Date played: January 4th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 4/10
I received Assassin's Creed Syndicate as a Christmas gift. The last time I played this series, it was Black Flag, which I loved. Last year, Assassin's Creed Unity was received very negatively, so even though I like this franchise, I skipped last year's game. This year though, it seems like Ubisoft has made some big improvements to the game with Syndicate.
Everything started off pretty well. The game stars Jacob and Evie Frye, twins who have joined the Assassins in the Victorian London era. They each have a target to assassinate, one is man who runs an smelting plant, the other a scientist that works for the biggest crime lord in town.
The first mission put me in control of Jacob Frye as he infiltrates the smelting plant. There are some major improvements that are immediately noticeable, mainly with the controls and UI. Everything is simpler, easier to read, easier to understand and easier to control. There's now a way to free run "up" and "down", to better control the character.
The mission itself was also a lot of fun. The level design and objectives in the missions seem a lot more focused than even before for the series, which is really good. It feels much better... There are tons of ways to approach an assassination and even some on screen indicators that show the different entry points that could be used. After killing the target, Jacob flees outside and jumps onto a moving train, then fights a flurry of enemies. During these battles, one of the enemies manages to change the train's path which leads it to a cliff. Jacob spectacularly defies death with his acrobatic skills.
The game then cuts to Evie, where I got to explore a much bigger area, a train yard. I got to experiment with combat a bit more, and have learned to love both the throwing knives and the smoke bombs. I helped a man escape the clutches of the gangsters, which rewarded me with a key to go deeper into the train yards.
That's when I just stopped having fun. I don't know if it's my disc, my PS4 or a glitch in the game, but the started to completely freeze after a few minutes of play. I tried a few things, like cleaning the disc and rebooting the PS4, but nothing worked. Inevitably, the game froze after 1-3 minutes without fail. PSN is down also, which might be playing a role in this, but it's not clear. I will try to do some troubleshooting, like rebuilding the game's database. Since I'm early in the game, I might also try to delete the game and save, then restart from scratch. It sucks though, since the game looks like a lot of fun...
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 4/10
I received Assassin's Creed Syndicate as a Christmas gift. The last time I played this series, it was Black Flag, which I loved. Last year, Assassin's Creed Unity was received very negatively, so even though I like this franchise, I skipped last year's game. This year though, it seems like Ubisoft has made some big improvements to the game with Syndicate.
Everything started off pretty well. The game stars Jacob and Evie Frye, twins who have joined the Assassins in the Victorian London era. They each have a target to assassinate, one is man who runs an smelting plant, the other a scientist that works for the biggest crime lord in town.
The first mission put me in control of Jacob Frye as he infiltrates the smelting plant. There are some major improvements that are immediately noticeable, mainly with the controls and UI. Everything is simpler, easier to read, easier to understand and easier to control. There's now a way to free run "up" and "down", to better control the character.
The mission itself was also a lot of fun. The level design and objectives in the missions seem a lot more focused than even before for the series, which is really good. It feels much better... There are tons of ways to approach an assassination and even some on screen indicators that show the different entry points that could be used. After killing the target, Jacob flees outside and jumps onto a moving train, then fights a flurry of enemies. During these battles, one of the enemies manages to change the train's path which leads it to a cliff. Jacob spectacularly defies death with his acrobatic skills.
 |
| Jacob Frye is an athletic man |
That's when I just stopped having fun. I don't know if it's my disc, my PS4 or a glitch in the game, but the started to completely freeze after a few minutes of play. I tried a few things, like cleaning the disc and rebooting the PS4, but nothing worked. Inevitably, the game froze after 1-3 minutes without fail. PSN is down also, which might be playing a role in this, but it's not clear. I will try to do some troubleshooting, like rebuilding the game's database. Since I'm early in the game, I might also try to delete the game and save, then restart from scratch. It sucks though, since the game looks like a lot of fun...
