Assassin's Creed

This article is about the series. For the first game in the series, see Assassin's Creed (video game).

Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed series logo
Genre(s)	Historical action-adventure, stealth
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Annecy Gameloft Griptonite Games
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Creator(s)	Patrice Désilets Jade Raymond Corey May
Composer(s)	Jesper Kyd (I, II, Brotherhood, Revelations) Lorne Balfe (Revelations, III) Winifred Phillips (III: Liberation)
First release	Assassin's Creed November 13, 2007
Latest release	Assassin's Creed III Assassin's Creed III: Liberation October 30, 2012

Assassin's Creed is a historical action-adventure open world stealth video game series that consists of five main games and a number of supporting materials, as of 2013. The games have appeared on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, iOS, HP webOS, Android, Nokia Symbian Windows Phone platforms, and the Wii U.

The main games in the franchise were developed by Ubisoft Montreal for the single player and Ubisoft Annecy for the multiplayer, with the handheld titles developed by Gameloft and Gryptonite Studios, with additional development by Ubisoft Montreal. The series has been well received by the public and critics, and has sold over 55 million copies as of March, 2013. The series took inspiration from the novel Alamut by the Slovenian writer Vladimir Bartol, and are considered by some to be the spiritual successor to the Prince of Persia series.

Premise

The Assassin's Creed games take place in 2012, and feature Desmond Miles, a bartender who is a descendant of several lines of prominent Assassins; though raised as an Assassin, he fled his nomadic family to seek out a more common lifestyle. He is initially kidnapped by the megacorporation Abstergo Industries, the modern-day face of the Knights Templar who are aware of Desmond's lineage. Desmond is forced to use the "Animus", a device that allows him to experience his ancestral memories. Abstergo is seeking to discover the location of several artifacts, or "Pieces of Eden", that hold great power, to control mankind and alter its fate, bringing humanity into a single unified group. Desmond also encounters a small team of modern-day Assassins; agreeing to work with them, Desmond uses their version of the Animus (the Animus 2.0) to continue to experience the memories of his ancestors to discover the locations of additional Pieces of Eden so they can be recovered before Abstergo can do so. While experiencing these memories, some of their abilities are genetically leaked into Desmond, known as the Bleeding Effect, giving him some of the Assassin skills of his predecessors at the cost of living with multiple sets of memories and personalities in his mind.

Within the Animus, Desmond explores the memories of Assassins Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad, an initially disgraced Assassin working to redeem himself during the Third Crusade; Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an Assassin in Italy during the late 15th and early 16th centuries of the Renaissance; and Ratohnhaké:ton, otherwise known as Connor, a half-Mohawk, half-British Assassin during the American Revolution. Throughout these events, Desmond learns of allusions to the prophetic end of the world in 2012 from a former Animus test subject, Subject 16, as well as from holographic figures of a species pre-dating humanity. Many years ago a massive solar flare nearly wiped out all life and a second threatens to do the same. With the second solar flare fast approaching, it is up to Desmond to use the memories of his ancestors to acquire their knowledge, learn the truth and find the Pieces of Eden to save humanity.

Gameplay

While the game is presented through protagonist Desmond Miles, the bulk of the game is played as Desmond experiences the memories of either Altaïr, Ezio, or Connor through the Animus. This provides a means of a diegetic interface for the player, showing Altaïr, Ezio, or Connor's health, equipment, goals, and other features as part of the Animus interface. The Animus is based on the player controlling the assassin to maintain the synchronization between Desmond and his ancestor's memories. Performing actions that go against the Assassin's way or dying breaks the synchronization, effectively requiring the player to restart at a previous checkpoint. Furthermore, the player cannot explore outside of areas that the assassin has not experienced yet. There are also abnormalities within the Animus from previous users of the device.

While playing as the Assassin characters, the games are generally presented as third-person in an open world, focusing on stealth and free-running. The games use a mission structure to follow the main story, generally assigning the player to complete an assassination of public figureheads or a covert mission. Alternatively, several side missions are available, such as mapping out the expansive cities from a high perch followed by performing a "leap of faith" into a haystack below, collecting treasures hidden across the cities, exploring ruins for relics, building a brotherhood of assassins to perform other tasks, or funding the rebuilding of a city through purchasing and upgrading of shops and other features. At times, the player is in direct control of Desmond, who by nature of the Animus use has learned Assassin techniques through the bleeding effect, as well as their genetic ability of Eagle Vision, which separates friend, foe and assassination targets by illuminating people in different colors. Through the Animus interface, the player can go back to retry any past mission already completed; for example, in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the player achieves better synchronization results by performing the mission in a specific manner such as by only killing the mission's target.

The games use the concept of "active" versus "passive" moves, with "active" moves, such as running, climbing the sides of buildings, or jumping between rooftops, more likely to alert the attention of nearby guards. When the guards become alerted, the player must either fight them or break their line of sight and locate a hiding place, such as a haystack or a well, and wait until the guards' alert is reduced. The combat system allows for a number of unique weapons, armor, and moves, including the use of a hidden blade set in a bracer on the Assassin's arm, and which also can be used to quietly assassinate targets.

Games

Games, by year and platform

Time period	Title	Year	Consoles					Computers		Handhelds			Mobile					Other
			PS3	X360	Wii U	PS4	X1	Mac	Win	DS	PSP	Vita	And	iOS	Symb	webOS	WP	Face	OnLive
Third Crusade	Assassin's Creed	2007	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
	Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles	2008	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines	2009	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Renaissance	Assassin's Creed II	2009	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
	Assassin's Creed II: Discovery	2009	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
	Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy	2010	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
	Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood	2010	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
	Assassin's Creed: Revelations	2011	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
	Assassin's Creed: Multiplayer Rearmed	2011	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
	Assassin's Creed: Recollection	2011	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Colonial Era	Assassin's Creed III	2012	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
	Assassin's Creed III: Liberation	2012	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
	Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag	2013	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
	Assassin's Creed: Utopia	2013	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No

Main series

Assassin's Creed

Main article: Assassin's Creed (video game)

Desmond is captured by Abstergo and forced to use a machine called the Animus to explore Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad's memories during the time of the Third Crusade. Desmond begins to witness events after Altaïr breaks all three tenets of the Assassin Brotherhood while attempting to stop Robert de Sablé from taking a Piece of Eden. Al Mualim, the Brotherhood's leader, demotes Altaïr to Novice and tasks him with assassinating the nine Knights Templars, including de Sablé, to regain his former status. Altaïr's quest eventually leads him to face de Sablé in the presence of King Richard I of England warning the King of de Sablé plot to kill him. Altaïr defeats de Sablé, but with his last words, de Sablé reveals that there were ten Templars, the last being Al Mualim, who now holds the Piece of Eden. Altaïr returns to face Al Mualim, struggling to fight through the illusions created by the Piece, but eventually kills Al Mualim. When Altaïr recovers the piece, he – and those watching the Animus – witness a holographic map showing locations across the globe where other artifacts are located. Desmond is pulled from the Animus, and was going to be killed, but his life is spared by Lucy Stillman, an Assassin working as a mole within Abstergo, as she claims they might need to further examine his memories later. He comes to learn that a former test subject had left messages only Desmond can see, foretelling of the end of the world in 2012.

The first Assassin's Creed introduced elements that would remain cornerstones of the rest of the series. The game attempts to create historical versions of Masyaf (the Brotherhood's location), Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus, and incorporates a number of documented historical figures into the story. The virtualized Animus system, free running, climbing, stealth, and parkour elements were all present in this title, as well as the initial formulation of the combat system. The player would have to complete a number of side quests before they would be able to obtain an assassin quest from a local Brotherhood guidemaster in each city, though future games would abandon this prerequisite.

Assassin's Creed II

Main article: Assassin's Creed II

Lucy returns and breaks Desmond out of Abstergo, taking him to an Assassin safehouse and introduced to Shaun, a historian, and Rebecca, their technical support. Using an improved version of the Animus, Desmond takes witness to Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young nobleman from the late 15th Century in Florence, shortly before the execution of Ezio's father and brothers by order of a corrupt official working for the Templars. He and his mother and sister take to hiding at the Monteriggioni villa owned by his uncle Mario, who helps to train Ezio in the ways of an Assassin. Ezio and Mario discover that Rodrigo Borgia is the figurehead of a number of Templars all who were accomplices in the execution of his family, and with help of allies like Leonardo da Vinci, methodically assassinate the lower-ranked Templars, while learning that Borgia has acquired a Piece of Eden called the Apple. Eventually, Ezio corners Borgia, who hands over the Piece and flees; Ezio is inducted into the ranks of the Brotherhood and believed to be a prophet based on their codex. A decade later, the Brotherhood learns that Borgia has since become Pope Alexander VI, using the Church's influence to strengthen the Templars. Ezio invades Vatican City and confronts Borgia, discovering that the Papal staff is also a Piece of Eden. Defeating Borgia but sparing his life, Ezio uses both the Apple and the Papal staff to reveal a chamber of ancient technology. Inside, he is addressed by a hologram of a humanoid female that calls herself Minerva who speaks directly to Desmond through Ezio. Minerva explains how her society had pre-dated humanity's, but a great disaster nearly wiped them out, and warns that another event is due to occur soon, putting the fate of humanity in Desmond's hands. At this discovery, Desmond and his allies find the safehouse has been compromised by Abstergo and flee.

Similar to the first game, Assassin's Creed takes place in historical recreations of Venice, Florence, Forlì, San Gimignano, and the Tuscan countryside, and incorporates events during that period as part of the story. Missions are divided into main story missions, themselves divided into memory sequences reflected points along Ezio's life, and side missions which can be accomplished at any time; this approach to mission structure remains consistent in the other games in the series. The Monteriggioni villa provides several functions which can be expanded on by paying money for upgrades of surrounding buildings, or by purchasing artwork, weapons, and costumes for the villa; in turn, the villa will generate wealth for the player at a rate influenced by the upgrades and acquisition of these items. Additional quests involve locating secret Assassin seals, and finding hidden marks left by "Subject 16", a former Animus user, that hint at the nature of Minerva's society.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Main article: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Desmond and his allies retreat to the ruins of the Monteriggioni villa, and Desmond reenters the Animus to continue Ezio's memories, specifically to identify the location of the Apple. After facing against Rodrigo Borgia, Ezio returned to Monteriggioni, but the villa is soon attacked by forces under the command of Cesare Borgia, Rodrigo's son. Mario is killed and the Apple is stolen. Ezio vows revenge by helping to free the people of Rome from the Borgia family. As Ezio works covertly to turn the city against the Borgias, he gains followers that want to join his cause, and Ezio trains them in the way of the Assassins. In an attempt to assassinate Cesare and Rodrigo at the Castel Sant'Angelo, Ezio instead witnesses Cesare forcing his father to eat a poisoned apple that Rodrigo had prepared to kill his son. Ezio chases down Cesare and eventually captures him and recovers the Apple. Cesare is taken to prison in Viana, Spain but manages to escape with help of his allies. The Assassins lead the fight against Cesare and the remaining loyal Borgia troops, and eventually Ezio throws Cesare from the castle walls, killing him. With no perceived further threats, Ezio takes to hide the Apple under the Colosseum. In the present, Desmond is able to navigate through the underground chambers beneath the Colosseum to locate the Apple. As he picks it up, Desmond is witness to another hologram figure, calling herself Juno, and who controls Desmond to stab Lucy (because Lucy has defected to the Templars) before he falls into a coma.

Brotherhood shares many of the same features as the previous game though it takes place primarily in Rome. Similar to the villa, the player is able to spend money to buy and upgrade shops and other facilities throughout the city as to increase revenue they can collect from it; however, the player will be required to destroy Borgia towers that control various sections of the city before they can do so. The Brotherhood of Assassins is introduced, by which, after saving citizens from certain events, the player can invite these citizens as Assassins; they can then be dispatched to remote locations across Europe to gain experience and money, or can be called in to help the player directly in a mission. For the first time in the series, the game features online multiplayer. Players play as Abstergo employees, who, through the use of the Animus, take on the genetic memories of Renaissance Templars in various game modes.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Main article: Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Desmond comes to consciousness in a virtual area within the Animus, the Animus Island, where he meets the digital personality of Subject 16. Subject 16 explains that from the trauma of stabbing Lucy, Desmond must complete the memories of both Altaïr and Ezio to be able to separate his mind from theirs and to allow him to come out of his coma; however, doing so will destabilize the island as the Animus recovers that memory segment and at one point Subject 16 sacrifices himself to allow Desmond to continue. Desmond rejoins Ezio's story many years after Brotherhood, where Ezio is curious to the Assassin's origins and has traveled to Masyaf to locate their original headquarters. He finds Altaïr's library, though it is locked by five keys which the Templars are also seeking, believing there to be great power within it. Ezio travels to the Ottoman-era Constantinople where the keys are said to have been hidden by explorer Niccolò Polo, and finds the city embroiled by the feuding brothers Selim and Ahmet vying for the Sultanate, the Templars secretly behind the battle. While searching for the keys, Ezio meets and falls in love with Sofia Sartor. Eventually, Ahmet is revealed as the agent for the Templars, and is killed by Selim, who thanks Ezio for his help but banishes him from the city for his own good.

Ezio uses the keys to witness (along with Desmond) Altaïr's memories following the death of Al Mualim. These show Altaïr having lost his wife and youngest son in the midst of a coup d'etat within the Assassins followed by a twenty-year self-imposed exile. Eventually, Altaïr returned to Masyaf, killed the usurper, and retook control. Near death, Altaïr inscribed the keys with his memories and gave them to his friend Niccoló to hide at a distant location, before disappearing into his library forever. In Ezio's present, he and Sofia go to Masyaf and open the library to find Altaïr's corpse and the Piece of Eden he possessed. Ezio leaves the Piece as well as his assassin tools, and speaks directly to Desmond, knowing he was only a conduit for him, and hopes he finds the answer he needs. Desmond is then approached by another holographic figure, Jupiter, who explains that their society had tried to use technology to stop the destruction of the earth's surface by a massive solar flare but failed, but they had stored their repository of knowledge in several vaults linked to a central vault which Desmond must use to stop another similar flare that will occur soon; Desmond recognizes the location in New England. Desmond wakes up from his coma, finding Rebecca, Shaun, and to his surprise, his father William, there. After learning that Lucy died from his stabbing, he informs of the location in New York, the Temple that will save humanity.

Revelations includes many new systems, including additional weapons. Bomb-crafting is now available, allowing the player to create explosive, distraction and tactical bombs, using materials found throughout the world and on Assassin's Guild missions. As the player progresses through, Ezio can train new recruits to defend "dens" (Assassin HQs) and an upgraded Assassin's missions section called "Mediterranean Defense" in which the player works to strip control of various cities from Templar hands. The hookblade is also introduced, which can be used in free-running (to travel along zip wires and climb more easily) and in combat (to manipulate enemies). Eagle Vision has been upgraded to Eagle Sense, which allows Ezio to not only see where his enemies and targets are but where they have been and where they are going to be. The multiplayer mode returns in Revelations, this time with more characters, modes, and maps, and through advanced, the player learns more about Abstergo's history.

Assassin's Creed III

Main article: Assassin's Creed III

Desmond and his allies arrive at the Temple entrance in a cave in the New York area on October 31, 2012, and open its door using the Apple Of Eden, discovering a larger chamber of Precursor technology behind it, including another door requiring a key. Desmond suddenly falls into a fugue state, and is put into the Animus. There, he experiences the memories of a half Mohawk, half British man named Ratonhnhaké:ton (/ˈrəduːnˈhəɡeɪduːn/; "Ra-doon-ha-kay-doon"), later dubbed Connor (Achilles calls him this in memory of his dead son), who lived through the American Revolution, as well as Connor's father, Haytham Kenway, who is later revealed as a British agent of the Templars. Kenway had gone to the Colonies in America with a stolen medallion, recruited Templar allies including Charles Lee, and worked to gain the trust of the Mohawk people to get them to show him the location of the Temple, but to his annoyance, the medallion did not open the Temple for him. Connor, as a young boy, witnesses Lee and his troops set fire to his village, killing his mother; years later, he is shown a Piece of Eden, through which Juno speaks to him and instructs him to get training from Master Assassin Achilles Davenport. Achilles takes Connor and teaches him about Assassins and introduces him to Patriots in the Revolution, through which Connor stops several Templar plans to disrupt their efforts including an assassination attempt against George Washington. During these memories, Desmond does recover from the fugue state, and helps his allies to recover power sources to power the Temple scattered about the globe, including one held by Abstergo.

Connor eventually encounters his father, but Kenway offers a cease fire, as he is also after Benjamin Church for usurping his authority. During their investigation, Kenway warns Connor that the Patriots, worried of the allegiance of the various tribes to the British, are seeking to remove Connor's people from their lands. Connor eventually hunts Lee down and kills him, taking the medallion and ending the Templar threat. He is despondent to find his tribe's village abandoned save for the Piece of Eden; through it, Juno tells him to bury the amulet. As December 21 approaches and signs of the solar flare begin to ensue, Desmond and his allies find the buried medallion, and use it at the inner Temple door, behind which is a control sphere. Juno appears and encourages Desmond to touch it, but Minerva appears and warns him to stop it, warning that this will release Juno as an entity that may protect against the solar flare but will be a threat to mankind in the future. Juno counters, explaining that Minerva would rather have most of humanity wiped out, with Desmond safe in the Temple to emerge as a religious figure to lead the survivors but ultimately leading into conflict. Desmond opts to release Juno, believing humanity will have a better chance fighting Juno. As his body is wracked by energy from the control sphere, an aurora surrounds the Earth and protects it from the solar flare. Juno tells the now fallen Desmond that his work is now done, and now it is time for her to do her work.

Assassin's Creed III is structured similarly to the previous games, with missions taking place on an open-world map based on Colonial Boston and New York, and offers a large wilderness area, the Frontier and in the Davenport Homestead, where the player can hunt animals for materials, which then subsequently can be used to construct goods to be traded and sold throughout the colonies. Naval battles were introduced, wherein the player must steer a warship named Aquila in dangerous waters and perform ship-to-ship combat with cannons and mounted guns. In Assassin's Creed III there are a large assortment of mini missions to play and many different outfits to purchase as the player progresses through the game. The modern-day aspects of the story were also significantly expanded, and featured missions taking place in, among other locations, Manhattan, Rome and Brazil.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Main article: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

In early February 2013, during its quarterly financial call to investors, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that the next Assassin's Creed game, due for release some time before April 2014, would feature a new hero, time period, and development team. On February 28, 2013, Ubisoft posted their first promotional picture for their next Assassin's Creed game, following leaked marketing material days before. It announced the title of the game as Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and features Edward Kenway, a British pirate and member of the Assassin Order; father of Haytham Kenway, and grandfather of Ratonhnhaké:ton (Connor), the two playable characters from Assassin's Creed III.

Other games

Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles

Main article: Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles

Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad is sent on a mission from the Order of Assassins to retrieve a Chalice from the grasps of both the Crusaders and the Saracens. Altaïr quests to find three different magic keys then travels to Jerusalem to face the head of the Knights Templar, Basilisk. Upon arriving, he learns that the Chalice is not an object, but a woman named Adha who reveals that Altaïr has been deceived by an assassin named Harash, who is now a double-agent for the Templars. After killing both Harash and Basilisk, Altaïr attempts to save a kidnapped Adha from captivity but is too late. The game ends with a captured Adha sailing away and Altaïr left in the holy land.

Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines

Main article: Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines

Altaïr has traveled to Cyprus from the Holy Land in order to assassinate the last remnants of the Templars. Here Altaïr again meets Maria and they travel together to kill the remaining Templars and learn more about the "Apple of Eden" and the mysterious Templar Archive where more of the artifacts are believed to be hidden. Altaïr manages to kill the new Templar Grand Master, Armand Bouchart, and his followers, but the Archive's contents are discovered to have already been taken from Cyprus.

Assassin's Creed II: Discovery

Main article: Assassin's Creed II: Discovery

After losing the Apple of Eden to Girolamo Savonarola, Ezio is told to meet Antonio, his fellow Assassin. When doing so, Ezio finds Antonio with another man named Luis Santangel, who asks Ezio to rescue his friend Christoffa Corombo from a presumed Templar trap set up by Rodrigo Borgia. Ezio rescues Christoffa from this trap, and is informed that Assassins in Spain are captured and executed by Tomas Torquemada. Ezio, who feels that it is his duty to rescue the Assassins, sets out for Spain to fight back against the Spanish Inquisition. Along the way, Ezio finds out that Torquemada was ordered to commit these actions by Rodrigo Borgia, who leads Torquemada to believe that God desired it so. Ezio also finds out that his close allies, Luis Santangel and Raphael Sanchez, are in fact Assassins themselves. When finally confronting Torquemada, Ezio chooses not to kill him thinking that Torquemada is merely misled by Borgia and not a Templar himself. Ezio then returns to Italy to continue his search for the Apple of Eden.

Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy

Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy a single-player browser role-playing game Facebook application, designed as a promotion, and tie-in for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The game is mostly text-based, but includes graphics and sound as well as some video.

Players are test subjects for Abstergo Industries who relive the lives of other test subjects' ancestors through the DDS (Data Dump Scanner) as opposed to the Animus. These ancestors are Assassins.

The first mission pack is titled "Italian Wars," and is divided into four chapters. Chapter one focuses on Bartolomeo d'Alviano during the Battle of Agnadello. The second chapter focuses on Francesco Vecellio on a mission to kill Niccolò di Pitigliano (cousin of Bartolomeo d'Alviano). The third focuses on Mario Auditore and the protection of Monteriggioni. The fourth and final chapter focuses on Perotto Calderon, an undercover assassin who watches over Lucrezia Borgia, with whom he falls in love.

The second mission pack, entitled "Rome," was released November 16, 2010. The first chapter takes place between 1497 and 1503, and deals with the ex-courtesan, Fiora Cavazza. It deals with Fiora's involvement in recruiting an army for the Borgia, and her subsequent betrayal. The second takes place in 1503, and involves Giovanni Borgia, fleeing his family and eventually joining the assassins. Chapter three involves Francesco Vecellio, and his training to be an assassin under Ezio Auditore. Chapter four again focuses on Giovanni Borgia, now an Assassin and joining Hernán Cortés on his journey to Tenochtitlan to acquire a "Piece of Eden," one of the Crystal Skulls. Giovanni brought it to Bombastus for study, resulting in the discovery of the formula for the Philosopher's stone.

The third mission pack, entitled "Holidays," and its first Chapter called Ghosts of Christmas Past were released on December 21, 2010 with further missions to be released in 2011. The first chapter takes place at various times and places in history: during the World War I Christmas Truce, the Beagle 2 truth, the return of Charles II back to England, and the time of the Shroud of Turin.

A fourth story pack, "The Divine Science Story Pack" was announced, but as of 2012 has yet to be released, over a year after its expected release. Also, an updated user interface, referred to as the "DDS 2.0", is listed as coming soon, with enhancements and an easier way of choosing mission packs and crafting equipment, however this is also yet to be released.

Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy

Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy was a planned title for the series. It would see Ezio travel to Masyaf. However, the concept evolved into what would become Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and the 3DS title was announced as cancelled on July 15, 2011.

Assassin's Creed: Recollection

Assassin's Creed: Recollection is a real-time board game developed for iOS. The game delivers a new experience to the Assassin's Creed world in which fans and new players alike go head-to-head in real-time political battles with characters and locations from the franchise. Players can also unlock a collection of artwork, spanning the series. The game features over 280 Memories, reconnecting with characters from Assassin's Creed 2 and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The single-player Story Mode has 10+ hours of gameplay, with 20 missions taking place from Barcelona to Constantinople and 10 challenge missions. In Versus Mode, players can challenge their friends and people from around the world, pitting their strategies and abilities against one another. The game supports Game Center, allowing players to track achievements, challenge friends, and play against the world over. Go behinds the scenes with the Art Gallery, a collection of artwork spanning the entire franchise (Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Assassin's Creed III) showcasing the high level of quality in character design as well as the attention to detail in the locations. Through the Store, players have the option to Buy Packs for the in-game currency, Animus Credits (Animus Credits may also be purchased through an In-App Purchase), or to Buy/Sell Memories from/to other players in the Market. The short film Assassin's Creed: Embers is also featured within the game.

Assassin's Creed: Multiplayer Rearmed

Assassin's Creed: Multiplayer Rearmed is a multiplayer video game designed for iOS. It is the only Assassin's Creed Multiplayer driven by an in-game economy. The aim is to assassinate the assigned target and avoid being killed by your own hunter. The player can purchase additional items, characters and abilities as well as compete with friends and foes from around the globe in a 4 player realtime online multiplayer mode. Players can connect via Game Center using either WI-FI or 3G. It is also possible to play against someone in the immediate area via Bluetooth. Available map locations include Jerusalem, San Donato, Venice and Alhambra.

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

Main article: Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

An original Assassin's Creed title for the PlayStation Vita was announced to be in development during Gamescom 2011. It was announced to have a new story with new characters. During June 2, leaked information revealed that the main protagonist of the game is a woman. As the events leading up to the American Revolution heat up in the north, Spanish forces plan to take control of Louisiana in the south—but they have yet to reckon with Aveline, a deadly Assassin who will use every weapon and ability in her arsenal to win freedom for her land and her people. It is set in 1765. On June 4, 2012 it was officially announced at E3, the main protagonist is a Creole female, named Aveline. Aveline is the daughter of a French merchant father and an African mother. Through the game she will be recruited into the Assassins by a former slave and will fight slavery as well as the Templars during the game. Aveline will use a variety of new weapons in combat including a machete and a blowpipe for ranged attacks.

Assassin's Creed: Utopia

Assassin's Creed: Utopia is an upcoming mobile game planned to be available on Android and Apple iOS devices, which is set to be released sometime in 2013. The game's story will lead into Assassin's Creed III, though there will be no links in terms of gameplay.

Utopia will take place in the 17th century, at the very beginning of the colonization of America. It spans over 150 years, to help players "discover how the Assassins influenced history and helped shape the nation's original thirteen colonies." The gameplay involves "building your own Assassin's Creed Utopian colonial city," and will have more of a "social slant" than any of the earlier games. The Assassins of each colony will take on their enemies in "limited time epic battles," and players will be able to pit their strength against friends in asynchronous 3D brawls.

Future

Corey May, one of the writers for the series, stated in 2009 that Assassin's Creed will never take place during World War II. Asked about future of the series, Sébastien Puel from Ubisoft said that "[...] we could do 35 of these [Assassin's Creed games]", while Laurent Detoc from Ubisoft said "we hope to reach Assassin's Creed 10".

In November 2011, Empire State Gamer spotted a supposed Ubisoft survey that could have outed eight settings for future Assassin's Creed games. These settings were: Medieval China, Victorian England, Ancient Egypt, the Portuguese and/or Spanish invasion of the Americas, the American Revolution, the Russian Revolution, Feudal Japan, and Ancient Rome. The online survey asked participants which locations and time periods they would like to see in the "next Assassin's Creed games". Alex Hutchinson, creative director of Assassin's Creed III, suggested the most requested Assassin's Creed settings, World War II, Feudal Japan and Ancient Egypt, are "the three worst settings for an Assassin's Creed game". However, Hutchinson stated both he and Corey May were open to the idea of a future franchise entry set during the time of the British Raj, which now consists of the modern states of India and Pakistan.

In March 2013, Jade Raymond, a key creative force behind the first Assassin's Creed game, announced that Ubisoft Toronto will help Ubisoft Montreal on the follow-up to Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

In June 2013, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated that there are currently three Assassin's Creed games in development, with one, presumably, being Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Guillemot said, "We are making sure the teams who are creating the different iterations have enough time—two years, three years, so that they can take risk and they can change the concept enough so that it can be appealing and fresh." Later, in August, Assassin's Creen IV: Black Flag's director, Ashraf Ismail, said that the ending of the franchise had been written. Ismail said "We have an idea of where the end is, what the end is. But of course Yves [Guillemot, Ubisoft's overall boss] announced we are a yearly title, we ship one game a year. So depending on the setting, depending on what fans want, we've given ourselves room to fit more in this arc. But there is an end."

Other media

Ubisoft expanded Assassin's Creed franchise to other media, including films, comic books and novels.

Comics

Assassin's Creed: Graphic Novel

In the limited edition of Assassin's Creed, an 8-page graphic novel was included, that showed two side-stories of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Desmond Miles. The novel was also distributed to EB Games store managers in 2007 to promote the game. The story serves as a prelude to the first Assassin's Creed game and is narrated simultaneously by both characters. In it, the novel covers Desmond's escape from Abstergo in the year 2012 and also one of Altaïr's assassination missions in the year 1191. The start of the novel involves the introduction of the two characters with Altaïr calling himself a hunter, while Desmond is a prisoner. Although initially they describe themselves otherwise, by the end of the novel they both re-introduce themselves as assassins.

Assassin's Creed, Volume 1: Desmond

Assassin's Creed Volume 1: Desmond is a French-language graphic novel written by Eric Corbeyran and drawn by Djilalli Defaux. It has been released only in France, Canada, Belgium, Poland and Italy. The comic book was published on November 13, 2009, a few days before Assassin's Creed II was released. The story is a retelling of events from Assassin's Creed and the beginning of Assassin's Creed II, mostly from Desmond's modern perspective; for example it is revealed that Lucy helped the Templars to kidnap Desmond. It also features Subject 16 (referred to as Michael) and a Roman assassin named Aquilus. However, events in the comic book are different from what happens in the game. It is said that Subject 16 is alive but trapped in the animus, a virtual reality simulator used to relive memories of ancient relatives, but there's no mention of Shaun or Rebecca.

Assassin's Creed, Volume 2: Aquilus

Assassin's Creed Volume 2: Aquilus is a French-language graphic novel written by Eric Corbeyran and drawn by Djilalli Defaux. The story opens with a young Desmond recalling his conversation with his father. He wakes up and has a conversation with Lucy. After meeting Rebecca, Shaun and other assassins, they get into a truck and drive to Monteriggioni.

In the meantime, Desmond relives memories of Aquilus through the animus after his apparent death in the first volume. The Roman assassin is rescued by his cousin, Accipiter, and is tasked with a quest to save Lugdunum. He meets with his father and discovers an artifact of the first civilization: an ankh which can temporarily revive the dead. The mysterious object is then stolen by a Templar senator, Vultur, who kills Aquilus' father.

The modern day story continues as Assassins fight Abstergo agents when they're ambushed on the road. Later, it is revealed that there's a traitor among in the Assassins' truck, and Desmond deals with the situation. The group finally arrives in Monteriggioni and at the end, it's hinted that the ankh artifact might be hidden within the town's walls.

Assassin's Creed, Volume 3: Accipiter

Jonathan Hawk was sent by a suited executive and a lab technician to relive Accipiter's memories. He was sent to 259 CE, when Accipiter's Alamans were crossng the Rodanus into Genava and Aube to face the Roman forces at Oppidum. The battle raged bloodily and long, but Accipiter's forces were eventually victorious. Accipiter was met by the Iberian Assassin Cuervo after the battle, the latter coming to congratulate the Alamans on their victory and to discuss the future.

Assassin's Creed: The Fall

Main article: Assassin's Creed: The Fall

In July 2010, Ubisoft announced a three-part comic book mini-series set in the world of Assassin's Creed as a part of their UbiWorkshop initiative. Ubisoft has hired illustrators Cameron Stewart and Karl Kerschl, both winners of multiple comic book awards. The first issue of the series was released on November 10, 2010, the second part on December 1, 2010. It was published by WildStorm. The comic takes place between 1888 and 1908 in Russia and 1998 set in the United States. It follows Nikolai Orelov and his descendant Daniel Cross, a recovering alcoholic experiencing the bleeding effect in a therapist's office.

Assassin's Creed: The Chain

Main article: Assassin's Creed: The Chain

The Chain is a sequel comic to The Fall that completes Nikolai Orelov's story as well as focusing on his descendant, Daniel Cross. The comic will also provide some light on the events of Assassin's Creed III. It was released in mid-2012.

Assassin's Creed: Brahman

Brahman is set in 19th century India, and will introduce the new assassin, Arbaaz Mir. It is being written by Brendan Fletcher with art by Cameron Stewart and Karl Kerschl. It will be released in late-2013 in North America.

Films

Assassin's Creed: Lineage

Main article: Assassin's Creed: Lineage

Assassin's Creed: Lineage is a 36-minute film serving as a prequel to Assassin's Creed II. The film, released in three parts on YouTube, promoted the game and is the first attempt for Ubisoft to make its first step in the film industry. It is about the story of Giovanni Auditore, Ezio's father, who investigates the mysterious assassination of Duke of Milan Galeazzo Maria Sforza and first learns about Rodrigo Borgia's conspiracy.

Assassin's Creed: Ascendance

Ascendance is an animated short by UbiWorkshop and Ubisoft Montreal, which bridges the gap between Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. It tells the backstory of Cesare Borgia's rise to power. The animated short was released on November 16, 2010. The short story takes place in the middle of the events of Brotherhood as Ezio Auditore sits and gathers information about Cesare Borgia, from a hooded man who is later revealed to be Leonardo da Vinci. It is available for purchase on Xbox Live, PlayStation Store and iTunes Store.

Assassin's Creed: Embers

Embers is an animated short film created by UbiWorkshop. The film is included as a bonus in Signature and collector's editions of Assassin's Creed: Revelations. UbiWorkShop released a teaser trailer on July 21, 2011, which was featured at Comic-Con 2011. The Embers trailer shows an older Ezio with his family. He fears someone is trying to get him. The developers described Embers at the 2011 Comic Con, at the Assassins Creed panel as a final epilogue to Ezio's story, and although can be watched anytime, should be watched after the completion of Assassin's Creed: Revelations story, to fully understand and complete the tale of Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

The short film follows an elderly Ezio, living a peaceful life in the Tuscan countryside with his wife Sofia and his children Flavia and Marcello and writing his memoirs. One day a stranger appears, a Chinese female Assassin called Shao Jun, who came to Ezio in order to seek knowledge of his life as an Assassin. Although Ezio prefers that Jun not stay, due to his desire to leave his days as an Assassin behind, Sofia allows her to stay for the night. The next day, Ezio catches Jun reading his memoirs and bids her to leave, but relents after she asks him about what it means to be an Assassin. While on a trip to Firenze, Ezio then recounts his story of how his father and brothers were executed in the town square, forcing him to become an Assassin, and how such a life is defined by the pain it brings and causes. As they leave, the two are attacked by a stranger, who appears to be of Asian origin as well. After killing him, Jun reveals that she was a former concubine, now on the run from servants of the Chinese Emperor Zhengde, and explains how her former master rescued her from his influence. After returning to his home, Ezio tells Sofia and his children to leave, knowing that others would come. He then teaches Jun the key to liberating her people from the Emperor's influence. Later that night, Ezio's villa is attacked by more of Shao Jun's enemies, and after a fight, he successfully eliminates them all. The next morning, Ezio hands Shao Jun a small box and tells her it may come to use one day, but only if "you lose your way". He then sends her away as two riders appear at the villa. Sometime afterward Ezio journeys to Firenze with his wife Sofia and their daughter Flavia, despite suffering from heart problems. While resting on a bench and after having a short conversation with a young man with a scar on his face, similar to the sort of man he used to be, he exhales and dies in view of his family. The film then ends as a final letter from Ezio to Sofia is read, saying that of all the things that kept him going throughout life, love for the world around him was the strongest of them all.

Theatrical film adaptation

According to Variety, Sony Pictures is in negotiations with Ubisoft Motion Pictures to make a film version of Assassin's Creed. Ubisoft has confirmed that the film will be in 3D. Variety reports that Michael Fassbender will co-produce and star in the adaptation. Ubisoft will work with 20th Century Fox and New Regency to make the film. The movie is scheduled to start filming in 2013. and New Regency has hired first-time movie-script writer Michael Lesslie to pen the film. On May 17, 2013, it was announced that the film was to be released on May 22, 2015, which was later pushed back to June 19, 2015. On June 11, 2013, Frank Marshall is in negotiations to board as a producer On August 15, 2013, Scott Frank is hiren to do some rewrite the film's script.

Novels

Main article: Assassin's Creed (book series)

Assassin's Creed: Renaissance

Main article: Assassin's Creed: Renaissance

Assassin's Creed: Renaissance is a novel based on the Assassin's Creed series written by Oliver Bowden and published by Penguin Books. It is a novelised version of the game Assassin's Creed II; however, rather than spanning a vast period of time, it is set only in the 15th century with no mention of the game's present-day events.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a continuation of the Assassin's Creed series written by Oliver Bowden and published by Penguin Books. It is a novelized version of the game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood just like its previous book. Also, it does not contain any of the game's present-day events including Desmond, only a reference to a "phantom" by Ezio. Unlike the events of the game which start in 1499, this version of the story starts in 1503.

Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade

Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade is the third Assassin's Creed book by Oliver Bowden and published by Penguin Books. The story is told by Niccolo Polo, father of Marco Polo, and is about the life of Altaïr ibn la-Ahad. It was released on June 20, 2011.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Assassin's Creed: Revelations is the fourth novel in the continuation of the Assassin's Creed series written by Oliver Bowden and published by Penguin Books. The novel release date is November 24, 2011 for the United Kingdom and November 29, 2011 for the North America. Like the previous novels of Renaissance and Brotherhood, it is a novelised version of the game Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Additionally like the prior novels, it does not contain any of the game's present-day events including Desmond. Like the game, Ezio Auditore must leave his life behind in search of answers, in search of the truth. In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, master assassin Ezio Auditore walks in the footsteps of the legendary mentor Altair, on a journey of discovery and revelation. It is a perilous path – one that will take Ezio to Constantinople, the heart of the Ottoman Empire, where a growing army of Templars threatens to destabilise the region.

Assassin's Creed: Forsaken

Assassin's Creed: Forsaken is a continuation of the Assassin's Creed series written by Oliver Bowden. It covers the life of Haytham Kenway during his years before and during the events of Assassin's Creed III.

Books

Assassin's Creed: Encyclopedia

UbiWorkshop released an encyclopedia of the Assassin's Creed series in 2011. Initially intended as an art book, the project gathered so much material that the company decided to expand it into an encyclopedia. It will still feature works of artists, such as Craig Mullins, Tavis Coburn, 123Klan, Gabz and James NG. Artists were given creative freedom, as they were able to create a unique Assassin from the period of their choosing. The art book contains a "carte blanche" section, which is going to contain fan-submitted artwork. The original cost of this is $39.95.

In November 2012, to coincide with the release of Assassin's Creed III, UbiWorkshop released a second edition of the encyclopedia. This Edition contained an additional 120 new pages of content, covering both Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed: The Chain, as well as revised content based on feedback.

Appearances in outside media

In the 2009 Wii game Academy of Champions: Soccer, Altaïr appears as a playable character along with other Ubisoft characters. In the 2012 game Soulcalibur V, Ezio appears a playable fighter. Sackboy, the player character from LittleBigPlanet and its sequel, can be costumed as Ezio. In Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands there is an unlockable outfit through Uplay. In Prince of Persia (2008), Altaïr's Costume can be unlocked with a code obtained by pre-ordering the game. Final Fantasy XIII-2 has a costume of Ezio from Assassin's Creed: Revelations as an optional costume option as DLC. In PC/Mac versions of Team Fortress 2, two promotional items were introduced in 2011 months before Assassin's Creed: Revelations' release. These were both for the class Spy, the first item being the iconic hidden blade, the second a hood based on the one Ezio wore in Revelations. In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the outfit of Altaïr is available as an unlockable, though, originally, it was only an April Fools joke by Hideo Kojima. In the 2011 Indian film Velayudham, the costume worn by the protagonist is visibly based on Altaïr's in Assassin's Creed.

Reception

Aggregate review scores
As of October 30, 2012.

Game	GameRankings	Metacritic
Assassin's Creed	(X360) 82.92% (PC) 79.87% (PS3) 79.30%	(X360) 81 (PS3) 81 (PC) 79
Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles	(NDS) 58.00%	(NDS) 58
Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines	(PSP) 63.63%	(PSP) 63
Assassin's Creed II	(PS3) 90.71% (X360) 90.01% (PC) 83.50%	(PS3) 91 (X360) 90 (PC) 86
Assassin's Creed II: Discovery	(NDS) 71.46%	(NDS) 69
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood	(X360) 90.55% (PS3) 89.92% (PC) 87.64%	(PS3) 90 (X360) 89 (PC) 88
Assassin's Creed: Revelations	(PS3) 80.05% (X360) 79.37% (PC) 74.67%	(PS3) 80 (X360) 80 (PC) 80
Assassin's Creed III	(PS3) 85.56% (X360) 84.81% (WIIU) 83.00% (PC) 80.75%	(PS3) 85 (WIIU) 85 (X360) 84 (PC) 80
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation	(Vita) 71.88%	(Vita) 70

The Assassin's Creed games have received overwhelming popularity with the general public, with the main games receiving much acclaim from critics, many of whom have called it "...the standout series on this generation of consoles". The series has also been financially successful selling over 55 million copies as of March, 2013.

External links

• Official website
• The Assassin's Creed Wiki