Ubisoft have been putting out some incredible Assassins Creed games in the past few years – Gone are the days of mandatory stealth, repetitive rooftop tailing missions and sticky combat where a couple of guards can easily overwhelm if you get too cocky.
The more recent entries, Origins (2017) and Odyssey (2018), lack any decent stealth combat after the introduction of a levelling system, but have more than made up for this on several other fronts. These include refined combat, gorgeous environments and truly interesting worlds to lose yourself in for a tonne of hours each. History is a big fat ideas bucket for the franchise, and you don’t have to look too far to find promising ideas that future games could be based on. As I’m in a giving mood, here’s five games that I think would make great Assassins Creed games, and what they should be called.
Side note – Why do the often ‘leaked’ code names for AC games usually sound better than the final version? Osiris is a much better name than the drastically overused and underwhelming subtitle Origins!
One of the wars I’d literally never heard of until researching conflicts for this article, the German Peasants War lasted less than a year but resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 peasants and farmers, armed with naught but scythes and pitchforks, standing up to the might of the well-funded Swabian League. Having only achieved a ‘D’ in GCSE History, and as I tend to only retain basic information in my gaming-orientated brain I won’t attempt to explain what any of that means. What I will say however, is that the scythe is a cool weapon, and to be able to tear around 16th century France and Germany slicing up the rich with one would be bloody (Bloody) fun.
Again, not a history buff, but I’ll try my best. The Three Kingdoms, that Wikipedia describes as one of the most violent eras in Chinese history, were the warring Chinese states of Wei, Shu and Wu. China has already been looked at in the ingeniously titled Assassins Creed Chronicles: China but the side scrolling gameplay far from did the premise justice. AC Odyssey proved that having a large map and the ability to dip in and out of assisting both sides of the ongoing conflict was very satisfying, and so having the ability to switch between roles as a sellsword for the three states here would be even more so.
If anyone really cares enough to want the ship combat to make yet another appearance, Wei and Wu are conveniently placed on the coast, so a ship could be included again.
Also, yes, ‘Victory’ was the codename for Syndicate before its official announcement, but damn it I want it to be actually used!
I think we can all agree that the World War One section in London from Assassins Creed: Syndicate was very good, and I for one would like to see the premise given its own game to fully flesh its ideas out. I will concede that I don’t think this could be a full-sized addition to the series and would work better as a smaller experience similar to Assassins Creed: Freedom Cry.
The addition of enemies with guns would pretty much ruin the melee focussed combat of the franchise, but the heavy stealth and set piece styled gameplay demonstrated in the side-memory of Syndicate showed that Ubisoft would be able to overcome this challenge, at least for a bit anyway.
It’s no secret that Britain used to send its prisoners to Australia, in an all expenses paid holiday to the edge of the world for the rest of your life type of deal. Whilst I’m not keen to visit Aus myself due to being unable to cope in even the heat of British Summertime, let alone an alligator swimming up my toilet and spiders so big they have health bars, but I find it surprising that more games aren’t set there. Forza Horizon 3 obviously was (And is amazing) but I believe it is time for an Assassins Creed game to take the plunge.
My idea for a plot is that the natives of Australia doubtless weren’t too impressed by the hordes of British criminals being shipped to their shores, and no doubt some of those crims would have continued crimming after stepping off the boat. Imagine if you will, one of the afore-mentioned criminals killing a family member (Or entire family) of a would-be Assassin, and the story playing out as a tale of revenge and trekking across the growing cities and vast wildlands of the continent to track, find and punish the murderer.
I haven’t planned more than that general outline, but I would also like to see some sort of boomerang (Or weaponised boomerang if that’s not enough of a weapon already) being introduced as a signature tool for the protagonist.
This was always going to be the top choice as it’s what the majority of fans of the franchise have been crying out for years, that Ubisoft are yet to hint they have any interest in recreating. My ideal scenario for eventually visiting this clamoured for period is choosing to play as either a benevolent or malicious warlord, with an Infamous style karma system, and retaining the RPG elements the franchise introduced in Origins.
You would fight to build your empire within Japan, whilst also juggling the wills and wants of your people and maintaining an iron grip over subordinates and those who would dare to challenge your rule. The majority of the game would play out tailored by your play style and choices, and whilst that is far from an original idea, I reckon it would be tremendous fun when applied to the Feudal Japan era.
There you go (Ubisoft if you’re reading this), five Assassins Creed games that I want to exist. Let me know your top picks in the comments and on Twitter @MaliceVER. Following @RespawningUK is also advised, and subscribing to my YouTube channel, Void Euphoric Records is highly recommended as well. Thanks for reading. Valar Morghulis.