Assassin's Creed: Syndicate - 8 Reasons Why The Modern Day Story Has To Go

"Desmond? Who is Desmond?"

by Ewan Paterson

Far from having retained the shock value from its initial unveiling during the first Assassin's Creed, the modern day storyline has become a staple of the series - sadly hindering its full potential in the process. After the dismal conclusion to Desmond's arc fans were given at the end of the third AC entry, many were quite rightly left frustrated. Annoyingly, Ubisoft have failed to alleviate this frustration time and time again, and have persistently reused the modern day irrespective of its significance to the overall narrative of the series. Ask any AC fan and they will tell you that they play Assassin's Creed not for the unnecessarily convoluted modern narrative, but for the immersive historical environments that are included. These are undoubtedly the strengths of the series, and sucking players out of the events of these incredible locales - only to then thrust them into a dreary office space - isn't exactly the best way to portray an Assassin's story, especially when it breaks the pace of the plot so frequently. Indeed, the modern day has become somewhat of a burden for the folks at Ubisoft. Unable to deliver a satisfying ending that fans have been clamouring for, the developers have been stuck with including characters no one remembers nor cares about either. It's rather clear that Assassin's Creed is best when it focusses on the historical factor, and with Syndicate's release fast approaching, now would be the perfect time to retire the modern day element once and for all.

Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.