London, 1868. Queen Victoria is on the throne, and the British Empire is on course to become the biggest the world has ever seen. The Industrial Revolution has pulled society out of the dark ages into the modern era, a world dominated by coal, iron, and steam. But this age of invention has also ushered in a period of terrible inequality, where the average man is put to work in hostile conditions, transformed into a machine, and poverty spread like a virus throughout the city of London.

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And that’s just historical fact. In the Assassin’s Creed Syndicate timeline things are even worse, with London playing home to the Templars, which, like the British Empire itself, are utterly dominant at this time. The number of Assassins has dwindled, with the remaining few painted as ‘criminals’, threatening the progress of society. Propaganda was another technology making great advancements. This is the world into which twins Jacob and Evie Fry live and fight. Born in the suburb of Crawley, both Jacob and Evie are playable characters, though in the demo I saw only Jacob was shown in action. In the open world, you’ll be able to switch freely between the two protagonists on-the-go, but story-based missions will determine the character you play.

Heavy industry dominates London's skyline.

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While Unity may have been explicitly set during revolutionary times, Syndicate is no less committed in its desire to change the world. It’s about instigating a revolution, and if the mission is to overthrow the British (Templar) Empire from within, the Fry twins know their greatest resource in that fight is the oppressed people of London. There will be help, of course – Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin just two of the historical figures by your side, as well as assassins drawn from all over the Empire (Henry Green is an Indian assassin that appears prominently in the game) – yet it’s clear that the real power lies with the people of London. And before they can fight by your side, you must set them free.

Yes, it’s the Assassin’s Creed by way of Karl Marx, but it’s more than just intellectual window dressing, translating into a core mechanic that allows you to effect the world. London is divided into six huge boroughs – Westminster, the Strand, the City of London, Whitechapel, Southwark, Lambeth, with the overall map 30% bigger than Unity’s Paris – and one of the main ways to destabilise the city, turning it in your favour, is to liberate the poor in each district. Obviously, demographics vary between the regions – you’ll find fewer peasants in the affluent district of Westminster than, say, Whitechapel – but no matter where you go, you will find the common man and woman being intimidated and oppressed by the Establishment. Assassin's Creed Syndicate First Screens 14 IMAGES

The demo I saw focussed on one of these social uprisings, which played out much like a challenge-room scenario with Jacob using his equipment and cunning to take down various goons from above. (Of course, before doing anything, he quickly ditches his gentleman’s top hat and pulls up the assassin’s hood.) He makes quick work of it, too, using environmental traps – suspended crates containing heavy goods can be dropped on unsuspecting guards – as well hallucinogenic darts, which can be shot into street fires to create clouds of noxious gas. And of course, when all else fails, there’s a lot to be said for old-fashioned fistycuffs.

Pub brawl!

Actually, the reliance on your fists is one of the more prominent changes to Syndicate’s combat. This being 19th-century London, people don’t walk around with swords attached to their hip, unless they want to get arrested. As a result there’s a renewed focus on hand-to-hand combat, with one of Jacob’s main weapons being a set of brass knuckles. The fighting feels a bit more brutal, weightier, with the environment being used to cave in heads. There are more traditional weapons, but there’s a big emphasis on them being concealed. Jacob’s blade is a short, curved Kukri knife, along with a six-chamber revolver. It’s the most advanced weapon an Assassin has ever had, but from watching a 15-minute demo it feels like these weapons function more like flourishes and finishers, preventing Jacob from being grossly overpowered.

Victorian tech has given the gauntlet a face-lift.

Once free, Jacob is thanked by those he has freed, and instead of leaving, he offers them an opportunity to join his and Evie’s gang known as the ‘Rooks’. Once enough areas are liberated, and enough people join the cause, you can initiate a street war and a make a play for the local area. This translates as a big punch-up in the street, with Rooks on one side and gangsters and goons on the other. It’s just one aspect of Syndicate;, it’s grass-roots revolution, but it’s a way of turning the balance of power in an area to your favour, which makes subsequent missions, like key assassinations, easier to accomplish.

New technology redefined how the Victorians thought of the world. Inventions like the telegraph and steam train transformed the way in which they saw the world and conceptualised space. What was once a vast place became small almost overnight. It’s perhaps fitting that Syndicate should introduce a similar innovation, which may prove to be the biggest change the series has seen: the rope launcher. Attached to Jacob’s gauntlet is a mechanical device that allows him to scale a building in a fraction of a second. Essentially, it’s a motorised grappling hook, which can be used pretty much whenever, taking him from street level to rooftop almost instantaneously. Once up there, it can be used to zip across rooftops or as a line launcher, suspending a rope across the street. Comparisons with Batman’s Arkham series are inevitable, and only playing Syndicate more will determine whether it’s more than just a superficial similarity, but it’s a bold change and one that could have a big effect on series. In terms of the fiction, it totally makes sense: the assassins are known to be a resourceful bunch, and have always embraced technology in their fight against the Templars.

Technology can push the world forward, but is also often emerges as a response to that world. London is very different to the cities that have come before it in the Assassin’s Creed series. Its buildings are much taller – frankly, having to scale each one would be both a pain and a time-sink – and this is why the rope launcher makes complete sense. It’s a piece of technology that allows you to traverse the modern city with speed. Parkour isn’t forgotten and still is a part of the experience once you’re on rooftops, hurdling chimney stacks, or on the ground, pursuing people on foot.

Building facades are cluttered with advertising hoardings for soap and solicitors to make scaling them just as viable, plus you can take advantage of London’s early transportation system, with horse and carriages, boats, and trains all at your disposal. In fact, you can steal a carriage and drive it anywhere you want in the city, and all forms of transport can be turned to the assassin’s design, whether that’s stealth, navigation, or combat. I saw a couple of fights unfold while Jacob drove a carriage and it looked pretty hectic and occasionally messy since carriages don’t have the tightest turning circle and are difficult to reverse.

It’s trite to say a period of history was a time of change; they all are. But the Victorian era was definitely a time of rampant technological progress, big and bold changes that wrenched us into the modern world. Last year, Unity was trumpeted as a major advancement – the first fully next-generation Assassin’s Creed – and while Syndicate isn’t making any of those claims, it’s quietly positioning itself as the first ‘modern’ Assassin’s Creed. With innovations like the rope launcher and it’s very different city, it might apply to more than just its setting.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate will release worldwide on PS4 and Xbox One on October 23rd, and later in the autumn for the PC version.

Daniel is IGN's Games Editor over in London. He writes about movies, too. You can be part of the world's most embarrassing cult by following him on IGN and Twitter