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AC Unity vs. AC Syndicate. Which one is better?
- Thread starter Nephilim
- Start date
Syndicate for me, captured the setting so well and was an interesting game with the 2 very good characters. I really didn't get on with Unity. Although the setting was well done and Notre Dame was a great experience (similar to the Dome Florence in AC2) the game just lacked soul, the main character was dull and overall wasn't that interesting. I struggled to finish it and won't have a replay.
I recently had another go at AC3 which was always my worst AC, the remastered version but not doing the completionist element, and thought it was OK so Unity may be my worst AC game now.
I've played and completed them all (AC2 - all parts - and AC4 twice which is a lot of gaming hours).
I recently had another go at AC3 which was always my worst AC, the remastered version but not doing the completionist element, and thought it was OK so Unity may be my worst AC game now.
I've played and completed them all (AC2 - all parts - and AC4 twice which is a lot of gaming hours).
I am gonna say though that while Unity may look better, Syndicate has MUCH better LoD (this is fairly awful in Unity) and even ignoring the fact that Syndicate has full dynamic weather and ToD unlike Unity, the actual weather effects in Unity are very, very basic, whereas in Syndicate you get proper puddles and wet surfaces. At night, it looks really fucking good.
So yes while Syndicate may have lower quality cutscenes, character models and material quality, I'd say that in some areas its actually an evolution and overall I'd say they are pretty close and both look damn good even today.
So yes while Syndicate may have lower quality cutscenes, character models and material quality, I'd say that in some areas its actually an evolution and overall I'd say they are pretty close and both look damn good even today.
Hands down Unity.
Syndicate's London is just so incredibly dull, I've played an awful lot of AC games over the years and Syndicate it right down the bottom of my list with the likes of AC3 whereas I rate Unity quite highly.
Syndicate's London is just so incredibly dull, I've played an awful lot of AC games over the years and Syndicate it right down the bottom of my list with the likes of AC3 whereas I rate Unity quite highly.
I preferred Unity. Never finished Syndicate but it just didn't grab me at all. Unity was a gorgeous game with fun parkour but the story and bugs drag it down.
Unity looks better in places but that's about the only advantage it has. Arno is a non-entity cardboard cutout, the story is basically not present at times, combat is slow af, multi is half-baked and sessions inevitably break down into combat gorefests, the way enemies like magically use GPS to find you during an alert is stupid. unity sucks. syndicate gets the vote by default. i'd rather play the AC card game on my ipad than play unity again.
If you care about soundtrack, I thought Syndicate had some amazing background music.
As far as gameplay is concerned, you can chain your kills on multiple enemies in Syndicate and the animations that support these are incredibly cool and varied. Like, one of the most badass aspects of the game for me. I feel like going back to it just talking about it.
Story can be hit and miss in these games, but the protagonists in Syndicate have far more personality than Arno. I really enjoyed their interactions. I wasn't even planning on playing this game initially but I was immensely satisfied.
Unity has the edge in graphics, undoubtedly, but Syndicate is far more fun.
Edit: Let me also add that Syndicate is the only AC I've ever felt like returning to (I even platinumed it), and I've played them all as a huge fan aside from the recent trilogy. I feel it's in the top three of the franchise.
As far as gameplay is concerned, you can chain your kills on multiple enemies in Syndicate and the animations that support these are incredibly cool and varied. Like, one of the most badass aspects of the game for me. I feel like going back to it just talking about it.
Story can be hit and miss in these games, but the protagonists in Syndicate have far more personality than Arno. I really enjoyed their interactions. I wasn't even planning on playing this game initially but I was immensely satisfied.
Unity has the edge in graphics, undoubtedly, but Syndicate is far more fun.
Edit: Let me also add that Syndicate is the only AC I've ever felt like returning to (I even platinumed it), and I've played them all as a huge fan aside from the recent trilogy. I feel it's in the top three of the franchise.
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Yeah it is always strange to me that Unity gets hyped up as if it is overall the pinnacle of visuals in the series. It may be in some regards, in terms of material and asset quality. But having recently completed Valhalla on PS5, that looks more impressive than Unity did overall even on PC. Character models are much better, overall lighting system can look just as good while being dynamic, modelling is better, Lod is massively better as is pop in. It may be cross gen, but it is a very nice looking game.
Syndicate, without question. Probably my favourite AC, bar maybe 2. It's really fun, and constantly fun, and with a sense of fun. It's so not serious, and I love it for that.
I liked Syndicate a lot more. The protagonists were a lot of fun, especially Evie, while I can't remember anything about the characters in Unity.
Unity did have some cool assassination set-ups though, and impressive crowds and riots, if I'm remembering correctly. But I found exploring London to be a lot more fun and charming.
Unity did have some cool assassination set-ups though, and impressive crowds and riots, if I'm remembering correctly. But I found exploring London to be a lot more fun and charming.
Syndicate is one of the best games in the series. Really only behind IV imo. Unity is better than a lot of people say but its story is lacking and Arno isn't the best character. Also what they did to Elise is criminal and we should have honestly played as her.
Both had their flaws, but Unity got really cleaned up after patches. Played it through a couple years after launch and platinumed it on PS4. Really enjoyed its stunning visuals, crowds, smooth parkour, and many of the classic mission design templates. It's co-op mode was also a great feature, and with good communication or other good players, it was a riot taking on missions like a swarm of ninjas. The story was forgettable though, but hardly a game deserving of the backlash some still throw at it, at least post-launch.
Syndicate left me a bit cold. It gets a lot of love and there are some things to like about it. The grappling hook was neat, the twins are personable(but also cartoonish). Music was great too.
Unfortunately, London wasnt that great. Very copy/paste with heavy bloat in its layout. You'll scale and play through the same repeated city blocks, factories, back alleys, etc... Mission variety is lacking as well. The detective mysteries being a highlight, but the gang warfare and other activities were droll. Characterization of villains and story went overboard. Villains were literal mustache-twirling psychopaths, Evie and her brother were so embellished to the point that their banter occasionally was cringe. Some really facepalm decisions made by them as well. Nothing felt grounded, everything was dialed up. it's not outright bad, but it's lower on my ranking list.
Syndicate left me a bit cold. It gets a lot of love and there are some things to like about it. The grappling hook was neat, the twins are personable(but also cartoonish). Music was great too.
Unfortunately, London wasnt that great. Very copy/paste with heavy bloat in its layout. You'll scale and play through the same repeated city blocks, factories, back alleys, etc... Mission variety is lacking as well. The detective mysteries being a highlight, but the gang warfare and other activities were droll. Characterization of villains and story went overboard. Villains were literal mustache-twirling psychopaths, Evie and her brother were so embellished to the point that their banter occasionally was cringe. Some really facepalm decisions made by them as well. Nothing felt grounded, everything was dialed up. it's not outright bad, but it's lower on my ranking list.
Played them back to back, so Unity had plenty of time to get fixed. Unity was by far the more enjoyable game to me, I don't get the love for the characters of Syndicate, I was glad to be done with them, halfway through they started to get annoying.
I loved syndicate, Evie remains one of my fave characters in the series. I though unity was greasy post patch but the story didn't have much going for it and the romance between the two characters seemed very awkward lol
Syndicate for me. While Unity has a more charming location, Syndicate is the better game overall and my 2nd most favorite AC game: better protagonists, better villain, better transversal system. I even found the side quests and DLC to be better.
Unity is peak classic AC with the best assassination missions in the series.
Syndicate sucks outside of Evie.
Syndicate sucks outside of Evie.
Every time I come into one of these threads and people say Unity is the best Assassin's Creed it blows my mind. I played it to completion at launch and it made me quit the Assassin's Creed franchise. I don't think I liked a single thing about it and that's not even counting how much of a technical mess it was at launch.
Maybe I should go back and give it another shot now.
Maybe I should go back and give it another shot now.
Unity, for my money. I genuinely think it's underrated, and Paris is amazing.
I expected to love Syndicate; being from London, all I'd ever wanted was an AC set here. Maybe I was just getting a bit worn out on AC games by that point, but I found it a bit boring and struggled to get through it. It felt like the mechanics were really starting to wear out as well, and I don't think I've ever got stuck on bits of scenery in an AC game as much I did in that one. It felt like I was constantly getting snagged on and glued to every incidental bit of geometry.
Evie was pretty great, but I ended up mostly disappointed by it.
I expected to love Syndicate; being from London, all I'd ever wanted was an AC set here. Maybe I was just getting a bit worn out on AC games by that point, but I found it a bit boring and struggled to get through it. It felt like the mechanics were really starting to wear out as well, and I don't think I've ever got stuck on bits of scenery in an AC game as much I did in that one. It felt like I was constantly getting snagged on and glued to every incidental bit of geometry.
Evie was pretty great, but I ended up mostly disappointed by it.
Unity has the better setting, fun missions and story, protagonist is a bit on the boring side though.
Syndicate has good missions, a better protagonist in Evie, but overall I think Syndicate it's pretty irrelevant sadly. Has some great bits, specially one very specific part of the game.
Unity left a bigger mark for me. For better or worse. Syndicate's fun but very meh
Syndicate has good missions, a better protagonist in Evie, but overall I think Syndicate it's pretty irrelevant sadly. Has some great bits, specially one very specific part of the game.
Unity left a bigger mark for me. For better or worse. Syndicate's fun but very meh
I will agree that Unity has the better setting. There's some real love in that map and in the detail on the landmarks. The characters are kinda shit, though. I really enjoyed the murder mystery activities.
Syndicate had much better characters, but the wider streets (which ended up necessitating the grappling hook) showed the limit of the roof-running concept. The more modern firearms also showed some issues in how they handled projectiles. It kinda underlined to me that there would never be a "modern day" AC (not that I really wanted one) unless you're dealing with a VERY high density setting.
Syndicate had much better characters, but the wider streets (which ended up necessitating the grappling hook) showed the limit of the roof-running concept. The more modern firearms also showed some issues in how they handled projectiles. It kinda underlined to me that there would never be a "modern day" AC (not that I really wanted one) unless you're dealing with a VERY high density setting.
Unity was the only Assassin's Creed game where I was looking up whether there were cheat codes so I could get it over with quicker. I hated playing that game. It is gorgeous though. I also found the map really annoying to use, and gave up finding collectibles and side quests very early in the game, when I usually get close to 100% on most AC games. If you really want an Assassin's Creed where stealth and using all your tools is important, then I could see you liking this game, but for me it just wasn't what I was looking for.
Syndicate on the other hand was a lot of fun to play. I really liked the London setting and enjoyed the characters (although Evie should have gotten more focus in the main missions). It's a little too easy, but it ended up being one of my favorites of the old-style AC games. The Jack the Ripper DLC is also pretty good.
Syndicate on the other hand was a lot of fun to play. I really liked the London setting and enjoyed the characters (although Evie should have gotten more focus in the main missions). It's a little too easy, but it ended up being one of my favorites of the old-style AC games. The Jack the Ripper DLC is also pretty good.
Syndicate's story and characters are it's strength though but it reached a point where I just wanted to complete the story and forget about any of the sidecontent. Unity, I kept wanting to play because I enjoyed all the side content and exploration.
Unity is very underrated and after Black Flag, it felt like a great call back to the experience that AC1 and AC2 offered the player (the co-op stuff was forgettable however). Also I played on PC and had none of the major issues so many people love to bitch about with Unity.
Unity is very underrated and after Black Flag, it felt like a great call back to the experience that AC1 and AC2 offered the player (the co-op stuff was forgettable however). Also I played on PC and had none of the major issues so many people love to bitch about with Unity.
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Unity for me is the best Assassin's Creed game. It was when the series peaked in my opinion. Unfortunately technical issues took away from how good the core game was.
They've gone downhill since, and to be honest recent ones don't even feel like Assassin's Creed games.
They're basically new IP's but Ubisoft were scared to release them under a new name, so they're milking the Assassin's creed name.
I got Valhalla free with a motherboard purchase and it's nothing like Assassin's creed......
They've gone downhill since, and to be honest recent ones don't even feel like Assassin's Creed games.
They're basically new IP's but Ubisoft were scared to release them under a new name, so they're milking the Assassin's creed name.
I got Valhalla free with a motherboard purchase and it's nothing like Assassin's creed......
I actually think valhalla is a really good middle ground between the Pure open world RPG style and the old school style.
I see a lot of revisionist history for Unity online these days. "Oh it's finally good now!" Ok, they fixed the bugs. The bugs were one issue but there was others.
Correct me if I'm wrong:
There's still a bunch of microtransactions forced into the game including chests you can't even open without paying actual money for.
It still doesn't feel like Paris when the guards all yell at you with cockney accents "aye, bloody hell, get ouvva here!!".
Arno is a less interesting copy of Ezio.
Elise is still not the playable lead. Which, to be fair, I wouldn't expect a patch to fix this or the previous issue.
Syndicate, despite focusing too much on Jacob (Evie is a better character, both personality and gameplay), is the best playing of the traditional Assassins Creed game.
Correct me if I'm wrong:
There's still a bunch of microtransactions forced into the game including chests you can't even open without paying actual money for.
It still doesn't feel like Paris when the guards all yell at you with cockney accents "aye, bloody hell, get ouvva here!!".
Arno is a less interesting copy of Ezio.
Elise is still not the playable lead. Which, to be fair, I wouldn't expect a patch to fix this or the previous issue.
Syndicate, despite focusing too much on Jacob (Evie is a better character, both personality and gameplay), is the best playing of the traditional Assassins Creed game.
Think you might be misremembering this one slightly. The game did launch with a bunch of chests that were unlocked using a companion app and a barely-working website, and which were inaccessible to anyone who didn't use those. They didn't require microtransaction to open (but often the stories explaining how they worked also included a description of the game's microtransactions, so perhaps they got conflated for some people).
There was a patch a few months after launch that opened all of those chests to everyone so that was among the issues that got fixed.
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Oh great! And you're right too, I was trying to remember how the companion app factored in. Thanks for the corrections, that was one of the things I was trying to figure out but when I've searched for how exactly Unity has been fixed, all I get is giant videos talking broadly about how great the game is but not addressing the issues besides bugs.
Truthfully, I don't remember Unity being that buggy at launch, especially compared to PS4 Valhalla which is extremely buggy.
They were both a bit of a mess, but I think that the major difference in how they got received was that some of Unity's bugs (no matter how common) were far more dramatic than Valhalla's. Like a typical Valhalla bug is that the game decides you don't get triangle button interactions any more so you have to close and re-open the game, or now you're capped at 12 arrows until Ubisoft patch it so that you can have more again. They're irritating bugs (and sometimes have major consequences) but they look pretty boring on YouTube. Unity at launch was generating bugs like "falling through the world" or civilians (and sometimes Arno) completely ignoring physics and appearing out of nowhere or in walls or floating above/in the ground.
So Unity's highly visible bugs and glitches attracted immediate attention from a wide audience (not just Assassin's Creed fans) whereas Valhalla kind of slipped under the radar because its bugs aren't so obvious and many of them require lots of time in the game to discover. Unity wasn't completely free of this type of bug (and some of them are still there) but Valhalla does have a whole lot more of them.