It may seem like theAssassin’s Creedfranchise only just broke onto the scene as a launch title for the PlayStation 3, promising a wealth of exploration thanks to its innovative parkour system. That first game is in fact almost 16 years old, and there have beena grand total ofthirteensequels(includingAssassin’s Creed Mirage) that have followed in its wake. The franchise is now one of the most recognizable in gaming and is the flagship series of renowned developer Ubisoft.
While much has changed about the series – from its combat systems to its adherence to (or straying from)historical events and locations– the one factor that has remained consistent in every entry is the titular assassin’s gift of parkour. Every member of the Creed, regardless of the time period they hail from, has traversed their native locale by climbing up buildings and leaping off into hay bales below. However, not every parkour system is created equal.
The third game in what has become known as the “RPG Trilogy,“Assassin’s Creed Valhallachanges little about theparkour systems found inOriginsandOdyssey. The “climb anything” approach taken in these games – heavily inspired byBreath of the Wild– removes much of the thought behind the climbing systems in favor of encouraging player freedom.
The problem when it comes toAssassin’s Creed Valhallais that the vast majority of the game’s exploration takes place across the open fields of 9th-century England. There is very little to actually climb in the game world besides rocky cliffs, and even when Eivor comes across a major city, buildings are small, two-to-three-story structures that don’t offer the kind of verticality that the series' previous entries provided.
The first game in the franchise was released to a ton of hype. Players were fascinated by the historical setting and strange sci-fi narrative. However, the actual gameplay, while still fun, was lacking in many areas, making the game as a whole feel unpolished.
Combat was extremely rudimentary, and could be mastered to the point of trivialization within a few hours. The parkour, while novel at the time, felt stunted. It was undeniably a thrill to go from running through the streets to scaling up a vertical wall to get to a rooftop, there was very little else going on to make the exploration side of things feel engaging.
The other two entries in the aforementioned “RPG Trilogy” succeeded whereAssassin’s Creed Valhallafailed by solving its most glaring issue. While the “climb anything” system was still in place, essentially eliminating any thought behind the climbing itself, these two entries in the franchise at least gave the player interesting structures to climb.
The parkour systems in these games still left much to be desired when compared to the more engaging climbing found in previousAssassin’s Creedgames. There is no denying that scaling the Great Pyramids as Bayek orclimbing a massive statue of Athenaas Kassandra/Alexios was a thrill. The luster wore off soon enough, but even into the late game, there were still moments of awe that only Assassin’s Creed could create.
The franchise’s journey to the Americas was a bit of a mixed bag. There is no question that the actual missions in these entries were lacking,particularly inAssassin’s Creed 3,but the parkour mechanics were a big step forward compared to their predecessors.
The major change inAssassin’s Creed 3was Connor’s ability to parkour across nature. Trees, rocks, and cliffs were suddenly wide open playgrounds, where before they had been frustrating invisible walls. Not every aspect of these games was gripping, it was exhilarating to charge through the forests of the Frontier as Connor, or through the Louisiana bayou as Aveline, and ambush a group of Redcoats from the trees above.
While there weren’t a ton of changes made to the parkour systems betweenAssassin’s Creed 3andAssassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag,what did change was how developer Ubisoft allowed the parkour to interact with the game world. Also, they added boats.
Edward Kenway and Shay Cormac possess identical abilities to Connor and Aveline, but the protagonists fromBlack FlagandRoguevisit far more interesting locales in which to use them. Edward travels to uncharted tropical islands and explores them like Nathan Drake. Shay, meanwhile, ventures to the chilly Northern Hemisphere. The way the parkour systems integrated with boat combat also made forsome fantastic pirate sim moments.
Coming just two years after the firstAssassin’s Creed,Assassin’s Creed 2took the parkour systems and polished them to near-perfection for the era. Ezio was far more nimble than Altair. He could swim, he could swing himself around corners on hanging pots, and he could launch himself to a rooftop via rope line.
Venice made for a far more engaging playground, with canals and cramped buildings stretching from end to end.Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’sRome was much the same, and while the two games share identical parkour systems, few feelings can match scaling the old Roman Coliseum to get a view of the surrounding landscape.
The conclusion of the “Ezio Trilogy” saw the iconic assassin, nowan old man, travel to Constantinople for his final adventure. While he lost none of his sure-footedness in the intervening years, Ezio added a few tools to his repertoire to suit the new environment, namely: the hookblade.
The hookblade allowed Ezio to make jumps across Constantinople’s slightly wider streets, and latch on to ziplines to cross large distances much more quickly. While it seemed to be a minor addition on the surface, it added just enough newness to elevateRevelations’parkour systems above other entries in Ezio’s trilogy.
Out with the new, in with the old. Ubisoft heard the criticisms ofValhallaand decided to take theAssassin’s Creedfranchise back to its roots.Mirageis a return to the days ofAssassin’s Creed Brotherhood, with just one major city to explore and a more involved approach to climbing than what was seen in the “RPG Trilogy.”
Miragealso tooka more stealth-focused approachto its gameplay, something fans had been clamoring for from the franchise for ages. In doing so, the parkour and climbing become more than just traversal mechanics, but integral elements towards tracking and assassinating Basim’s targets. While there isn’t exactly a feeling of “newness” to the game’s parkour, the nostalgic return to the old days is still refreshing.
The most modern era the franchise has ever been set in,Syndicatetook the same parkour system found inUnityand added one simple tool: a grapple gun. Given that 1860s London had widened its streets to accommodate the abundance of carriages that traveled them, such a tool was necessary to give the assassins the kind of mobility they required.
The thing is, that same adjustment left something to be desired. The grapple was not so much a tool for experimentation as a specific item to be used at specific times. Very little creativity was involved in deploying it, and the fact that players had to stop moving in order to fire off a grapple meant that the parkour actually slowed down significantly with its inclusion.
Set in Paris in the late 1700s,Assassin’s Creed: Unitycame on the scene with a revamped parkour system intended to make players feel more nimble than ever. However, the game’s launch was plagued with bugs, which cast a shadow over any innovation.
That’s unfortunate, becauseUnityhas, by far, the best parkour system in the franchise. Arno is far more fleet-footed than any of the other assassins, with a dedicated button to parkour down buildings as well as up them, and a huge variety of animations for various traversal situations foundthroughout the bustling city of Paris.It’s a parkour system that players are still discovering new details about to this day, and one that many fans are begging Ubisoft to return to.
