A full list of Assassin’s Creed Games since 2007:
Assassin’s Creed 2007
Assassin’s Creed II 2009
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood 2010
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations 2011
Assassin’s Creed III 2012
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag 2013
Assassin’s Creed Rogue 2014
Assassin’s Creed Unity 2014
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate 2015
Walking behind the scenes...
Assassin’s Creed is a delightfully delicious potpourri of historical politics, drama and underground rebellions that wrought the current world we live in centuries ago. It does a great job of showcasing the state the world was in at a time when it was volatile and the most powerful men irrationaly rose to the throne with sheer brute force without any support from the taxpaying population.
1. The Path of Enlightenment: Learning History
The Assassin’s Creed team is so intent on teaching history and culture to gamers. There are several ways to keep the stories fictional and still make a blockbuster game, but maybe this (historical references) is what makes the Assassin’s Creed games what it truly is.
Most of the time the characters in the game are actual real people who have lived in the past and done something very similar to what happens in the storyline within the game. There is even a database-like menu that provides facts on the character and major historical events he/she has participated in including the in-game events.
Assassin’s Creed does one thing that even the most renowned and highly esteemed history professors can’t do and that is to teach history even to kids without lulling them into a trance-like sleep.
2. The Ambience
Take them down… one by one…
You know that it is breaking dawn when you’re standing in a narrow street between tightly packed houses with the sky slowly turning into lighter shades of an inky blue-black. You lower your gaze down to the street where you see an early patrol of redcoats approaching in the distance, thanks to the thick fog hanging heavily over the morning, visibility’s very low and they have not yet noticed you. You quickly pivot towards a nearby siding, climbing and shimmying up to the roof.
From this height you have a sprawling view of the entire street, some of the windows have the dull shine of an oil lamp burning inside, early risers welcoming another new day. You slowly walk forward on the roof, your trained footfalls making almost no noise, grinning down at the patrol that doesn’t bother to look up even in the slightest.
Your assassin senses kick in, as you calculate the trajectory of the jump towards the last two stragglers. Just a tiny little jump and they won’t live to see the sun rise, but it was quite unnecessary, completely unnecessary, you shake off your assassin instincts and you walk on, after all you have a more important appointment to keep.
3. Way of The Assassin
Losing yourself in the crowd…
As we are all aware of, all of the Assassin’s Creed games take place during a time when the most dominant and power hungry douchebags declared themselves as Supreme Rulers and started bossing around people. But the problem was that these pretentious devils made life difficult for a lot of people clinging on to the lower rungs of the ladder.
The bigger problem was that these people were powerless and unable to do anything against the outrageous rule they were subjected to, and thus The Creed was born, comprising of radical rebels who fashioned themselves as saviors who came to the rescue of the oppressed.
Their job was to blend in with the crowd, act helpless unable to do anything but shout out protests while discreetly eliminating the tyrants from behind the scenes.
4. Testing Your Morality
Rescuing a family from a eviction
The cities in Assassin’s Creed are lively and bustling with activity just like any other actual city. But see if you can resist the urge to go to the aid of a poor man calling for help, as he is dragged out of his house by redcoats, for not paying his taxes obviously. Side quests like this which test your morale are what really drive the player away from the main story seeking minor distractions.
You could go to the aid of the poor man and kill the redcoats who were just carrying out orders from ‘above’, and your actions could probably cause a family to lose its sole breadwinner. If you choose not to act, the poor guy will be left to the streets to fend for himself.
A lot of gamers wouldn’t involve themselves on this scale, but to a true gamer who loses himself beneath the virtual world, this will make sense.
5. The Countryside: A Blissful Escape
The view
Tired of all the hustle and bustle of city life? Fret not, you can always kick back, take a stroll by the countryside, gazing around at the farmhouses and windmills scattered around here and there. Feeling too tired to run around acres and acres of farmlands? Just mount a stead and gallop around, taking in the sights and you might almost feel the wind billowing around your hair, before you realize it’s probably just the air conditioning in your room.
The graphics are a huge plus when you feel like going on a trip but without the travel expenses and its associated headaches like packing and stuff.
6. Battles in the Middle of Nowhere
Heavenly silence…
The open ocean is deadly silent, the sky is darkening slowly, the only sound you can hear are the waves gurgling and lapping around at the helm of your ship. You have issued orders for a stealth approach on the island fort looming into sight slowly in the darkness, shrouded behind a thin veil of mist, looking formidable.
You intend to land the first volley of cannon fire undetected, dealing as much damage as possible in order to gain the upperhand. You murmur instructions to your quartermaster, “Bring her down to half sail, we don’t want to alert th-“, the alarm bells pierce the silence clanging vigorously, before you even finish your sentence.
The ship has been spotted, you shout out orders to your crew, “All stations! Cannons at the ready!” You heave and grunt throwing all your weight on the wheel, swerving around trying to get a clear shot with your cannons locked to starboard.
7. Mother Nature VS You
I’ll take you through the storm…
Blinding flashes of lightning overhead throws the waters’ features into sharp relief, lighting up the entire ocean in a moment of false daylight, letting you catch a glimpse of the tiny ships cruising on the horizon. It was as though the ocean had been angered at our intrusion into these hostile waters, the distant storm clouds raging and creeping towards us slowly. The first mortar fire from the enemy fort is accompanied by another deafening clap of thunder.
It was as though Mother Nature had joined forces with the enemy fort to bring our ship down. The battle has begun.
8. Step Out of The Animus: Shake a Leg
Outta the Animus…
It’s a much welcomed break to step out of the Animus after spending hours around wooden ships with oil lamps. The mere sight of some computers and wires lying around jumbled is a huge relief that you’ll embrace gratefully even though you won’t consciously acknowledge it.
It’s almost akin to the sensation of getting your feet back on solid land after hours of scuba diving, if you know what I mean!
The AC team has timed these breaks with near perfection that most gamers will fail to notice them, though still convincing gamers to add to their overall appreciation of the game. So, congratulations to the AC team, for playing a subtle game of psychology on unsuspecting gamers.
9. Out In The Open Waters
Spear fishing in the ocean
You lean against your ship’s wheel gazing out at the rather small ship sailing beside you, contemplating the amount of plunder it could possibly yield. Is it worth using up some of your firepower for this one or should you just save it up for a bigger catch that might come your way later on.
Nevertheless, you take out your spyglass and assess the goods in the ship’s cargo hold. You start considering options, there’s a port nearby, maybe you could sail back for a resupply if you waste too much of your ammunition on this one.
But right when you make up your mind for the assault and begin lowering your spyglass, you catch sight of a white whale skimming just beneath the surface, a pretty rare catch. You immediately change course, wondering what else the ocean might throw at you.
10. The Jackdaw
The Jackdaw dissected…
This is the ship of infinite opportunity, cruising treacherous waters on the hunt for the next victim to stumble her way. In the beginning, when Edward first gets his hands on Jackdaw, it was just a small vessel with very limited weapons and basic hull defenses.
It’s a ship that’ll slowly grow closer to your heart as you weather it out and win more and more battles with it, upgrading its various weapons and installing better hull reinforcements. A ship that you will hate to see sink beneath the crystal blue waters.
Travel Back In Time
Assassin’s Creed is a lesson in humility to us, showcasing our ancestors who were just beginning to set down the then new world order and the various cities whose foundations were established and shaped by them over the centuries. The Independence Declarations and various other treaties that still help maintain world peace are etched through the course of history within this gem of a game.
In a nutshell, if you’ve got some kids bored of history textbooks but are interested in actually learning history, then this is the game that ought to do the perfect job of teaching them their passion.
