Assassin’s Creed Ranked From Worst To Best

With so many games, it’s not easy to put these in order. Assassin’s Creed is one of the biggest series of games and made a huge mark on gaming in general because where would we be without watchtowers. I won’t be including spin-off games like Freedom Cry or Liberation for this list either. Now to get started.

12. Assassin’s Creed Rogue

Does anybody remember this? I played this sole because I didn’t own a PS4 to play Unity at the time. If you didn’t play it you didn’t miss out. The whole story was completely forgettable bar the main character, Shay Patrick Cormac who has an awful Irish accent. Honestly, I remember so little because it was so forgettable. It was a poor man’s Black Flag adding absolutely nothing to the story except you played as an ex-assassin turned Templar. It was obvious little effort was put into this game due to top Unity being the main focus.

11. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

Not a bad game, but it was just another Assassins Creed with the exact same formula in a different setting. The industrial revolution was a good setting, but we’ve seen better. Having sibling assassins was a good idea as they had contrasting opinions and philosophies. Syndicate did nothing for the series bar the Jack the Ripper DLC, which was interesting. Syndicate was Ubisoft’s wake-up call to try and innovate the series.

10. Assassin’s Creed Unity

A buggy mess. The first attempt at new-gen consoles and it goes down in flames. Unity introduced some new ideas such as co-op missions, which I still think is a good idea, just needed better execution. The story wasn’t good and Arno was bland. Having the French revolution was a great setting and had beautiful looking areas. The parkour system that was introduced made climbing feel and look slicker while traversing the map faster. Unfortunately, Ubisoft was settled on their familiar formula and didn’t care to change it.

9. Assassin’s Creed

The one who let it begin. Finding out what it means to be an assassin and seeing Altair develop from an arrogant young man to someone who understands what a real assassin should be like was great. For the time it looked brilliant and who can forget the fact it introduced watchtowers, which at the time were new and actually a pretty cool idea in contrast to now. Story-wise it wasn’t the best, except the fact it had a good ending really saved it. Assassin’s Creed could have never stealthed its way to popularity without its foundation.

8. Assassin’s Creed 3

It might have the best trailer out of all the series, and that’d be about it. We were given another revenge story that was maybe more personal than ever before. Conor is in my opinion the blandest protagonist of them all. He had no personality whatsoever, at least he was badass. It was also Desmond’s last entry in the series. The animus was always my least favourite part, but Desmond’s story always kept me at least a little interested. His send-off was a bit sudden, although it was clear that they didn’t know where to bring Desmond’s story. It also introduced naval combat to the series and anyone who has played Black Flag will appreciate three for that. The combat did improve slightly in three and climbing through a forest by traversing the branches and slipping through tight openings felt more immersive. Three was just average, it didn’t do anything bad or great for me.

7. Assassin’s Creed Revelations

Ezio’s send-off. Easily the best assassin and got a good send-off. We’re taking away from Italy and sail to the city of Constantinople. We gain hook blade making for faster claiming, swinging, and even grappling enemies. Ezio is looking for keys to unlock a vault built by Altair. Revelations didn’t exceed in anything particularly bar the nostalgia of going to Altair’s vault and seeing Altair’s memories. It introduced the den defence mini game, admittedly it wasn’t that good, still it’s nice to see games at least try new things. Revelations had was the weakest of Ezio’s trilogy, nonetheless it was enjoyable.

6. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Odyssey is one I struggle with. It’s beautiful and ancient Greece is stunning. Yet, I couldn’t enjoy it properly. The map was way too big, almost off-putting. Side missions were better in this than its predecessor and there was so much more colour compared to Egypt. Having the huge amount of assassin targets was daunting, but my biggest problem with Odyssey was the levelling up system. It just took way too long. Of course, there were microtransactions to speed it up, but I refuse to pay money to make me level up quicker.

Having hunters prey on you was a fantastic addition, although when you just use the spartan kick of a high edge they became easy. Story-wise it was better than what had recently been given before, especially if you played as Kassandra who was much more charismatic. Although to get through the story just took too long. I had become burnt out on Odyssey about halfway through.

5. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Just a better Odyssey. There really isn’t much else to be said, the combat got better, the story improved, and the setting was debatably better. Valhalla improved on how immersive the world was by having silly side missions and strange characters show up. The story of the franchise has taken a drastic turn as gods have taken a more straightforward approach compared to the mystery they had with Desmond. Valhalla takes it even further bringing us to Valhalla, though it is gorgeous it feels strange for a series with multiple games to take such a fantasy approach later on. I know Desmond’s story had an element of that, however, is nothing compared to now

Yet, even with complaints of Odyssey being too big or long, they made Valhalla even bigger and longer. Even though it is better than Odyssey it makes me question what next is for Assassin’s Creed? Personally. I feel people are getting sick of the new formula already as Ubisoft seem to think bigger means better.

4. Assassin’s Creed Origins

Finally, the change that needed to be made. After making numerous games with the exact same style and format it was needed. And Origins provided this breath of fresh air. The sands of ancient Egypt became our playground. Having an all-new combat and levelling system separated this from every other assassin’s creed game that came before. Origins was an RPG and it worked well. Combat was harder but more rewarding. Exploring gave a sense of purpose. This was the first time in ages people had been excited about an Assassin’s Creed game.

Graphically this blew all its processors away. Origins isn’t perfect, still, at the time it felt like a step in the right direction. Bayek is on the path of vengeance after his son is murdered. Assassin’s Creed is fond of revenge plots and this was no exception. Origin’s plot felt decent enough, although generic and Bayek was a good protagonist who felt badass. Origins made me excited to delve into the series again.

3. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

Ezio is brought to Rome and us along with him. The plot is simple, rebuild the assassin’s order and take down the Borgias to liberate the people. Ezio takes control and his charisma carries brotherhood. Being able to recruit, train and summon assassins as you invade Borgia bases is invigorating. Cesare Borgia was a noteworthy villain. He was a coward and a detestable human being making him worthy of assassination.

Rome is beautiful and has so many great landmarks to explore and find secrets in. Liberating Rome is fun and it benefits the player as you restore an old shop under Borgia rule, you shall receive items and even profit from the shops you restore. Once you do a fair portion of liberating Rome it begins to look different and you can feel the impact you’ve made on the city. Also, the combat system at this point was relatively new and still felt great, which is weird to say when talking about Assassin’s Creed.

2. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag

This is debatably number one. Black Flag somewhat changed the formula, while still keeping it familiar to players. Edward Kenway a pirate now turned assassin. Edward finds himself in the middle of the everlasting assassin and templar war. What separates Black Flag is the setting, combat and of course being a pirate.

Sailing from island to island with a crew singing sea shanties is unreal. Waves look so good and travelling in Black Flag is fun, even without a destination. The naval combat is so unique and works perfectly. It took the spotlight for Black Flag. Fighting at sea, shooting off your canons and then raiding a ship, fighting them on their boat so you can take their loot. It was so good Ubisoft wanted to make a game based on the naval combat.

Having guns made combat quicker and slicker. Of course, you can’t constantly use them since they’re slow to reload, but it was a big change to have them in. Having so many different places to explore was so new at the time and since sailing was fun I didn’t mind travelling somewhere far away. Black Flag was the last great Assassin’s Creed game to come out.

1. Assassin’s Creed 2

Ezio’s origin and perhaps Assassin’s Creed’s origin of success. Exploring Venice and Florence during the Renaissance was a sight to behold. Traversing from rooftop to rooftop like never before. Ezio changed what we knew about assassins. Altair was serious and so was everyone around him. Ezio was playful, joking and flirting with any woman he could. This was the beginning of all revenge quests in the series and is still the best. As Ezio sees his two brothers and father hanged, he embarks on an adventure to take the templars who were a part of their murder.

This had an improved combat system, new weapons, more enemy variety, a huge map to explore, and a bright colour palette. Assassin’s Creed 2 at the time was something new, the formula were all so used to hadn’t been done all that much prior. The animations improved and it looked so much slicker and more fluid than the original.

In every way Assassin’s Creed 2 improved the series and became the staple of the series for what to follow. For me, it is the best Assassin’s Creed game to date.