Game - Assassin's Creed Syndicate Last Maharaja DLC
Release Date - March 1st, 2016
Platform - Xbox One (reviewed), PS4, PC
Developer/Publisher - Ubisoft
The Last Maharaja DLC is the last announced pack of add on content for Assassin's Creed Syndicate. It includes 10 side missions that show up on your map once you complete the main story memory sequence 3. It involves the Maharaja Duleep Singh, who is the friend that Henry Green speaks to throughout the storyline. Henry believes that Singh is being targeted by the templars and the British India Company (BIC). They are out to kill him and of course, the Assassins must stop the attempt. It's an interesting DLC pack due to how its integrated into the main game and story line, but isn't too fascinating.
Assassin's Creed can sometimes be its own worst enemy with side missions and DLC. You either get a large, in depth story like the Jack the Ripper DLC or pointless mini-missions with no real value. The Last Maharaja pack takes the middle ground and provides 10 missions, each with substance, without an overarching story or detail. These missions are located on your standard map, and are not a separate menu item like Jack the Ripper. Although the missions themselves are not too detailed, they all have more than one part, location and contain enough information to keep you interested. With no Assassin's Creed game coming this year and its major Jack the Ripper DLC already released, it would have been easy for Ubisoft to mail it in with a half-hearted final DLC. Fortunately, that didn't happen and the Last Maharaja pack blends all areas of Assassin's Creed together quite well.
The Jack the Ripper DLC was one of the best game DLC's I've played to date as it encompassed many things. The Last Maharaja pack blends together active combat, stealth combat, train fights, fights on boats, carriage getaway fights and everything which made the main game so interesting. Each mission is fun to play and brings a different take to something you're used to with the franchise. Although each mission is entertaining and enjoyable, they do come off a little bland. I appreciate the missions containing multiple different approaches, but it was nothing new to the franchise. As a result, the missions remained fun to play, but nothing worth remembering. The Last Maharaja packs falls more along the lines of the "old reliable" rather than the "sexy newcomer".
Just as Jack the Ripper added something new with impaling and fear bombs, The Last Maharaja does the same with new investigation aspects of missions. A few missions task you with gathering clues and interrogating possible suspects. Clues are gathered normally by following your eagle vision. The game tells you how many clues you need as part of the mission, so you'll also never end up lost in a mission trying to find that last, illusive clue. Once you have the clues you need, you can interrogate the suspect you believe responsible. It's an interesting addition and never feels as if the missions are end game "fluff" as some DLC can be. Even with this new aspect of the game, however, The Last Maharaja still ended up feeling like more of the same old thing for me overall.
It will only take about three hours to play through all 10 missions, and I recommend the pack if you're a big Assassin's Creed fan. If you're not, however, and still wish to play it, I suggest playing them all at once. You have the ability to play these missions once you complete main memory sequence 3, but it's best to wait until you finish the main story. The core of the Assassin's Creed franchise is the story line of the missions. Not only do they evolve as you play, but they also provide back story to the characters involved. As a result, switching back and forth takes you out of the groove so to speak, ending with the missions losing part of their luster. The manner in which the main story is organized allows you to earn all your upgrades necessary without any side missions. Therefore, it's best to wait to play The Last Maharaja pack until you complete the main story so you can fully immerse yourself in its experience. After all, if you switch back and forth from Darwin to Alexander Graham Bell to Queen Victoria to Karl Marx and back again, you'll get confused and end up simply going through the motions. Although an adventure game, Assassin's Creed draws its main focus from the lore of history, and is something that can only be fully appreciated all at once.
Duleep Singh and The Last Maharaja pack provide a worthwhile experience for fans of the franchise, but I would have liked to see a bit more creativity added to the overall experience. At a price of $6.99, it won't punish your wallet but also isn't anything to write home about. As noted above, it ends up being more of "old reliable" which is fine. After all, "if it ain't broke don't fix it" right? On the other hand, it would have been nice to see more detail added to the mission's back story in order to enhance the overall experience. The Last Maharaja DLC pack won't blow you away, but is still worth a purchase at a price of $6.99. It's available now as part of the Assassin's Creed Syndicate season pass or individual purchase.
BOTTOM LINE
