Honestly, playing the Assassin's Creed Syndicate Jack the Ripper DLC feels like stepping into a fever dream that the main game was too afraid to have. You remember Syndicate, right? It was that bright, punchy, Guy Ritchie-esque romp through Victorian London where Jacob and Evie Frye basically treated a revolution like a weekend pub crawl. Then the DLC drops, and suddenly you’re in 1888. It’s twenty years later. The sun has seemingly disappeared from Whitechapel, replaced by a permanent, choking fog that smells like soot and copper.
It’s grim. Really grim.
Most people talk about the Ripper as this mysterious historical ghost, but Ubisoft took a massive swing here by making him an "Assassin gone bad." It turns the mystery into a family tragedy. You spend most of your time as a 40-year-old Evie Frye, back from India, looking for her missing brother Jacob and trying to clean up the literal bloodbath his former student left behind.
What most players actually miss about the fear system
The core of the Assassin's Creed Syndicate Jack the Ripper experience isn't just the darker story; it's the shift in how you actually play the game. In the base game, you’re an apex predator. You jump into a crowd, whistle, and stab. In the DLC? The developers introduced a Fear System that completely changes the math of a fight.
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Instead of just killing everyone, you're encouraged to "frighten" them.
You’ve got these non-lethal spikes you can drive into the ground. You have fear bombs that let out this hallucinogenic puff of smoke. If you perform a "Brutal Takedown"—which involves a series of visceral, rapid-fire strikes—nearby enemies lose their minds. Their icons turn yellow, then red. They start screaming. Some of them just drop their guns and run into the fog. It’s a fascinating bit of psychological warfare that makes Evie feel less like a superhero and more like a mythic figure trying to out-scare a monster.
Playing as the Ripper is... uncomfortable
Ubisoft did something fairly controversial by letting you step into the boots of Jack himself for a few missions. It’s not a "fun" power trip. The screen vibrates and distorts with static. Insane phrases like "WHERE IS HE?" or "NOT ENOUGH" flicker across your vision in jagged text.
You aren't recreating the historical murders of the "Canonical Five"—the game wisely stays away from making you participate in those real-world tragedies—but you are hunting down people who might lead you to Jacob. It’s a bold design choice. It forces you to look at the Assassin's tools through the eyes of a psychopath. When Jack uses a fear scream, it doesn't feel like a "tactical choice." It feels like a breakdown.
Fact vs. Fiction: What the DLC gets right
Let’s be real: Ubisoft plays fast and loose with history. That's the brand. But in Assassin's Creed Syndicate Jack the Ripper, they actually did their homework on the vibes of the era.
- The Locations: Whitechapel and the City of London are the only accessible districts, but they’ve been redesigned to feel more claustrophobic. The slums look genuinely miserable.
- The Letters: The DLC leans heavily into the "Dear Boss" and "Saucy Jack" letters sent to the Central News Agency. While historians today generally think most of those letters were hoaxes written by journalists to sell papers, the game uses them as a breadcrumb trail.
- Frederick Abberline: The real-life Inspector Abberline was indeed the lead investigator on the Ripper case. The game portrays him as a weary ally to the Assassins, which is a stretch, but his frustration with the lack of evidence is historically spot-on.
- The Victims: In a weird narrative retcon, the game suggests the Ripper's victims were actually Assassins working undercover as sex workers. This is probably the most "video game" part of the plot, and honestly, your mileage may vary on whether that’s a clever twist or a bit disrespectful to the real women who died in 1888.
The Jacob Frye problem
One of the biggest surprises for fans was the fate of Jacob. In the main game, he was the face of the franchise. In the DLC, he’s a broken man. He’s been kidnapped, beaten, and hidden away by his own protege.
It’s a sobering look at what happens when the "cool, rebellious hero" grows up and realizes he didn't actually build a stable Brotherhood. He just trained a bunch of killers and hoped for the best. Seeing Evie have to pick up the pieces of her brother's failure gives her character a weight that was missing from the 1868 campaign. She’s no longer the "sensible sister." She’s the only thing standing between London and a total collapse into madness.
Is it actually worth playing in 2026?
If you’re looking for a 40-hour epic, this isn't it. You can blow through the main story in about 3 or 4 hours. If you want to find all the "Jack's Illustrations" and finish the "Abberline's associate" activities, you’re looking at maybe 8 hours.
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But it’s the atmosphere that sticks.
The Assassin's Creed Syndicate Jack the Ripper expansion is a masterclass in how to change the "feel" of a game without changing the engine. It’s the closest the series has ever come to being a horror game. The way the music shifts from the jaunty violins of the base game to these low, dissonant drones is enough to make you keep your back to the wall.
Actionable insights for your next playthrough
- Don't ignore the Spikes: In the base game, you probably just used Throwing Knives. In this DLC, the Spikes are your best friend. Pinning an enemy to the floor doesn't just take them out; it triggers the fear mechanic for everyone else in the room. It’s the fastest way to clear a zone.
- Upgrade the Fear tree first: You get a separate, smaller skill tree for this DLC. Prioritize anything that increases the radius of your Brutal Takedowns. It makes the harder "Brothel Attack" missions significantly easier because you can scare off half the guards before the fight even starts.
- Investigate the "Letters" side missions: They provide some of the best world-building in the expansion. They show how the media of 1888 was basically fueling the fire of the Ripper's legend, much like social media does with true crime today.
- Look for the visual cues: If the screen starts to get grainy or the edges turn dark, you’re near a Ripper clue. The game uses a "detective vision" that feels a bit like the Batman Arkham games, but it’s tailored to the forensics of the 19th century.
It’s a weird, dark little corner of the AC universe. It doesn't have the grand scale of Odyssey or the polish of Mirage, but it has something most of the newer games lack: a soul that’s genuinely troubled. It’s a story about aging, failure, and the shadows we leave behind. If you haven't revisited it lately, it’s probably time to head back to the fog. Just watch your back.