Assassin's Creed

For the first game in this series, see Assassin's Creed (video game).

Assassin's Creed series
Assassin's Creed series logo
Genre(s)	Third person, action, stealth, Open world
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montreal Gameloft Griptonite Games
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Creator(s)	Patrice Desilets
First release	Assassin's Creed 14 November 2007
Latest release	Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy TBA

Assassin's Creed is an award-winning historical science-fiction video game series that currently consists of six games, with one to be added, a Facebook game, a short film (split into three episodes), two novels and comic books. The games appeared on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Mac OS X, iOS, HP webOS, Android and Windows Phone 7 platforms. The main games in the franchise were developed by Ubisoft Montreal, with the handheld titles developed by Gameloft and Gryptonite Studios, with additional development by Ubisoft Montreal. All games in the franchise are published by Ubisoft.

The main story arc of the series revolves around a bartender named Desmond Miles as he is captured by megacorporation Abstergo Industries. Using a machine known as the Animus, Desmond is forced to relive the memories of his ancestors, who were all assassins, in order to recover artifacts, called the "Pieces of Eden", for Abstergo. While the original assassin ancestor of Desmond is Altaïr Ibn la-Ahad, the most recent games feature another assassin from Renaissance Italy named Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Assassination targets are mostly actual historical figures, although the timelines for their lives and causes of death have been changed to suit the games' plot (in-game these inaccuracies are attributed to the Templars rewriting history to cover up their actions, as well as honest mistakes on the part of historians).

The gameplay varies slightly from game to game, consisting of a mixture of action and adventure with a heavy emphasis on stealth in open world recreations of historical cities. The series has sold over 20 million units.

Games

Released Year	Title	Platform
		360	PS3	Win	PSP	NDS	3DS	iOS	webOS	Android	Facebook	Mac OS
Assassin's Creed - Crusades era
2007	Assassin's Creed	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2008	Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
2008	Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
2009	Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Assassin's Creed II - Renaissance era
2009	Assassin's Creed II	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
2009	Assassin's Creed II: Discovery	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
2010	Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
2010	Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
2011	Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No

Overview

Template:Assassin's Creed chronology The overarching plot for all of the games takes place in the year 2012. It is implied that the 2012 of the game's timeline is rife with chaos and destruction. In-game emails report of a plague that has wiped out the population of Africa, a story about the Mexican President increasing border security in response to "American Refugees" crossing the border, an extreme number of hurricanes across the world, and the closing of the last major film studio in an unnamed country.

Amidst this strife, megacorporation Abstergo has devised a plan to seize control of the minds and free will of every person on Earth. To achieve this goal, they must locate artifacts called "Pieces of Eden". Abstergo captures Desmond Miles, a bartender who as a child was an assassin trainee, to search his ancestors' memories stored in his DNA in order to find the Pieces of Eden. Desmond is forced to enter the Animus, a machine that allows for the viewing of such memories.

Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles

Altaïr ibn La-Ahad, a medieval assassin, 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 Jerusalem.

Assassin's Creed

In Assassin's Creed, Altaïr's memories are solicited by Abstergo in their attempt to find the Piece of Eden. Altaïr, still in Jerusalem, ventures to Solomon's Temple to confront crusader Robert de Sable and retrieve the Piece of Eden for Al Mualim, head of the Assassins. Betraying many tenets of the Creed of the Assassins and failing his mission, Altaïr is demoted to a novice assassin upon return to the Assassin's Fortress. To redeem his previous status, Altaïr is sent by Al Mualim to assassinate nine targets in three different cities. With each kill, Altaïr learns there is a connection between his targets; they are all Templars united by Robert de Sable to take control of the Holy Land independently from the Saracens and Crusaders, although they all claim to pursue a noble goal.

After assassinating all nine targets and discovering that his ninth target was in fact a trap, Altaïr confronts Robert in front of King Richard I of England, leader of the Crusader army. Altaïr informs Richard that Robert is plotting to betray and kill him, which causes him to encourage a duel to the death between Altaïr and Robert. Richard then believes Altaïr. Upon dying, Robert confesses to Altaïr that they were not nine, but ten Templars conspiring to take the Piece of Eden. The tenth being Al Mualim, who wanted to keep the Piece of Eden for himself and therefore sent out Altaïr to kill the others. Back at the Fortress, where Al Mualim had taken over the minds of the people inside, Altaïr manages to defeat and kill him in a duel. The memory Abstergo was searching for, which located the Piece of Eden, reveals it is only just one of 28 that are scattered across the world.

Back in 2012, Abstergo sends a team to recover as many Pieces as possible. Deciding they do not need him any more, they give orders to kill Desmond. Lucy Stillman, an Abstergo employee who revealed to Desmond that she is an undercover Assassin, convinces them not to kill Desmond until they recover the Pieces, buying him time. Desmond is left alone in the Animus room, and by the use of Altaïr's Eagle Vision inherited from the 'bleeding effect' caused by the Animus, he sees many symbols drawn in blood on the wall in his room and on the floors of the lab.

Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines

Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines takes place before the events of Assassin's Creed II, but a few months after the events of the original Assassin's Creed. 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 is discovered to have already been taken from Cyprus.

Assassin's Creed II

At the beginning of Assassin's Creed II, Lucy returns and breaks Desmond out of Abstergo. He is brought to a hideout and introduced to her Assassin allies Shaun and Rebecca, as well as an updated version of the Animus. Knowing what is at stake, Desmond volunteers to enter the Animus again, and explore the memories of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young nobleman from 1476 in Florence, Republic of Florence. He hopes to gain Ezio's abilities through the Bleeding Effect so he can aid the Assassins.

As a young man, Ezio's father and brothers are executed by the hand of Uberto Alberti, a corrupt official in league with the Templars. Ezio kills Uberto in revenge, and after fleeing with his surviving family to their villa in the Tuscan countryside, he learns of his Assassin heritage and begins training under his uncle Mario. Ezio also befriends local inventor Leonardo da Vinci, who helps Ezio with his work by decoding an encrypted codex that contains Altaïr's memoirs, as well as plans for advanced assassin weaponry. As Ezio looks at them with eagle vision, the thirty codex pages come together to form a hidden map of the vaults across the world. Over the course of a decade Ezio assassinates the conspirators involved in his father's death, leaving Rodrigo Borgia, a nobleman and Templar who has retrieved the Apple of Eden and is the center of the conspiracy. Ezio and other Assassins reclaim the Apple of Eden, but Borgia flees. Ezio is formally inducted as an Assassin, and is told that he may be a prophet as described in the codex.

During the course of the game Desmond experiences a number of unusual occurrences. First he discovers strange glyphs apparently left by a previous test subject (Who died because the Abstergo staff left him in the Animus for too long), similar to the symbols seen at Abstergo, which hide a secret history of the world. He later dreams of appearing as Altaïr again, chasing after Maria, a Templar he had earlier spared, and then romanced her. Finally, several memories are skipped, throwing the timeline forward by more than a decade to the Vatican, where Borgia now resides as Pope Alexander VI. The "skipped" memories are available as downloadable content, and deal with the Battle of Forlì and the Bonfire of the Vanities.

Borgia has in possession the Papal Staff, another Piece of Eden. He attempts to use it to enter a vault that the prophet as described in the codex must enter. Ezio intercepts Borgia, spares his life, and enters the vault himself. He encounters the hologram of a woman, who claims to be once known as Minerva, and who also claims to come from a civilization which members were also seen in the same light by ancient peoples. Minerva reveals of a great disaster that had befallen and destroyed her civilization, and warns that it will occur again soon. Talking directly to Desmond, she tells him "The rest is up to you".

Desmond is pulled out of the Animus as Abstergo has located their hideout. He, Lucy and the rest of the team manage to flee to safety, and soon prepare to return Desmond to the Animus to search for clues that may help them.

Assassin's Creed II: Discovery

Assassin's Creed II: Discovery takes place during the events of Assassin's Creed II, specifically between the Battle of Forlì and the Bonfire of the Vanities: the downloadable content packs for Assassin's Creed II. Ezio, after losing the Apple of Eden to Girolamo Savonarola, was told to meet Antonio, his fellow Assassin. When doing so, Ezio found Antonio with another man named Luis Santangel, who asked Ezio to rescue his friend Christoffa Corombo from a presumed Templar trap set up by Rodrigo Borgia. Ezio rescued Christoffa from this trap, and he was informed that Assassins in Spain were captured and executed by Tomas Torquemada. Ezio, who felt that it was his duty to rescue the Assassins, set for Spain to fight back against the Spanish Inquisition. Along the way, Ezio found out that Torquemada was ordered to these actions by Rodrigo Borgia, who led Torquemada to believe that this was the way God wants it to happen. Ezio also found out that his close allies, Luis Santangel and Raphael Sanchez, were in fact Assassins themselves. When finally confronting Torquemada, Ezio chose not to kill him as he was just ignorant and misled by Borgia while not a Templar himself. Ezio returned to Italy to continue his search for the Apple of Eden.

Assassin's Creed II: Multiplayer

Assassin's Creed II: Multiplayer is a multiplayer game and based on Assassin's Creed II, released for the iPhone, the iPod Touch and the iPad. The game pits up to four players in an all-out deathmatch. The game is played from the top-down perspective and features maps based on Assassin's Creed II. In Assassin's Creed II: Multiplayer, players are matched with other assassins online, and are given assassination targets (live players). Following this, the player wanders around town until the targets are found. The game is loaded with several different power-ups, online leaderboards, a friends system, and other features.

Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy

Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy is 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 subject's 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 1 focuses on Bartolomeo d'Alviano during the Battle of Agnadello. Chapter 2 focuses on Francesco Vecellio on a mission to kill Niccolò di Pitigliano (cousin of Bartolomeo d'Alviano). Chapter 3 focuses on Mario Auditore and the protection of Monteriggioni. Chapter 4 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. Chapter 2 takes place in 1503, and involves Giovanni Borgia, fleeing his family and eventually joining the assassins. Chapter 3 involves Francesco Vecellio, and his training to be an assassin under Ezio Auditore. Chapter 4 again focuses on Giovanni Borgia, now an Assassin and joining Hernán Cortes 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 places at various places in history, it takes place in the World War I Christmas Truce, with the Beagle 2 truth, the return of Charles II back to England and Shroud of Turin

• Link to the game

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is the title for the previously code-named "Episodes." The game was announced by Ubisoft and was released on November 16 (USA) and November 19 (UK), 2010. The game is a continuation of Ezio Auditore's story, the Assassin's Creed II protagonist, as he returns to the city of Monteriggioni. After preparing for his sister's surprise birthday party for him, the city is sieged by Cesare Borgia, leaving Ezio to fight off Cesare's troops in the ensuing battle. During the raid, Ezio's uncle Mario gets killed by Cesare, leaving Ezio to escape the city without him. Ezio, wanting to exact justice, travels to Rome in order to liberate its people from the influence of the Borgia family. In order to do so, Ezio recruits new assassins, as well as form alliances between the various factions of the Roman underground. There are several times that Ezio goes to the Castel Sant'Angelo to assassinate Cesare and Rodrigo Borgia but they escape. When Ezio comes back to the Castel, he sees Cesare kill Rodrigo by forcing him to eat a poisoned apple, an apple which Rodrigo himself had poisoned in an attempt to kill Cesare. Ezio chases Cesare to the Apple of Eden and manages to claim it, and uses the Apple to kill many of Cesare's men. Cesare is arrested but he says that no man can kill him and chains won't hold him for long. Cesare then escapes to Spain and Ezio goes to Viana. After killing Cesare's men he fights Cesare and defeats him, throwing him off the ledge to his death.

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: Lost Legacy

Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy shows how Ezio travels East to find the lost castle of Masyaf to find out more about the origins of his order.

Future development

Assassin's Creed is a flagship product for Ubisoft. Some Ubisoft Montreal's developers stated in their interviews that Assassin's Creed III will be released eventually. The game will introduce a new character in an entirely new setting. There has been much speculation about possible settings of this game. Corey May stated that Assassin's Creed III will not take place during World War II. No other official information has been yet announced. Jean-Francois Boivin of Ubisoft stated that each numbered title in the franchise will introduce a new lead character and a new setting. Patrice Désilets, former series' creative director, said that the series has always been planned as a trilogy. He also commented on the story of Assassin's Creed III, saying that it will focus on Assassins' quest to prevent the end of the world in 2012 and their race against time to find temples built by "those who came before". Desmond would have to search for clues on locations of these temples by exploring memories of his other ancestors. Asked about future of the series, Sébastien Puel from Ubisoft said that "[...] we could do 35 of these [Assassin's Creed games]".

In November 2010, Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot teased "something Assassin's related" in 2011, despite earlier statement by Ubisoft Montreal's Jean-Francois Boivin that no Assassin's Creed game will be released in 2011. Geoffroy Sardin of Ubisoft has later confirmed that it will be a "big" Assassin's Creed game. Ubisoft is set to release new Assassin's Creed in its fiscal year 2012 (April 1, 2011-March 31, 2012). Guillemot also explained that ultimate goal for Ubisoft is to release new games in the franchise annually along with other Ubisoft's most popular franchises. In February 2011, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that the next Assassin's Creed game will be released during its next fiscal year, which starts on April 1, 2011, and ends on March 31, 2012. Ubisoft gave no further details about the title, promising more information when it reports its full-year earnings report in May.Corey May stated there will be something announced in May 2011.

There's currently one new confirmed game in development, Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy for Nintendo 3DS.

The Creed

Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine. ("Nothing is true; everything is permitted.")   -The Creed's maxim

The Creed is the code and guiding philosophy of the Assassin Order, upheld from the Third Crusade, until modern days. Al Mualim, one of the Grand Masters of the Assassins, once stated that, "We are nothing if we do not abide by the Assassin's Creed." Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine.

The Creed restricts unnecessary slaughter of innocents, preserves the reputation of one's self and of the Order, and is meant to create peace, not only within the world, but within the individual. The Assassins have been handing the Creed down orally from generation to generation, ensuring that the message the Creed brings is delivered to every member of the Assassin Order.

In the ancient Codex of Altaïr , it is stated that the Creed cannot be killed, even if all of its followers are.

Tenants

The Creed mainly emphasizes three simple, moral tenets that focus on ensuring a successful mission, mastery of emotions, and the safety of the Brotherhood.

1. Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent
2. Always be discreet
3. Never compromise the Brotherhood

Other media

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

Assassin's Creed: Graphic Novel

In the limited edition of Assassin's Creed, a 16-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. The story of the novel is laid out by the narration of both characters. It starts with Desmond escaping Abstergo in the year 2012, while it later skips to Altaïr on an assassination mission in the year 1191, after Desmond touches the Animus. Both their side of the story is synchronized with each other. They both introduce themselves, explain the circumstances they are in. First Altaïr explains he is a hunter, while Desmond says he is a prisoner. However in the end of the story they both re-introduce themselves as Assassins. After Desmond's introduction you see him being hunted by guards of Abstergo. He is free-running through the halls. Then we see a guard following his trail. Desmond can be seen hiding in one of the vents. He sneaks by the board of Abstergo into the room where the Animus stands. After he touches it, we see Altaïr walking in Acre. He kills a guard, before he jumps up the wall, climbing up. Later we see him free-running over the rooftops, with guards standing down, not noticing his presence. He pulls one of the guards down on one of the rooftops, stabbing him and pulling him down. He jumps down on a guard, instantly killing him. Then the story flashes back to the future, where we see the board members running after Desmond, who was laying down on the Animus. The story goes back to Altaïr fighting guards off him. Then synchronized, the story ends, showing Altaïr retracting the hidden blade, with the guards lying dead at his feet, and Desmond cornered by the board members.

Assassin's Creed Vol. 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 only released in France and Canada. The comic book was published on 13 November 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's 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 Subject 16 is alive and there's no mention of Shaun or Rebecca. A second volume by Corbeyran called Aquilus has been released in November 2010.

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 it's the first attempt for Ubisoft to make its first step in the film industry. It is about the story of Giovani 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: 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: 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 10 November 2010, the second part on 1 December 2010. It was published by WildStorm. The comic takes place in 1908 set in Russia and follows Nikolai Orelev and his descendant Daniel Cross, a recovering alcoholic experiencing the bleeding effect in a therapist's office. It was revealed by the publishers that the comic will have a link between it and the game series but has not been placed in the first 2 comics yet.

Assassin's Creed: Encyclopedia

UbiWorkshop will be releasing an encyclopaedia of the Assassin's Creed Universe in 2011. Initially intended as an Art Book, the project gathered so much material that they 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.

Assassin's Creed: Ascendance

Ascendance is an animated short by UbiWorkshop and Ubisoft Montreal, which gaps the story 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. It's available for purchase on Xbox Live, PlayStation Store and iTunes Store.

Reception

The Assassin's Creed games have received a generally positive reception from critics. The series has also been financially successful, with the first and second games both selling over 8 million copies to date. In February 2011, Ubisoft announced that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood has shipped 6.5 million copies.

External links

• Official website