Category: Gaming

Detroit Become Human – Robot Revolutions:

Posted on by in Gaming

For those of you that know me, you’ll be aware that I am a computer science student studying at university at the time I am writing this. For the past six years of my life, the computing industry and more specifically, Artificial Intelligence, has been a key interest of mine – touching my literary interests, my career ambitions and even my choice of video games. Obviously, I am nowhere near an expert, but I always enter games based on computational theories or methods, with a sceptical mind. This means that hacking minigames or games based in future dystopias containing robots, tend to turn my head and not always in a good way.

So, where do I come down on Detroit Become Human? Well, David Cage games and I have never really gotten on, especially considering the portrayal of their female characters – such as Maddison from Heavy Rain being limited to be a romantic interest to protagonist Ethan or attempting to force Jodie into several relationships in Beyond Two Souls. So, walking into Detroit Become Human, I was worried, to say the least.

Androids are always a … interesting topic for games to focus on.

DBH follows a similar formula to other David Cage games, in that your decisions and responses to quick time events, have a significant effect on the fate of your characters. You follow three different androids as their stories unfold and intersect with one another, with whether they survive to enjoy a happy ending being entirely dependent on your unique choices. Out of the three characters, I feel that only one of them really is worth following the story of – that being Kara.

Kara is an android owned by deadbeat dad Todd and is responsible for looking after the house and Todd’s daughter Alice. Almost immediately after the game begins, Todd’s abusive behaviour towards both Kara and Alice, causes Kara to break from her programming and flee into the night with Alice in tow, protecting the little girl from her father’s abuse – potentially killing him in the process, depending on your choices. The entirety of her character arc, is mostly about learning to be free, protecting this little girl and trying to escape the society that wishes to scrap her for parts. It is eventually revealed that Alice is also a robot but your attachment to this little one is not affected by this revelation, in fact, considering how this version of America treats androids, you want to protect her even more.

Kara’s story makes you think about the ethics of Artificial Intelligence – a subject that has been highly debated since the topic was founded. Kara and Alice clearly care deeply for one another, with Kara putting herself in danger to protect the young android, showing she is capable of love and affection and fear and bravery, raising the question about whether she deserves to be free to live her life, just like any living, breathing creature on the planet. In the ending I got, Kara and Alice manage to escape to Canada alongside their friend Luther, to live their lives without the fear that followed you for the entirety of her parts of the game.

These two genuinely care for each other and it shows from the very first level.

Then you have Connor. Connor is a detective unit of android, designed to assist with the investigation of crimes and works alongside a human who thoroughly dislikes androids, who can slowly become more than just a “android created by Cyberlife” or can work to oppress his own people and ensure the androids never get the freedom that they are fighting for. Connor’s story can be sweet, his buddy cop relationship with Hank and slowly becoming more “human” is a joy to see but it doesn’t have the same emotional connection as Kara and Alice do, so it does have the better moral dilemmas such as allowing fugitives to escape or refusing to execute another android just to gain information that could help a case.

Finally, we come to Markus. He starts out as an assistance android to an old painter, who treats him kindly and they get along very well. However, disaster strikes in the form of the painter’s douche of a son whose actions cause his father to have a heart attack and blames it on Markus, resulting in him being destroyed and thrown onto the scrap heap. He survives, reassembles himself and goes on to become the leader of the revolution for android freedom. His choices can affect whether Kara escapes to Canada successfully or whether hundreds of civilians and androids die in the explosion of a dirty bomb. This use of a “minorities struggle” is where my problem with Detroit Become Human lies.

I love storytelling games, but the writer of Markus’s storyline is attempting to shove in a narrative about the fight for equality, be that in women’s rights, LGBT+ rights or the struggle that minority groups go through every day just to have something “edgy” to put on the back of the box. Normally, I’d support games that raise awareness of these issues, but this storyline doesn’t feel genuine. It feels forced in by a writer who clearly has never truly struggled in life or experienced true oppression, like so many communities in our world fight against. It cheapens the effect of this so-called “fight for freedom”, feeling more like a story gimmick than a genuine message about equality or freedom.

Oppression isn’t always obvious, it’s subtle. It comes across in the tone of someone’s voice or the subtle body language of the people you walk past on the street. It doesn’t wander around with a giant neon sign saying LOOK AT ME! We shouldn’t be taking such a critical issue such as minority group’s struggle against racism, oppression and prejudice, and turning it into a quick plot point in a video game. They. Deserve. Better.

The civil rights movement and other campaigns for equality such as Black Lives Matter, share very little except the aesthetic of “fighting for equality” with DBH. The only way the androids receive their freedom is by choosing peaceful solutions at every turn, even if it means watching as your fellow androids are gunned down for protesting peacefully. The fight for equal rights is not just about peace, it’s about people being willing to die for what they believe in such as Emily Davison diving in front of the king’s horse and becoming a martyr for the suffragette cause. David Cage claimed this game was not meant to be a political statement, meaning that the resulting storyline seems so much more shallow and makes the impact of the stories told in the game, seem worth so much less.

This scene is so emotional and this moment is well done, just a shame it was a small glimmer of good in a pile of mediocre.

In conclusion, I feel that DBH had real potential. Even the portrayal of artificial intelligence made sense in the context, though was not entirely accurate (I’ll let them off, it is a video game after all). However, the storylines they chose to follow let down their entire premise, seemingly jumping on a bandwagon of including revolutions and fights for equality in media, instead of following its own unique blend of storytelling and the consequences of our actions. Maybe next time get writers who have experienced those events, to tell the story, instead of doing it yourself Cage.

Sorry if I seem a bit harsh this week, I thought I’d go for a more realistic approach to a game that I did have hope for. Can’t always be nice after all.

Thanks,

CaitlinRC.

Spiderman – The Freeing Nature of Superhero Video Games:

Posted on by in Gaming

Everyone at some point in their life has dreamed of being a superhero. This fantasy of ours tends to manifest in moments of fear or despair – where we have no control over the situation we face and are helpless. Therefore, we dream of a situation where we can do the impossible and stop others from ever experiencing that sense of helplessness that we had to live through. Be it flying, visions or super strength, we’ve always lived in awe of superheroes – no matter how dark some of their actions can be (looking at you, Batman).

I grew up on superhero movies and have had a steadfast obsession with mythology (I’ll talk more about that when I cover God of War), so tales of people doing the impossible have always fascinated me. Out of all the superheroes, Spiderman was one of the most interesting to me. Putting aside the overplayed origin story – Uncle Ben, bitten by a spider, endless on and off again relationship with MJ etc, he has always been more appealing to my generation, partly due to the fact he is still in education in most of the stories surrounding him and partly due to his abilities. The reflexes alone would make sure you never dropped a plate again!

All hail Spider Man, our web swinging hero.

When they announced Spiderman for the PS4, I was both ridiculously excited and terrified. There hadn’t really been a good game about our web-slinging hero for a long time, with Spiderman 2 released in 2004 is called the only “good” Spiderman game. For a Spiderman game to be deemed good by both fans and critics, it must nail three different elements – web-slinging, combat and personality. He’s a funny guy, being able to mock his enemies with sharp quips in the middle of a battle – even whilst hurling them across a room.

So, first things first, is the web swinging good? The answer to that is a solid yes. About thirty seconds into the opening of the game, you immediately start swinging through Manhattan, watching with awe as our masked hero flips and twirls effortlessly through the air, changing direction and increasing speed in immediate response to your input as the player. Unlike a lot of games, that restrict your powers to specific scenarios or only enable you to climb specific rocks (looking at you Horizon Zero Dawn), the web swinging is your main mode of getting around the city. Yes, you can unlock fast travel to the different police precincts and key locations in the world, but you rarely want to. If I know anything about video games, if you are rarely wanting to use fast travel to get from mission to mission, then you have done something right as a developer.

Swinging across the city is the most satisfying thing possible. It’s slightly addictive if I’m honest.

Next up, combat. Spiderman as a superhero isn’t what you’d call a “head-on” fighter. His insane agility and reflexes enable him to dodge smoothly past the flying fists of his enemies and strike before they are sure what hit them. The developers at Insomniac Games have done an incredible job of incorporating the verticality aspect of Spiderman’s combat – after all, if you can swing on a web at high speed, why not be able to boot an enemy combatant off a building? You can swing in and out of combat at any time, launch yourself off walls and hurl basically anything that isn’t tied down at your enemies (including other enemies).

Then there are the gadgets. Spiderman is most well known for designing his own gadgets – from web bombs to drones to electric webs, the game doesn’t hold back in providing you with endless tools to add to your combat repertoire. It even encourages you to experiment with different combinations, as seen in the endless challenges presented to you by the infuriating Screwball, some of which restrict you to only using two or three gadgets to take out waves of enemies. For example, if you manage to electric web several enemies and then throw a web bomb at them, you can catapult a handful of them into the wall, effectively removing them from combat.

I wanted to beat up Screwball more than any of the enemies I faced during the game’s campaign.

Last but by no means least, the personality of the game and it’s characters. There is a tendency with voice acted games, for some of the character’s to not have as much “life” in them as we’d expect from a living breathing world. Yet, Spiderman takes the well-known humour of the web slinger and cranks it up to eleven, with hundreds of quips and sarcastic comebacks delivered with phenomenal comedic timing. The characters feel real, their relationships and emotions clear both in the voice acting and in the animation of their character models.

The city of Manhattan reacts to the events unfolding within it and the running commentary from J. Jonah Jameson provides a slightly different tone of humour to the game – the well-known Spiderman hater occasionally making a valid point about the state of the city they live in, alongside his ridiculous claims that Spiderman is eating pigeons. Also, as a big fan of the comics and older movies, it’s nice to see the occasional nod and reference to past instalments in the franchise, without restricting access to new players who have no idea about the rich lore of the Spiderman universe.

Jonah is one of the most well known characters in Spiderman, though we don’t always take him too seriously.

Despite a game with a focus on combat and the occasional stealth segment (if you don’t take the approach that I do and try to stealth web everyone to the wall), Spiderman is a relaxing game to play. It’s not a majorly long game, with the campaign taking about 20 hours, but I invested about 60 hours into the game – completing side quests, collecting the various tokens scattered around the city and stopping every crime possible.

I’m a bit of a completionist personally, striving to get that 100% on my save file and the ping of the achievement for collecting every little item possible. However, I rarely replay games immediately after finishing them. Normally, I wait a few months till I’m in the mood for the game again. With Spiderman, the moment I unlocked the game’s “impossible” difficultly, I launched a new save file, determined to conquer it once more and get every single possible achievement. When the DLC’s were released, I came back to the game again, seeking more story and enjoying settling back into the world that by this point, I knew inside out.

Any game that can evoke such a sense of replayability and continued enjoyment, even after completing basically everything it has to offer, holds a soft spot in my heart. It’s honestly one of my favourite games ever made and was my game of 2018 – beating even Red Dead 2 (sorry cowboys). If you haven’t given it a try or picked it up but never got into it as deeply as you could’ve, give it another look. The DLC’s are well worth it and even if you have already finished the story, go try out some of the new suits – which range from gorgeous to terrifying.

Till next week,

CaitlinRC.

Dishonored – The Temptation Of The Outsider

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The Dishonored series has always been of intrigue to me. It was the first series that I watched a full let’s play of on YouTube and a game world that fascinated me. I spent countless hours digging through the lore and dialogue, searching for answers and a deeper understanding of the events that occurred in the game. However, the concept of Dishonored is a bit hard to explain – especially considering its success and sequels, as well as the countless DLC’s.

In my mind, Dishonored is the result of locking Telltale, Assassins Creed, Hitman and Thief in a lift and refusing to let them out until they produced a profitable game idea. It is a perfect blend of assassination, stealth, chaos (looking at players like Mike Channell from OutsideXbox) and the consequences of player’s actions. It is these “consequences” that we will be focusing on in this article.

Every decision we make in our day to day lives has an impact on the world around us. For those familiar with mathematics, Life Is Strange or Until Dawn – the concept of Chaos Theory tends to be what springs to mind when a game warns us about our actions having consequences. It is a concept that tends to be beaten within an inch of its life in most forms of media, but some games do handle it quite delicately and Dishonored is one of these.

Until Dawn is a famous example of the use of Chaos Theory in video games.

In Dishonored, you are provided with special powers from the Outsider, who observes your actions through the world and judges you. He provides you with the means to bring the world around you to its knees, to bathe the streets with blood – or to silently slip past unknowing citizens, working in the shadows to achieve your goal without a drop of blood spilt. Kingdoms will prosper or collapse based on your decisions – will you let the rats consume the city in your quest for vengeance?

Depending on your actions during a level, you are assigned a chaos level. This is given a value of either High or Low, with the previous level’s chaos factoring into the contents of the next level. For example, if you use your powers to murder many guards in several horrific ways (looking at you Devouring Swarm), then there will be more guards, more rats and more Weepers – making your next mission more difficult.

The ending you receive at the game’s climax is also decided by the total chaos you caused throughout the game. This chaos level is deemed by your choices throughout the game, for example, if you take the non-lethal route of dispatching your targets – such as wiping their memories or sending them to work in their own silver mines as slaves (I didn’t say the non-lethal options were better), then you will receive a lower chaos level than if you blew them up with a whale oil tank.

The Outsider – some argue that he is the villain, the enabler of chaos. However, he is just an observer. Watching you.

A big flaw in a lot of games that claim to be influenced by player choice is that it limits the player to two or three linear pathways that they can choose from. So, gamers tend to be stuck on one specific route for the entirety of the game, such as a “Good” or “Evil” run. Now, this would be ok, if all the enemies you came across were clearly evil. Then, you wouldn’t feel a great deal of guilt or remorse when you sliced your knife through their neck. However, some of the people you come across are just guards doing their jobs or plague survivors trying to make it through the day. Do they deserve to die?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the plot of the Dishonored games, let me explain. In the first game, Corvo (you) is falsely imprisoned for the murder of the empress and the kidnapping of her daughter, Emily (who is eventually confirmed to be his daughter). You are sentenced to death but are broken out of prison by some people still loyal to you. You then proceed on a journey to find Emily and get your revenge against those who caused your downfall.

The second game sees Emily on the throne and deposed by a witch called Delilah, who turns either Emily or Corvo to stone (depending on who the player chooses to play as) and the remaining character goes on a journey to find those responsible for the coup and reclaim the throne. You as Corvo or Emily, have been Dishonored (roll credits) and seek to right the wrong against you. However, how you go about this is entirely up to you.

Dishonored 2 lets you choose between the young Empress or her father (the protagonist from the first game).

The chaos system in Dishonored is often considered a “punishment” to players, with many complaining about it restricting their gameplay options. However, this is not true. The Outsider acts like the Devil but instead of convincing Adam and Eve to eat an apple, he gives you the means to bend the world to your will – a tempting offer, especially considering how quickly situations can go awry. Yet as a player, you do not have to choose the evil path. In the second game, you don’t even have to accept the Outsider’s Mark and can play the entire game without any supernatural hijinks.

Throughout the game, you are offered opportunity after opportunity to take the easier, but the lethal route, yet there is always another path. Players who fall to the temptation, only have themselves to blame for the poor ending they get. As gamers, we have become accustomed to violence being the only route through a story, with games providing us with various weapons to mow down the countless enemies without batting an eye. Dishonored challenges this idea, actively rewarding or punishing you dependent on your actions.

That sweet little girl Emily you rescue from The Golden Cat? How she rules over her kingdom at the end of the first game, is strongly influenced by how you dispatch your enemies. If you use diplomacy and only kill when necessary, Emily will learn wisdom and insight. However, if you butcher all those who stand in your way – she will use whatever means necessary to get what she wants, becoming a ruthless dictator over innocent people. You are the catalyst that sparks the change in the game world, be that for good or evil. Dishonored gives you nowhere to hide from your actions and for that I adore it.

Emily Kaldwin – Who will she become?

After all, your actions in the real world have long-reaching consequences. If you commit a crime, you are punished for it. When you inflict pain upon others, society will judge you accordingly. As much as we tend to go to games for escapism, I don’t think we should be entirely free of consequences – an idea that the Dishonored series tackles head-on. The choices we make affect the world around us as well as our loved ones and our own psyche. Throughout the games, you can morph Corvo and Emily from being a wronged individual just seeking to reclaim what is rightfully theirs, to a horrific creature who tore through hundreds of innocents for no real reason other than bloodlust.

Anyways, that’s the Dishonored series for you. It hands you a knife and lets you decide what you use it for. What did you do? What other games would you like me to talk about? Leave feedback in the comments section, hit that follow button and follow me on Twitter @OurMindGames for all the updates!

Thanks,

CaitlinRC

Stardew Valley: Antisocial Farming

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I’ve been meaning to write this article for a week now as it was meant to come out before the Syndicate one, but ironically, I couldn’t write about Stardew Valley because I was too busy playing Stardew Valley. I’ve logged about 100 hours on my Steam account in the picturesque world of Pelican Town, with a single save file. A couple weeks ago, I saw that it was on sale on Switch and decided that it was the perfect game for me to get on the handheld console – as my laptop can be a tad temperamental at times, especially if I’m compiling some code.

For those not in the loop, Stardew Valley is a country life RPG developed by ConcernedApe. It takes inspiration from games such as Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, producing a much-beloved game that has a dedicated fanbase and has inspired an outpouring of creativity from the community – from art to custom mods. The game has been released on nearly every platform imaginable, with more ports being designed as I write this.

stardew
The game was in development for a long time but was definitely worth the wait.

The gameplay breaks down into six categories that the game keeps a track of – Farming, Mining, Combat, Foraging, Fishing and Socialising. All of these tend to intersect with one another, but most players tend to choose one specialism to focus on and divert all their resources to it. These categories continue to subdivide into further specialisms such as raising animals or producing artisan products like jams or cheeses. No matter your interest, Stardew seems to have something for you. If you want to fight monsters, the mines hold an infinite amount for you to challenge. For the romantics, you can date 12 different people – regardless of your gender choice at the beginning of the game.

As a major introvert, I tend to avoid the socialising aspect of Stardew Valley – only really trying to get to know one or two of the characters, because the prospect of having to maintain so many friendships is terrifying. On my first playthrough, I clung to Penny and Leah. However, the game does encourage you to get to know the whole town, after all, you do live there now. It’s only polite that you get to know your neighbours. (Not that I can talk, I don’t know my neighbours except that one of them has some children and the other has cats)

events
Every event in Stardew, allows you to feel a part of the community.

 

One of the main criticisms of games such as Stardew is the repetitive nature of the game’s activities. Sure, we can grow some crops but what happens when there’s nothing left to grow? Obviously, if you find these types of games boring then I doubt you’ll be able to get much out of Stardew. However, if you are willing to give it a chance – the game has countless opportunities to learn and grow as a player, without having to constantly reset the game.

A good example of this is shown by the cutscene at the beginning of the 3rd year. Your grandfather visits you from beyond the grave, to judge the quality of life that you are leading – encouraging you to make more of this second chance at life. Even if you don’t meet all his criteria and you need to improve on something (e.g. fixing the Community Centre or getting married), the game gives you every chance to meet those goals.

grandpa
As someone who has lost a grandparent, I did tear up a bit at this.

During my first year at university, I found Stardew a refuge from the anxiety that I was facing every day. I was alone in a city that I was unfamiliar with, having to forge my own path and not rely on what I knew. Each social event I forced myself to attend was terrifying, often resulting in a panic attack and isolation. My room became my safe place and my laptop my source of calm. I would put on my headphones and lose myself in the world of Stardew for a few hours. Every aspect of the game is made to be calming and enjoyable – even the combat can be quite therapeutic at times.

Now I am a lot happier at university, but I still have those moments of fear and panic. The soundtrack of Stardew has slowly built up an association in my mind with those feelings of calm and peace. I do not have to even open the game to calm myself, the music can just wash over me like waves lapping onto the shore. I do not think people realise what powerful influences games like Stardew can have upon someone’s mental health. Being able to step away from your own life for a while and lose yourself in something simple like a farming game, lets you rest for a little while – letting your brain process the swirling emotions inside you without causing you unneeded anxiety.

An interesting aspect of Stardew Valley and this concept of escaping the stresses of our lives is the fact that your character is doing the exact same. The opening sequence shows your character realising they are unhappy in their current job at Joja Corporation (probably because of the DEAD GUY A FEW CUBICLES DOWN) and moving to Stardew Valley to start anew on your grandfather’s old farm. You both need to escape from the world, be it exam stress or unhappy work life. These stories are remarkably common in all forms of media – new beginnings. Even in history, people throughout the world sought out somewhere to start a new life, away from the darkness they were facing before.

joja
Capitalism.

Stardew Valley builds an immersive community and world for you to delve into to your heart’s content. No matter what aspect of it appeals to you, the game allows you to throw yourself into it completely, with no fear of consequences or repercussions. The relationships you form with the characters is up to you, but their problems are much deeper than they appear to be – much like the people we see in everyday life. There is much more to Stardew Valley than meets the eye, meaning that no player has the same experience.

Give it a go. I guarantee that even if you don’t enjoy it, you’ll learn something about yourself from it. If you like what I write, be sure to follow the site, my Twitter @OurMindGames and comment below any feedback/future requests!

Thanks,

CaitlinRC.

Assassins Creed Syndicate: Stabbing In London Town

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I first got into the Assassins Creed series when I had finally saved up enough money to buy a PlayStation 4. After doing my research and considering that the PS4 had been out for around a year already, I decided that it would be more economical in the long run if I just skipped the PS3 altogether. This meant that I missed out on the first few games, only joining the series around the release of Black Flag in 2013. Despite this late entrance, I fell in love with the series almost immediately.

Video games have always been my way of bonding with my parents. The simpler platforming games, like Spyro The Dragon, are my mother’s indulgence. However, I didn’t really have a game series to play with my dad – after all, there are only so many races you can do in Mario Kart before it becomes a tad… predictable. After all, I am the queen of Mario Kart in my house. So, when I discovered my love for Assassins Creed, I wanted to share it with my dad. To this day, whenever I am home, we sit on our beanbags and proceed to hunt down those pesky Templars.

This is where my love of AC began. Twas a pirate’s life for me.

Obviously, every instalment in the franchise brings a new twist or mechanic to the well-known formulae. From pirate ships to completely revamping the combat system, every game has something that makes it unique. However, none of the games have really got into my head. Sure, Ezio’s story had me bawling like a small child who has lost their parents, but I haven’t gone back to any of the AC games as much as I have Syndicate.

I am not a Londoner and only really spend time there when I go to events or when my dad wants to go wandering around. I’ve never been comfortable with cities, as the crowds and noise can be overwhelming and overload my senses. When I was younger, I would have regular panic attacks on the Tube and refuse to go back for long periods of time. Due to this, I never really got to explore London as much as I wanted to. As much as I dislike cities and their business, I know that every place has some form of beauty, you just must find it.

For each of the other AC games, I had never been to where they were set. So, my idea of what the locations would be like was mostly based on geography and descriptions from various friends. With London however, I already had that drive to explore and to see as much of the city as possible. This was made possible through the great traversal options in Syndicate. Running, jumping, climbing, swimming (looking at you Altair), carriage riding and my favourite method, the grappling hook.

The closest I’ll get to properly exploring London for a long time.

The grappling hook is probably one of the most satisfying mechanics in an AC game (at least for me). Being able to fly across the rooftops, zip to the top of Buckingham Palace and cheese it away from any intense combat situations is a brilliant feeling when done correctly. Jacob’s in-game reaction to getting the tool is far too relatable – I too would refuse to do anything until it was fixed, and I could play with it. Everyone has thought about what it would be like to fly and with the grappling hook, it’s probably as close as Evie and Jacob will get.

The Frye twins are my favourite assassins (though Kassandra does come close), as well as battling the Professor Layton cast for my top gaming characters of all time. The sibling dynamic between the twins felt genuine, even when they were against one another. Snide remarks, mockery and jokes made at one another’s expense – these are all trademarks of a brother-sister relationship. I routinely joke around with my older sister, so these two assassins spoke to me on a personal level.

The dynamic duo.

As much as I love Jacob, Evie has always had a place in my heart. As the first female playable assassin, who is feisty, determined, logical and intelligent. Yet, she is brave and cunning, fierce and strong. As a late teen just finding herself in the world and looking to the future, Evie was an inspiration to me. I think part of it was the fact that I felt represented in games, an issue that still needs to be addressed for many minorities (a topic for another day). Her anguish in the Jack The Ripper DLC is brilliantly performed by the voice actress, as the genuine fear for her twin washes over you like a stormy night on the sea.

If you haven’t played AC Syndicate, I do highly recommend it. There are a few details in the game that I do not enjoy (and never will so go away Henry Green, Evie doesn’t need a husband to define her), but that true of all games. After playing some of Odyssey, I can see where Syndicate inspired it – such as the “conquest” system for each of the lands, instead of the gang fights in the boroughs of London. Obviously, the combat systems are completely different from one another, but Syndicate did make steps forward in improving the fluidity of combat – rather than the awkward attempts of past games.

Each conquest of a borough in Syndicate requires you to take on the gang leader in a fight. Each leader has a different gimmick, such as guns or grenades etc.

Syndicate feels real if that makes any sense. Obviously, in a gaming series based around Assassins and Precursors and Templars, it’s a bit of an oxymoron to say that a game feels “real” but let me explain. The story and the world are inseparable. It wouldn’t work for any other location or for any other characters. It is truly the tale of the Frye twins and their bid to take London back from Starrick’s control. It has conflict, danger, loss, fear and reconciliation. It’s more than just “go here, stab this person”, which I find some AC games can veer towards, where the historical characters don’t feel as forced as they did for Connor.

Jacob and Evie complement one another perfectly. A mixture of wit, comedy, intelligence and bravado. They work together, instinctively putting themselves in the firing line to save one another – case in point, the final fight against Starrick. When they try to fight Starrick alone, they end up edging closer to death but together Starrick falls easily. In the end, Syndicate isn’t about saving London or meeting the Queen. It is about the importance of family. In this case, their family is each other. Yet, for the rest of us – family is not defined by biology.

United, not estranged, is how the Frye twins will ensure Stannis’s fall.

I adore my parents and my sister. Yet, they are not my only family. I have friends who I consider siblings, who I would go to hell and back again for. They would do the same for me. We choose our own family; it is not defined for us – we can take control. Every member of my family, whether I share blood with them or not, has been with me in the darkest times. They are the best things in my life, and I am forever grateful for them staying by my side. They are the Jacob to my Evie.

Tell your family you love them, no matter where they are. Thanks,

CaitlinRC.