Review code for the PC version of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate [official site] activated this evening and I’ve spent the hours since playing through the opening sections and fiddling with various settings to see how it all holds together. In short, it runs beautifully and looks a treat. Details and early thoughts about my trip to the Big Smoke are below.>

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“Admire the Chief’s feather headdress, his wives’ shameless outfits and the adorable little faces of their red-skinned offspring. Feeding time is not to be missed!”

If that excerpt from the XIXth Century Search Engine hasn’t caused your sides to split, don’t worry – there’s more. Ubisoft sent news of their latest AssCreed [official site] marketing initiative this morning, calling it “a rich historical research tool designed to look just like the search engines our great-great-great-grandparents used in 1868″. I clicked on it expecting an irritating collection of steampunk iDevices and mustachioed memes. What I found was somehow worse than that.

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It wasn’t fair that last year’s Assassin’s Creed: Unity became the fall guy for an entire industry’s reluctance to make its digital people diverse. Unfortunately the apparently contradictory excuses, rather than acknowledgement of oversight, for cutting playable female characters from a game whose headline feature was co-op play with customised avatars made the situation much worse. In any case, the series now seems determined to be more inclusive, starting with the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate [official site].

We already know that you can switch between its male and female protagonists, twins Jacob and Evie Fry, and now it’s been revealed that the supporting cast will include a trans man. … [visit site to read more]

Ubisoft have launched something called the Assassin’s Creed Council which appears to be a souped-up version of a devblog with a promise of some exclusive content and a side helping of “community”. I have been going through the comments to see what I can learn from the community. So far I know someone made a real life hidden blade using a drawer runner, some power tools and actual blades.

Right, I guess we should cover what the Council is in a touch more detail:

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Almost every time I watch a trailer for an Assassin’s Creed game, I think the same thing: I want to go to this place but I do not want to spend my visit climbing up the walls, collecting feathers, and bumping into people (and bumping people off). My repetitive cry of “great city, tedious experience” has itself become tedious. But here I go again because Ubisoft have released a new trailer for Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate [official site] and when the marketing department considered the target audience they wanted to reach, they were looking at a picture of me. It’s a beaut and I’m going to pretend it’s a trailer for a tourism simulator. Or Dishonored 2.

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Haha, that could be anyone in there. Though if you look really closely, you can just about make out a wince of shame in his eyes. But yes, this is our very first look at Michael ‘Big Boy’ Fassbender in the movie adaptation of Ubisoft’s jumpy-stabby Assassin’s Creed series. … [visit site to read more]

I’ve been on holiday, which means I’ve spent more energy walking around and looking at things>, than I do when I’m at work. It’s a tricky thing, this holiday business. How am I supposed to enjoy the majesty of nature (and the cold pint in a country pub that waits at the end of nature) when my muscles are aching, the sweat is like an oil slick on my brow, and I’ve fallen into the habit of checking my maps every fifteen minutes because I’m convinced I’m walking in the wrong direction.

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I was waiting during E3 for Ubisoft to prove that Assassin’s Creed Syndicate [official site] is a worthy addition to the franchise. True to form, the publisher has released about a million trailers (okay, three) for the game during E3. None of them have quelled my fears.

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Yesterday Ubisoft live-streamed its announcement of a new bounty of pre-order bonus opportunities, offering collections containing exclusive figurines, hip flasks, art books and a game called Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. With so much variety on offer, we’ve compiled a list of all those packs to help you choose which one to buy a full six months before the first review!

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This year’s instalment of Assassin’s Creed will visit Merrye Olde Victoriane Londone, Ubisoft announced today (and as we knew ages ago), in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate [official site]. It’s due on PC this autumn with carriages to ride, urchins to milk for information, working class gangs to recruit, and a smattering of comedy cockneyisms.

Come have a look in the nine-minute gameplay trailer, showing off one mission.

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