Taking place during a “black box” mission, which was a concept originally introduced in last year’s Assassin’s Creed Unity, the latest gameplay video finds Evie sneaking into the Tower of London to locate an artifact called the “Shroud” and assassinate the Templar Lucy Thorne. As was the case with Unity‘s black box missions, you have a number of different explicitly-mentioned possible options for entering the tower, as well as the ability to create your own if you don’t like being told what to do.
Game director Scott Phillips shows off Evie’s “unique stealth capabilities,” including the ability to avoid patrolling guards on the ground level of the tower by activating Evie’s “chameleon” mode, making her almost completely invisible while she stands still. The ability is passive, triggering anytime she is completely still and in stealth mode, and is similar to the camouflage used in Ubisoft’s own Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. It allows her to sneak by several tower guards before closing in to eliminate Templar imposters.
The “knife master” ability — which not only gives Evie more throwing knives, but also increases their damage — allows her to take out distant enemies without being spotted. While staying invisible in chameleon mode, Evie throws a single knife at a guard below, quickly turning invisible again as he falls to the ground. After finding her ally disguised as a Templar, Evie pretends to be captured and walks by dozens of enemies as she approaches Lucy Thorne and quickly eliminates her.
Which style of play do you prefer: the combat-heavy, “go get ’em” aggression of Jacob, or Evie’s more measured approach? You’ll be able to try both out when Assassin’s Creed Syndicate launches for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on October 23, with a PC release following later this year.
