Assassin’s Creed:

Retrospective

For some reason or another, Assassin’s Creed has ended up being one of my favourite

video game franchises of the past generation of consoles. There just seems to be a great

deal of intrigue and creativity behind a war that’s fought in the shadows between two

secret societies, especially when it’s given a variety of historical backdrops. Similarly, I like

the concept of the titular Animus, a machine which allows the user to simulate the

memories of their genetic ancestors. After my recent completion of Assassin’s Creed IV:

Black Flag, I felt it was time to look back at the series, and ask myself why I like it so

much, and why I always find myself buying the games. So without further ado, I’m going

back in time for a detailed look at the individual games in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed

franchise, but without an Animus – just my own memories.

Please be warned that there will be spoilers. Also note that I don’t really do the

multiplayer in any of the games. Sorry to gloss it over, but I prefer to focus on the

single player aspects of the series.

2007- Assassin’s Creed

Wait, this isn’t a historical setting. Yep, this is a science fiction game. You’re some guy

called Desmond Miles who has been abducted by some evil corporation called Abstergo

Industries. Some mad doctor called Warren Vidic and his assistant Lucy Stillman want

Desmond to enter the Animus and relive the memories of his ancestor Altair ibn La-Ahad,

which roughly translates to “Flying Eagle, Son of None”. Altair is a Syrian member of the

Levantine Hashashin, a sect of killers from which the word ‘Assassin’ originated from.

Anyway, Altair is operating with the Assassins during the Third Crusade, but is disgraced

due to his recklessness in attempting to retrieve a mysterious artefact and eliminate the

sect’s sworn enemy Robert de Sable, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar. After

being symbolically killed by the Assassin’s Mentor, Al Mualam, Altair is tasked with

eliminating nine individuals throughout Acre, Damascus, and Jerusalem who are

prolonging the Crusade for personal gain.

I was intrigued by Assassin’s Creed when I first read about it in a magazine. It looked

different to most of the new titles flooding the market. I got the game for Christmas, and

thoroughly enjoyed switching between free-running across the rooftops in the various cities

of the Holy Land, or travelling street level while hiding in plain sight from inquisitive guards.

However, the overall experience was somewhat disappointing; while immersive, the game

was just too repetitive. The stealth and free-running sections were bogged down with

overly long cutscenes that couldn’t be skipped, while the information gathering which had

to be done before the assassinations were always the same tasks, all the while dodging

some annoying NPCs; lunatics and drunkards who would shove you randomly, and

beggars who chased you everywhere and draw unwanted attention. Not mention the final

portion of the game was comprised entirely of repetitive sword fighting, rather than Altair

eluding the watch in what can sometimes degenerate into a Benny Hill chase.

However, despite the game’s setbacks, I latched onto Assassin’s Creed long enough to

keep playing to the end. Unfortunately, once I finished it, I didn’t really want to play it

through a second time.

2009- Assassin’s Creed II

I’d go as far comparing Assassin’s Creed II to films like Aliens or The Empire Strikes Back

in that it’s a sequel that has been significantly improved over its predecessor. Lucy

Stillman helps Desmond Miles escape from Abstergo Industries, which is the modern-day

front for the Knights Templar, and takes him to meet with the present-day Assassins,

whom Yahtzee Croshaw described as “two people who look like they were hired from the

local community youth group”. Due to a staffing shortage amongst the Assassins,

Desmond has to train by going back into the Animus and reliving the life of another

ancestor.

With the modern story out of the way, it’s time to take a look at the historical setting. The

new protagonist is Ezio Auditore de Firenze, the son of a wealthy Florentine banker. When

the story begins in 1476, the seventeen year old Ezio is something of a dilettante living a

carefree existence in Florence until he’s caught up in the dirty politics of Renaissance Italy.

This results in his father and brothers being framed for treason and hanged, while he has

to take his mother and sister to the family villa in Tuscany under the care of his uncle

Mario. At the villa, Ezio learns from Mario that his father was an Assassin, and that his

death was caused by the subtle machinations of a new order of Templars led by Rodrigo

Borgia. Thus, Ezio sets out on a quest to avenge his family while foiling the Templars’

power-grab plots, including the Pazzi Family’s attempt to depose the Medici in Florence,

and an attempt by the Barbarigo family to control Venice. Along the way, Ezio is aided by

various guilds in each city and by Leonardo da Vinci, acting as a Renaissance version of

Q. One big improvement in the writing is to Ezio himself. Altair was depicted as a

seasoned Assassin, and ended up being somewhat bland, but Ezio is someone who is

roped into the Assassin-Templar War by unfortunate circumstances, and has a much more

interesting character. He’s a playboy, and something of a scoundrel with a fun-loving

personality.

Assassin’s Creed II has a more open world than the first, with blacksmiths that sell

weapons and armour, and doctors who sell medicines, along with courtesans, thieves, and

mercenaries who can be hired to aid you in a variety of ways. Furthermore, the combat

has been altered by featuring some new enemy types: Agiles, who are lightly armed and

armoured, but are more accomplished free-runners who can outrun Ezio; Brutes, who

wear plate armour and carry battle axes, making them tough enemies to fight; and

Seekers, who wield pole arms and regularly check haystacks and other hiding places.

Encountering a variety of opponents can encourage a player to change his strategy

accordingly.

Another significant improvement is that the game’s cinematics are much shorter, while the

NPCs have been altered. The shoving drunkards have been removed, never to return, but

the beggars have now been replaced with wandering minstrels. Fortunately, you can get

rid of them now by dropping a few florins in front of them. Additionally, the soldiers’

detection skills have been altered to feature a Notoriety system; the more notorious you

are, the quicker it takes for guards to recognise you. When you get too notorious, you can

disappear by removing wanted posters, bribing heralds, or by assassinating false

witnesses.

As I played the later games in the series, I often saw Assassin’s Creed II as the strongest

game in the series, and I’m probably not the only one. When I attend conventions, I often

see most people dressed as Assassins choosing to dress as Ezio.

2010- Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

It seems that Ubisoft have taken the “Because we said so” rule of sequels. Brotherhood

directly follows on from Assassin’s Creed II, but is not Assassin’s Creed III as it continues

Ezio’s story rather than moving to a new ancestor. In the present day, the Assassins have

relocated to the Auditore villa to see if it helps Desmond synchronise better with Ezio.

However, I don’t really care about Desmond at this point, so let’s get historical.

The game begins immediately where Assassin’s Creed II left off. In 1499, Ezio travelled to

Rome to confront Rodrigo Borgia, now Pope Alexander VI. After a duel in the Sistine

Chapel, Ezio had defeated his nemesis but refused to kill him, citing that doing so would

not bring back his family. Upon returning home, Ezio believes his tenure as an Assassin is

over, only to be mistaken when his villa is besieged by the Papal armies under the

command of Pope Alexander’s son, Cesare Borgia. Ezio is wounded during the attack,

while his uncle Mario is captured and executed on the spot by Cesare. After recovering

from his wounds, Ezio travels to Rome to find a city in ruins, where the local people a living

in squalor while the Borgias indulge themselves in pomp and debauchery. Assisted by

fellow Assassin Niccolo Machiavelli, Ezio begins to help the Assassins re-establish

themselves within the city, while simultaneously undermining the influence of the Borgias.

The gameplay in Brotherhood is not very different than in the previous game. The main

difference is that this one takes place entirely in Rome, as opposed to several different

cities. However, what has been added is a greater variety of side missions. One notable

activity involves Ezio reuniting with Leonardo da Vinci, who is being forced to design war

machines for Cesare. He tasks Ezio to destroy the machines, which gives him the

opportunity to use them against the Borgia troops.

Overall, Brotherhood isn’t as great as Assassin’s Creed II, but that was a hard act follow.

However, I did enjoy seeing Ezio continue his work as an Assassin.

2011- Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

Okay, this needs to be read in the style of a recap from the 1960s Batman series:

Previously, in Assassin’s Creed, Desmond Miles has been forced to kill Lucy Stillman

while influenced by some otherworldly being. Now he has fallen into a coma, and has been

put back into the Animus in what is known as ‘The Black Room’ there, he encounters the

mind of another Abstergo test subject who went insane from over-exposure to the Animus

and committed suicide. From the memory, Desmond learns he has to continue living

Ezio’s memories.

In the past, Ezio is now in his fifties, serving as the Mentor to the Italian Assassins. After

discovering some letters in his late father’s study, he travels to the Assassin’s former

headquarters in Masyaf to search for a greater understanding about the Assassin-Templar

conflict. Upon arrival, he is captured by Templars, but escapes to learn that they are

attempting to open a sealed library using a set of keys along with a journal written by

Niccolo Polo. After recovering the journal, Ezio travels to Constantinople in search of the

missing keys, only to find another city in turmoil; Prince Ahmet is quarrelling with his

brother Selim over who will inherit the Ottoman Empire, while Manuel Palaiologos is

hatching another Templar plot to overthrow the Sultanate and re-establish the Byzantine

Empire.

In his search for the keys, Ezio has to help establish a new Assassin’s Guild with the aid of

the Turkish Mentor, Yusuf Tazim. He also befriends the young prince Suleiman, who

wants him to stop the Byzantine Templars. Finally, he has to keep his life as an Assassin

secret from Sofia Sartor, a Venetian scholar whom he begins to develop romantic feelings

for. He later finds out that the keys themselves contain the memories of Altair, depicting

his rise to prominence within the Assassins and the significant events in his life after the

first game.

Once again, the gameplay hasn’t changed too much. The developers have added a

crafting system which allows Ezio to make a variety of bombs, which can come in handy at

times. Also added was a tower defence mini-game which involves defending hideouts from

a Templar raid, but on my play through I only had to do it once for the tutorial.

While Revelations is a fairly weak title, being pretty much the same as Brotherhood, I still

enjoyed it for the fact that it wraps up Altair and Ezio’s stories nicely, paving way for a new

setting and protagonist in the next game. Speaking of which…

2012- Assassin’s Creed III

After coming out of his coma, Desmond and his friends travel to New York to find

something called the Grand Temple, which contains the means to protect the Earth from a

forthcoming solar flare. Somehow, that means he has to return to the Animus in search of

a key. Now he’s in Colonial America as a half-English, half-Mohawk warrior named Connor

Kenway, who joins the Assassins to protect his village. During his quest, he ends up taking

part in a lot of historical events, including the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere’s

Midnight Ride. Other than that, he doesn’t do much.

With an updated setting, the gameplay isn’t much different. One of the newest features of

the game involves missions were Connor takes command of a ship called the Aquila. The

naval missions are quite fun, but they don’t really amount to much. The majority of the

game seems to involve micromanaging the homestead where Connor ends up living as

he’s with the Assassins, led by Achilles Davenport.

Assassin’s Creed III offered a new historical setting, but it was a setting that was

somewhat disappointing. Connor is not as memorable a protagonist as Ezio was, and he’s

often throwing hissy fits. The rest of the time, he’s just bland. However, the game does

seem to get Desmond more involved in his story, and give him stealth and free-running

sections of his own while introducing his Templar counterpart, Daniel Cross. It also wraps

up his story quite nicely.

2013- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

They’re still making these games? I thought Assassin’s Creed III wrapped everything up.

Desmond stopped the solar flare at the cost of his own life, while releasing Juno onto the

world.

Well, and now for something completely different. You control an unnamed protagonist

working for Abstergo Entertainment to research a new film by living through the memories

of Connor’s grandfather, an early 18th Century pirate named Edward Kenway. What

followed was like someone who failed a test but then re-sat it and passed with flying

colours.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag took the naval sections from Assassin’s Creed III and

brought them into an open world. The game takes place in the Caribbean, where Edward

is free to travel in his ship, the Jackdaw. The ship gameplay is very similar to Sid Meier’s

Pirates, and it works very well. Edward himself is a much more interesting protagonist as

well. Like Ezio, he’s something of a scoundrel, but even more so. In fact, you spend more

time being Edward Kenway the Pirate than you do being Edward Kenway the Assassin.

One big way he is different from the other protagonists is that while he joins the Assassin-

Templar conflict after stumbling on it by accident, he’s more interested in fighting the

Templars for personal gain than he is for upholding the Assassin ideals. He’s like the Han

Solo of Assassin’s Creed.

The game seems to feel more like an RPG, as there is a greater focus on the side

activities which you have to do in order to upgrade the Jackdaw. If you just do the story

missions, you’ll end up being grossly underpowered. As for the land gameplay, the enemy

archetypes are very similar to those in Assassin’s Creed II. For example, the axe-wielding

Brutes have been updated so that they have grenades, which they will use to try and flush

Edward out of hiding places. The combat itself has been tweaked somewhat, but Edward

is a much more aggressive fighter, and the world offers plenty of opportunities for

swashbuckling. The open world has a huge variety of activities in addition to plundering

English and Spanish ships. You can raid forts, hunt whales, visit taverns to recruit crew

members or just get drunk, and a whole array of other diversions.

At first, I saw a greater emphasis on the piracy aspects of the game, which left to question

why Ubisoft didn’t just start a new intellectual property. After playing it however, I found

that it didn’t really matter. In fact, I’m prepared to say that Black Flag is the strongest title in

the series since Assassin’s Creed II.

Assassin’s Creed V: Where Can We Go Next?

A final note about the series; there isn’t much that can be done with the future setting

anymore. The only reason to keep making Assassin’s Creed games is to explore what

other historical settings you can use as a backdrop for a Templar plot. To be honest, that

might be the developers’ intention for the franchise. If that is the case, that’s fine, because

I’m interested in what historical settings can be used. My only issue is that they shouldn’t

release a game every year.

Keep it up folks. Where can you go next? I’m intrigued.

2014 – We’re Going Somewhere Else Now

Ubisoft have now announced a new title; Assassin’s Creed V: Unity. So far, they’ve

confirmed that the game will take place during the French Revolution, which I always

thought would be a good setting rife with turmoil. Of course, there are a few concerns I

have about this. First of all, what else can you bring into the series with this setting? I

mean, Assassin’s Creed III introduced the naval sections which were used to ground-

breaking effect in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. So, what could a French Revolution

use to distinguish itself? Or are we going back to liberating cities like in Brotherhood or

Revelations?

The other question is what kind of protagonist could you have? I mean, Edward was a

great protagonist, yet he wasn’t much of an Assassin, just a scoundrel profiteering from

the conflict. That could fit in this new setting, or perhaps they could have some vigilante

reminiscent of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Then again, it’s as good a reason as any to buy next generation console.

Written by Andrew Roberts