Assassin's Creed Syndicate is a 2015 action-adventure game created by Ubisoft Quebec and released by Ubisoft. It came out on October 23, 2015, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on November 19, 2015, for Windows. It is the ninth main part of the Assassin's Creed series and follows Assassin's Creed Unity, which was released in 2014.
The game’s story follows the same idea as other Assassin's Creed games, which mix real historical events with a fictional tale. It describes a long secret war between two groups: the Assassins, who fight for peace and freedom, and the Templars, who believe peace can only be achieved through control. The story has two parts: one set in the 21st century, where an unnamed character helps the Assassins find an artifact in London, and another set in London in 1868, during the start of the Second Industrial Revolution. In this part, players control twin Assassins named Jacob and Evie Frye as they work to take control of the city from the Templars. The game also includes scenes set in 1916 during World War I, which follow Jacob’s granddaughter, Lydia Frye.
Players view the action from a third-person perspective and move through the game world by walking or riding in carriages. Syndicate added new ways to travel and improved combat and stealth features. Players can switch between controlling Jacob and Evie during and outside of missions. After its release, the game received additional content called downloadable content (DLC), including three story expansions. One of these, Jack the Ripper, takes place 20 years after the main story and follows Jacob’s search for a mysterious serial killer.
The game received mostly positive reviews for its visuals, characters, story, and level design, though some critics noted issues with combat, open-world design, and vehicle gameplay. It was nominated for awards, including Best Action/Adventure at The Game Awards 2015. However, it sold fewer copies than earlier games in the series, with over 5.5 million units sold by November 2017. Ubisoft said lower sales were partly due to player tiredness with the series, especially after the 2014 release of Assassin's Creed Unity, and decided to stop making new games in the series every year. The next main game, Assassin's Creed Origins, set in ancient Egypt during the Ptolemaic era, was released in October 2017. It includes new gameplay features and a modern-day storyline, acting as a fresh start for the series.
Gameplay
Assassin's Creed Syndicate is an action-adventure stealth game played from a third-person perspective. It shares similar gameplay elements with Assassin's Creed Unity. Players complete missions—set scenarios with specific goals—to advance the story. Outside of missions, players can explore an open world that represents Victorian London, which includes seven boroughs. This world is larger than previous games in the series. Unlike earlier versions, the city guard has been replaced by a Victorian police force. These guards rarely attack players unless a crime is committed in their presence. The main enemy is a Templar-controlled street gang called the "Blighters."
Players control two characters: twins Jacob and Evie Frye. Jacob is a brawler who prefers close combat, while Evie uses stealth and relies on her intelligence. Evie is the first female playable character in a mainline Assassin's Creed game. The weapons in Syndicate include brass knuckles, revolvers, cane-swords, and kukri knives, all of which match the time period and can be upgraded. Players can also wear different outfits and clothing items that affect their abilities through a skill tree system. As players earn experience points, they can level up their characters. For every 1,000 experience points, players unlock a "skill point" to gain new abilities. Each twin can reach a maximum level of 10. Enemies also have levels that determine their difficulty in combat, but all enemies can be stealthily assassinated, regardless of their level.
The combat system in Syndicate differs from Assassin's Creed Unity, focusing on fast attacks and blocks. The stealth system includes new gadgets and a kidnapping mechanic, allowing players to take enemies hostage and blend in with them if they are not near other enemies. The game improves on Unity's "Black Box" design by adding more infiltration opportunities, distractions, and "cinematic kills" unlocked through specific actions. New navigation tools include a rope launcher for climbing structures or creating zip-lines, carriages that can be used for fights or races, and a train that serves as the player's base.
Side content in Syndicate reflects the struggle for power in London and connects to the main story. The game includes a gang warfare mechanic where districts are controlled by two main street gangs. The Frye twins start a gang called the Rooks to fight the Blighters. Players can upgrade the Rooks' weapons, vehicles, and economic resources to improve their combat effectiveness and generate income. At the start of the game, London is controlled by the Blighters, but as players complete optional missions—such as freeing child laborers or assassinating Templars—each borough gradually comes under the Rooks' control. Other side missions involve helping historical figures like Charles Dickens, Karl Marx, and Queen Victoria. Players can also earn money through activities like fight clubs and carriage races, and collect items such as music boxes that lead to hidden treasures.
Unlike its predecessor, Syndicate does not include a multiplayer mode or a companion app, which was introduced in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
Synopsis
In 1868, near the end of the Industrial Revolution, the Assassin Brotherhood was almost destroyed in Victorian London. Twins Jacob (Paul Amos) and Evie Frye (Victoria Atkin) left Crawley for London and found a city controlled by the Templars, with the Church and Monarchy losing power. Raised as Assassins to follow the Creed, Jacob and Evie aimed to reclaim the city by uniting London's criminal underworld. They worked with important figures of the time, including novelist Charles Dickens, biologist Charles Darwin, inventor Alexander Graham Bell, political theorist Karl Marx, nurse Florence Nightingale, Maharaja Duleep Singh, Sergeant Frederick Abberline of the Metropolitan Police, and Queen Victoria. Jacob's granddaughter, Lydia Frye, appears in a separate World War I segment, where she helps Winston Churchill defend London from a new enemy espionage group.
In 2015, the Helix player, now an Assassin Initiate, is contacted by Bishop to help the Brotherhood find a Piece of Eden in London. While Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings infiltrate Abstergo's facility, the Initiate relives the memories of Jacob and Evie Frye, twin Assassins from the Victorian era.
In 1868, Evie infiltrates a lab run by David Brewster and Templar occultist Lucy Thorne, and finds them experimenting on an Apple of Eden. Evie kills Brewster, learns the Templars are searching for another artifact, and escapes after the Apple explodes. The Frye twins go to London to stop the Templars, meeting fellow Assassin Henry Green. Henry tells them the London Brotherhood has fallen, and the city is controlled by the Templars, led by Crawford Starrick, a powerful figure in industry and crime. Evie wants to find the Piece of Eden, but Jacob convinces her to help free London's boroughs from Templar-run gangs. They build their own gang, the Rooks, and make allies like Clara O'Dea, Frederick Abberline, Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Darwin, Ned Wynert, and Edward Hodson Bayley.
During this time, Jacob assassinates Starrick's allies, including Dr. John Elliotson, Malcolm Milner, Pearl Attaway, Philip Twopenny, James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, and gang leader Maxwell Roth. Meanwhile, Evie searches for the Piece of Eden with Henry. They find clues under Edward Kenway's mansion, leading them to the key for the Shroud's vault at St Paul's Cathedral. Thorne steals the key and flees to the Tower of London. Evie infiltrates the Tower, kills Thorne, and learns the Shroud is not there. Henry believes the vault is hidden in Buckingham Palace and gets help from Maharaja Duleep Singh to obtain schematics, but the Templars seize them first. Evie also fixes problems caused by Jacob's assassinations, like medicine shortages and currency inflation.
After Starrick's lieutenants are killed, he tries to retrieve the Shroud and eliminate Britain's leaders. Jacob and Evie argue but agree to work together to stop Starrick. They infiltrate a ball at Buckingham Palace, but Starrick reaches the vault first and takes the Shroud. With Henry's help, the Frye twins kill Starrick, reconcile, and return the Shroud to the vault. Queen Victoria knights the Frye twins and Henry.
In the present, Rebecca and Shaun spy on Templars Isabelle Ardant and Álvaro Gramática, who are also searching for the Shroud. They try to capture Ardant but flee after being attacked by Otso Berg and Violet da Costa. After the Initiate locates the Shroud, Shaun, Rebecca, and Assassin Galina Voronina go to the vault but find Ardant, Berg, and da Costa there first. A fight happens, Ardant is killed, and da Costa escapes with the Shroud. The Assassins learn the Templars plan to use the Shroud to create a living Precursor. They also discover Juno is manipulating Abstergo employees to sabotage the company.
While exploring Jacob and Evie's memories, the Initiate encounters a "time anomaly" in the Animus, reliving memories of Jacob's granddaughter, Lydia Frye. In 1914, at the start of World War I, the Brotherhood moves Jacob and Evie to the countryside while Lydia's husband, an Assassin, joins the British Army. Lydia defends London from German spies. In 1916, at Winston Churchill's request, Lydia destroys a German spy facility in Tower Bridge and uncovers Templars in the spy network. Churchill promises to support women's rights after the war. Lydia defeats all Templar-infested areas in London and captures the Templar leader, a Sage who is the reincarnation of Juno's husband, Aita.
For each completed mission, Juno appears and shares her past. After Lydia kills the Sage, Juno thanks the Initiate and suggests future cooperation.
At some point after arriving in London, the Frye twins meet Henry Raymond, a penny dreadful writer, and his follower, Arthur Conan Doyle. The four work together to solve mysterious murders across London. The twins are later summoned by Queen Victoria to investigate the murder of one of her guards. Doyle discovers Raymond planned to steal the Queen's Sceptre of the Dove by pretending to be the guard. Raymond fakes a bomb threat to escape. Jacob and Evie evacuate the palace, while Doyle tries to stop Raymond but is captured. One of the Frye twins distracts Raymond while the other kills him, saving Doyle and recovering the Sceptre. Jacob and Evie encourage Doyle to write detective fiction.
Set in 1888, twenty years after the main campaign, this expansion follows Evie as she investigates the murders of female Assassins in London's East End, carried out by the serial killer known as the Ripper. The Ripper has gathered former Rooks members and kidnapped Jacob, now the head of the British Brotherhood, who has a personal connection to the killer.
After confronting Duleep Singh about his lack of commitment to India, Henry asks the Frye twins to help convince the Maharaja to reclaim his birthright.
Development
Assassin's Creed Syndicate is the second major game in the series not developed by Ubisoft Montreal, following 2014's Assassin's Creed Rogue. On July 2, 2014, Ubisoft announced that Ubisoft Quebec would lead the game's development as part of a major investment in the studio. Ubisoft Quebec had previously helped create six earlier games in the series, as well as downloadable content such as The Tyranny of King Washington and Freedom Cry for Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, respectively. Marc-Alexis Côté is the game's creative director, having worked on previous titles like Brotherhood, Revelations, Assassin's Creed III, and Freedom Cry. François Pelland returns as a senior producer, having also served as an executive director on the three games released between Assassin's Creed III and Syndicate. Lydia Andrew, who previously worked on Assassin's Creed III, Black Flag, and Unity, is the game's audio director. Historian Jean-Vincent Roy acted as a consultant on the game, having previously worked on Assassin's Creed III and held other roles at Ubisoft. This game is the first in the series to include a non-playable transgender character.
The music for Assassin's Creed Syndicate was composed by American composer Austin Wintory. The game's lyrical songs, called murder ballads, were created by Wintory and the Australian musical comedy band Tripod. The soundtrack was released on Amazon MP3 and iTunes on October 23, 2015. Bear McCreary composed the score for the Jack the Ripper downloadable content, and a soundtrack album for this content was released on December 1, 2015.
Release
Information about the game, then called Assassin's Creed Victory, was first shared on December 2, 2014, by the website Kotaku. The site published details and screenshots from a seven-minute video showing gameplay footage it had obtained. Kotaku received criticism for the article because it included limited information and claimed facts that were later proven incorrect. Ubisoft confirmed the news the same day in a statement. The company said it was disappointed that "internal assets, not intended for public consumption" had been shared but expressed excitement about officially revealing the game later. The game was officially announced on May 12, 2015, and released worldwide on October 23, 2015, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on November 19, 2015, for Windows.
Life-sized toy replicas of weapons used by characters Evie and Jacob in the game, called the "Cane-sword" and the "Gauntlet with Hidden Blade," were available for purchase when the game launched. On May 13, 2015, five different versions of the game were announced for sale in Europe.
On November 18, 2024, Ubisoft announced a patch for Syndicate that will allow players to play the game at 60 frames per second on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Ubisoft provided additional content called downloadable content (DLC) for Syndicate. Most of this content is included in the game's season pass. An expansion pack called The Darwin and Dickens Conspiracy, which adds three missions involving Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens, was available to players who pre-ordered the game. This expansion was later included in the Streets of London DLC, which added new outfits and gear, on January 19, 2016. The first story-driven DLC, Jack the Ripper, loosely based on the crimes of the serial killer in London's Whitechapel area in 1888, was released on December 15, 2015, for consoles, and December 22, 2015, for Windows. This DLC adds a new story campaign separate from the base game, following Evie's efforts to stop the Ripper and find Jacob, who has been kidnapped.
The second story-driven DLC, The Last Maharaja, was released on March 1, 2016, for all platforms. It focuses on Jacob and Evie helping Duleep Singh reclaim his heritage. The final story expansion, The Dreadful Crimes, was initially only available for PlayStation 4 until March 2016. It was later released for Windows on April 11, 2016, and is the only expansion not included in the season pass. This DLC expands on Assassin's Creed Unity's murder investigation system, challenging players to solve multiple murder cases across London.
Reception
Assassin's Creed Syndicate received "generally favorable" reviews for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, while the PC version received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to Metacritic, a website that collects reviews.
Alexa Corriea from GameSpot praised the smooth combat system, the detailed map, and the rope launcher feature. She called the game "a triumphant return to form for the franchise." Daniel Krupa from IGN gave the game an 8.2 out of 10, noting the city design and lighthearted story as strengths, but criticized the repetitive combat. He said it was better than the combat in Assassin's Creed Unity. Brett Makedonski from Destructoid gave the game 7.5 out of 10, praising the characters and assassination missions but criticizing the gameplay. He called the combat unsatisfying and driving the carriage "a pain." Christopher Livingston from PC Gamer gave the game 66 out of 100. He praised the characters and main missions but criticized the side missions as repetitive.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate sold the most copies in the UK initially, according to Chart-Track. However, in its first week, it was the second worst-selling game in the franchise in the UK, only selling more than Assassin's Creed Rogue. Ubisoft reported that lower sales in the first week were due to the release of Assassin's Creed Unity (2014), which had many problems at launch. Syndicate's second week sales beat Unity's. The game was the ninth best-selling retail game of 2015 in the UK. By February 2016, the game had sold over 4.12 million units. As of November 2017, Assassin's Creed Syndicate had sold over 5.5 million units.
In April 2020, Game Informer ranked the game as the second best game in the Assassin's Creed series to date. Assassin's Creed Syndicate appeared on several lists of best video games of 2015, including Games Radar, GameSpot, Complex, Eurogamer, Screen Rant, and Kotaku.