Anita Sarkeesian just created a cool new genre of video game review

This time around, Ubisoft ditched multiplayer in order to focus exclusively on a complete and satisfying solo experience. It works fantastically with Syndicate’s overall flow, able to attach itself onto any surface you want.

No doubt about it: Ubisoft had fences to mend after the buggy mess that was Assassin’s Creed Unity, a French escapade that fell far short of revolutionary.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate it coming to Xbox One, PS4 and PC from the 23rd of October 2015.

In lieu of a fleet of pirates to command or a party of online friends to team up with, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate gives players the ability to recruit and level up a loyal gang throughout the game. You can hunt for collectables, do side-missions, take back sections of the city to gain power and influence, or head-off into the main-story. The bad ones are not explained well or are ruined by the randomness of the open world.

For collectors, there’s the £114.99 Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Big Ben Collector’s Case, available from Uplay, which includes the Collector’s Box, an Exclusive Futurepak case for the game, the offical soundtrack, an art book, an exclusive hip flask, Jacob’s Machinery Figurine (30cm tall), a double-sided London Map and an exclusive numbered lithography chosen by the fans who pre-order.

Jacob and Evie Frye are largely responsible for this. A first for the series, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate offers players the ability to switch between these two characters at any time, and they both have a different skill set. Jacob is a brawler, who is adept at melee confrontations.

It allows Jacob or Evie to bound up or across buildings easily. The game runs at an nearly locked 30 fps on both consoles with minimal frame rate drops, especially during scenes where the NPC count goes up. Last year’s Paris and now this year’s London are handsome time period recreations. There are a few highlights – like crossing the river Thames by jumping across moving boats, or infiltrating famous landmarks – but these moments are memorable thanks to the new locale, rather than mission design. There are trains circling the city, which become targets for robberies. Steamboats and carriages are abundant across the city, with these technologies incorporated into the gameplay in meaningful ways.

Of this new toy I only have two criticisms: firstly, the surfaces at which it can be fired at seem remarkably inconsistent – sometimes the game will simply refuse to let you attach yourself to a ledge that you know with absolute certainty, you should be able to hook on to.

If you’ve played other games in the series you’ll find that things feel instantly familiar. Utilizing the technology of the era, carriages and trains are a new form of transportation. Where carriages line the streets of London and can be used for traveling from point to point, but can also be used to hide in them, get away from enemies, abduct enemy agents and even partake in vehicular battles that can have you boarding other carriages and hijacking them while driving. Gone are the days where we gush over its spectacle, its mysticism and its fun-factor; try counting the amount of sighs that you hear from the gaming media whenever another Assassin’s Creed is announced.

I’ve been playing it on the Xbox One, and it not only looks good, but runs well enough too. Mainly in the game’s introduction to the grappling hook which is a hit and miss proposition. When you’re perched on a rooftop, lamppost or any number of other raised surfaces, you’ll notice that L1 prompts appear as you pan the camera around. The game will last you a really long time and the planned DLC is only going to add to the variety and game length. Couple that with a few serious performance issues, and it ended up being one of my least favorite Creed games to date. Interestingly enough, Starrick uses gangs in the criminal underworld of London to do his bidding. He can take more damage and he’s the one that leads the creation of the Fryes’ own street gang – The Rooks. It’s one of Syndicate’s brand new features, and it’s a little like something straight out of the movie Gangs of New York.

So Assassin’s Creed Syndicate comes out with a few extra baggage.

For the most part though, Syndicate’s combat is standard fare for the series. Jacob is the more brash and impulsive, while Evie is more orthodox, methodical and the voice of reason. Kidnapping people in particular is tiresome, as the kidnapping mechanic – sneak up behind someone and press circle, then slowly walk them past guards while keeping your distance – is not very engaging, and mostly serves to frustrate when it inevitably goes wrong. From this menu, you can spend cash and collected resources to obtain larger pouches for your bombs, throwing knives and the like, as well as improve the efficacy of medicine and hallucinogenic darts. Again, microtransactions can be done well and they can be egregious. I’ve always loved the sci-fi set up of these games but it seems to be getting pushed more and more into the background.