Assassin's Creed Syndicate

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is the most fun I've had with an Assassin's game since Black Flag.

Ziplining through London is thrilling, and the game allows you to organically discover missions and leaves you open-ended solutions lets you to create a meaningful, personal experience within its world. Coupled with strong, loveable leads and a seemingly endless procession of ways to leave your (fictional) mark on London's history, Assassin's Creed Syndicate is a shining example of gameplay and storytelling.

Syndicate moves Assassin's Creed forward with a solid new adventure, a beautiful London playground and a renewed sense of fun.

New toys and strong characters freshen up the Creed formula, but only for a while.

Syndicate doesn't get everything right. It doesn't solve all of the series' problems, and at this point, I'm not sure if any one game could. However, it's the first step in a uniformly positive direction that the franchise has taken in years.

Victorian London is the star of the show here, and although some old gameplay problems linger, it hasn't been this much fun to wield the hidden blade in years.

Whether you're reclaiming the city from gangs, killing Templars, or searching for hidden secrets, this is an example of the Assassin's Creed formula done right

While titles like Witcher 3 and Metal Gear Solid V have innovated on the open-world adventure, Syndicate is stuck in the past, in more ways than one

When I reviewed the ill-fated PC port of Arkham Knight, I said that the Arkham games were my go-to AAA series. On this form, they've got stiff competition. Here's hoping Syndicate isn't an anomaly and that the future of the series will be something other than history repeating itself.

One of the more poignant moments in Syndicate is a scene where Crawford Starrick is solemnly playing piano. At the conclusion of the slow, heartfelt song, he earnestly sings "In such a moment, I but ask that you'll remember me. That you'll remember me." We remember you, Assassin's Creed. And now, we have hope for what else you can do.