Then, we got glitches. And more glitches. And then some more bugs. And a forced-to-be-free DLC. And the lacking use of an era filled with potential for an AC story, and just give us the ambiance with little more execution. Match all that with a lackluster current day story line and...
Wow. "Syndicate" needs to be through the roof awesome. Though, that's not the vibe I'm getting from this series.
Assassin's Creed is a franchise that I still feel very passionately about, given that it is my favorite franchise of all time. Yeah, even more so than Power Rangers. As such, I'm beginning to worry about the state of things regarding it. Ubisoft as a company has been on the hot-seat with fans for a while based on its decisions with recent games, such as weak story elements or faulty online play, but at the heart of it all seems to be the AC franchise. At this point, it's pretty safe to say that only Far Cry rivals AC as Ubisoft's flagship series.
I'm not too concerned with what the franchise is doing outside of videogames, though. Last week, Titan Comics released "Assassin's Creed #1" to show us a new tale of a brand new Assassin and it was pretty good. From the looks of things we're getting just a limited series, but hopefully it turns ongoing. The timing for it's release is pretty solid, too, with "Syndicate" releasing Friday (hype mode activated) and the movie coming out next year (super hype mode initiated). Plus it's other graphic novels are solid, and it's first live action outing, "Lineage" was a fun little tale detailing events leading up to the second main series installment.
Mostly, I'm concerned with what the heck the developers are thinking placing the game in London compared to so many other avenues they could take it. I know that they aren't headed to Japan any time soon because, well, they've come out and said many times that isn't going to happen. Other locations fan as for are already in development, or have been made, as side-games, such as what we're getting in the "Chronicles" series.
London just doesn't lend itself to Assassin's Creed, though. Think back on the major historical events of the previous games: 1. Third Crusade, 2. Renaissance, 3. Destabilization of church, 4. Fall of Constantinople/ rise of Istanbul as major power, 5. American Revolution, 6. Rise of pirates/ mercenaries in Carribean, 7. French Revolution 2.0.
And now...Industrial Revolution? What is this, The Two Towers where Saruman is trying to take over the world with innovative new technology? The only way I can see this working is that the Templars try to usurp and twist this new technology for their own gain, to be able to get to various locations faster to attain more power and spread their word to further areas. Not to mention that there might be tons of historical cameos, and I'll admit that both Assassin's Creed 3 and Assassin's Creed Unity did have their fair share of really cool cameos, though not really rivaling the interwoven world of the Ezio trilogy.
The problem, though, is that they don't seem to be headed in that direction. From most of the trailers and promotional images, it seems that Jacob and Evie Frye, our two main protagonists, are going to start an underground revolution and take back London from the Templars, I guess. Hopefully it's explained early on in the game just how the heck those two know about them, as well as how they're connected to the Assassins. This is what "Black Flag" suffered from most. We were promised a pirate/ Assassin but were really only given that by appearance, when in reality this even occurs much later in the game, to the point where we were given a false promise. I imagine the Rooks are going to be some faction of the Brotherhood, and hopefully aren't like the little gang of pirates we fought besides in "Black Flag," which was simply a surrogate Brotherhood.
There are also some fundamental errors I can't help thinking about, such as Leaps of Faith. Why in the world would there be hay-stacks around Industrial London? How accessible are rooftops going to be when the buildings are so high? I get the idea behind the outfits, but, the classic look is just so cool. They were even able to pull it off in the modern day story with Desmond, they should be able to work it in here, right?
"Syndicate," for all the worries it gives me, does have incredible potential to put the series back on its pedastel IF it returns to the ideas sprouted in the Ezio Trilogy. What made all of that work was a tight story that saw its conclusion eventually in Assassin's Creed 3. Here, though, it seems like we could be right back where we started. In the original Assassin's Creed, who was one of the game's main antagonists? Why, it was King Richard. Who was from where?
Britain. And he was the main leader of the Templar. Could those roots still be evident in the British monarchy? Who knows. It'd be a sweet call back to the original game, though, and would help the story stay a little more connected.
Let's also not forget the innovative gameplay that we might be getting here. We saw the hook blade used in "Revelations" but not to its fullest, as it seems we may get here, in a way. Gameplay seems to be quicker, and I'm looking forward to playing as two different characters, possibly to tell two different stories and set the game apart from others.
The real big thing that will set this game up at the top again, though, is going to be the present-day story. "Black Flag" made things far more interesting, but didn't really do anything with it. Since then, we've been hunting various "Sages" but enough of that. Open the doors to the present day once again. Bring back Juno. If we're playing as two different ancestors, then that means, hopefully, that we could be able to go on more present-day quests. And with the new comic and movie out, maybe we could run into Callum or Charlotte along the way. There was mention in the comic that an Assassin they once thought dead could actually be alive. Could this be Desmond, or possibly Shaun and Rebecca have fully resurfaced? Perhaps it's former assassin Cross back. Who knows! The possibilities in the present day are endless, and I hope the game takes the next major step in advancing the present day story. That is what gives relevance, after all, to the core historical elements of the game.
So, is it possible for Assassin's Creed to return to glory? Yes. Any franchise that's been eating dirt for a while has that chance. Look at Star Trek. It all comes down to this game, I feel. The comics are decent, the fans are eager, now it's all on the execution.
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