Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Gold Edition for Xbox One | Limited Edition Game with Bonus Content | Perfect for Action-Adventure Fans & Collectors

I got the whole game for 50 bucks including all dlc during a christmas sale. For this I give it five stars. The game is a questionable departure in terms of movement and combat. I will say passing between both a unique male and female at the drop of the hat is fun, and the additions to the combat bring a fresh skill based approach. The criticism here is the characters can be somewhat unlikable given the cast strong performances elsewhere; to say the two protagonist aren't well acted may be wrong, they are just unlikable or unrelatable at times to me. Another is that the surprisingly fun combat and massively better stealth mechanics have only one real criticism. Combat with the cane, or any weapon no matter it's size is completely invisible till combat is initiated which breaks the realism, it is very fast and somewhat unintelligible and the animation occasionally nonsensical if you pay close enough attention, oddly focusing playability over immersion. However, the stealth mechanic is better than ever. The grappling hook can be very random but finds its necessity. I personally liked climbing everything but for realism sake and the size of the map this is necessary. Movement again for the third ac installment since 360 degree jumping from certain ledges and objects has been removed again making the immersive climbing feel very scripted as opposed to the more skilled approach of games past. For example you see a ledge 45 degrees behind you but because you can only jump up, left, right, or straight back you have to shimmy around till you can collide with it. It's not only annoying but deeply breaks immersion where the stores used to be at its best.Not everything is gloom and doom though the alternative to the cane is a kukris and the animations are well timed and impactful especially the multi-kills. The extra weapons and limited wardrobe are beautiful and functional carrying over the past games steady upgrades and ramping difficulty fairly well considering the myriad of changes. The city itself is massive and alive. While not as packed as unity it's streets are less full and slightly less detailed but the steady performance is very welcome. Carriages work well something I was concerned about. Bugs are far and few between as well.I'm playing on Xbox one. The only thing I can't comment on is the overall story of which I'm only two thirds through. It has been enjoyable but standard fair so far. If you can get it for half price or with full dlc included it is worth a fans time but certainly not full price. The total loss of multiplayer is a considerable impact to this if you came expecting itas well. In all it is very average in all ways, holds no real surprises for long term fans, and nothing you truly haven't seen before I in any other assassin's creed.Well, i was very skeptic about pre-ordering this one, since the last one (Unity) was a fiasco, and not worth $20. Decided to give it another try to the franchise since all other games are decent at worst.Video: 9/10 - Some minor cosmetic issues (i.e. building objects floating, and minor nuisances) Nothing compared to Unity's crappy rendering.Sound: 10/10 - Very pleased with the music and background sound, voices and ambient sounds transport one to a different age.Gameplay: 10/10 - It takes a bit grasp the new depth of movement, with that said, great adjustment. One can easily transition up or down when free running, new button layout allows for specific input so characters enter windows when hanging (previously left to luck), combat combos and chains are varied which immerses the player in the combat (i found the combat and assassinations more robust than in previous installments), multi kills cutscenes are very entertaining and movie like. Several side-quests versions have been added to the game which made map dominance more entertaining than the simple (forts - Black flag and Rogue, Defending or capturing gang hideouts- Brotherhood, the usual "kill the captain" to weaken a territory - from all others). Syndicate divides the map into areas which are then divided by smaller territories; In order to dominate or weaken the templar dominance, the player must complete specific missions on each territory which weakens it and then subsequently doing the same in all territories, the area becomes weak, which prompts a final mission for takeover. Missions: Templar Assassinations (Kill Templar(s)), Bounty Hunting (Kidnap Templar), Child Liberation (yes, there is child labor in the game, and its your job to liberate them), Stronghold (gang hideouts (the same old, complete a couple of missions and kill the leader)).Replayability: 6.5/10 - I probably wont play it again once im done with the story and the sidequests until the DLCs are released. However i would give this same rating to the previous titles due to the lack of immersive Multiplayer experience and length of game (with the clear exception of Unity which personally i think is more in line with a 2 or 3 out of 10 in this category)The game uses a pseudo-version of Shadow of Mordor Ogre system, where by your actions a territory is weakened and you increase the presence of your gang in the city.New interesting additions:Grappling Hook: used for navigation2-Character driving the story - So they are siblings and they have somewhat different goals, on this light you will have to drive parallel storylines that converge and diverge in several occasions. Also you will have a somewhat modified version of Unity item system (level driven items).Aside from the main hidden blade, you can equip each character with a secondary weapon from any of these three categories: knuckles (brass, iron), Kukri (a small sword/blade), and a cane-sword.Side-quests: Fight Club, Street Races, Cart Escort, Cart Hijacks, SabotagesRunning around in a Victorian themed London has been awesome for me. Three stars for that alone. The other two are for the gameplay, which I'm really enjoying. I like the blended feel of Unity with the return of the whistle from Black Flag. But what I really love is the Rope Launcher that swoops you up to the roof top in seconds. Sure we still have the ropes here and there that Unity had, but this is better, and makes a huge difference in getting away or getting caught after completing a task. The scenery is gorgeous, and I can tell they put a lot of hard work into it.I'm also liking the story line so far, and the humor between the twins is amusing. I do like how they split the talents between the twins, with Evie better at stealth and Jacob better at Fisticuffs. And the fact you can switch between them at will. But to avoid spoilers I won't say any more than to say it's been fun meeting the historical figures, and I think they did a good job on capturing their personalities. I only hope they threw in a few very Victorian yet not historical figures as well.What I'm not liking is the lockpick. They removed the challenge of the tumblers, so now it's just a matter of buying it and using it. Boring. And I feel that they could have included a bit more content on the main map to go for, plus it seems that most items like chests or Helix glitches don't show up until I'm near them and scan the area. Or is that just my game that's doing that? And I was looking forward to the multi player feature, only to find out there isn't one.Just my two cents but I would highly recommend the game. Either version is worth having. Gold if you like to spoil yourself now with the extras, and the standard which has everything that's important to enjoy the game now. They usually sell the pass or extras later on anyway.good game