With Assassin’s Creed Origins just out, why not take a look at the history of the series? For this purpose, we’ll only look at the main games (Liberations not included as it is considerably smaller), and if they’re worth visiting again. For this purpose, Rabidgames has played each game for at least 5 hours.
Assassin’s Creed
The Setting: Medieval Middle East during the Third Crusade. We can explore three cities, Jerusalem, Acre, Damascus, as well as the hub and assassin hub of Masyaf. And we meet a real life Templar leader …
The Story: Pretty much just killing Templars to obtain the Apple of Eden, a powerful artifact (it’s a long story). In present times, we are introduced to Desmond, Lucy and Abstergo, the modern-day Templars.
The Gameplay: Repetitive. The first Assassin’s Creed is 9 assassinations – the good thing is you can do them however you please (to a degree), the bad news is you have to repeat the very same steps leading towards the assassination 9 times. Oh, and you better enjoy gathering a million flags …
The Verdict: Hard to get into now. Essentially a tech demo.
Assassin’s Creed 2
The Setting: Renaissance Venice, Florence, the family hub of Monteriggioni and a few more locations. You get to meet folk such as Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, Caterina Sforza, Bartolomeo d’Alviano, Lorenzo de Medici, the villainous Borgia and uncle Mario.
The Story: Experience how Ezio turns from spoilt playboy to feared Assassin leader who takes on the corrupt pope and meets members of the first civilisation (who created the Apple from AC1 and lived on earth before humanity). In present day, Desmond meets a few more Assassins.
The Gameplay: More varied, more counters, more tools. If you’re into puzzles, you can explore caverns and tombs, or you can solve glyph puzzles that give you some insight into the world of Assassin’s Creed.
The Verdict: The story is still great, the gameplay feels a bit bare-bone now though. Still worth experiencing though.
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
The Setting: Renaissance Rome, including all points of interests and the outskirts. Also, you can explore present-day Monteriggioni. Most of the cast from AC2 appear again. Desmond gets a bit stabby at the end of the game.
The Story: Monteriggioni is attacked. A wounded Ezio arrives in Rome to take revenge. And take revenge he does …
The Gameplay: Well, mostly a refined version of AC2. Plus you can now recruit and command assassins and send them on missions. We learn more of the perennial bad girl Juno. For whatever idiotic reason, multiplayer gets introduced. Who asked for this?
The Verdict: Commanding your brotherhood never gets old. Still fun to mess around with.
Assassin’s Creed Revelations
The Setting: Istanbul/Constantinople. The city looks and feels different from the previous games.
The Story: Ezio travels to Istanbul/Constantinople to discover an important secret. Also, we get to know more about Altair. Desmond is stuck in the Animus.
The Gameplay: More of the same, but with bombs and more mobility. Sadly, no more glyphs but a poor Tower Defense mini-game. Unfortunately, multiplayer is still in.
The Verdict: This game has a same old, same old feeling sadly. Lots of extra stuff not worth your while.
Assassin’s Creed III
The Setting: The American Revolution. Set in the wilderness, protagonist Connor’s homestead and rather rural looking Boston and New York. A stellar cast, including Franklin, Washington, Jefferson and many more.
The Story: The American Revolution. However, the game deviates from its predecessors by telling the story in different shades of grey. We also get a bit of a Vader/Luke situation. Also, the end of Desmond’s story and Juno’s release.
The Gameplay: A few changes, but mostly just redefined from previous games. A hint of naval battles and trekking through the wilderness – a highlight in deep snow – as well as hunting gave AC3 a different feeling though. There are also quite a few segments in present day with Desmond. Unfortunately, multiplayer is still in.
The Verdict: Tough one. The story is great, the gameplay can be fun, but it is a few chapters too long and the crafting and economic system are mostly useless. Still, Ubisoft dared to touch this sensitive topic and delivered a game neither neglecting the will for freedom nor how the freedom was exploited quickly.
Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag
The Setting: The Caribbean. Pirates. Ships. Your ship. Three major cities; Kingston, Havana and Nassau, a multitude of little islands and your very own hideout island. You meet quite a few famous pirates, including the infamous Blackbeard.
The Story: A pirate (father/grandfather of the protagonists of AC3) turns Templar turns Assassin (and stays there). The story actually spans 3 different times, and present day is narrated from the eyes of an Abstergo employee. Juno says hello, and the Sages are introduced.
The Gameplay: On land, not much changed. Except for awful tailing missions, the low point of Black Flag. The naval battles are an absolute highlight though. You are an Abstergo employee in present day – anonymous and clueless. Unfortunately, multiplayer is still in.
The Verdict: Great and different. Sailing the seas and sinking ships never gets old.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue
The Setting: The Atlantic Ocean near the Northern American coast, a smaller map with more islands, New York. And your ship. Not much happens in present day.
The Story: You play as an Assassin turned Templar! Nice change, eh?
The Gameplay: Same as Black Flag, plus a few extras here or there. Thankfully, minus multiplayer.
The Verdict: The story ties together the American saga ACs (although the beginning of Unity is related, too). It’s a bit short in terms of story, but again – sailing and sinking. Oh, and fighting Assassins, of course.
Assassin’s Creed Unity
The Setting: Paris during the revolution (the French one in case you’re wondering). A very lively and nicely looking Paris full of details and atmosphere. You get to meet characters including Napoleon, Marquis de Sade and Robespierre.
The Story: Entirely forgettable. Not much happens in present day either.
The Gameplay: A few new systems, but fighting was way too clumsy and not intuitive. Co-op missions are in for whatever reason, another thing no one ever asked for. Speaking of shit no one ever asked for – locked chests you could only open with a companion app – a low point.
The Verdict: Broken at release, now Paris is a joy to explore, but a chore to play through. Boring protagonist and the revolution just happens around you.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
The Setting: London in Victorian times, including the Buckingham Palace, the Tower and Big Ben. And a bit of London during World War 1. Your base is a moving train. You get to meet the likes of Marx, Dickens, Darwin, Florence Nightingale, a young Arthur Conan Doyle and Winston Churchill.
The Story: Two twins take over gangs and take down a Templar conspiracy in London while London oozes Victorian and proto-capitalist (poisonous) air. Something very important happens in present day. And the Assassins save the queen. Obviously.
The Gameplay: Sleek and refined. There are also Hitman-style assassinations and you can develop both characters differently. Diverse and rewarding side missions make sure there’s always something to do in London. Oh, and no more fucking mutiplayer, yay!
The Verdict: The best gameplay, hands down. And a great protagonist (Evie, not Jacob) make the game a joy to play and mess around with gangsters and cops.
To sum it up, while Unity can very easily be called the weakest game due to its forgettable story and nothing important really happening (even if we forget about the technical issues at start), it’s difficult to name ONE game to be the best Assassin’s Creed game – story-wise, Assassin’s Creed 2 wins. Brotherhood has the best feeling of being an Assassin leader, while Black Flag’s offer to be a pirate is hard to refuse. And then we have Syndicate with the most fluent and refined gameplay.
Rabidgames ponders: Perhaps Origins really is the best game in the series. That would decide it easily without thinking too hard about the best Assassin’s Creed …
Black Lives Matter
Posted in Commentary with tags Black Lives Matter, BLM on June 6, 2020 by RabidgamesYes, this is a gaming blog. And yet, sometimes other things are more important and must be said. Being silent is not an option. Being “apolitical” is not an option either. Sometimes, there is right and there is wrong. Sometimes, apathy is complicity.
This is such a time. A policeman murdering a defenceless black man in cold blood is such a time. The systematic cover-up for that policeman is such a time. And the fact it has put once more systemic racism combined with murder by cop to the forefront, but all of that is not what this post is about.
It’s about the simple act of understanding why Black Lives Matter, and why answering “All Lives Matter” is bullshit, even if well-intended. First, if I say “save the rain forests”, would anyone really reply “save all forests”? No, because the rain forests need our attention NOW. The same principle applies here. In recent months alone, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd were murdered by the police, and Ahmaud Arbery was hunted and murdered brutally. All victims were black. Black lives re being treated as dispensable, as collateral damage by cops, supremacists and more racists. We need to highlight this, and this is precisely why Black Lives Matter RIGHT NOW.
Second, don’t take my word, a white person’s word for it. Talk to black people about racism and their experiences. Even if you live outside of the US, I encourage you to talk to black people, most of them will have stories to tell. And more importantly, listen to them. If you don’t know any or you’d feel uncomfortable talking to them about this issue, watch or listen to black people online. Read about their stories. Read. Listen. Watch. It’s their experiences, their pains, their fears, their anger, their hope. Try to understand why Black Lives Matter is an important topic, sadly STILL is an important topic in 2020. Understanding is key.
Sure, racism does not only affect black people, but please, take some time to watch, listen, talk or read about racism towards black people today. If you educate yourself why Black Lives Matter today, you will have a better understanding of the world tomorrow.
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