Assassin's Creed (video game)

Assassin's Creed is an action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the first installment in the Assassin's Creed series. The game was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2007 and was made available on Microsoft Windows in April 2008.
The plot is set in a fictional history of real-world events, taking place primarily during the Third Crusade in the Holy Land in 1191. The player character is a modern-day man named Desmond Miles who, through a machine called the "Animus", relives the genetic memories of his ancestor, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. Through this plot device, details emerge about a millennia-old struggle between two factions: the Assasssin Brotherhood (inspired by the real-life Order of Assassins), who fight to preserve peace and free will, and the Templar Order (inspired by the Knights Templar military order), who believe control is needed to maintain peace. Both factions fight over powerful artifacts of mysterious origins known as "Pieces of Eden" to gain an advantage over each other. The 12th-century portion of the story follows Altaïr, an Assassin, who embarks on a quest to regain his honor after failing to recover one such artifact from the Templars; he does so by finding and assassinating nine targets across the Holy Land. The game includes an open world comprising four cities—Masyaf, Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus—and focuses on using Altaïr's combat, stealth, and parkour abilities to defeat enemies and explore the environment.
The game received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its storytelling, visuals, art design, and originality, although the game was also criticized for the repetitive nature of its gameplay. Assassin's Creed won several awards at E3 in 2006, as well as several end-year awards after its release. The game spawned two spin-offs: Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles (2008) and Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines (2009), which exclude the modern-day aspect and focus entirely on Altaïr. A direct sequel, Assassin's Creed II, was released in November 2009. The sequel continues the modern-day narrative following Desmond, but introduces a new storyline set during the Italian Renaissance in the late 15th century, and a new protagonist, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Since the release and success of Assassin's Creed II, subsequent games have been released, with various other Assassins and time periods.
Category:Video Games