It is a familiar depiction of poverty in the 19th century city. Child labourĬhildren run about the streets in Syndicate, often shoeless, searching through piles of rubbish. Syndicate missed a chance to explore some interesting and lesser known elements in women’s history, which might have been a great way of engaging with the period.

In some ways, the game confirms common beliefs that the Victorian period was a time of class struggle, with gender issues arriving later in the early 20th century via the suffragettes. “In some ways I would have thought he’d be a much more interesting character to focus on if you open out a gendered perspective on political discontent.” “Why no John Stuart Mill, and the proposal for the extension of the franchise to women?” asks Harris. The extension of enfranchisement is mentioned (the game takes place after the second reform act), but only in the context of working men. Gladstone and Disraeli also appear, but Harris laments the missed opportunity to include lesser known characters of Victorian politics. “The interesting thing in concentrating on Marx is that you’re also getting a sense of the connections between London and the European continent and the cross-fertilisation of European ideas and political ideas,” she says. It’s an inclusion that Harris finds immediately intriguing.

In Syndicate, Karl Marx provides a series of tasks relevant to his trade union activity during this period. The Assassin’s Creed series often features historical figures who provide missions to the lead character, helping to anchor the game’s fictitious plot in an authentic setting.

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