LifesAHammer Versus: Assassin's Creed (UPDATED)

Hello everyone! So in light of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag's release, I have decided to update the Assassin's Creed Versus article. This article remains the exact same as the original posting with the addition of Black Flag and changes to the "Verdict" section, so if you read the original article feel free to skip forward to the Black Flag section. Changes to the Verdict section will be shown in RED. 

Assassin's Creed

Platforms: X360/PS3

First Released: November 13, 2007

Gameplay:

Assassin's Creed introduced a new level of stealth gameplay that had never been seen before. Easy to pick up controls and straight-forward missions made it an easy game to get into. Unfortunately, the games missions never changed much, and the only thing pushing gamers forward was the unique Assassination missions at the end of each DNA sequence. 

Sound:

The music of the game matched the Middle-Eastern tone, and really added to the feel of the game. There were not many memorable or iconic tracks, but the soundtrack overall was fitting for the game. The voice acting was also top-notch, with Nolan North and Kristen Bell making us fall in love with Desmond and Lucy from the very start. The only odd part was that Altair, the titular character, had an American accent as opposed to a Middle-Eastern one, which maybe would have been fine had he shown more emotion in his voice.

Characters:

While the present day of Assassin's Creed introduced us to memorable and lovable characters such as Desmond, Lucy and Warren Vidic, the past portion of the game lacked an abundance of memorable characters aside from Altair and Al Mualim. Despite this, the characterization work of all the assassination targets and of historical figures like Robert de Sable and Richard the Lion-Heart was performed admirably.

Story:

Assassin's Creed was unique in the sense that it had two simultaneous stories for gamers to follow: the past and the present, and how they relate and affect one another. While the present story of the game was short, it was mysterious and engaging for the player, constantly trying to figure out clues to Desmond's situation using email clues and dialogue with Lucy. The past portion of the game also had a fantastic story, which really fit with the period they were following. It was simple, believable, and intriguing, leaving a thirst for more as the game ended on a major cliffhanger.

Level Design:

Assassin's Creed featured three main cities: Acre, Damascus, and Jerusalem. The landscape of the game was absolutely stunning and believable. A player could have fun simply climbing atop a high building and scouting out the beautiful scenery of the Middle-East around them. It was truly a marvel for video games in 2007.

Charm:

The charm of the first Assassin's Creed game was a sense of helplessness. As Altair, players never felt safe, as people were being killed without warning in the Middle-East during the Third Crusade, which was a very dark time in history. This matched the present day when the player feels helpless as Desmond, only being able to travel between three rooms and kept in the dark for most of the game. This sense of helplessness worked perfectly, and made for an engaging game unlike any seen before.

Assassin's Creed II

Platforms: X360/PS3

First Released: November 17, 2009

Gameplay:

The gameplay of Assassin's Creed II improved heavily on the first game. Missions became more unique and were not the same tedious quests given over and over again. New weapons such as the hidden pistol and dual-hidden blades gave players more freedom in assassinations. In addition, Glyph Puzzles made their first appearance, which tested the player's analyzation skills as if they were an assassin themselves and Assassin's Tombs added a platforming experience for those who enjoyed the climbing of the first game.

Sound:

Like the first game, the voice acting was top notch. The titular character, Ezio, had a voice-actor who was able to purely capture the emotions and appeal of the character, and the many other supporting characters around him did not decrease in quality. The music of this game was also much more memorable than that of the first, with the theme "Ezio's Family" becoming iconic among fans.

Characters:

The present-day portion of the game brought back Desmond and Lucy, the two lovable characters from the first game, and added to their side Shaun and Rebecca, who were worthy additions to this duo of lovable characters. In addition, the past-portion had a wide array of memorable characters, ranging from original characters like Mario Auditore, to historical ones like Leonardo de Medici and Rodrigo Borgia. The biggest point Assassin's Creed II gets for character is Ezio. Ezio is one of the most charming and lovable protagonists to ever be introduced to the world, so much that he got three full games devoted to him.

Story:

The story of this game was very similar, yet entirely different from the first. The present-day story had less development aside from the major plot points, and simply focused on Desmond learning to become an Assassin while trying to discover a secret that his ancestor Ezio held. The past story was an epic quest for vengeance, that had Ezio running around Italy for almost thirty-years trying to find the man who put his family to death. Unfortunately, the ending of this game changed the entire tone of the series, making it from a believable, yet mysterious historical game into a strangely odd sci-fi quest riddled with inconsistencies and far-fetched present plot-lines.

Level Design:

Assassin's Creed II had two major cities to explore: Venice and Florence, with smaller cities like Tuscany and Forli making up a minority of the game. The setting of the game itself was enough to warrant the games purchase. The landscapes of the first game were stunning, but Venice and Florence were absolutely unbelievable and purely spot on. The landscape was simply a visual flurry of magnificence.

Charm:

The charm of the second game was entirely different from the first. While the first focused on desperation and helplessness, the second moved to a more secure and humorous tone. Desmond is moved to a safe-house, where the player can feel more secure and Ezio's story, while dark at its base, is filled with hilarious characters and funny Italian gestures. 

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Platforms: X360/PS3

First Released: November 16, 2010

Gameplay:

An enhanced Assassin's Creed II engine made for a very familiar gameplay type. Additions like full-synchronization and replaying missions were great ideas while the more offensive-based combat and kill streak made the game too easy and less stealthy.  The main component of the game that was introduced was the Brotherhood system, which allowed for Ezio to recruit and train new Assassins who could help you in the field, which became an intricate aspect in later titles. 

Sound: 

While the soundtrack was great, it was mostly recycled tracks from Assassin's Creed II, which reduced the uniqueness of it. The voice-acting was, once again, top notch but nothing we had not already seen in Assassin's Creed II.

Characters:

Brotherhood did not introduce many new characters aside from the Rodrigo Borgia's children and some new assassination targets. The new antagonist, Cesare Borgia, was very underwhelming and did not feel like much of a threat when compared to Al Mualim or his father Rodrigo Borgia. This game, however, did introduce Erudito, who became a mysterious character that appeared in many of the Facebook titles and other parts of the Assassin's Creed universe.

Story:

The story of Brotherhood was once again, a quest for vengeance. After Mario Auditore is murdered, Ezio once again embarks on a quest to avenge his fallen family members, so there was not much new here. The best part of the story was the present storyline, which had major development and went back to being more mysterious like in the first game, leading up to one of the biggest cliffhangers ever in gaming.

Level Design:

Unlike the previous games, Brotherhood only took place in one city, but what a city it was. Rome was massive compared to previous cities, being almost as big as the entirety of Assassin Creed II's landscape. Once again, this game proved that the Assassin's Creed series is a visual masterpiece, and Rome was the perfect way to show this off once again.

Charm:

The charm of this game was split between the charm of the first and second games. While the present had the mysterious, helplessness that the first game provided, the past kept up the Italian humor that everyone loved so much about Assassin's Creed II, leading to the perfect compromise in charm.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Platforms: X360/PS3

First Released: November 15, 2011

Gameplay:

Once again, Revelations was simply an enhanced engine of Assassin's Creed II. Unfortunately, all the amazing additions that were in Brotherhood were taken out in this game, which made the game feel rather dull. The combat went even further into the offensive, eliminating almost any trace of stealth in the game, which was a poor choice on the developers.

Sound:

The music of the game was entirely original, unlike in Brotherhood. Similar to the first game, Revelations' soundtrack fit the tone of the game, but did not produce anything memorable. The voice-acting also took a huge hit as veteran voice-actor Kristen Bell did not return, but the quality was still there. One good thing was they actually gave Altair a Middle-Eastern accent in this one.

Characters:

While almost every character in the game was new aside from Ezio, there were not too many memorable ones. By this point in the series, Ezio also diminished in quality, where it felt like "okay, Ezio again?" Thankfully, we got to see more of Altair, even if it was only five short missions.

Story:

The story of this game was absolutely butchered. The plot seemed like it served no purpose, as it did not advance the plot of Desmond in the slightest, and ironically, did not provide any of the "revelations" the fans were seeking. The game felt almost like a way to give gamers closure to Ezio and Altair's characters as it ran them both to the end of their lives, which felt a little too tedious.

Level Design:

While Revelations had tons of disappointment, this aspect was not one of them. Once again, the developers delivered by creating a beautiful Ottoman landscape unlike any other place we had ever seen. The contrast between Italy was different, yet refreshing, as the city of Constantinople provided a fresh feel for gamers.

Charm:

To put it simply, the charm of this game was non-existent. The Italian humor of the previous games in Ezio's trilogy was gone and there was no mystery, as Desmond was in a coma the entire game and the story was simply to lay closure to Altair and Ezio. 

Assassin's Creed III

Platforms: X360/PS3/Wii U

First Released: October 30, 2012

Gameplay:

Assassin's Creed III completely refined the gameplay, using a new engine and new ideas which did not feel recycled. A new seasons system was added, a wide arrange of weapons were made available, and for the first time, players could climb trees. New hunting systems and naval missions provided a fresh and unique way to play that was not present in previous titles and the game felt very new.

Sound:

Unlike the previous games, the soundtrack of Assassin's Creed III was really nothing special. It could be debated on whether the tracks even matched the tone of the game. In addition, while some of the voice-actors were fantastic, the titular character Connor had a horrendous voice actor that was completely reluctant to show emotion at any point in time. 

Characters:

The characters of Assassin's Creed III were actually a refreshing batch. Templar characters felt less "evil" and more "misunderstood," which made an internal conflict in the player on who was right and who was wrong. The game is initially started as Haytham Kenway, Connor's father, and when you lose control of him you actually miss him, as Connor is so horrendously boring that you beg to go back to Haytham. 

Story:

The past story of the game was simple and expanded on the Templar/Assassin conflict like never-before. As I stated above, the players now see a gray area in the conflict, where neither is right or wrong, and both simply have different ideals. Unfortunately, the present-time story is what made the game's story go wrong. Players were promised closure in this final game of Desmond's arc, and were provided with even more questions than answers by the game's unsatisfying ending. 

Level Design:

I have gone on about how beautiful the landscapes in the Assassin's Creed games are when I talked about the previous games. Unfortunately, the cities in this game were boring. When you pick a period like the American Revolution after Renessaince Italy, you are obviously going to leave a bitter taste in the player's mouths when you have boring Western landscapes compared to things like the Colosseum in Rome. Thankfully, the landscape of the Frontier, the game's naturistic environment, were very beautiful and more than made up for the boring cities.

Charm:

Once again, Assassin's Creed III failed to reach the level of charm that the previous games had, and it was partially because of the boring time-period the developers chose. The period lacked any form of charm, no humor, no mystery, no beauty. The present day also lost the sense of mystery that the previous games had, as answers began to be answered in silly, far-fetched ways that have lead the series on a horrid path I am afraid it may not be able to return from.  

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Platforms: X360/PS3/Wii U/PS4/X1

First Released: October 29, 2013

Gameplay:

The gameplay of Assassin's Creed IV is an enhanced and heavily modified version of the gameplay found in Assassin's Creed III. While the game feels very similar to Assassin's Creed III, it is notably better. The combat is smoother and seems to flow much better than it did in Assassin's Creed III. Also, getting money in this game is much less of a hassle than it was in III and much more fun, as it mainly requires you to ransack ships. The biggest gameplay addition in Assassin's Creed IV is the naval system. Using an enhanced form of sailing that was found in Assassin's Creed III, Black Flag puts you in an open-world filled with glorious amounts of missions and things to do, as well as fun and refined naval battles and contracts. The addition of harpooning and underwater missions was also a welcome addition to the franchise. Furthermore, another big addition in this game was the modern-day "Hacker" missions, which felt very similar to the Glyph Puzzles in Assassin's Creed II and were just as well executed.

Sound:

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag has an extremely memorable and well-written soundtrack. The many Pirate-themed songs that range from the main theme to the background music of the ship battles really help the mood and theme of the game. The voice-acting was also excellent, as the voice actors for Edward Kenway, Blackbeard and James Kidd delivered stunning and believable performances. 

Characters:

Black Flag introduces a great cast of characters. While there are no Assassin characters in the game that are actually interesting or likeable, the many pirates such as Blackbeard, James Kidd and Bonnett are fantastic characters, as portray a different side to piracy than may be associated with most interpretations. The Templars also remain the way they were in Assassin's Creed III, having some degree of "gray" motives that do not portray them as entirely evil. The modern-day characters such as John, Melanie and Olivier are also fantastic additions and are unlike anything else we've seen from the modern-day thus far. Melanie and Olivier in particular give the player the feel that not everyone working for Abstergo may be a bad person, like Warren Vidic was. Finally, the titular character of Edward Kenway is a fantastic protagonist, whose quest for self-motivation, love and fulfillment is one of the most relatable and well-portrayed protagonists in the series. 

Story:
As usual, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is split into two storylines: Historical and Modern. The Historical storyline detailing Edward Kenway's grand adventure is one of the best and most relatable in the series. Edward's quest for self-fulfillment and freedom seems to perfectly personify exactly what the Assassin ideal is. The story also has some very touching moments, comparable to the death of Ezio's family in II, and while some of the game may be humorous, other parts are serious or sad. The historical events also seem to have significant relevance to the modern day plot, something that has been strayed from since the first game in the series. The Modern day storyline is less of a narrative than the other games, and relies heavily on hidden files, recordings and videos to understand what has happened post-ACIII. However, these hidden segments of the game do answer outstanding questions about the universe and give the player a little bit more closure to the events of ACIII. Also, the small narrative the game does have makes the best of ACIII's bad ending and steers it into a more interesting direction. 

Level Design:

The level design of Black Flag creates a new depth for the series. Not only are the major towns in the game as beautiful and full as the towns from previous Assassin's Creed games, but the many small islands, jungles and temples accessible by the vast and open sea are an incomparable experience. Each little island has its own things to do and its own secrets to find and the sea is a much better open-world experience than found in any other Assassin's Creed title.

Charm:

There is only one thing that could have as much charm as the hilarity of Italy: Pirates. Black Flag's wide array of characters add to its humour and appeal. While the game may not be as mysterious as some of its predecessors, the charm of the Caribbean is fresh and unmatched. The game has no problem being hilarious at times, but also grim and sad at other times, which is the perfect medium for a story. 

The Verdict

Best Gameplay: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Best Music: Assassin's Creed II

Best Characters: Assassin's Creed II

Best Story: Assassin's Creed

Best Level Design: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Best Charm: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

The Definitive Assassin's Creed Game is still (by a very small margin)...

ASSASSIN'S CREED II

While Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is an outstanding game, Assassin's Creed II still seems to be the "definitive title." This is because, despite Assassin's Creed IV being arguably the best in the series, it is evident that it is built on the foundation that was set by Assassin's Creed II. 

Article By:

Giuliano V.