It was a long, long time coming, but I finally wrapped up my marathon playthrough of all of the entries in the “legacy” Assassin’s Creed series. I say legacy because the two most recent Assassin’s Creeds, Origins and Odyssey, take the series in a new direction, very different from what the series was before.
Much has already been mentioned on the departure by countless websites, but I was never able to put my own take on it before now. People had been speaking of how the series had grown stale over the years, and that a refresh was just the shot in the arm that it needed. I’m inclined to agree, but with a somewhat disappointed view on it. Not because the series had grown stale, which admittedly it had, but because they seemed to finally get it “right” with Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. It seemed like they finally had found a winning formula.
Syndicate took most of the ingredients that made the Ezio trilogy so enjoyable and cut out all of the crap that had made Unity so bad, while simultaneously streamlining some things, expanding on others, and creating a story and world that I honestly enjoyed for a change. It also didn’t hurt that Evie and Jacob are both complete badasses in the combat department. Beating up on Templars and Blighters is not only extremely responsive, but the kill animations are downright brutal.
Assassin’s Creed stories have always been hit or miss. The first AC was intriguing, and it set the tone for the series well, even if the game play was repetitive and grindy. ACII expanded on everything and brought the game into its own, with a likeable character and a villain that you really, really wanted to assassinate. Then the series started to get murky. with Brotherhood and Revelations expanding on the Order of Assassins but really not taking the story to the next level, save for some closure for Altair. Assassin’s Creed III was memorable only for its horribly buggy experience and awful main character. ACIV: Black Flag returned to glory with a unique twist on the main character, given that he wasn’t ever really an assassin, just posing as one in order to get the treasure he sought. But he was joined by a rowdy cast of pirates that often outshined him in personality.
Assassin’s Creed Unity was a travesty of epic proportions. While the game was utterly gorgeous, the animations were wonky, the combat was broken, and the story was probably one of the most boring in the series. Add to that the absolute clutter of junk on the map screen and I’d guess even the most seasoned of Assassin’s Creed fans felt overwhelmed. I didn’t even try doing everything in Unity. I saw the vast breadth of crap littering Paris and I simply shrugged and said, “Yeah, fuck that.” It was a chore to complete and I was extremely glad when it was over.
Which then led me to Syndicate. It probably goes without saying that I started Syndicate with a wince, barely peeking through one squinted eye when I pressed the start button. Luckily, what I found there were two very enjoyable protagonists, several utterly despicable Templar bad guys, and a city that for once wasn’t a complete pain in the ass to get around. London has straight city streets, and thank God for that. That might not seem like a big deal, but after several games spent running down winding alleyways and through crowded, labyrinthine bazaars, it was nice to just cover some ground by running in a straight line, or by taking a nearby carriage.
The graphics took a bit of a hit from Unity, it’s not nearly as pretty, but the animations and frame rate were much, much better, and I’ll take that every time (though, why can’t we have both?) That’s not to say it didn’t have its moments. At some times of day the world really seems alive, and at night the glowing lanterns make some locations look like a painting.
It’s not all fun and games, unfortunately. There were some places that wore on me. The Thames river, for example, was cool at first, and playing what essentially boiled down to a game of Frogger while crossing was fun… at first. After a while, traversing the river just becomes extremely tiresome. There’s just no quick way to do it. Hopping a boat can take you easily from one side of the map to the other, but getting across it quickly becomes a chore.
Everything is unlocked from the start, though venturing into higher level burroughs when you’re not properly equipped can cause bad things to happen. The developers finally figured out though, that gamers don’t like being hounded at every turn, so they not only introduced perks that eventually cause the Blighters (gang) to leave you alone, but also the overall aggro between them all has been greatly dialed down. One of the most annoying damn things in the past few AC’s was the almost psychic communication between templars and thugs. A player could barely take out a single baddie without half the damn city collapsing in on them. At some points in Unity (and definitely in ACIII), killing one guy would then force you to kill 15 more guys just because everyone in the damn neighborhood magically knew you attacked someone. This time around, not only is the game much more forgiving of mistakes, but it’s entirely possible to go loud and take out a few Blighters or Templars in broad daylight, and unless you’re in direct line of sight of police or other thugs, you can usually walk away from it without having to take on an entire damn platoon.
My gripes on the game are few, but I do have some bones to pick. For starters, Evie and Jacob, despite having slightly different skills, still play almost exactly the same. Jacob is meant to be more of a brawler, and Evie the stealthy type, as evidenced by their differing skill perks, yet both of their missions revolve equally around stealth and fighting. It would have been great if Evie’s missions were more stealthy and Jacob’s were more full-frontal assault, changing the way the mission plays out dramatically. Instead, while they both have their own individual stories going on, they still play largely the same. That was kind of a bummer, because to be honest there were some nights I didn’t want to be stealthy, and it would’ve been great to choose Jacob for the mission and just go in guns ablazin’. As it were, the closer I got to the end of the game, the less I cared about those optional objectives. It would’ve been cool if I chose Jacob because I just wanted to attack, and therefore the optional objectives changed from “do <blank> without being spotted,” to “kill x in a certain amount of time.” Or something like that.
The game leaves us on a present-day cliffhanger, and I’m curious to see if Origins, despite the change in play style, still continues the story of the modern day templars. For now though, I’m glad to be done with the legacy Assassin’s Creed games. I fully intend to take a break and finish up some other games in the backlog before I commit to another time-sink of an Assassin’s Creed. Maybe I’ll finally get Resident Evil 2 taken care of.
