Last year's Assassin's Creed Unity in its more optimised, mostly debugged form is a real PC showcase - though its beauty does still require powerful gaming hardware. It's a unique series entry - too much, too soon for this generation of console hardware, but a rare example of how PC's raw brute force power can deliver a vastly improved experience compared to PS4 and Xbox One, and in the process delivers on what turned out to be an overly ambitious next-gen debut for the series.
Hopes of a similarly ambitious PC outing for Syndicate were dashed during our testing, but in some ways, that is for the best. The new game runs more smoothly on less capable PCs, you don't need three or four gigs or VRAM on your graphics card any more, and of course, there are still resolution, frame-rate and visual enhancements to enjoy compared to the console versions. We just wish that Ubisoft could ramp up scalability to match something like Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC - we know the engine is capable of it. Last year's Unity proved it.
While the technological scope of Syndicate may feel like a backward step compared to last year's offering, there's a really strong argument that the new game is a lot more fun. Ubisoft scaled back on technical ambition but crucially, it doubled down on compelling gameplay mechanics, an improved script and retooled, more entertaining side-missions. It paid dividends on the console versions - and it's just as effective on PC.
