Assassin's Creed grew out of a cancelled Prince of Persia game, which explains why the first thing it got right was movement. Before the lore, before the conspiracies, there was the simple pleasure of climbing a real cathedral and jumping off it into a cart of hay.
The historical tourism became the series' true identity. Renaissance Florence, revolutionary Paris, Ptolemaic Egypt, Viking England - Ubisoft's research teams rebuild these places at a level of detail no game needed, and then let you run across the rooftops of them. Notre-Dame was famously modelled so carefully that the scans became a talking point after the fire.
The creed itself is an appealingly contradictory bit of writing. Nothing is true, everything is permitted, and also please do not kill innocents. Generations of protagonists have interpreted that however suited them.
The hidden blade remains the best piece of equipment design in the medium - a weapon that costs you a finger, or used to.
This collection covers blades, insignia and the assassins who carried them. Stay in the shadows, or at least on your desktop.
