This past week, we posted up our review of the recently released Assassin's Creed Odyssey! While we really enjoyed the game, there were some issues, but chief among them was the fact that while it may have been a great game, it was not even close to being a true-to-form Assassin's Creed experience. So I thought it would be interesting to go back and take a look at the progression of these games to lead to the departure of form that we see not only in the recently released Odyssey, but in the previous installment as well: Origins.
The first Assassin's Creed game was released way back in 2007, the game followed a guy named Desmond Miles who was reliving the memories of one of his ancestors in a redemption story of the assassin Altair Ibn La'Ahad. The game took place in the Holy Land during the Second Crusade. In this game, they established the staples of this franchise: lots of free running across rooftops, scaling large buildings, stealth assassinations with the hidden blade, and a counter-attack based combat system. Over the next several years we got to see the franchise grow and expand as they took on different time periods and introduced new Assasins. In Renaissance Italy, we met Ezio Auditore di Firenze who would be a protagonist for three games. In the games, Ezio traveled all over Italy and finally ended up in Turkey during the height of the Ottoman empire to find out the secrets of his predecessor, Altair. During the time of the American War of Independence, we got to meet Connor Kenway, a half Welsh, half Native Assassin hunting for revenge, and ultimately the decline of these games began here.
Assassin's Creed III is to date probably this franchise's most publicized entry. Promotions were everywhere as the franchise was brought to the literal defining moment of American History, and with as much time was spent in making Connor as authentic as possible, the hype behind this game was immense. However, Assassin's Creed III was met with a mixed response. While the game certainly was praised for its gameplay mechanics, it was heavily criticized for its narrative and portrayal of the protagonist. This would lead to a bit of course correction for the next game of the franchize.
One of the most popular aspects of Assassin's Creed III was a newly introduced Naval Combat system. Connor would occasionally captain a personal vessel of his own. With this in mind, the next Assassin's Creed game was one that would go all in on this mechanic as the driving force of the game. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is to date probably the best-received game in franchise history. Investing in the naval combat paid off, and the choice setting of the Carribean during the height of the Golden Age of Piracy was a fantastic choice. The story of the game was fantastic as well, sporting probably the most popular of the protagonists of any of the games, Edward Kenway. Sailing around the Carribean and being a Pirate was a dream come true for most, however, there was a big issue. It was not really an Assassin's Creed game, and in all honesty, the main character is only an Assassin for like 10 seconds at the end of the game. This was the first sign of the true start of the decline of the franchise.
With the hype of Assassin's Creed being back up due to the wild popularity of the Black Flag, Ubisoft decided to push Assassin's Creed the way most companies try to push their triple-A titles, push quantity over quality and so they tried to push out 2 games at the same time, one for the next generation consoles (PS3 and XBox 360) and one for the, at the time, recently released generation now consoles (PS4 and XBox One). The next-gen consoles would receive Assassin's Creed: Rogue which was the story of an Assassin gone Templar, and the gameplay was essentially just a port of Black Flag in the far less colorful setting of British Columbia during the Seven Years War, and for the generation now we got Assassin's Creed Unity which was to be set during the French Revolution (a time period that I had been advocating for years prior to this game's release).
Assassin's Creed Unity promised to be a return to form for the franchise. The cinematic trailer was very reminiscent of the old trailers for the Ezio Games as we saw our new protagonist running along the rooftops of Paris, following the massive mob of Sans-Culottes as they storm the Bastille. The game even teased the ability to invite friends along to assist on missions and explore Paris together. With the credibility of the franchise back to top form, the anticipation for the game was very high.
Now ultimately, Unity just didn't live up to any of the expectations. The game was released before it had been properly tested for bugs, and so players all over had horrifying glitches during the game. Even more than that, however, the story was terrible. The game's protagonist, Arno Dorian, is a pale imitation of Ezio from previous Assassin games, and the plot felt like a cheap knock-off of an Alexandre Dumas book, most notably: The Count of Monte Cristo. In addition, the game's story had little to nothing to do with the events going on at the time, something that previous games in the franchise made sure to put focus on (in the Ezio games you had the rise and fall of the Borgias, Connor was instrumental to the efforts in the American War of Independence, Edward was a silent partner at Nassau and was an instrumental figure in the Golden Age of Piracy that brought the big names together). The game lacked appearances from substantial people of the time and some of the people that do make it in the game have such a limited part for the very grand role they provided to the Revolution. Worst of all however was the blatant slap in the face to the French by having all the characters voice by British people, an even larger slight considering that while exploring Paris all the people around are speaking in perfect Parisian Dialect French, only to be interrupted by a BBC program whenever one of them talks to you (talk about immersion destruction).
At the end of the day, all those negative things compounded snuffed out the positive points of the game, like a truly enjoyable co-op based around ACTUAL events of the Revolution, or the smoothest free running of the games, and the massive crowds that you can literally disappear into upon assassinating people. What's sad is that the things the game does right, it does exceedingly well and after playing Odyssey and experiencing its hollow RPG mechanic, it's an even bigger shame because this game could have actually been a true RPG with a meld between single player and multiplayer. It could have been a game where you can play the main story either by yourself or invite others and invest skill points in your character to make them unique in a squad of assassins. They could have also allowed you to choose the origin of your Assassin as both Women AND Persons of Color were instrumental in the French Revolution. Most importantly though, it FEELS like an Assassin's Creed game. The Urban setting of Paris is perfect for free running, and with buildings like the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Toulerie Palace, there are plenty of large buildings to scale for Viewpoints. The game promotes stealthiness, and while you can take on droves of enemies, the range and damage of rifles and pistols make doing this far more of a challenge than before. Sadly this all doesn't count for much as the thing that sells a game like this are the very things that game failed to provide: a captivating narrative, an enjoyable protagonist, and world immersion. So when Ubisoft saw the numbers for this game it was all but dead.
Assassin's Creed would release one more game prior to Origins, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which took place in Victorian London. Despite the intrigue behind the setting, people didn't pick up the game. While those who played the game did enjoy the game, lauding it for its story and two main characters, the failure of Unity had destroyed most people's faith in the franchise, so it was time to hit the reset button. They brought back the team who did Black Flag and gave them a new project, set in Ptolemaic Egypt. They continued in the same vein of Black Flag in making a game that was Assassin's Creed in name only, and while the pay off certainly did come through as Origins was well received and sold very well, the death notice of the Assassin's Creed template of the game was signed. While the franchise may be alive and well, Assassin's Creed will never truly be Assassin's Creed again.
This has been another edition of Comic Relief! we hope you enjoyed and we’ll see you again soon
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