Here Are All Features of Assassin’s Creed Franchise that Are in Demand for a Return

Published 07/14/2023, 11:30 AM EDT

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Over the years, the Assassin’s Creed franchise has made its way into the hearts of gamers all over the world. It has brought a new idea of gaming into the picture with two groups with different ideologies fighting for what they believe in while keeping in the shadows. However, as the series evolved, new features were introduced and old ones removed.

Here are features from Assassin’s Creed games fans want back!

Movement mechanics in Assassin’s Creed

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What really set the Assassin’s Creed franchise apart was its parkour mechanic. With the player’s ability to scale buildings in a matter of seconds, the movement mechanic became crucial in the series. As each game grew the parkour system in its own way, changes in parkour saw iconic features be removed.

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In Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, in addition to the fluid parkour system, they added a zipline tool. Similar to the way Batman’s zipline works, the device allowed Jacob and Evie to quickly climb buildings and bridge vast gaps. It added to the entire steampunk feel of the game, especially since it was set in the Industrial Revolution. Although some fans felt it took away from traditional parkour in the series, it was a handy tool.

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More changes to the parkour system came in recent games. It was not in the way movement worked, but how it was used. Earlier games saw puzzles that incorporated parkour into gameplay. As a result, you had to climb chandeliers and platforms to solve puzzles. It became a fan favorite most prominently in the Ezio trilogy. However, the feature did not make a return in recent games in the franchise.

Information gathering as an Assassin

Fans who played the first game may remember, when taking control of Altair, it was not simply about assassinating a target. There was a lot of build-up and anticipation that went into the mission. Players needed to gather information through a range of different tools such as eavesdropping and tailing targets. These missions gave bits of information about the target, such as their location, lapses in security, and so on. It added to the entire experience of carrying out the target.

As the franchise moved towards an RPG approach, it translated into mini-games. Missions in later games started becoming repetitive and too easy, with the only objective being to go to the location and assassinate the target. It is a feature Ubisoft should bring back, given its promises to go back to its roots with Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

Focus on individual cities

Speaking of features lost in the RPG era, another lost feature is the loss of focus on individual cities. With Origins, Assassin’s Creed moved into the RPG genre. Consequently, it brought wider spaces to explore. However, it took away from individual cities in the game. Some of the best titles in the franchise had incredibly detailed cities, such as Florence in Assassin’s Creed 2, Rome in Brotherhood, Paris in Unity, and even London in Syndicate.

While not as expansive as the RPGs, these cities offered immersive experiences, with bustling crowds. In a manner, the city became important to how players see the story progress. Assassin’s Creed Mirage looks positive on this front. Because the game is set in Baghdad, developers may choose to make the city much better. Baghdad, they have a range of opportunities, with beautiful architecture and busy markets.

Change in gameplay mechanics

Gameplay mechanics also changed over the years, with each game bringing its share of upgrades. However, the changes to combat are ones fans did not appreciate. In earlier games, a crucial feature of combat was chaining kills. Essentially, what this meant was once you kill an enemy in combat, you could chain it and execute a second enemy, then a third, then a fourth, and so on. What made this feature even better was how smooth it felt. Most evident in Assassin’s Creed 3 and 4, the feature was removed when Unity came out. With Mirage’s focus on stealth, fans may not see it come back this time around.

Adding to the changes is the lack of naval combat. First introduced in Assassin’s Creed 3, fans enjoyed the bits of naval combat, but when Black Flag came around, the love for naval combat hit a new level. Taking control of a swash-buckling Assassin in the form of Edward Kenway, naval combat was at its peak. Players could take on entire fleets, board enemy ships, and rule the high tides. Yet, after Assassin’s Creed Rogue rolled around, the feature seemingly disappeared. While Odyssey did bring it back to an extent, it did not feel the same.

The franchise also pulled the plug on its multiplayer mode. What can only be described as a highly-dangerous and intense game of tag, multiplayer became a test of all the skills players learned through the game. Blending into crowds, sneaking up on targets, disguising yourself, all the while your opponent could do the same was a new level of thrill for fans. For the first time, they could test their skill against real players instead of NPCs. Sadly, it did not make it into recent games in the franchise.

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Shift in the way you play as an Assassin

The first game set a unique benchmark that early titles would follow. The way you became a highly-skilled Assassin was by actually training and improving yourself. Starting out as an initiate or novice, players worked their way through the ranks as the games progressed. Instead, in newer games, the feature was scrapped in the feature of skill trees. It did not feel authentic to learn a new assassination or gain a new tool without training to get it or making progress through the story to get it. Assassin’s Creed Mirage could change that since it is Basim’s story of growing into an Assassin from a street thief. Players have high hopes for this feature’s comeback in the game. Only time will tell.

The last feature explored a deeper side of the Assassins. Although only appearing in Assassin’s Creed Unity, the Helix glitches became fan favorites. They offered a welcomed change of pace, as fans explored different eras for short periods of time. Scaling the Eiffel Tower during an air raid was a mission never seen before in the franchise. Bringing back this feature would be a great addition to newer games.

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What are your favorite Assassin’s Creed features that you want back in the game? Let us know in the comments below!

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Written by:

Siddharth Shirwadkar

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Siddharth Shirwadkar is an up and coming eSports writer at EssentiallySports with deep roots in the world of gaming. Pursuing Multimedia and Mass Communication, Siddharth has all the necessary tools to convert his love for gaming into fascinating articles. His journey began at the age of six, with the first person shooter that has enthralled the whole gaming community during the 2000s, the classic Counter-Strike 1.
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