Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is typically one of the least likely installments in the franchise you’ll hear people talking about much. In fact, it received lots of mixed reviews upon release in 2015. Riding off of the failure that was Assassin’s Creed Unity’s launch, Syndicate just didn’t seem to stand a chance much. Despite its cool setting and interesting characters, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate was largely a failure, and here’s why:
Same Ol’ Same Ol’
One of the biggest issues players had with Assassin’s Creed Syndicate was that it lacked innovation. It was pretty much the same game as before with very minor changes. Most of the gameplay and mechanics were unchanged. And although Syndicate was considered visually impressive, many didn’t like that it didn’t have meaningful side-quests. Also, many players felt like its world was not engaging enough gameplay-wise.
For the most part, a lot of video games suffer from the issue of being very repetitive time and time again. With constant releases, it’s hard to maintain variety. That’s probably why Syndicate would be the last standard Assassin’s Creed title before Assassin’s Creed Origins changed the game.
The Story Was Bland
A lot of people really didn’t like the story of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. One of the biggest selling-points in the Assassin’s Creed franchise is its ability to tell a unique and interesting story each time. The story in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate followed twin assassins Jacob and Evie Frye as they fought against the Templars in London.
Although a lot of people really liked the Industrial-Victorian setting, it didn’t seem to be enough to back up the story. Many players felt like Jacob and Evie were under-developed and that the story just didn’t have enough going on to keep them interested.
When compared with other entires to the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Syndicate just didn’t have a very strong story.
Buggy and Bad Mechanics
There were apparently a lot of technical issues with Assassin’s Creed Syndicate when it first released. Many players reported glitches, bugs, and drops in frame rate while playing. Obviously, the frequency of them and the intensity was enough to detract from the gameplay experience.
Additionally, the combat system was criticized for being too easy and repetitive. Many players grew tired from the intensity of the repetition of the combat mechanics.
On top of that, many players really didn’t like the stealth and parkour mechanics in the game. Despite coming out after Assassin’s Creed Unity, which has since been praised for its parkour and movement, Syndicate just didn’t match that quality either.
Unity’s Launch Affected Syndicate Too
Assassin’s Creed Unity has been remembered for its iconic and completely hilarious bugs when it first released. Although players have largely started to appreciate Unity for its parkour, mechanics, and stealth, we can’t deny that it was literally broken when it first launched.
Unfortunately, that broken state was enough to harm Syndicate. It caused a ripple effect for Assassin’s Creed in general, and it botched Syndicate’s release. People were already fed up with Assassin’s Creed for the buggy state that previous titles had launched in. Unity was the nail that sealed the coffin.
After Syndicate, Ubisoft took a break from releasing games and then came out with Assassin’s Creed Origins. Compare Syndicate and Origins side-by-side, and you can tell they’re quite different after all.
All in all, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate failed to live up to the high standards set by previous entries in the series due to a lack of innovation, uninteresting story, and technical issues.
While the game did have some positive elements, such as its new setting in Industrial-era London and its protagonists, these were not enough to make up for the game’s shortcomings. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate received generally mixed reviews and was considered a failure by many players. It just didn’t seem to have enough going for it to make it to anyone’s top-favorite list.
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Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
