One Christmas I was given Assassin’s Creed 3 and I was hooked. While AC3 may not be the best in the series, it opened my eyes to Ubisoft’s stealth series and I fell in love with it. In later years, the Assassin’s Creed franchise was my favorite game, and when I finished the AC3 campaign and collected as many collectibles as I could muster, my eye fell on the multiplayer part of the start screen.
If you’re new to the Assassin’s Creed series, the multiplayer I’m talking about is ancient history. AC: Brotherhood, AC: Revelations, AC3, and AC: Black Flag had a mode where you had to kill other online assassins in the arena. In a crowd of NPCs, you will need to determine which of the characters on your screen were just AI and which were your human enemies trying to hunt you down. It was both observation and action, and as far as it fits with the mechanics and themes of the game, it fits perfectly.
I remember the adrenaline rush when
I had to stand my ground in a crowd, knowing full well that the killer was on his way to kill me. My hands started to sweat as I saw them approach, their character model vacillating, wondering if you were their target. And then they get confused. They turn their backs or maybe kill the wrong person in the crowd. You can take revenge, surprise them and run back into the crowds of people to find a new place to disguise. The ultimate hide and seek game.
The four games featured multiple modes that changed the nature of multiplayer here and there. While it was always about staying undetected and staying alive, there were many tasks to complete. You’re not the only one who can do a backflip, baby, everyone’s as smart as you.
It feels like in multiplayer you will feel like a killer in some way.
Ubisoft loves online multiplayer. From Tom Clancy games to Watch Dogs Legion, it offers a wide range of online experiences. Perhaps after Unity failed to impress, it was decided that Assassin’s Creed was best suited for a single-player game. Perhaps not enough people played the multiplayer game to make it worth the effort, even with the cosmetics and abilities it encouraged players to buy.
