Assassin's Creed

Game cover for Assassin's Creed.

Assassin's Creed is an action-adventure-stealth video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft in November of 2007 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms. A PC (Windows personal computer) version of the game was released in April 2008. The game is a sandbox-style game, where gameplay occurs in contained environments, but as long as the player is in that environment, there is no limit on where they can go.

Assassin's Creed follows a non-linear story structure, following two storylines—one taking place in 2012 with the character Desmond Miles, and the second taking place in the Levantine in 1191 during the Third Crusade and following the character of Altair Ibn-La'Ahad. The game and its sequels and prequels have been noted for immersive and well-researched historical settings, including their specific cityscapes and events.

Assassin's Creed received largely positive reviews both for its story and gameplay. The reviews of the game that offered a negative overall view did so not because the game missed on basic elements of story or gameplay, but because the game failed to live up to its incredible promise, fumbling (in the words of some reviews) a critical story twist and creating tedium toward the late game with repeated elements and slow mission moments. However, most reviews appreciated that Assassin's Creed offered a unique, grounded, and well-researched setting, a fully-realized world, great graphics (especially for the time's technology), wonderful music, and responsive controls.

The game and its developers would eventually be nominated for nineteen awards across different industry awards (such as BAFTA Awards; Game Developers Choice Awards; Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, USA; and Games Critics Awards) and would win two awards: the 2006 Best Action/Adventure Game at E3 Game Critics Awards and the 2008 Outstanding Achievement in Animation at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, USA.

Desmond Miles with Lucy Stillman in the Animus device.

The game begins in 2012 with the kidnapping of character Desmond Miles. Miles, a bartender, is kidnapped by Abstergo Industries for use as a test subject in the company's "Animus" device. The Animus is built to simulate genetic memory, allowing the company to tap into an individual's genetic memory. And, in the case of Miles, allowing the company to recall the memories of his ancestor Altair Ibn-La'Ahad. Altair is of interest to Abstergo as he was a member of the Hashshashin (or assassins) Brotherhood, a real-life group that performed politically-motived murders between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. Altair's storyline is set during the Third Crusade in the Levantine region, taking place largely in the reproduction of twelfth-century Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus.

The game opens with Desmond entering Altair's memory, in which he faces a synchronization problem. The voices of characters Lucy Stillman and Warren Vidic are then heard arguing over the safety of the Animus and Desmond, who then exits the machine to be briefed about the workings of the Animus and enters a tutorial phase of the game. After the tutorial, Desmond begins reliving Altair's memory, where the majority of gameplay takes place.

Robert de Sable, one of the main enemies of the game.

The memories are intended to be key moments of Altair's life and begin showing him attempting to retrieve one of a series of artifacts known as the "Pieces of Eden" from Solomon's Temple. The mission is stopped by Robert de Sable, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, who are an order in opposition to the assassins Brotherhood. Along with his fellows Malik Al-Sayf and his brother Kadar Al-Sayf, the Assassins attempt to retrieve the treasure, in which Altair breaks the tenets of the Assassin's Creed while trying to kill Robert. Instead, Kadar Al-Sayf is killed, Malik is left crippled, and Altair flees to return to the Assassin's stronghold at Masyaf.

Altair, for his actions, is demoted in the ranks of the assassins and given a chance to redeem himself and rise through the ranks of the brotherhood. The leader of the assassins, Al Mualim, gives Altair a task to assassinate nine key figures across the Levant in order to bring peace between the Crusader and Saracen Forces. These include actual historical figures who perished during the period, including Majd Addin, Garnier de Naplouse, Jubair al Hakim, Abu'l Nuquod, Sibrand, William of Montferrat, and Robert de Sable.

Altair with the Piece of Eden.

The series of assassinations makes up the bulk of the gameplay. And during this, it is revealed that Al Mualim himself is a Templar who sought to use the assassins to keep the secrets of the artifact for himself. Further, Al Mualim, upon Altair revealing the truth to him, tells Altair that the Piece of Eden creates illusions, further suggesting that all religions and supernatural events of history have been illusions caused by the piece and states his own intention to use the artifact to compel humanity, in a brainwashed state, to bring an end to all conflict. However, this turns out to be a deceit, and Altair eventually finds himself compelled to kill Al Mualim. Upon recovering the Piece of Eden artifact, it activates and shows him a holographic view of the world and the locations of the other Pieces of Eden across the globe.

Strange messages Desmond finds at the end of the game.

During this period, Desmond's storyline advances, as he learns that Abstergo is a modern-day front of the Knights Templar, who continue to seek these artifacts from Altair's memories. He learns, as well, that modern-day assassins have tried, and failed, to rescue him. Upon learning this, Desmond is ordered to be killed but is saved by Lucy Stillman, who is revealed to be an assassin. Meanwhile, Desmond finds himself able to use some of the abilities of the assassins, which reveal to him scrawled warnings about the date 21 December 2012, both referenced as the end of the world by several different cultures and is a date at which Abstergo plans to launch a satellite that would be capable of hypnotizing the world. The game ends with Desmond wondering what several hidden images could mean.

In Assassin's Creed, the player spends most of the game controlling the twelfth-century Levantine assassin Altair during the third crusade with an overall goal of rising through the ranks of the Assassin Brotherhood. The main objectives of the game are represented as Altair's core memories, and these are the nine main assassinations. In each city, Altair must locate an assassin's bureau, in which an agent of the Brotherhood gives the player basic knowledge of his target.

From there, Altair has to perform additional reconnaissance, with a total of six potential targets but satisfying the game's minimum of three. Each potential reconnaissance target offers the players more information. To get the information, the player must eavesdrop, interrogate, meet with information, or gather an important item to get the information.

The high points of the game offer panoramic views.

Similarly, between these memories, while in a given location, Altair is directed to the highest points in the city to increase the synchronization between Desmond and Altair and give Altair a greater idea of the city they are in. Further, reaching these viewpoints gives Altair information on people of interest, such as their location or a route they like to walk. The game includes side memories, which include tracking and killing Templars and their agents, flag collecting, and saving citizens who are being threatened by Templars or city guards.

A lot of the gameplay of the game is focused on the character using stealth to carry out actions, such as reconnaissance and assassinations. Further, the player wants to avoid notice from officials and city guards, and the game uses a meter dependent on social stealth to show the player how noticeable Altair is to surrounding individuals, including guards. Similarly, once detected, especially after an assassination, Altair has to return to the city's assassin's bureau, which he cannot enter while being chased.

Example of Altair hiding among wandering scholars.

During one of these chases, the city is put on alert, and the guards are persistently following and tracking Altair. To escape the chase, the player is required to break the line of sight of the guards, such as by jumping into one of the game's conveniently-placed piles of hay, and once breaking the line of sight, the player then has to blend in, either by sitting on a bench with people, walking amongst a crowd of wandering scholars, or be beyond catching. When climbing ladders or escaping vertically, the guards will follow as far as they can, before they begin to throw rocks and shoot arrows at the player once they are too far to catch. The guards are never too difficult to ditch, but the game makes the chases enjoyable.

Altair performs a leaping assassination.

Once a player has completed the necessary investigations, they receive information such as the proper place to strike their target, the guard placements at the assassination location, and hints on how to best pull off a stealthy assassination. From there, the player is in control of how they go in for an assassination with one of two options: a stealth approach or a direct attack. While the player has the choice, often the attempts at stealth fail, which turn assassination missions into brawls.

Before each assassination, the game offers a cut-scene in which the player is shown that the target is a villain and worthy of assassination, and after the cut-scene, the player has to stalk the target, with the stalking phase becoming more difficult as the player progresses through the game, especially as the player works to assassinate targets in heavily fortified areas.

The controls for Assassin's Creed were relatively unique for the time of its release. The player is as much a puppeteer, with each face button on a gamepad representing a different part of the Altair's body. If a player wants to look around, they move the button for Altair's head. To use their sword, they use the right-hand button. To leap from building to building, they use the button controlling Altair's legs. Further, depending on the context, such as vertical climbing or running along rooftops, the game offers context-sensitive actions. These actions can be the difference between a stealthy assassination of a guard or a cinematic, if "loud" knife to the throat.

All aspects on a wall can be used to climb in the game.

The vertical play of the game is one of its strongest gameplay aspects, allowing players unlimited vertical control. However, the player has to think like a rock climber, looking for cracks and wall ornaments that offer a good handhold or foothold. Similarly, the game uses every piece of decoration, art, or architecture to give the player a chance to climb, rather than being there as window dressing. For many, getting vertical and getting to the highest point in a city or one of the viewpoints is the best part of the game, offering a panoramic view of the well-researched representations of the city.

Upon failing an assassination or being caught or detected, the player must draw Altair's sword and engage in combat. Altair is capable in combat (as the player would assume an assassin would be), and the increasing competency depends on the player. Especially as, on its face, the game's combat is simple, with one button to defend and a different button to attack.

Combat can be difficult to get the hang of in the game.

However, what the game does not tell the player, is the combat is rhythm-based and as close to a dancing mini-game as it is to combat. If the player is capable of learning the rhythm, they can direct Altair to dominate the combat scenarios, often killing people in impressive animations. Whereas, if a player is erratic or button-mashes, the combat can feel frustrating and dumb, as it is not necessarily intuitive.

It helps that the game's animations for combat are very good, with half the fun of fighting seeing the fluid and competent moves of Altair through combat. The combat is designed so that, despite the fluidity of his movements, Altair has weight with lifelike movements, making his movements through combat feel more believable. The player also has to worry about their character's health. Except, in Assassin's Creed, the health is portrayed as the level of synchronization between Desmond and Altair, with a complete desynchronization requiring the player to restart at the last stable checkpoint.

After the release of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in 2003, creative director Patrice Désilets was rumored to be developing a spin-off of the 2003 game entitled Prince of Persia: Assassin, which followed the story of an assassin in Jerusalem protecting a prince with magical powers. By mid-September of 2005, during the Tokyo Game Show, it was reported that Ubisoft showed a new trailer for a game in production with a working title of "Project Assassins." Nothing further was mentioned of the project until E3 in 2006, when an updated trailer was shown under the name Assassin's Creed being developed at Ubisoft Montreal.

The original game trailer for what would become Assassin's Creed.

Despite some claims that the new title had not been shown off before, a representative from Ubisoft later confirmed that the "Project Assassin" game trailer was indeed Assassin's Creed. Game producer Jade Raymond would describe Altair as a "medieval hitman" in succeeding interviews, highlighting the character's "mysterious past" and noting that the character was not a time traveler. Further, descriptions of the ability to climb and free-run were offered by various games journals, describing the individuals behind the game as the same who had developed similar mechanics for the Prince of Persia series.

In a December 2006 interview, actress Kristen Bell, who voiced Abstergo researcher Lucy Stillman, gave the first concrete plot information, confirming the focus on genetic memory and a corporation's search for descendants of an assassin. Ubisoft also released a five-part series of "Developer Diaries" on the game's website with members of the development team explaining the thought process behind the game. One aspect discussed in the series was an abandoned multiplayer mode.

The game's soundtrack and musical score were composed by Jesper Kyd. The intention behind the soundtrack was to capture the atmosphere of medieval warfare while being "edgy and contemporary." This led to a score that contained orchestral music with dark and ominous overtones, with many tracks containing choral pieces and vocal tracks in Latin to offer an immersive and darker atmosphere to the game. Tracks were released to those who purchased the game on the Ubisoft website.

The success of Assassin's Creed led to the development of other games. In 2008, a prequel to the original game was released for the Nintendo DS system, called Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles, which would later be re-released as a mobile game for iPhone and iPod Touch in 2009. In 2009, Ubisoft also developed Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines for the Sony PSP handheld, which was another spin-off game in the same vein as Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles.

Ubisoft confirmed the production of an official sequel to Assassin's Creed, titled Assassin's Creed II, in January 2009, which would be released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation in November 2009. The sequel continued the story of the original game while exploring a different set of genetic memories, following the story of Ezio Auditore da Firenze rather than Altair. This would further develop into Assassin's Creed III, which continued Desmond's story from the first and second game; but this time, it followed the genetic memory of Ratonhnhaké:ton during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary Wars.

The game also included various spin-offs and related stories, which built up the interconnected world of the assassins and the history of their brotherhood, involving some of the more well-known conflicts. This built out to twelve main games, including the open-world games, such as Assassin's Creed: Origins, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, and Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, which, according to some, rejuvenated the franchise. It has become one of the longer and better-selling video games franchises since the introduction of the first game.