Assassin's Creed Syndicate is now free to Xbox Live Gold members on Xbox One via Games with Gold. If you slept on this Victorian adventure when it launched in 2015, now's the perfect opportunity to discover what you've been missing – and if the lure of a free game isn't enough to whet your appetite, here's a quick list of seven of our favorite things that this urban Assassin's Creed brought to the table.
Dual Protagonists
Assassin's Creed Syndicate is the first time the series let you switch freely between two Assassins: brash and impulsive Jacob Frye, and his intelligent, level-headed sister Evie. Sometimes a story mission demands you be one or the other, but for the most part, you're free to choose, tagging in one or the other at any time. In terms of capabilities, the twins are more or less evenly matched, and can use the same weapons and gear. Evie tends to favor speed and stealth (to the point that one of her skills lets her effectively become invisible), while Jacob excels at brawling and gunfighting.
The Rope Launcher
The streets of Victorian London were wide – so wide, in fact, that it wouldn't really have been possible for an Assassin to cross one from the rooftops without climbing down, running across the pavement like some kind of pedestrian shlub, and climbing back up on the other side. To keep your momentum going in its urban re-creation, Assassin's Creed Syndicate introduces the rope launcher. Won after battling Templar crime boss Rexford Kaylock, it lets you create horizontal ziplines between distant points and slide across. It also makes climbing London's immense buildings (or just making a quick escape) a lot faster by giving you the ability to latch on to a high point and quickly pull yourself skyward.
Street Combat
Fighting in Assassin's Creed Syndicate takes a faster, more streamlined approach than previous games. It focuses on rapid combos with three distinct weapon types, all offering a different balance of speed, strength, and lethality: brass knuckles, a kukri knife, and a cane sword that conceals two blades – one in its handle, and another in its shaft. Instead of blocking and reversing your enemies' attacks, the emphasis is on dodging strikes, stunning opponents, and quickly dealing as much damage as possible to groups of enemies as they cluster around you.
It's even possible to set up multi-foe takedowns by getting a few enemies near the point of death. And if the tide of battle turns against you, you‘ve got smoke bombs, crowd-electrocuting voltaic bombs, and a trusty revolver that can turn it back in a hurry.
Carriages and Trains
Being the first industrial-age Assassin's Creed, Syndicate introduced a new element to its world: Traffic. London's streets are filled with horse-drawn carriages, which you can hijack to get around more quickly. This makes you somewhat more visible to your enemies, and when they start to chase you, you can use your sturdy conveyance to ram them off the road – or just climb on its roof to fight them, which works even better if you've got a friendly gang member along to take the reins while you battle.
The fun of fighting atop a moving vehicle also applies to the trains that run regularly through London. Punching your way from caboose to engine is a thrill whether you're storming through cars or jumping from roof to roof, and it's been scientifically proven that nothing in life is more satisfying than kicking a bad guy off the top of a train.
The Gang War
Assassin's Creed Syndicate is the story of a war between two gangs: the green and yellow-clad Rooks, formed and led by Jacob and Evie; and the red-coated Blighters, secretly allied with the Templars. The Blighters effectively own London, with each borough existing as a fiefdom lorded over by a well-heeled gang boss. You can change that, one chunk of turf at a time, by hunting down gang leaders and Templars, liberating child laborers, and – best of all – infiltrating gang strongholds, which are heavily guarded areas filled with street toughs just waiting to be silently killed, driven into a frenzy by hallucinogenic darts, or beaten down in a head-on brawl. Topple enough gang operations to corner the local warlord, and you'll trigger a Gang War, a final street battle between your gang and theirs to decide the ownership of the borough.
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The Third Protagonist – [Spoilers Ahead]
Jacob and Evie aren't the only Fryes you're able to control. Somewhere on the Thames is an Animus portal that takes you to 1916, where you'll play as Jacob's granddaughter Lydia. With World War I in full swing, her task is to hunt down German spies, under orders from no less a personage than Winston Churchill. More than a chance to see a turn-of-the-century take on London, these memories are also where you'll encounter the mysterious, ghostlike villain Juno, who tries to convince you of her intent to save the world from itself.
Seeing Victorian London Come Alive
The triumph of Assassin's Creed Syndicate isn't just in its protagonists and their fight through a compelling story – it's in re-creating the bustle of 1860s London, a crowded urban center of industry, colossal public works projects, royal splendor, and crushing poverty. Its character shines through in the design of the neighborhoods, the look of its throngs of people, and in the music you'll hear while exploring its gleaming streets and dingy alleys. And that's to say nothing of the historical figures you'll work alongside and learn about, who include Charles Dickens, Karl Marx, Frederick Abberline, and, yes, even Queen Victoria herself.
There's a lot to explore and even more to discover and fight over in Assassin's Creed Syndicate. Xbox Live Gold members can download it now from the Games with Gold hub, so grab it while it's free and get to brawling.
