Assassin's Creed is quite undoubtedly a rare gem in its own right. It being a new IP was quickly adopted as the standard for open-world platformers, even though it arrived quite late to the party. One aspect that was working against it was the setting of the game. I had remembered that the game was getting a lot of attention prior to its release, and many were considering it to be a Medieval Grand Theft Auto. When the game released, I had noticed much controversy over the actual setting. It turns out that the game took place in the near (really near in fact) future. The year 2012 if I'm not mistaken by the prophetic conjecture within the game. The main character was not the master assassin Altair, like promoted, but rather a bartender by the name of Desmond Miles. While I was still having high hopes for this series at the time that it came out, the series had taken a turn for the odd before the IP was even given a chance to succeed.
Now looking back at the release of the first Assassin's Creed, I shouldn't have had any doubt. Despite the drastic turn that the game took, it has worked out to be even better than what I was hoping for. Desmond Miles may have been a 20-something nobody from the suburbs, but the story of an assassin is still being told. I have recently finished Assassin's Creed II, and was intrigued by the entire experience all throughout from beginning to end. Without spoiling too much, I can say that things have just begun for Desmond and his misadventures through time.
I haven't had the chance to play Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, but I had read a review and the editor had referred to the multiplayer aspect as being "the best multiplayer experience that isn't Call of Duty". Not only did this humor me, but also peaked my interest. It's a pretty basic idea of being the hunter, as well as the hunted. You have to find your own personal target and kill them before your own killer finds you. It's simple, and doesn't sound very fun, but I assume it provides a distraction from playing the single-player campaign for too long. I find that to be even better than Call of Duty, considering a Call of Duty single-player campaign is relatively nonexistent these days. They even tried to tie in a story element to try and impress those who want to play the game for the story. It's not that impressive, but it's good to see they've tried.
In retrospect, this series was made for success. Ubisoft rarely puts a lot of attention towards one specific IP unless it's Prince of Persia or Splinter Cell. To see how far Assassin's Creed has come as a whole, it almost seems as if it all happened overnight. Not only did I make this thread to share my impression on the series, but I would also like to discuss where the game is going, provided we don't spoil too much for those who haven't played the games. Feel free to use this thread for anything Assassin's Creed. Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.
