'Assassin's Creed: Syndicate' Announced; Find Out The Details Here

Ubisoft has announced the newest installment to their ‘Assassin’s Creed’ franchise: ‘Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate’, which looks like a game where Batman meets ‘Grand Theft Auto’ with a nice dash of steampunk. ‘Syndicate’ is set to release on October 23rd of this year on the Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

‘Syndicate’ is set in Victorian London in the year 1868, right in the heart of the Industrial Revolution. So far the story’s theme seems to be centered on economic inequalities between the working class poor and the rich who profit off their labor. Jacob Frye, the game’s protagonist, is a “gangster assassin” who aims to build up his gang to fight against the rival Templar gangs, and for justice on behalf of the oppressed.

As far as gameplay mechanics, new weapons include kukri knives, brass knuckles, and sword canes, and climbing buildings has been made easier and faster with the rope launcher, which is essentially a fancy grappling hook. While stealth is still a central part of the game, ‘Syndicate’ has an “offense-heavy combat system”. The gameplay video below shows off Jacob’s fighting style, which is as fast as it is brutal.

Since it’s Victorian London, traversing the city isn’t just limited to parkouring over buildings in typical ‘Assassin’s Creed’ fashion: you can highjack horse drawn carriages, steamboats, and even trains. Locations promised so far are just Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, but there’s sure to be many places to explore in ‘Syndicate’s’ London in the final release.

Jacob isn’t the game’s only playable character – you can also play as Evie Frye, his twin sister. Unfortunately she’s hardly mentioned on the game’s website and only makes a brief appearance in the gameplay video, but the video’s description promises that she is “a relentless Assassin who has perfected the silent, swift, invisible strike”, probably to balance Jacob’s combat heavy mechanics. It’s also unclear whether the two siblings have their own story lines or if the player will be able to switch between them, but hopefully Ubisoft will release more information about that soon.

You can check out ‘Syndicate’s’ trailer as well as their gameplay video here: