Earlier today, Ubisoft gave Assassin's Creed fans a reason to be excited again. Assassin's Creed Syndicate, the latest entry in the long-running franchise, looks like it's being designed with all of Assassin's Creed Unity's shortcomings in mind.

The studio is working hard to make sure that the same mistakes aren't made a second time — but, more importantly, Assassin's Creed Syndicate looks like it'll just be more fun to play.

Sure, it looks like just another Assassin's Creed game at first, but there's a lot of new stuff on display: the grappling hook adds a new level of usability to the parkour, the addition of stagecoaches and trains makes mobility more important than ever and the new gang mechanics look to add even more depth to the game. Assassin's Creed Unity was a pretty game, but it didn't add much to the overall formula — here's hoping that Syndicate will.

Wait a second ... is that Brock Lesnar?

Thanks to the eagle-eyed fans over at Kotaku, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion has been spotted in the early concept art for Assassin's Creed Syndicate.

At first glance, it just looks like two giant men beating the pulp out of each other in the middle of a ring — perfectly harmless, right? Well, comparing the tattoo of the man in the concept art and Brock Lesnar's tattoo reveals more than a few similarities:

Alright, the man in the promotional art is clearly meant to look like Brock Lesnar — but why?

At this point, nobody knows — though it's easy to assume that the MMA fighter was used as a body reference. That being said, the man across the ring from "Lesnar" is clearly modeled after Frank Mir — a former UFC Champion, no less. It's starting to sound like someone at Ubisoft is a huge fan of MMA fighters — with any luck, Lesnar won't mind the unofficial homage, or Ubisoft could be in for a bit of legal trouble. After all, using a professional athlete's image without their permission isn't exactly encouraged.

Of course, the possibility of Lesnar being a part of Assassin's Creed Syndicate does still exist — who wouldn't want to fight Templars with a tank like Brock Lesnar by their side?

If you're looking for more information on Assassin's Creed Syndicate, check out our coverage of the game's big reveal.

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Photo: Megan Elice Meadows | Flickr