Honestly, playing the Jack the Ripper Assassin's Creed Syndicate DLC feels less like a historical sandbox and more like a fever dream in a London fog. It’s gritty. It’s uncomfortably loud. It basically takes the polished, Victorian charm of the base game and drags it through the mud of Whitechapel.
Twenty years have passed since the Frye twins "liberated" London. Jacob is older, bearded, and—as we quickly find out—missing. Evie is back from India, sporting a few grey hairs and a set of non-lethal tools that make her look more like a psychological warrior than a hidden-blade-wielding shadow.
But here is the thing: the Ripper isn’t just some random NPC. He is a monster the Assassins helped build.
The Twist You Forgot: Jack Was One of Us
In the world of Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Jack the Ripper wasn't just a nameless psychopath. He was a Master Assassin initiate.
Jacob Frye found him as a traumatized kid in the Lambeth Asylum after his mother was murdered by Templars. Jacob, being the impulsive "shoot first" guy he is, decided the best way to help a broken child was to teach him how to kill people effectively. Predictably, that went sideways.
Jack didn't just snap; he radicalized. He started seeing the Creed as weak. To him, the "hide in the light" stuff was a joke. He wanted to burn everything down and build a "new creed" from the ashes. By the time 1888 rolls around, he’s taken over the Rooks—the very gang Jacob and Evie built—and turned them into a private army of thugs.
📖 Related: Why the Return of the Apocalypse Class Death Knight is Changing the World of Warcraft Meta
Why the DLC feels so different
Most Assassin's Creed games are about the kill. You sneak, you stab, you leave. This DLC is about fear.
Ubisoft introduced a "Fear System" that completely changes the rhythm of combat. Instead of just countering and parrying until everyone is dead, you use "Brutal Takedowns" or "Fear Bombs" to make enemies lose their minds. You’ll see grown men drop their guns and run screaming. It’s a weirdly satisfying, if slightly dark, power trip.
- Evie Frye: She’s older now. She uses spikes to pin people to the ground and "frighten" crowds.
- Jack the Ripper: Yes, you actually play as him in a few sequences. The screen turns into a jittery, grey-washed mess with words like "TRAITOR" or "LIAR" flashing across the UI.
- The Combat: It’s slower. More deliberate. Evie uses brass knuckles because, let's face it, she’s 40-something and isn't looking to get into a sword fight if she can just scare everyone away.
Was Any of This Real? (The History Check)
Look, it's a game where you jump off Big Ben into a hay bale. Accuracy isn't always the priority.
However, Ubisoft did their homework on the vibes. The DLC features the "Canonical Five" victims: Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. The game even recreates the crime scenes with a level of detail that’s honestly a bit macabre.
The developers leaned heavily into the real-world "Macnaghten Memoranda," which was a document written by Sir Melville Macnaghten in 1894. He listed three main suspects: Druitt, Ostrog, and Kosminski. In the game, the "Jack" we face is a fictional amalgam, but his base of operations in Whitechapel and his letters to the press—like the "Dear Boss" letter—are ripped straight from 1888 police files.
🔗 Read more: Why the Kill It With Fire 2 Mansion Level is a Total Nightmare
One major inaccuracy? The "Ripper Gang." In reality, Jack the Ripper was a lone wolf. There’s no evidence he had a literal army of Rooks doing his bidding. But for a video game? You need someone to punch.
The Real Identity vs. The Game Identity
In history, we still don't know who he was. In Syndicate, he’s just "Jack."
The game implies that the real reason the Ripper was never caught wasn't just police incompetence (though there was plenty of that). It was because the Assassins covered it up. They couldn't let the world know that the most famous serial killer in history was one of their own students. It’s a clever way to tie the "Secret War" into real-world mysteries.
How to Actually Beat the DLC
If you’re picking this up for the first time or doing a replay, don't play it like the base game.
- Level up the Fear skills first. The combat is much harder if you try to fight everyone normally. The enemies are "hardened" and will counter your standard moves.
- Investigate the "Dreadful Crimes." These side missions aren't just filler; they give you a much better sense of the detective work Detective Abberline was actually doing.
- Don't ignore the Spikes. They are your best friend. Pinning one guy to the floor usually sends three of his buddies running, which saves you from getting mobbed.
The Final Verdict on the Frye Legacy
By the end of the Jack the Ripper Assassin's Creed Syndicate expansion, the Frye twins' legacy is pretty much in tatters. Their gang is gone, their student is a monster, and London is scarred.
🔗 Read more: The King of the Hill Game: Why This Simple Mechanic Still Dominates Everything We Play
It’s a bleak ending for two characters who were so upbeat in the main game. But that’s why it works. It shows that the "Assassins vs. Templars" thing isn't just a game of chess; it has real, messy, human consequences.
If you want to experience the full story, make sure you’ve finished the main campaign first. The emotional weight of seeing an older, weary Evie Frye looking for her brother doesn't hit the same if you haven't seen them at their peak.
Next Steps for Players: Go back to the Whitechapel district in the main game and look at the Lambeth Asylum. Knowing what happens to Jack there later makes those early missions feel completely different. If you’ve already finished the DLC, check out the "Lydia Frye" missions in the main game's WWI rift; she's Jacob’s granddaughter, and it shows how the family eventually moved on from the Ripper’s shadow.