day it feels like padding to make it harder to quickly dispatch of enemies and hault progress until you upgrade to obligatory gear.

 

[RowdyReverb]

Seems the really good AC games are always the unexpected ones. AC 2 was a massive improvement over the first, more than expected. AC 3 looked amazing but was a disappointment but Black Flag and Rogue were great and then Unity looked great but was a broken mess and Syndicate was unexpectedly great.

It's like they implement the constructive criticism from the previous game, but then forget it for the next one

Yeah I didn't like that Evie took a huge backseat to Jacob in story missions and hers basically amounted to "oh no Jacob is literally ruining England, better clean up the huge shit he took on the country." Except for when

Spoiler

you kill Lucy, that a fun mission and ironically better than most if not all of Jacob's. Only the asylum was comparable I thought.

Did she? I don't even remember. All I know is that I spent the majority of the game playing as her because I preferred her stealth over Jacob's brawn, so maybe it just seemed like she was the bigger character in my playthrough

 

[OfTheOverflow]

Maybe it's just me but visually Syndicate is not above or on the same level as Unity.
It looks great definitely but Unity > in my mind.

Yeah, they clearly had to tone down some of the effects and crowds a bit to reach some performance milestones.