The Assassin’s Creed games make up what is arguably Ubisoft’s most recognizable franchise. Running since 2007, Assassin’s Creed has seen major double-digit releases, multiple spinoffs, and even a game-themed theatrical release. Needless to say, this series will continue to release content in one form or another. in the foreseeable future. Before that happens, let’s focus on the core games of the past. Here are the Assassin’s Creed games ranked from our favorite to least favorite.
Related: Unsurprisingly, Ubisoft reportedly intends to milk its Assassin’s Creed series with several games in development.
The best Assassin’s Creed games, ranked from best to worst
1. Assassin’s Creed: Odisea
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Odyssey is the second Assassin’s Creed game to feature the series’ shift to a broader RPG style. This game is set in ancient Greece, where you play as Kassandra or Alexios and fight to bring down the cult of Kosmos. Interestingly, the vast majority of this story has little or nothing to do with the Assassins and Templars, they are only referenced in the current games. The main story takes place before either organization existed.
Odyssey has one of the best Assassin’s Creed protagonists in Kassandra, a great story and quests, beautiful landscapes, and it has a better balanced action-RPG than any other game in the series. For us it is without a doubt the best of the franchise.
2. Assassin’s Creed II
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Assassin’s Creed II was a huge leap forward from the first game and set up the series to become as popular as it is today. It begins and ends with the game’s protagonist, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who became one of the most beloved video game characters of the 2000s. The game is set in the Italian Renaissance, where the father and brothers of Ezio were framed and executed. From that moment, Ezio joins the Brotherhood of Assassins and hunts down all those responsible for the death of his family members.
Assassin’s Creed II was revolutionary compared to the simplistic gameplay of the first game. The environmental playground was much more fun and the gameplay was changed to be smoother.
3. Assassin’s Creed: Hermandad
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The immediate sequel to Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood took Ezio to Rome, where he must rebuild the presence of the Brotherhood of Assassins in order to fight the Templars. For the most part, this game is very similar to the second main entry. The big difference is the reliance on creating followers and using them in battle. It helped differentiate Brotherhood from the previous entry and was a fun inclusion.
4. Assassin’s Creed: Origins
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Origins told the story of the founding of the Brotherhood and marked a much-needed shift in the development philosophy of Assassin’s Creed games. This game was the first to take a tougher look at the RPG, which was exactly what the series needed after a decade of annual releases that rendered Assassin’s Creed games obsolete.
Origins is set in ancient Egypt, where you play as Bayek of Siwa, who hunts down the Order of the Ancients after the death of his son. For the developers’ first attempt at creating a much larger world, they’ve really stepped out of the park. Wherever you went, there were quests that didn’t feel like wasting your time, and the Egyptian setting was a nice change.
5. Assassin’s Creed IV: Bandera Negra
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Black Flag was the first Assassin’s Creed game to have a universally beloved protagonist not named Ezio. This game takes place in the Caribbean at the height of piracy. You play as Edward Kenway, a pirate who kills an Assassin and takes his clothes to infiltrate and become one with the Brotherhood. From there, it is proposed to establish a republic so that the sea pirates are free from government bodies.
Black Flag isn’t the first Assassin’s Creed game to feature naval combat, but it was the first to make a return on investment. The pirate elements of this game are great, but everything else – the story, gameplay, and characters outside of the pirates – is a bit forgettable.
6. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicato
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Syndicate is the latest game in the series to feature the “traditional” Assassin’s Creed formula. You play as twins Jacob and Evie Frye as they head to London to help establish a Brotherhood presence. There, they integrate with local gangs and encounter strong Templar resistance.
The worst thing about Syndicate was that it was more or less the same when it was released. The biggest change to the game was a new grappling hook to quickly scale buildings, but other than that, players were desperate for a break from Assassin’s Creed games. Regardless, this is a quality game with a good story, likable protagonists, including the first playable female assassin, and fun gameplay.
7. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
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Valhalla is the third role-playing game in the Assassin’s Creed series and follows Eivor, a Viking who seeks to build a new colony under the command of his brother, Jarl Sigurd. Throughout this game, Eivor interacts with Odin to help bring focus to the decisions they make, but it takes a long time for it all to come to fruition. The biggest addition to the game over previous games is the ability to raid other settlements for resources.
Compared to Origins and Odyssey, Valhalla has the weakest protagonist and overall story. That being said, this is the most compelling title to date, being the first to have a release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
8. Assassin’s Creed: Unity
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Assassin’s Creed: Unity is set in Paris during the French Revolution. You play as Arno Dorian as he is inducted into the Brotherhood of Assassins after being framed for the murder of his adoptive father. While Arno has a long history in the Brotherhood, his adoptive family is Templar.
Unity received a lot of hate when it was released due to the large number of bugs and stability issues at launch. That being said, for the first release exclusively on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, this game had a fun environmental playground with some much needed tweaks to the parkour system. If you missed Unity due to launch issues, we recommend trying it out now.
9. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
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Revelations is the final chapter of Ezio’s story set in Constantinople, where he searches for a weapon that the series’ first protagonist, Altair, had hidden. Ezio is still great, and the gameplay here is very familiar to the other two games featuring it. The biggest change is that one of Ezio’s hidden blades is replaced with a hook blade that allows him to slash through the area and pull enemies towards him.
Revelations was a great send off for Ezio, but he didn’t hit the highs in his other two games. Seeing Altair and living through his memories was a nice touch, but at the time, it wasn’t necessarily long since we’d seen him, so it didn’t feel as memorable to us as it does today.
10. Assassin’s Creed: Trickster
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Released alongside Unity, but only for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Rogue was another ship-focused game that saw you play as an assassin-turned-templar named Shay Cormac. This game came at a time when a lot of those Assassin’s Creed games were all about showing how corrupt the Brotherhood could be, so playing as a Templar right now isn’t as surprising as you might think.
Rogue didn’t really set the world on fire and is perhaps the most forgettable game in the series, thanks to being released on the same day as Unity. It gives a little insight into Haytham Kenway before his trip to America in Assassin’s Creed III if you’re interested in that character, and a reference to Unity’s Arno. Still, most of the time this game isn’t that important in the grand scheme of things.
11. Assassin’s Creed III
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Assassin’s Creed III featured Haytham Kenway and his son Connor, or Ratonhnhaké:ton as he is natively named. The game opens with Haytham arriving in America after the events of Snape and revealing his Templar alliance as well as a relationship he forms with a Native American woman. Years later, you take control of Connor, who seeks to become an Assassin after the Templars attack and destroy his hometown. The rest of the game focuses on Connor becoming increasingly entrenched with the events of the Revolutionary War alongside George Washington and the labor dispute with and against his Templar father.
Related: Top 10 Assassin’s Creed Villains and Antagonists
Simply put, Connor is one of the worst protagonists in the Assassin’s Creed series, and this game’s environment isn’t fun to navigate. There are few to no parkour sections, and most of the higher terrain depends on you climbing and jumping through the trees. There isn’t much here to recommend anyone to return.
12. Assassin’s Creed
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This is the game where it all started and there have been great advancements since its release. The first Assassin’s Creed features Altair Ibn-La’Ahad struggling to regain his honor after he foolishly botched an attempt to retrieve an artifact while trying to kill a Templar head. Until you get to the end of the game, that’s basically the whole story. There isn’t much to it, honestly, and the gameplay is very repetitive. There’s a reason Ubisoft never remastered this title compared to so many others that have. There just isn’t much that would be nice to see again.
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