Assassin's Creed Syndicate is free on the Epic Games Store this week
As is collectible card game Faeria.
Epic returns this week - one hand waving Assassin's Creed Syndicate, the other wafting Faeria - in another grapple for your affections, and with another batch of Epic Games Store freebies to jam unceremoniously into your increasingly unwieldy backlog.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate - Ubisoft's Animus-enhanced excursion into the smog-shrouded streets of Industrial Revolution era London - has a lot to commend. It offers another gorgeously convincing bit of period design, has a wonderful pair of leads in the form of wisecracking twin assassins Jacob and Evie Frye, and its score by Austin Wintory is utterly sublime.
It's definitely an Assassin's Creed game in the old mould though, and its creaking traversal and somewhat by-the-numbers open-world design pales in comparison to the fluidity and extravagant scale of the more recent Origins and Odyssey. Eurogamer's Tom Phillips liked it a lot back in 2015, however, awarding it a Recommended badge as he celebrated its "solid new adventure, beautiful London playground and renewed sense of fun.".
As for Faeria, it's a game I'm considerably less familiar with, but a glance across the internet suggests it offers a fantasy themed blend of collectible card game and turn-based strategy, built around competitive terrain and enemy placement on a good old-fashioned hex-based grid.
Eurogamer hasn't given its official verdict on Faeria previously, but if you fancy giving it, or Assassin's Creed Syndicate, a whirl, both games can be added to your Epic Games Store library for free, starting this Thursday, 20th February, and continuing for one week.