User blog comment:Master Sima Yi/Assassinews 12-05-'15 — Assassin's Creed: Syndicate has been revealed!/@comment-24849873-20150513075711/@comment-1888015-20150514035629

I don't really feel like I "earned" a victory by wasting my time pummeling away at some random guard because of their blocking mechanics. Mostly, it annoys me because that time I'm wasting on that guard could be put to better use playing the story or mopping up collectibles, and if Unity's collectibles are anything to go by, you're gonna need a lot of it.

Also, just because swords aren't as prominent, it doesn't mean that people will be more stealthy. If someone wants to run in like a blazy of glory, a missing sword isn't going to make them think twice. When I was playing Unity co-op earlier today, I would run straight in because my sword has shared first in the top attributes, as well as a disorientate effect, so why bother sneaking? I can just slaughter basic guards, gun down the harder ones, and for the ones that block and dodge gunshots, I'd just heavy attack them and then finish them off while they're dazed. I also tend to use the Phantom Blade when my gun's out of bullets and my Assassin Cache for reload is still on cooldown. :/