Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

New trailer for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate shows off the game’s take on 1868 London

By Kris Wouk Published January 15, 2019

We’ve already seen a fair share of gameplay from the upcoming latest entry in the Assassin’s Creed series, but the latest trailer for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate takes a different approach, focusing on the world in which the game takes place.

The trailer allows the occasional brief peek at one of the game’s two main characters, but the real focus is on the world. London in the late 1800s was a grimy place, and that is represented here, but that doesn’t make the game look any less impressive. For every plume of greasy smoke there is a purple and orange sunset, for every look at the dirty Thames, we get a glimpse of a green grassy courtyard dotted with trees. England’s green and pleasant land (to quote William Blake) is well represented.

Recommended Videos

After the multiple issues surrounding the launch of the last game in the series, Assassin’s Creed Unity, Ubisoft has been candid about wanting to make things right with Syndicate. Last month we reported that Ubisoft showed a demo to crowds at San Diego Comic-Con, asking them to be brutally honest when giving feedback.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The dual protagonists in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate — a first for the series — offer different styles of gameplay, with Evie playing a bit more like a character in a stealth game than her brother Jacob. A number of new mechanics have been added for this latest entry in the series, and while some have criticized them as being mere gimmicks, they might bring some much-needed variety to the series.

With the release date bearing down, the core gameplay and systems have likely been nailed down and the team will be focusing on ironing out bugs and refining the game mechanics. Hopefully, Ubisoft learned a lesson from the backlash against Assassin’s Creed Unity and will dedicate plenty of time and resources to ensuring the game launches in a polished state.

Barring any unforeseen delays, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate will be released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 23. The PC version will arrive sometime later, though no concrete release date has been specified so far.

Amazon Best Buy Walmart

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

Gaming

Assassin’s Creed Shadows fixes my biggest problem with the series

The two protagonists in Assassin's Creed Shadows

The Assassin's Creed games have been on a steady path away from stealth ever since the series' first entry. I don't mean that stealth options were stripped out or haven't evolved, but it lagged behind the pace of a more direct approach. While Origins is seen as the major splintering point for the series into a full-blown action RPG, the series' identity crisis can be traced back much further. By the time we got Black Flag, stealth had become so inefficient and inessential that there was hardly a reason to bother with it at all outside of self-imposed challenges.

When the series did pivot into action RPGs, complete with weapon and armor scores, and made the protagonists more and more powerful, I fell off of the franchise. It not that I don't enjoy that style of game, rather that it wasn't what I came to Assassin's Creed for. With Assassin's Creed Shadows Ubisoft finally fixed that power creep problem without stripping those options out of the game. And that's thanks to its two character setup.
Jack of all trades, master of all
What caused me to fall out of favor with Assassin's Creed isn't that the series wanted to give players more options outside of a stealthy approach. Plenty of games proudly boast how they offer players the freedom to play sneaky or go in guns blazing. However, the issue with Assassin's Creed's for me was that one method invalidated the other.

Gaming

Assassin’s Creed Shadows preload guide: release date, file size, and more

A character sneaks around at night in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Plenty of upcoming video games have been delayed, but few as much and as far as Assassin's Creed Shadows. Finally, the game is coming out one way or another very soon, giving us fans the ancient Japanese setting they've been asking for since the series began in 2007. Whether or not this will be one of the best Assassin's Creed games is yet to be determined, but we're not far from getting that answer. If you've been waiting for months to get your hands on this new open-world game, these are all the preload details you need to know to be ready to enter the world of assassins as soon as possible.
Assassin's Creed Shadows release date

There's no more room for delays, so Assassin's Creed Shadows will come out on March 20 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC no matter what.
Assassin's Creed Shadows file size

Gaming

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is perfect mix of classic and new

The two protagonists in Assassin's Creed Shadows

When Ubisoft released Assassin’s Creed Origins in 2017, it seemed like the franchise was at the start of a transformation. While previous entries focused much more on stealth, Origins started to move in a more action-focused direction with a major emphasis on open-world exploration. 2018’s Odyssey and 2020’s Valhalla continued the trend and refined its combat mechanics, which cemented Assassin’s Creed as an action RPG series.

When 2023’s Mirage came around, it was billed as a return to the series roots with an extra emphasis on stealth. It largely succeeded and was a sufficient, yet unremarkable adventure. With the franchise at a gameplay crossroads, what would the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows play like?