It wasn’t until Black Flag that I started to pay attention to the music of Assassin’s Creed. It was the real sea shanties, most of them from the period Black Flag took place in, that stood out, thanks to the way in which there was a more tangible connection between them and the game itself, as it made you go out and search for them, with your own crew providing the game’s best tunes.
Syndicate, being back on dry land, probably won’t have sea shanties, but your ears might still be pleased to hear that Austin Wintory has been brought on as the game’s composer. The Journey and Banner Saga composer is putting together a score more than three hours long for the game.
“I’ve had a long-held passion for the chamber music of the 19th Century,” said Wintory, “the intensity one can get from this sort of music is quite distinct from the massive force of an orchestra. You’re right in the face of a handful of brilliant players, each exploding with energy. Yet, because of its intimacy it can also sneak up on you in ways a lumbering orchestra can’t. It’s a dramatically tactile experience which seemed practically tailor-made for a tale of Victorian Era sibling Assassins”
According to Ubisoft, the score will be “highly dynamic” and changed based on the player’s emotional experience, though how on Earth it will know what emotions we are feeling is beyond me. I’m guessing it’s going to be making some assumptions. Like Black Flag’s singing sailors, the soundtrack will also include authentic folk music performed by in-game characters, which will bleed into the score.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is due out on November 19th.