Assassin's Creed Syndicate was my game of the year, should I play the others?

First, let me add a bit of context. I think I was in a fairly unique situation with this game, as I have never actually played an Assassin's Creed game, despite owning pretty much all of them on Steam.

I REALLY dug the setting of this game, the combat was totally serviceable, and I loved the movement once you get the grappling hook. The story was actually better than I thought as well.

So I put to you fine folk, should I go back and play the others? I've heard a lot of good things about Black Flag, and was a huge fan of the old Pirates! games, so figure I'd get on with the setting. Or am I missing out by not playing the older ones? Should I just avoid the older ones entirely?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Having jumped in at later stage, I would actually say probably don't bother with the 2 most revered (and my favorites) of 2 and Brotherhood, and check out the very self contained Assassins Creed Black Flag. As for any overarching narrative I wouldn't worry too much, as it pretty much gets cast aside after 3 in favour of a more profitable standalone model.

Going back might be a bit rough. I liked all of the AC games except 3, Revelations (wasn't bad, just boring). I didn't play Unity.

I'd recommend Black Flag. AC2 is my favourite but it's old at this point and too heavily tied up in the Desmond bullshit. Black Flag is just a fun time. Plus sea shanties

"I loved the movement once you get the grappling hook"

Hmm.. well, the older games don't have the grappling hook. Keep that in mind. And the movement has been progressively more and more streamlined in the newer games.
I haven't played Syndicate yet, but it seems pretty solid, and likely to be one of the best Assassin's Creed games. 2 was phenomenal, I'm not sure how it holds up today, Brotherhood as well. I'd probably try them out and if you can deal with the controls, then you're set for two pretty great games. The first one probably feels ancient if you play it now, so you might avoid that unless you really like the others.

Black Flag's barely an Assassin's Creed game, and I didn't like it overly much, but a lot of folks really enjoyed it, so maybe? Hard to tell from liking Syndicate, I think.

If you own most of them already, it doesn't hurt much to give them a shot, at least ;)

ACII & Brotherhood are what got the series where it is today, but going back would be rough. You'd have to look at it through the lens of 2009 and 2010 to really get an appreciation for them. I'd equate it to playing years of modern third person shooters, then going back and playing Resident Evil 4 and not seeing what all the fuss was about.

Controlwise i would say Unity is at its peak when it comes to parkour and Syndicate features a slightly revised scheme which is somewhat janky compared to Unity but on the other hand you have the grappling hook to save the day. From Unity and backwards it gets progressivly less refined and you will feel that you are playing the games in the wrong order.

The combat and stealth is a disaster in Unity, something clearly went wrong there when moving to current gen. Other than that the combat and stealth is pretty much even in quality between the games and they all have their slightly different take on it. The earlier games have instant failure on detection in some segments and i know some players have a really hard time with that but i think its fine.

If you liked the story and mission design in Syndicate you will like all AC games except ofc Unity that is a mess in that compartment aswell, maybe b-lining the mainstory will provde some sort of satisfaction in Unity but just skip that game is my advice. AC1 is slightly more repetitive in nature.

Probably not, 2 and brotherhood were great at the time but who knows how they hold up now. I haven't played the new one and probably won't but remember there was no "stealth" crouch or grappling hook which seem to be huge changes in the new one and not an any other game. I tried to play black flag recently but the movement just wasn't great and couldn't get back into it.

Only just getting around to Syndicate as I waited for PC release, but it really deserves more credit. It fixes a whole host of gameplay issues which have needed resolving for several games now & London is the best realised city in the franchise to date. That said, the game does perhaps lack a little bit of soul compared to some of the earlier games.

I think you should definitely take a look at Black Flag (even though it's only barely an Assassin's Creed game at all), especially if you have fond memories of Pirates!. It's a great game in its own right and has soul in abundance.

AC 2 and Brotherhood will still be enjoyable (personally I would recommend blitzing through AC1 to see where it all started, but many would disagree). My only reservation with these games is that the lack of grappling hook might be difficult to live with now that you're used to it. The streets were ofc narrower though so you didn't need it anything like as much as you do in Syndicate. I don't think the combat in these games will prove too annoying as it was typically far quicker to get through than it is in Syndicate and it was always well animated and fun to watch.

Revelations, AC 3 and (especially) Unity aren't worth your time and don't offer anything which isn't done better in the other AC games.

I've played a little bit of Assassin's Creed 2. Otherwise, Syndicate will also be my first AC game, so this is good news.

You're in a pretty unique situation I'd say for sure. Black Flag is super cool because of the pirate stuff and setting, but I'd say avoid the previous entries at this point. Best part about 2 and Brotherhood are the locales - I think if you liked the combat in Syndicate you'd get bored with them. Basically you one hit kill everyone by countering (which I actually prefer over the Batman combat they added to Syndicate).

Wait... people actually like AC2?

Thanks all, I am going to give Black Flag a go next, then I may give 2 a go next time I have a bit of a gaming lull.

Yeah I put a lot of hours into Black Flag. Some of the Assassin's Creed-y parts are very Assassin's Creed-y, but the ship stuff is pretty fun.

AC2 and Brotherhood are the best ones, and then Black Flag after those, in my opinion.

I went back and played Brotherhood on the PC a year or so back, it still holds up. Fantastic game!

Stay away from 3 would be my advice. That's the first one I played, and it totally turned me off of the series.

I think they're all fantastic with the possible exception of Revelations, which was merely okay. I even love Unity, but that's because I never experienced any of the glitches most people said they did and I really loved the setting.

I liked AC 1 because I played it when it was fresh. I don't know if you would enjoy it unless you are really into the crusades and that historical era. Gameplay is slow and can get repetitive.

AC II is amazing. You will miss the grappling hook of syndicate but the setting, the characters, the story and combat are really fantastic.

AC Brotherhood is a great folowup. All the goodness of ACII but with the added brotherhood mechanic. Maybe playing ACII and Brotherhood would make you tired of the franchise...

AC Revelations is good if you want to see Ezio wrap up his story. There is some boring tower defense but the setting is different so it can be fun (constantinople is the new city)

AC III is the most drawn out of them all. It takes waaay to long to get going and by the time it does it's too late to care. There are "hunting" mechanics that I never engaged because the world itself is so boring.

AC4 is really fun and simple. If you like the boating part you will love it. If you hate the boating you're in for a good 20 hours of boredom. I liked the characters and the boating so I loved it. Explored 100% of the world (gold map baby!)

AC Unity's problems are far beyond the glitches. It's just a boring story with boring characters and boring missions. Literally nothing happens after the 20 hours you spend playing it. (I also got 100% and opened every chest in this game because I kept looking for the fun)

AC Syndicate is amazing. The grappling hook, the protagonists, the beautiful city...everything is to notch in this game.

So because just how much these games are built on iteration, I wonder if older games can really hold up. The only game I can really suggest is the first one, and that's only because it is so different at this point that you might as well be playing a different franchise. One that's actually a stealth game.

The second game probably executed the Assassin's Creed formula the best, with Brotherhood adding on the assassins training stuff. Blag Flag is great if you want a pirate game.

Brotherhood is still pretty good but AC2 has aged really poorly to almost AC1 levels of unplayable. It's the Goonies of the series.

Saying you found the combat serviceable means you will find the combat in every previous game less than serviceable. Loving the moment once you got the grappling hook means you will not love the movement in any previous game.

So no.

I feel like once you play one, you've played them all. I really like Assassin's Creed II, but I couldn't get into Brotherhood or anything after it. It's all just too much the same.

Although, AC II did have those indoor platforming puzzle sections to get the pieces of Altair's armor. Those were my favorite parts of the game by far. My girlfriend played Black Flag and she said there's maybe five minutes worth of something similar to that in the game. Do any of the other games have stuff like that, or did they stop doing that after II?

@davidh219: Brotherhood, Revelations and AC3 all had the one and done puzzle stages.

Play Black Flag. It's a weird departure from the series focusing a lot on exploration and naval combat. You could probably get it for a song, if you haven't already snagged it during one of the months it was on PS Plus or Game with Gold. Black Flag is a fun game regardless if you care about Assassin's Creed. It's just a fun pirate thing.

AC2 and Brotherhood are also both worth playing, but probably only if you're interested in being a fan of the series. Those are the games when they started figuring out what works in that franchise.

I might have to play those then, maybe. Although...I can't imagine the AC3 ones are that interesting, just based on the setting. It's a bunch of pioneers in log cabins, isn't it?

I quit playing this game during the tutorial, having loved AC4 and 2. Every time I boot the thing up I look at the icon and try to feel some urge to play it. I hope this changes

4 is great and available on current consoles. It's probably my favorite entry in the franchise. It's also the best pirate game ever made so there's that.

@davidh219: AC3 has you take your ship to different places around the Caribbean to stuff that's worth jumping on. The strangest one is an old castle owned by a mad doctor that has you reconstructing evidence of a shooting not too dissimilar from something in Arkham City. From what I remember there's only about 4 or 5 of them and you have to endure a lot of AC3 before they unlock.

Brotherhood is the one to get if you liked those missions. There are 6-ish hideouts for the armour keys. a couple of Assassin and Templar tombs & the Leonardo war machine missions that start with a puzzle stage and end with you driving around in planes and tanks built out of twigs.

Man, I really need to play Brotherhood then. I already own it. Might as well.

Play AV:IV then stop and wait for the next AC game.

Most of us here played AC games but then got easily burnt-out on the formula. This will most likely happen to you too if you become greedy.

I guess I'd recommend 2, Brotherhood and 4. Those seem to be the most well regarded of the series in hindsight.

I don't think I would recommend them at this point.

I am probably in an extreme minority but to me the first AC game is still the best game. Truly feels like a game unto it's own. All the other ones, while being good games, were more in line with other open world games and not trying to do something else.

Revelations sucks, 3 sucks, Unity isn't great. Apart from that, go for it.

Black Flag is a top 5 game from the previous generation. AC3 had the best multiplayer of any game in the last generation, though since it's multiplayer that doesn't really factor in retroactively. 2 and Brotherhood are both excellent games. 1 is terrible, Revelations is mediocre, Rogue seems decent, and Unity is trash.

under no circumstances

I'd be really interested in hearing what you thought about the first game.

I'm not saying it'd be a good idea to go back and play it, though.

You should play 2, Brotherhood, and Black Flag. I also personally really liked the ending of Revelations, but I understand that the game itself wasn't particularly great, especially considering that it was basically just Assassin's Creed 2: 3. AC3 is one of the most disappointing games I've ever played, and Unity was (and may still be?) broken to mediocre at best. The original Assassin's Creed is an interesting piece of gaming history, and it's cool to see where the series came from, but it definitely doesn't hold up anymore. The rest of the side-games are meh at best.

I've loved the franchise for many years now, at one point being one of those fanatics on the forums looking into every tiny detail. There are some great games in the franchise, in fact the vast majority are great/good games with a few duds along the way. That said, I don't know how good of experience it would be going back. Say what you will but Ubi have streamlined a lot of the more problematic features/mechanics in these games.

The first AC game was the first game that truly felt next-gen to me on the Xbox 360, I adored that world and loved every minute of it. But it doesn't hold up to well due to how limited it feels as an open world game, thought it does feel more focused.

Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood are generally accepted as two of the best games, especially as it features some of the best story content with Ezio. Although that to might feel a little dated in spots.

Personally of the entire franchise I'd highly recommend you play Black Flag, which is also one of the best games. I adored Black Flag with its sense of adventure traversing the seas.

Why do people need the approval of others to click play on games they already own?

Erm, OK?

I own roughly 300 games on Steam, as I tend to pick up a lot from the Steam sales and Humble Bundles. I have played roughly 50 of them. As a result I own a whole bunch of games I've never played.

I kinda fell into Assassins Creed Syndicate on a random whim, and enjoyed it, but wanted advice as to if based upon my experiences with it, it was worth going back to older ones, and if so, which. The advice from every single post pretty much other than yours has been constructive towards that end.

@robbparris: I would recommend Brotherhood and Black Flag.

Widely considered one of the best games of the PS3/360 era along with Brotherhood. Is this the first time you've seen other peoples' opinions on it?

Play unity. But don't download ANY patches ;-)

But seriously play 2 and brotherhood and black flag (black flag is the best AC game)

@robbparris: I'd say play Revelations because without a doubt it is mechanically the best of all those games despite what crazy people might tell you (they are wrong) but the story side of that game sort of hinges on you have played the first two games.

ok

No I've just seen the opinions of it being one of the worst games on PS3/360

After recently deciding to get this on pc I have to say that if you like this one, you may get frustrated by the earlier games. They took out the wanted system completely, which was in every game before (didn't play unity but all others), and the npc AI would react a lot more when you randomly murdered people in front of them. The AI in general seems really really stupid in this game, which makes the game a lot easier than what i remember of the past games. The combat in this game is a lot more batman like and less challenging than it was in the other games as well(it's been gradually going down this path since 3 though). The movement in this game is way more fluid than before, and the grapple hook is a game changer as it speeds up movement a whole lot(and i don't remember if there was a fast travel system in the older games either).

Also, if you played this game for the stealth and enjoyed that, stealth is garbage in all the other ones and there is no crouch button or cover.

AC II and Brotherhood were great in their times, but they have aged horribly I imagine. Every new game just does what the previous one better. The story itself is not really worth it so if you really dig the mechanics maybe try Black Flag?

Absolutely, the Assassin's Creed games are great (except for Unity).