For a series that’s ostensibly just about sneaking around and stabbing bad guys, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed has undergone more reinventions than most long-running franchises — from beloved innovations to downright weird experiments. Ubisoft embraced mobile early, tried their luck at browser games, and tinkered with what defined Assassin’s Creed as a concept, toying with which parts were essential and those they could safely jettison.
Over the course of 18 years and more than 20 games, the answer is pretty much: anything goes. As long as the main character could still leap from building peaks and sign up to one of the series’ shadowy organizations, the Assassins or the Templars — it’s good enough to be called “Assassin’s Creed.”
Admittedly, many of those experiments went over poorly with critics and consumers. However, in a contemporary environment where publishers see “risk” as one of the most offensive four-letter words, it’s hard not to look back with a bit of admiration for how flexible Ubisoft has been.
But Assassin’s Creed‘s legacy is more than just that of a stealth series that became a common action-RPG. Few series have changed their settings, heroes, and even core ideas as often as Assassin’s Creed has. Not every alteration was a success, however, when sequels and trends dominate the contemporary media landscape, it’s hard not to appreciate that what really makes Assassin’s Creed special isn’t just being any one thing. It’s the adaptability, the willingness to try something new, that shaped the series for almost two decades.
The series’ latest entry, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, is just the latest example of the series’ malleability, marrying the best of the early games’ stealth-focused gameplay with the heavier combat-focused bend of the modern games. But where does it fit into the overall pantheon of the franchise?
Determining what makes the best of Assassin’s Creed, out of more than 20 games, spin-offs, sequels, and strange little projects, is no simple task. To make our decision, Rolling Stone evaluated the premise behind each game, what it added to the series, and how well Ubisoft executed its plans.
This is every Assassin’s Creed game, ranked from worst to best.
