Assassin’s Creed: The Glory Years

Assassin’s Creed has been synonymous with the gaming industry for 15 years since the release of the original Assassin’s Creed in 2007. Since then, there have been soaring highs and stooping lows. This the first part in a series of three about the evolution of the Assassin’s Creed franchise from 2007 to right now in 2022.

We begin in 2007, to paint a picture, the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation was in full swing, and I was still young enough to have to play Grand Theft Auto without the sound so I couldn’t hear the bad words as I beat up countless innocent civilians. Back then, Ubisoft weren’t the villains of the gaming industry that they are now. At that time they were mostly known for developing Far Cry and Splinter Cell. Along came Assassin’s Creed, an out-there game about an evil order set on controlling the world through ancient artefacts that hold some sort of forgotten magic. In order to ascertain these artefacts, the evil order must relive the memories of ancestors who have been dead for centuries. If it sounds a bit insane, that’s because it is. But it worked, and although a lot of the core gameplay was focused on reliving memories in the Animus and getting to play as Altaïr, the rebellious but extremely skilled son of the Assassin Order - the modern day story and sci-fi parts were still a crucial part of the story. While the first game pulled everyone in, it wasn’t expansive like future games in the series are known for; it was very concise, with the gameplay loop being satisfying even if it did get repetitive by the end of the game.

Of course, it was the second game in the series that launched Assassin’s Creed into the stratosphere. Assassin’s Creed II was nominated for six awards at the 2010 BAFTAs, including the award for Best Game. Assassin’s Creed II has sold nine million copies and remains to be one of the best-selling Ubisoft games of all time! On a personal note, Assassin’s Creed II was my first Assassin’s Creed game; I had never heard of it before playing it. I got my first Assassin’s Creed game when I was around 10 years old as a gift for being good. I loved it instantly. Of course at the time I knew I was missing some context for the modern day, but who cared?! I was leaping across rooftops in the beautiful cities of renaissance Italy, stealthing and stabbing my way through countless enemies. I loved that game, and it became intrinsically linked to my childhood. I started getting nostalgic after not playing the game for a few years, although I wasn’t sure I wanted to pick it up again due to fear that I had built it up too much in my mind; there was no way that it could be as amazing as I remembered it being. Yet, when I finally decided that it was time to jump back in, it really was as amazing as I remembered it being. When The Ezio Collection was given the FPS boost treatment on Xbox I downloaded it onto my little Series S and started playing. Dashing and leaping around Venice and Florence as Ezio had never felt so good thanks to the aforementioned upgrade, breathing new life into an old classic.

Of course, despite the fresh coat of paint given by the boost in framerate, the game itself is still 13 years old. The parkour and movement is clunky due to how Ezio controls, but that doesn’t detract too much from the fun of it all. This was then followed up with the stellar Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, a game that built on the foundations set by Assassin’s Creed II with cool additions like recruiting assassins and utilising them during combat. Then we had Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.

Truth be told, when I played this immediately after release I didn’t think much of it; I thought it was just a bloated DLC to keep us busy until the bigger Assassin’s Creed III released the year after (however THAT trailer for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations remains to this day one of the coolest cinematic trailers that I’ve ever seen). Going back to it, my opinion hasn’t changed too much. I appreciate it as it gives us the conclusion to Ezio’s story, but as a standalone game, it is certainly the weakest of the trilogy.

To be honest, after this peak, apart from a few highs here and there, the franchise never really hit this level again. Games like Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Origins brought well deserved hype back to Assassin’s Creed, but nothing has captured the imagination quite like those first three or four games did. There are several factors that have contributed to the downfall of the Assassin’s Creed name, one being the yearly release cycle that Ubisoft stuck to from Assassin’s Creed II in 2009 up until Assassin’s Creed Syndicate in 2015 (but more on that soon).