Assassin's Creed Syndicate is an action-adventure video game by Ubisoft and is the ninth main instalment in the Assassin's Creed series. It was released on October 23, 2015, developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on November 19, 2015, for Microsoft Windows.
The main story is set in London in 1868, during the Victorian Era, at the onset of the Second Industrial Revolution. The game has the player take on the role of an Initiate as they explore the story of the twin protagonists, Jacob and Evie Frye, both of whom are playable. The two arrive in London in 1868, as the Industrial Revolution reaches its climax, bringing its lot of inequality and poverty in a city controlled by the Templars. To stop their rule, the Frye's will take over the organized crime in an effort to gather an army and free London. The narrative also includes segments set in 1916, during World War I, which follow Jacob's granddaughter, Lydia Frye.
The game is played from a third-person perspective and its open world is navigated on foot or by carriage. The game introduces new travelling systems and refined combat and stealth mechanics. Players control the two lead protagonists throughout the game's story, switching between them both during and outside of missions. After launch, the game was supported with several releases of downloadable content, including three story expansions. The most notable of these, Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Jack the Ripper, is set twenty years after the main campaign, and involves Evie's pursuit of the titular unidentified serial killer, who is also playable. Therefore, what makes this game unique from other AC games is the fact that it has a greater depth in its narrative and characters and this aspect received positive reviews from the audience.
The production
The game was developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft. Ubisoft Entertainment is a French computer and videogame developer and publisher with headquarters in Montreuil-sous-Bois, France. It was founded in 1986 by five brothers and the company consists of 26 studios spread across 18 countries. In terms of raw numbers, normally around 1,000 people tend to work on Assassin's Creed games.
Having gained solid brand experience from their contributions to previous entries in the Assassin's Creed franchise, Ubisoft Quebec reportedly worked on Syndicate for more than two years. However, Syndicate was less financially successful than previous entries in the series, selling roughly 5.5 million copies by November 2017.
Target audience
The target audience for the game would most likely be people over the age of 18 as in the UK and Europe, PEGI rates Assassin's Creed Syndicate as only appropriate for those aged 18. Additionally, the audience may be both male and female due to there being a male and female protagonist who have fairly equal gameplay time. Playing as Evie Frye would introduce an opportunity for female players to identify with the character they are controlling, therefore attracting a broader audience. The audience would most likely be fans of the game series as this is the ninth main instalment, making one of their interests gaming. They would also have a job that would allow them the spare time to play video games, suggesting an average income.
For a psychographic profile, in terms of Young & Rubicam’s 4C’s, the audience would be both a Struggler, as they seek escape and an Explorer as they seek discovery. Furthermore for Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, a typical audience member would play Assassin's Creed Syndicate for esteem - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, prestige, respect.
Success/audience
Syndicate was less financially successful than previous entries in the series, selling roughly 5.5 million copies by November 2017.
At the Canadian Videogame Awards in 2015 and the Golden Trailer Awards in 2016, Assassin's Creed Syndicate won six awards in total which were:
Game of the Year
Best Animation
Best New Character
Best audio
Best Visual Arts
Best videogame trailer (Golden Trailer Awards 2016)
Audience Response
Assassin's Creed Syndicate received positive reviews, with praise for its visuals, characters, narrative, and level design. However, the combat, open-world design and vehicle gameplay were met with some criticism. This short review video by IGN perfectly summarizes the key pros and cons of the game and how the audience felt about the game at the time it was released.
Example of a bad review:
''Combat is terrible, worse than unity, all enemies are like sponges. 5 foot girl hits a 6 foot tall buff guy with a cane and he flies 2 feet up in the air, this really turned me off of even remotely enjoying this game. To sum combat up, it is extremely cartoony and disgusting, AC Unity's combat was better, and that's saying a lot. Story seemed interesting at first but as I started playing it got less and less interesting, no emotional attachment to characters''
Example of good review:
''I am so glad to know I am not the only person who comes back to this game. Great game dude, has to be my favourite Assassin's Creed. Atmosphere is dope, music was chill. No complaints deserves a 5 star''.
Regulation
In the UK and Europe, PEGI rates Assassin's Creed Syndicate as only appropriate for those aged 18 and older for strong violence and infrequent strong language.
Marketing
One of the more unique aspects of the marketing for Assassin's Creed Syndicate was the Victorian bike ride:
''Bringing a slice of Victorian life back to the capital for one day only, Lycra was replaced with lamb’s wool while helmet cams were substituted for bowler hats, as hordes of Penny Farthings hit the streets of London. The surprising spectacle was created to mark the launch of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, the latest instalment in the popular video game franchise that is set in Victorian London''
Another part of the marketing was the consistent social media posts, particularly on Instagram from the official US Assassin's Creed account. In 2015, before the release of the game, the page posted gameplay, exciting content such as weapons and skins and character information to try and raise the hype around the game.
The main marketing for the game would have been the release of the trailers, one of the initial trailers was the Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Debut
This trailer is short, but action packed and exciting and shows the audience exactly what to expect in terms of characters, combat and the world that the player will be exploring throughout their gameplay. There are various filmic aspects to the trailer, so much that it looks more like a trailer for a movie, rather than a video game. One of the key elements is the consistent use of slow motion and the dramatic music which gives a very empowering and unstoppable feeling. We also see various aspects of the narrative that would appeal to fans of storytelling and film, but also the historical nature of this trailer and the injustice that the working class faced. Alongside this, another appeal is the familiarity of the Assassin's Creed franchise through the iconic hood and brutal combat that would target the already large AC community. Additionally, a major appeal that this trailer showcases very well, is the free roaming ability and the much loved open-world aspect of AC, the protagonist Jacob Frye is seen jumping and roaming the streets of Victorian London, whilst engaging in fun and thrilling combat. This would be very appealing and exciting to both a previous and new Assassin's Creed audience.
In this gameplay sequence, we see various aspects of Assassin's Creed that would appeal to the audience. Firstly, this gameplay opens up with the 'good guys' fighting the 'bad guys', this would give a sense of community and teamwork tot he audience and also bring the satisfaction of defeating the enemy. Furthermore, the one on one combat is fun, quick and fast paced and looks engaging to play. Next in this sequence, we are given a chase scene and this adds tension and suspense for the player, whilst also giving them the ability to roam free, jump on vehicles and use the fun abilities and skills that the protagonist, Jacob, has to offer. During the chase sequence, the character run through Victorian train station, adding to the interesting historical part of the game, as the player is able to explore familiar places from history that they can recognize. Finally, at the end of this gameplay/mission, Jacob has defeated the enemies, captured his target and now needs to kill him. When this is done, the task is completed and the players need for achievement is fulfilled.
Application of theory
Curran and Seaton
Curran and Seaton suggested that conglomerates limit creativity and do not take many risks. It can be said that this is not the case for Assassin's Creed Syndicate as this game seems to have taken a few risks. Firstly, this is the first Assassin's Creed game to take a risk with its mechanics and introduce vehicles (carriages) that can be driven by the player, and also that can be used for combat. This was a risky aspect that was added by Ubisoft as there is a higher possibility of glitches and bad gameplay, which could lower the sales and profit. However, Ubisoft was aware that this was something that the AC fanbase wanted as so they chose to take this risk.
Another risk that was taken by Ubisoft was by making one of the protagonists a female, which male audiences may reject. However, it could also be seen as playing it safe due to the fact that in the trailers , Ubisoft did not show Evie at all, only the male protagonist Jacob. Therefore, they played it safe by sticking with the lone male assassin that the AC community know and love.
Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura's theory talks about how the media injects and implants ideas into the brain. The audience will then acquire attitudes and model themselves on what they see in media productions. Behaviour that is transgressive will be mimicked and imitated by audiences, especially children. Although this game is more lighthearted than the other AC games, there is still an extreme amount of violence and gore and lots of unnecessary killing. The video game based on this theory suggests
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