For as long as I could remember, there’s always been something very amazing about Assassins. They could attack from anywhere at any time, they are skilled combatants, and are never prone to fear. Let’s not forget they always look really cool, right? While I possess none of these qualities (except for a sweet collection of graphic tees, which I think are really cool), I’ve always wanted to know more about Assassins. So naturally Assassin’s Creed is a fantastic series to dive into.

While Ubisoft wasn’t the first video game company to go with the Assassin theme for a video game, they’ve definitely received quite a bit of recognition for Assassin’s Creed, and fans were pretty blown out of the water. Players were given these mysterious stylish characters who could do the unthinkable. This sandbox-style game had it all. Huge open world maps, fun stories, and great gameplay. Spanning over 8 years, 2 generations of consoles, and over 9 titles in the series, Ubisoft really beefed up their arsenal with this franchise.

The latest title in the Assassin’s Creed saga, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, takes place in late 19th century London during the end of the Industrial Revolution (my favorite period in history!), following twins Jacob and Evie Frye as they strive to take London’s freedom back from those nasty Templars led by Crawford Starrick. Without going into too much detail to ruin the plot for you, our beloved assassin twins seek to take control of London through forming their own gang, slowly working towards taking down Starrick’s organization. This is the first Assassin’s Creed game in the series to not only feature two playable characters, but to have a female at the helm of the game. Whether this was in response to the backlash they received about the lack of female characters in the series, or simply a natural decision they made, this gives their latest title a refreshing feel.

The gameplay is very exciting. The fact that both twins have separate styles really adds a nice sense of freedom to the game. Whether you want to be the loud-mouthed Jacob Frye, the rebellious British bad boy, or the stealthy Evie Frye, who takes her targets from the shadows, your options are there. While certain missions do require you to play as a specific twin, Ubisoft picks no favorites among the twins as both play their own respective roles in the story to free London.

After an intense amount of binging Metal Gear Solid 5 and Batman: Arkham Knight, I was going into the game fully thinking I would take on Evie Frye as my favorite character, but I really do enjoy Jacob’s personality more, as we all need a little British rogue in our lives, right? While the twins each have their own unique playstyle, you can do the sidequests with either, and I just naturally went for the charming hunky male character. That’s not weird, right?

Players get to choose between 3 different styles of weapons to use for their melee combat: the assassin’s kukri, the hidden cane sword, and a pair of brass knuckles, with each style offering its own benefits to the game’s combat. The Kukri offers more damage, with a more heavy focus on swift kills; the cane-sword and the brass knuckles provide a higher stun rate, which allows you to perform more combos while battling more than one opponent. While the options are nice, especially with the inclusion of achievements for multi-kills, I prefer a more direct approach to combat, killing my enemies one by one. I’m not going to lie though, those multi-kill scenes are pretty amazing.

One of the new features that I’m surprised hasn’t been added into previous Assassin’s Creed titles is the Grapple hook. With the ability to scale tall buildings in seconds and remain on rooftops by connecting a zipline is both very cool and a real time saver. With the environment being as large as it is, a quick means of getting to your destination is vital to keeping players hooked. You can even assassinate enemies while ziplining too! Nothing is sexier than assassinating someone mid-air, right? Right.

One of the biggest drawbacks I had with the game was driving the blasted carriage. While the game strives for an accurate representation of London’s roads in the late 1800’s, I find it really irritating. London’s roads are tiny and the carriages are simply too large. When there is traffic, you can imagine navigating through it is a challenge in its own right. The controls aren’t very smooth either. Turning is a pain, and even carriage battles are rough. I get more joy getting off a carriage and walking to my destination than I do getting onto one to drive somewhere. It’s about as smooth as Arkham Knight‘s Batmobile, which makes me fear for London’s gorgeous architecture…

Since I was fortunate enough to get Austin Wintory to give me an interview, I thought I’d talk about the game’s soundtrack as well. The music is absolutely fantastic, and I find that it really helps set the tone for the setting and events as you move along. Whether for things like getting tough during a mission or scoring a sweet victory, the music changes to fit the specific mood, and it really breathes life into the game. Being an avid fan of video game music, I find that this element is just as important to setting up the game as the story, as music is one of the bigger components that makes or breaks an experience for me.

Since Assassin’s Creed is a large sandbox title, having a lot to do within the giant city you’re in is important. With Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, one of the many side-quests you have to complete involves taking over London’s various territories led by the Templar’s top brass. While I’m always up for a good ol’ fashioned gang war, this is actually one of the parts of the game where I have to give it a lower score than the rest. While the missions themselves can be very exciting at first, they don’t change per territory so much as the difficulty of the computer level is just increased. You have 4 different types of missions just thrown on repeat. While some have special objectives to get bonus rewards of EXP and money, they aren’t too difficult either. One of the downsides to the sidequests is that most of them are available to you right away, despite some of them having certain bonus requirements can only be met by completing more of the main story quests. With subtle hints about the objectives, I’ve missed some opportunities only because it wasn’t recommended that I have a specific tool that I was supposed to get later in the story.

One of the biggest joys I’ve had out of the game so far was the DLC content. While there were a couple of busts, most of them were pretty entertaining. I’ve really been enjoying the Penny Dreadful and Darwin and Dickens stories simply because they’re such a refreshing break from the usual gang territory takeovers. Being a huge fan of mysteries and great stories, the DLC side-quests are very exciting despite other reviewers claiming they’re a bit lackluster. Finding clues to a murder suspect is very exciting and makes me feel like an old world vigilante detective (All we need is a bat symbol and a cape!).

One of the biggest reasons I enjoy a good sandbox title is the fact that there is a large sense of freedom. If there’s one thing I love almost as much as a good story and fantastic music, it’s the ability to explore. Finding nice views where I can idle and listen to a soundtrack is simply the best. And since I can’t do parkour, nor do I have any sweet gadgets to get me anywhere in the real world (yet), video games are the closest things I get to having an epic adventure. Sandbox titles do have significant drawbacks though, too much space can be a bad thing too. With the great technology comes great responsibility. Nobody needs a giant map with nothing to do, right? So thank the video game heavens that Assassin’s Creed has plenty of side-quests that keep you busy, despite a bit of repetition.

All in all the game is pretty fantastic. I’ve been playing since the release and can’t put it down. With a plethora of missions, side-quests, and achievements to accomplish this game will keep you busy for many weeks to come. Let’s not forget that the Season Pass offers more missions, and a Jack the Ripper questline, which I am very excited to try out!

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is available on both the Playstation 4 and X-box One with a PC release coming out later this Holiday season. The Season Pass Bundle is $29.99 and available now with more content coming out soon. I’m looking forward to what Ubisoft will throw at us!

I hope you enjoyed my review and thanks for reading!

Gameplay: 9 Story: 9 Music: 9 Side-quest: 7 Overall score: 8.5