Sharpen your blades, it is time for one of the best entries in the “Assassin’s Creed” saga.

“Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” is the latest installment of the popular open-world stealth and action series. Set in Victorian London during the Industrial Revolution, players control assassin twins Jacob and Evie Frye as they work to take the city back from their Templar enemies. Players can swap between twins on the fly, but story missions predetermine who is used. Jacob is more aggressive and therefore a better fighter, but Evie is more intelligent and stealthy.

Last year’s “Assassin’s Creed Unity” was a fantastic game. However, it was plagued with technical issues, resulting in a poor experience for many players and scores from critics that could have been much higher. “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” is everything “Unity” could have been and more.

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The setting is one of the best in the series and developers did a great job fleshing it out. Industrial Revolution era London has everything from grimy slums and towering smokestacks to elegant gardens and posh estates. There is a massive train system for quick travel across the city or fun activities such as train hijacking. The mood is further set with one of the best scores in the franchise’s history.

The standard aspects of combat, traversal and stealth return, but additional polish allows players more ease with getting a feel for how the game plays.

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As per usual players get new elements added to the game with the most obvious being the vehicle system. The setting has advanced enough through history that the streets are filled with horse drawn carriages. This changes travel and gives the game an Grand Theft Auto-like aspect. Certain games modes and missions use the carriages to great effect such as hijacking cargo carriages or racing through London’s streets. Players can hop on top of moving carriages to have a sword fight or jump to others and steal them from their drivers. Carriages are a great new addition to the action-heavy series.

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The carriages would be an even bigger deal if it was not for biggest game changer, the rope launcher. This new toy allows Jacob and Evie to repel up the walls of buildings, as well as zip line across streets and between tall towers. This has a huge effect on traversal in the series, speeding up the climbing in the game greatly. It almost has the effect of trivializing traditional climbing all together, but players still need to use classic climbing skills to get to specific places. Overall it’s a convenient new element that makes the game less tedious.

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Everything players do progresses their characters and feels worthwhile in addition to the game being fun. From various activities to side missions, nothing feels like wasted time.

The only complaint is the two protagonists do not get equal screen time. Normally a little deviation would not be a problem, but Jacob gets more than twice as many main story missions than his sister does. It is not a big issue, but Evie is a more interesting character and it is disappointing they did not get equal treatment. Fortunately, all the side missions and activities can be played by either character.

“Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” is the best game in the series in the past five years. If future installments are like this one, game fans have much to be excited about.

Score 4.5 out of 5 stars

Grant Meyer can reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GrantMeyerDE