We’ve had a slew of Assassin’s Creed games since the original made a splash in 2007. It seems like only yesterday when I had my first encounter with Altair and the sci-fi conspiracy machine that became Ubisoft’s premier franchise. Assassin’s Creed II in 2009 introduced us to Ezio and perfected the freerunning formula, while also extending the scope and adding lots more to do. Then we had Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood in 2010, which was a direct sequel to II and put us back in Ezio’s boots. This time, though, there was the inclusion of multiplayer. This year we have Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, yet another Ezio vehicle with cameo appearances by Altair.
Next year, we can expect another title. Hopefully, we aren’t forced to play as an even older Ezio.
Oh and besides all of that, there’s the mountain of spinoff and companion titles that are on various platforms. These games include Altair’s Chronicles, Bloodlines, Discovery, and Project Legacy.
But why am I mentioning all of these games at once? Well, it’s been four years since the original game graced my console and we already have eight games in the whole franchise. OK, discounting the Facebook and handheld games, we have four main games.
Four games in five years isn’t exactly flooding the market but it’s pretty major for a franchise that wasn’t around in the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era. I’m quite amazed at how prolific Ubisoft has been on the Ezio front. One of Ubisoft’s other properties, Rayman, hasn’t had nearly as much exposure (by the way, Rayman Origins released recently).
I mention the Assassin’s Creed release schedule because it somewhat matches one of the complaints that people have with the Madden and Call of Duty franchises. They keep coming out with a new one every year.
I wonder if the same people who harp on how tired the latest Call of Duty or Madden (or heck, even Halo) title is realize that they’re going to the store and buying successive Assassin’s Creed titles each year. By the way, I’m not insinuating that these games are mutually exclusive.
Perhaps it’s Ubisoft witchcraft. I’ve somehow managed to play every singly Assassin’s Creed title without even trying. They’re probably out there with a tiny Assassin’s Creed hidden blade poking a voodoo wallet and influencing me to buy their latest convoluted adventure.
“OMG, Templars! Quick, let’s mentally travel hundreds of years back through the use of this magical chair!”
“But can we take breaks every now and then so that I remember that above-it-all plot?”
“Sure!”
Hasn’t it gotten old by this point? I feel like the story never moves forward because Desmond is perpetually trapped inside of that damn Animus.
And then the only time that you get to go outside of the Animus, you’re either in this super clean office space reminiscent of Mirror’s Edge or you’re in this old deserted mansion. You know, the same one that you lived in hundreds of years ago when you were somehow rich and Italian. Yeah, yeah.. immigration.
I’m not being fair, I know. The world inside the world (the Animus) shows us vivid cityscapes that are teeming with the imagined quirks of a bygone era. The crafted Assassin’s Creed world inside the Animus is so much richer and more involved than the heady sci-fi crap that I halfway forget at times. What I really want to do is transfer the Animus’ depth into Desmond’s world. I want to finally live as an assassin in a contemporary atmosphere.
How the hell do modern day assassins deal with riot shields and automatic shotguns anyway? Would throwing knives still be 1-hit kills? Would police officers be posted on rooftops for an indeterminate reason?
I don’t want to completely belittle the accomplishments of the series so far. I applaud the fact that its taken us somewhere new. It’s not just another post-apocalyptic, high fantasy, or deep space setting.
Did you ever really think that you would be playing a videogame that was set in Jerusalem or Florence? I sure as hell didn’t. It never even crossed my mind that an open world game set in a time before automatic rifles would ever be a success.
But here we are, well into the series and staring down the barrel of another game.
Alright, let’s organize my thoughts:
Assassin’s Creed was refreshing.
Assassin’s Creed II maintained the vision and improved in all areas of design and gameplay polish.
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood added a unique multiplayer experience as well as a few gimmicks.
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations feels like a well-constructed side mission that went on a little too long.
From there we have another title planned, the details of which are a mystery but it will probably involve a new time period. I just hope it’s Desmond this time. A contemporary setting would definitely give the series a kick and reinvigorate the imagination that we all had when we were first introduced to the first game.
For now, let’s sit among the rumors and wait it out until Ubisoft gives us the official details. Until then, nothing is true and all [speculation] is permitted.
Update: Played through a lot more of Revelations since I wrote this article. It’s rote and somewhat dull (except for some of the scripted sequences). All in all, a decent game and a typical sequel. I’ll try to get a proper review up once I finish my next planned review.
I’d go with what you said earlier. I think it’s gotten old.
Want a lesson in sequel fatigue? Try out these last two games.
I just returned Brotherhood haha
it’ll never get old. VITTORIA AGLI ASSASSINI
Assassin’s Creed is never gonna get old!!! There are so many story lines to explore and endless possibilites!!! So it’s never going to get old!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will agree that, up to Revelations, the series kept going, and the plot was travelling forward, albeit at a slow pace. Revelations, however, seems a bit stagnant. The ending didn’t seem to make sense to me either … the guy talking to Desmond mentions Juno as one of the ones that were attempting to find a way to halt the end of the world. Unless I’m missing an explanation during the ending of ACB, why does it never make mention of the reason that Juno made Desmond kill Lucy? What was the point of it? You get a few footnotes during ACR that they had her funeral, but it’s like she was a passing thought at best. If Juno was in league with the people attempting to save the world, why be a bitch and make Desmond kill off his would-be girlfriend?
But I digress, I would love to see the next installment take us to another era, the Civil War era Amerias was a nice idea, but then I (as well as many others I imagine) would also like the story placed in the current era, with Desmond as the main character … so long as he still gets the awesome assassin outfit (I’m sure Ubisoft can spin that somehow, Desmond finding Ezio’s old outfit would be nostalgic and all tingly and stuff).
It is possible that Lucy was a Templar spy. It also could be she is somehow connected to Eve, or her blood was needed for something. I am hoping that she will be back somehow, and that more will be explained about her death in AC3. As well, Desmond was in the animus in all of Revelation so there really isn’t any way he could have received an explanation from the outside world. I really enjoyed Brotherhood. And I was glad for Revelations because it closed off the Ezio and Altair storylines. Sure it could have been better and used a lot more content, but I am not going to complain about a game that still had some great parts and continued on one of the best franchises in gaming history.
Juno wasn’t the one that made Desmond kill Lucy. That was Minerva. And I do think that it needed to be explained. I would agree with the need for Desmond as the main character. I thought the Animus being his “life support” was just to make an excuse to get him in it. i have no idea how they are going to justify putting him in it in AC3 since they already have the apple and Desmond’s bleeding effect has taken hold.
I hope it wont get old and the company is gaining alot of money from the games so why not doing more of Assassin’s creed
Anyway its a Win Win for us we’re having fun they gain money and develop real quick another Assassin’s creed series
Also the plot is VERY intresting and the ending is always epic and makes you feel “I want more,It cant end like this!”
In short:Really high quality game my score is 10/10 i could say the best plot best gameplay and best graphics i’ve ever seen in games
agreeeeeeeee! assassins creed is the best there ever was and never gets old! jus like linkinpark:p:D
one of the best game i ever played n seen ! love ya !!!
AC isn’t so much a story-driven game as much as it is a character-driven game, as we’ve seen. We watch the characters develop and grow and eventually die (leading to infinite tears) and the way you kind of ignore that here, I dunno, feels offensive. Some people are attached to this game and feel it won’t get old because the stories of these great characters are amazing and inspirational, albeit fictional. Desmond’s storyline went flat for a bit because for a while he was just a conduit of information for abstergo/assassins, but now he knows how to save the world. I don’t think it can get old after one of the main characters has found their beat.
I think maybe one point in life the game will get old but I think in my be one of the best games for right now.
It’s a seemingly unstoppable force for the moment. Hopefully its quality catches up with its popularity.
Its still a “good” game but it is getting old. Nothing new at all with revelations aside from bombs. Atleast the Ezio story is over and we can meet some new people/friends. I’m hoping the next game is the last and we get an awesome ending.
I completely agree.