Trending
Whether you like Assassin's Creed or not, there's no denial that this Ubisoft action adventure franchise is one of the biggest in gaming history.
With twelve full-fledged AAA sequels released for almost all available platforms and four additional games of slightly lower production, we can safely say that rarely has a series of games stayed on the market for so long and that with each new title, it offered something new while remaining faithful to the original Assassin's Creed formula.
Of course, the series' latest three games, Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, deviated a little from this model, offering a somewhat different RPG approach that appealed to the series' newcomers while leaving die-hard Assassin's Creed fans quite unimpressed and even disappointed.
Even though Valhalla ended up being the most financially successful Ubisoft game and generated the firm the most income ever, Ubisoft nevertheless chose to pay attention to the fans and return the following installment in the series, Assassin's Creed: Mirage, to its origins. So, as we wait for the new Assassin's Creed game to come out, let's take a look back at all the previous titles and what they each contributed to this iconic action adventure.
Assassin's Creed
If we tried to play the original Assassin's Creed now, we would probably note that the game has aged quite a bit and that the movement mechanics and repetitiveness, which were big flaws in the first Assassin's Creed, are pretty undesirable by today's standards.
However, we must consider how far the first Assassin's Creed actually advanced in comparison to the Prince of Persia series because the game was originally supposed to be the fourth sequel to Prince of Persia, and it was only afterwards that it was decided to go on an entirely new franchise. From that point on, all else is history.
However, the highly stunning narrative and the philosophical exchanges between Altair and Al-Muallim in the first Assassin's Creed were what gave this game its distinctive style.
Assassin's Creed 2, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Even though all three AC games mentioned are separate AAA titles, we put them into one category for two reasons: One, because they share the same protagonist, Ezio Auditore, and two, because Ubisoft made remastered versions of those games so they are playable on current-generation consoles under the name "Ezio's Collection".
When we talk about Assassin's Creed, everyone's first idea is Assassin's Creed 2, which many consider the best AC game ever, and the initial association with the assassins is the charismatic Italian Ezio Auditore da Firenze.
And, certainly, everything that was lacking in the first Assassin's Creed was remedied and improved tenfold in the sequel. We received one of the best revenge stories in gaming in general, not just in the Assassin's Creed series, with enhanced combat mechanics that became better and better with each sequel and one of the strongest character developments ever seen in a video game series in general.
Assassin's Creed III
Although Assassin's Creed 3 is actually the fifth sequel, it got the 3 in its name precisely because all three Ezio games are considered one with three big sequels.
The third Assassin's Creed game, which this time moved to American history with a Native American as the main character, gave us far better controls, a fantastic parkour system, and a much larger game than the previous four. The method for constructing the base, which will be apparent in all subsequent sequels of the AC series, is presented in the third part, as are glimpses of the naval combat, which will be a forte of the next two AC games.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Apart from Assassin's Creed 2, many consider Black Flag the best game in the series. The only thing that could be found as an objection to Black Flag is actually the main character, who was anything but a true assassin. Edward Kenway is actually an extremely charismatic character, but since he is a pirate, the strict code of the assassin does not work on him.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag brought us one of the most beautiful open worlds we could explore, with the beautiful islands of the Caribbean. All this in one of the best naval combat simulators ever seen in video games.
Assassin's Creed: Rogue
This AC title was the first one whose main character was a Templar, so we had a chance to experience the story from a different perspective this time around. From a technical and visual point of view, Rogue is a literal copy and paste of Black Flag with some improved mechanics and a different setting.
AC: Rogue is actually the game that was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 after Ubisoft decided to release Assassin's Creed: Unity for that time's new console generation, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Later, AC: Rogue received a remastered edition, which made it playable on new-generation consoles.
Assassin's Creed: Unity
If it weren't for a disasterous launch, technically speaking, Assassin's Creed: Unity would, without doubt, be one of the best AC games in the entire franchise because it actually managed to return to Assassin's Creed roots after a trip to a pirate and naval domain.
AC: Unity presented one huge city once again and introduced us with a flowless parkour system, which was so miraculously satisfying that you could spend hours of in-game time just running on the rooftops of Paris during the French Revolution.
Apart from great parkour, the game introduced such a ridiculously large number of NPCs on the map that the French Revolution was really out of place with all those citizens protesting on the streets. Assassin's Creed: Unity was patched later, so all those technical problems were mostly fixed, but the initial problems made this game so hated that even after it was fixed, not so many players decided to return to it.
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate is an AC title with the most recent timeline, Victorian England. This game was created in response to Unity's terrible technical performance; thus, as soon as you turn on the game for the first time, you are immediately shown the technological perfection of Syndicate.
Also, since the timeline covers recent history, the use of firearms is more frequent; thus, the combat system is quite different than in other Assassin's Creed titles.
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate is also the first game to feature two different protagonists, the famous twins Jacob and Evie Fry, and the use of vehicles as the means of in-game transportation.
Assassin's Creed: Origins
All of the previous Assassin's Creed games have used some RPG elements in some way, but the first game in the series to fully transition to the RPG style was Assassin's Creed: Origins.
If we set aside the fact that Assassin's Creed started to stray from the original model with Origins, this game is, in the majority's opinion, without doubt, one of the best games in the series. The beautiful setting of ancient Egypt, a huge map filled with all kinds of content, and one of the most charismatic main characters, Bayek of Siva, made Origins a true masterpiece of modern gaming.
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
If Assassin's Creed: Origins marked the beginning of the series' transformation into an RPG, Ubisoft finished the job with Odyssey by making it a fully RPG game.
It is undisputed that Odyssey is a very high-quality game, despite the fact that practically everyone claims it has little to do with Assassin's Creed. No game on the market does an accurate representation of ancient Greece better than AC: Odyssey.
The beautiful Greek archipelago, accurately portrayed ancient temples and historical sites, and return of naval combat are just some of the pros that made AC: Odyssey a must-have for any good game enthusiast, not just an Assassin's Creed fan.
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
Valhalla's only sin is that it wanted to be all Assassin's Creed games in one, and when you give someone that much responsibility, failure is inevitable.
Ubisoft tried to bring back some elements of the old AC formula with Valhalla, so they decided to add some old mechanics while keeping brand-new RPG elements, and it ultimately resulted in a very long and tedious game with too much to do, which made many players just give up on the game due to its excessive length.
However, here we are talking about the good things and positive changes of each AC game, so we will mention some from Valhalla as well. The Viking theme of the game and the fact that the protagonist, Eivor, was a Viking raider can both be cited as Valhalla's strongest advantages. Valhalla also brilliantly captures the blending of folklore and Norse mythology, as does the game's scenario, which is England during the Viking invasions.
Also, although this is a big con for some, the durability and amount of in-game content in Valhalla are highly commendable.
And that's it; these are the pros of each Assassin's Creed title, in our humble opinion. We can only hope that the new Assassin's Creed titles, which have already been announced by Ubisoft, will bring us the same joy as the previous ones did and that we will enjoy them the way we have enjoyed all AC games to date.
Nothing is true; everything is permitted!
DON'T MISS!
