"Assassins Creed: Syndicate" Story Trailer Analysis

Joey Sack ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
October is drawing nearer and nearer, which means one thing for Ubisoft’s yearly title: Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate is soon to be released upon the gaming world. And after the disappointing release that was Assassin’s Creed Unity and the generally glossed-over release that was Assassin’s Creed Rogue, it’s make or break for the Assassin’s Creed series. However, from a recently released story trailer for the game, it is looking fairly promising for Syndicate to bring the series back to its former glory. Let’s take a look…

The trailer introduces the main enemy of the game, the ruthless Templar Grandmaster Crawford Starrick. Starrick, along with his seven henchmen, rules over every aspect of London society from the factories to transportation to the criminal underworld. Gamers see right off the bat what they’ll be up against: a London that has been under firm Templar control for nearly a century. It will be up to twin Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye to take down each of the pillars of Templar control one by one, before taking on Starrick himself.
Jacob, the younger and more reckless of the two, proposes that the best way to get to Starrick and his underlings is to take over the gangs of London, which leads to the eventual creation of the Rooks gang. At one point in the trailer, Jacob and Evie talk about working together “once more for old time’s sake,” and then being “finished,” which may suggest a falling out between the twins as they disagree on how to free London from Templar control. Having the option to control two different protagonists with two ways of doing things and two ways of seeing the world is sure to be an interesting aspect of the game. This is, after all, the first game in the series in which you have two Assassins living at the same time; it will be interesting to see how the game is split up between the twins.

The trailer also shows the open world of London and some of the combat that Jacob and Evie will use. The environment looks alive and crisp, with Ubisoft once again taking advantage of the power of current generation consoles. One concern that gamers might have is that some of the character animations and shadings, mostly in the faces, don’t look fully finished, but the trailers may take their footage from earlier versions of the game, so it can’t speak to the final version. Still, gamers may be wise to exercise caution, especially after the many instances of faceless characters in Unity.

This trailer gives gamers the villain right at the beginning, with a straightforward layout of the big names in London they’ll have to eliminate in order to take Starrick down effectively while also helping to better the lives of current and future generations of London’s citizens.
The Brotherhood of Assassins will have their work cut out for them as they don’t appear to have much of a foothold in London itself, since they had to bring in Jacob and Evie from the countryside to help deal with the Templars. One thing to consider about the story of this game is the consequences of the Assassins’ plans. It’s true that the people of London suffer under Templar rule, but the Templars have held the city in an iron grip for almost a hundred years, creating some form of order. With so few numbers, will the Assassins be prepared when the pillars of Templar power in London fall and they’re left to pick up the pieces? Only time will tell, and with all speculation it would be wise for gamers to remember arguably the most important aspect of the Assassin’s Creed mythos: nothing is true, everything is permitted.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is set for release on October 23^rd for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on November 19^th for Windows.
Watch the trailer here: