Let me start by saying that I love the Assassin's Creed franchise. I have loved every single game. I can't help but feel that Syndicate is "dumbed" down. Unity had issues - yes..there is no denying that...But Unity also had some amazing features. The City of Paris felt alive, the Weapons and Armor selections were amazing, The ability to go in and out of buildings, or under the city all added to that atmosphere. The Multiplayer (when it worked) was so much fun with other Assassin's. Aside from the Technical glitches I felt Unity was a step forward for the franchise - if not in story , in features and possibilities for games to come.
Now here comes Syndicate - No multiplayer, very few weapons to choose from - all look identical, armor is now "outfits" with choices being very limited. The city of London feels empty to me...sure there are people around but I don't see them "doing" anything..in Unity the city felt alive, protesting, selling..I felt if I wasn't around "things" were still happening in Paris. Don't get me wrong - AC Syndicate is a good game - a very SAFE - good game. It uses a few of pieces from Unity but none of what I considered the features that were taking the franchise to the next level.
UbiSoft played it safe with this one...its solid, its a good game...but it hasn't hooked me like Black Flag or Unity did - I don't sit at work and think about what I'm gonna get to do in the Assassin's Creed world tonight when I play. I feel let down...and I feel AC Syndicate is "hollow"...on the surface is looks great but you get down underneath and there isn't much "new" there.
So if you are an AC fan - by all means pick up the game and give it a whirl! London looks beautiful in all its Next Gen glory - animation and combat are good, but don't expect much more than an old style AC game.
One other side note - I've always connected with AC Characters (Even Arno from Unity!..I know, I know)...but the bouncing back and forth between Jacob and Evie doesn't allow me to ever connect. I've found myself only playing Evie when I have to...I play Jacob almost fully when I can. I've never been interested in playing female characters, it just doesn't appeal to me...and there are certain situations in AC Syndicate where you are forced to do just that.