8 Reasons Even Hardcore Fans Are Giving Up On Assassin's Creed

4. There's No Reason To Play More Than A Few Minutes

Progression is important to games. Maybe not all of them - there are definitely more arcade-focussed titles that you can drop in and drop out of whenever the mood takes you - but for the most part, when you're purchasing something to own for any length of time, you don't want to plump down an investment of cash only to find a few hours down the line nothing has changed. In the older AC games there was a very defined sense of unlocking abilities and moves - the first literally rolled them out as you progressed through your hit-list, whilst Ezio's AC II introduced a more powerful vertical leap so you could traverse faster. Unity carried the former idea forward, but rather like one of Batman: Arkham Knight's more disappointing tropes, simply had you unlocking the same moves you already had in previous games, all over again. Someone like Arno Dorian's fighting style and flair should amount to more than replicating that of a random pirate or an Italian Renaissance man. Did you pull off one of his wall jump-kills that trigger contextually? Put that on its own button that unlocks across the campaign as Arno gets through defined points in the story. Anything to get across the idea that our fledgling hero is learning as he's progressing. Honestly, Unity had you unlocking the ability to stab people on the ground, as if that's some secret technique. From what's been shown, Syndicate is going to feature a lot of physical brawls with gang members, and as Ubi won't come anywhere close to matching Arkham/Sleeping Dogs/Shadow of Mordor's combat, they might as well flesh out the wider actions available from a core moveset, and give us a reason to pursue unlocking them.