Assassin’s Creed is certainly one of Ubisoft’s biggest and most well-known franchises. Originally, the series was supposed to be a Prince of Persia game, but the direction took off towards what we see today at Ubisoft Montreal.
Since the beginning of Assassin’s Creed, fans have praised the game for its stealth, story, and parkour. It’s held up for 15 years strong, and is still making waves, with Valhalla becoming Assassin’s Creed’s biggest launch yet.
After asking around a bit, I figured that I’d create a list ranking all of the Assassin’s Creed games from best to not-so-best. You see, there are no TERRIBLE games in the franchise, but some games are just better than others.
Without a further ado, let’s get into the list:
13. Assassin’s Creed Liberation
Liberation was a bit of a spin-off from Assassin’s Creed III. Although it’s not a terrible game, it’s just not up to par or standard with the base Assassin’s Creed games.
It was originally developed for the PlayStation Plus handheld console, so I already knew what to expect going into it. However, playing through it on PC, it was a bit clunky and the mechanics weren’t the best. Overall, Aveline’s character had potential, but ultimately, Liberation fell a bit flat for me.
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12. Assassin’s Creed Rogue
Rogue was an adventurous title for the Assassin’s Creed franchise, transporting the player into the eyes of a Templar instead of an Assassin. It’s definitely a different concept, and one that could’ve worked really well for the series.
However, Rogue fell flat in that it wasn’t very special. It felt a lot like Black Flag, which may not be a problem for some. However, it was also short and wasn’t given the proper pacing needed to flesh out Shay’s story.
Ultimately, Rogue needed more than the short time it was given.
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11. Assassin’s Creed Unity
Unity has seen a bit of a resurgence in recent years with the growth of people online pointing out how great the game was, but it wasn’t so great at launch.
Unity suffered from a plethora of bugs that overshadowed anything good about it. However, years later, it turned out to be a good title after all. The parkour is smooth (although definitely not realistic at times) and fun. The combat is mid-tier, but the stealth factor in Unity is excellent.
Unity’s story is ultimately where it falls flat. It could have been a much better story with a much better plot, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the best.
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10. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Syndicate unfortunately suffered from being the release right after Assassin’s Creed Unity, which was at the time, one of the lowest ranked games out there.
Syndicate was a bit repetitive, but it was a step-up from the disastrous launch of Unity. The Frye twins are delightful and fun to play, and each of them has their own skills that works. The parkour was great, the graphics were nice, and the game itself was a fun experience.
Exploring the Industrial Revolution is a very cool thing, and being able to do that in an Assassin’s Creed game was excellent. The combat is fun as well, with lots of action involved.
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9. Assassin’s Creed Revelations
Set in one of the most intriguing historical time periods, Revelations explores the world of Constantinople and Masyaf from the lenses of an older, wiser, and more experienced Ezio Auditore.
We get closure on the story of Altair, and we also get to enjoy some fun action and tomb explorations throughout. Although repetitive at times, Revelations had a great story, an excellent soundtrack, and memorable characters.
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8. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Valhalla is the latest installment in the franchise and is not the best, but certainly not bad. Valhalla’s gameplay is fun, but stealth is severely lacking compared to other titles.
Where Valhalla really falls down for me is how bloated it feels at times. Valhalla is an excellent game for sure, but because of how much is packed into it, with repetitive side missions that can get tedious at times and a plot that’s not very exciting, Valhalla falls short in this realm.
However, Valhalla did have its ups with its interesting Viking theme and its great main character. I just wish it was a little less stuffed.
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7. Assassin’s Creed III
Although III was one of the least popular entries to the series, I personally loved it. The American Revolution setting was powerful and packed with action. Connor–although a drier character–made sense, had a great backstory, and was exciting to play as.
Combat and high-action were fun in this title and the story was great as well. Haytham’s character was one of my favorites in the series.
Overall, a lot was great about III. However, some of the missions could be tedious and annoying and some of the story was a bit lackluster. Either way, III was a great experience and had a wonderful soundtrack as well.
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6. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
A controversial title in the AC community, Odyssey was overall quite great. Although it felt the most disconnected with the franchise, Odyssey had its fair share of exciting moments.
Stealth and parkour lacked with this entry, but combat and Spartan action were loads of fun. The voice acting could’ve been better, but overall, I thought that Odyssey had some fun stuff going for it. The main story was great and there were some very sad, emotional moments. The RPG system didn’t feel very necessary to be honest.
There’s a lot of exciting moments in Odyssey, and in my eyes, it served as a prequel to the series. Prequels are not always the most connected in every aspect of the story. However, Odyssey introduced some great combat (wish the assassinations were better though) and a bit of a change to the AC formula.
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5. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Brotherhood was a fun title and its story was great. The setting of Rome was a great one, and exploring Ezio’s life again was great.
Gameplay-wise, there was a lot of variety and exciting things to do around the map. Leonardo Da Vinci’s return is always great. Ezio’s development from the end of Assassin’s Creed II to the beginning of Brotherhood is great as well.
You can also recruit assassins to help throughout the game, and they proved to be fairly useful during certain missions. The combat was also great, with some new animations that were brutal and exciting to see in action.
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4. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag is one of the most beloved in the franchise, and for good reason. Black Flag is an exciting, pirate-assassin adventure that takes helm in the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy.
Edward Kenway is an exciting character with a very funny personality. The interactions with other characters, the combat, the missions, and the naval combat were great. There was a lot going for Black Flag, and it’s clear that it’s one of the most fun in the franchise.
Stealth and parkour were excellent and graphically, Black Flag was beautiful. To this day, boot it up and see how amazing it looks on even the Xbox 360.
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3. Assassin’s Creed 1
Although the first in the franchise, and certainly not the best, we have to give props to where the series all began. In my eyes, Assassin’s Creed (2007) has some of the best parts of any Assassin’s Creed game.
Despite its repetitive nature and clunky mechanics, there is a charm to going back after so many years and replaying this title. Altair’s character is certainly memorable, the backdrop of the Crusades is powerful, and the combat was pretty fun too.
Altair’s brutal sword kills are probably one of the best parts about the combat, but stealth is fun and there is a lot to do in terms of parkour.
However, AC 1 does suffer greatly from repetition. Either way, because it’s the original, we had to give it a spot in the Top 3.
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2. Assassin’s Creed Origins
With its Ancient Egyptian setting, powerful graphics and visuals, and excellent gameplay, Assassin’s Creed Origins revived the series in a way nobody was expecting. And it was a great revival at that.
Bayek is an excellent character, motivated to find the people who brutally murdered his son. The story is powerful, with plenty of heart-breaking moments. The combat was fun and the stealth was good as well.
Origins did suffer from the updates to the hidden blade system, but seeing the origins of so much of the things we see throughout the series was excellent and very fun. The missions were exciting and there were lots of things to do throughout Egypt.
Origins is definitely a quality game, and one that is sure to stay memorable for a long time.
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1. Assassin’s Creed II
As expected, I’m sure, Assassin’s Creed II has made the top of the list. For good reason, though.
Ezio Auditore’s story starts in the heart of Florence, Italy. AC II has everything you’d expect from a great Assassin’s Creed Game: Great characters, an excellent plot and story, fun parkour, great stealth, exciting combat, and plenty to do throughout.
There’s a reason why II has been the face of the franchise for so long. Ezio’s character is one of the best in the series and his story is extremely memorable. AC II is a worthy sequel, taking all the good from the first Assassin’s Creed and fixing the lackluster things.
Truly, Assassin’s Creed II is the best of the franchise.
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Let us know which Assassin’s Creed game is your favorite and why!
Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
