The Birth of a Gaming Dynasty

The very first Assassin’s Creed was revolutionary and groundbreaking in the gaming industry when it released way back in November of 2007. The game changed the standards that modern games still follow to this day. The first game became a pioneer in the stealth game genre, along with parkour being used in games the way it is all these years later. The first game is responsible for building an empire in the gaming industry by turning the Assassin’s Creed series into a dynasty. The game was responsible for inspiration that games today still use. It did this by powerful storytelling, revolutionary gameplay mechanics, and changing the industry with something nobody had ever seen before in a game. The fact that the first Assassin’s Creed almost never existed goes to show you that the developers at Ubisoft knew they had a great idea on their hands, and capitalized on their creativity.

The first Assassin's Creed almost never happened because the developers initially saw the game as an expansion to a prior Ubisoft game known as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which was released in 2003. The first game in the Assassin’s Creed series was seen as a small story DLC to another game, and it is a good thing Ubisoft trusted their instincts and proceeded to capitalize on the idea they created. The game was originally titled Prince of Persia: Assassin’s, before being abandoned and turned into its own standalone game which became the Assassin’s Creed series we know today. It is hard to believe a franchise with as much popularity and success as this one almost never existed. The series turned into a juggernaut of gaming franchises, and it all started with the first release in 2007.

The first Assassin’s Creed game told the story of Altair Ibn-La’Ahad and his journey in the historical time period of the Third Crusade. It takes place in the Holy Land in locations such as Jerusalem, Damascus, and more. The setting that was featured was a perfect place to start in as the location has yet to be revisited or reused almost 19 years and countless sequels later. It shows that the first game was set in a great and ideal time period that would captivate fans and start its rise to fame. The game, as we see today, focuses heavily on stealth and parkour. The ability to traverse and leap across the map all while sneaking around is a feature not seen in many video games before its 2007 debut. Fans loved the ability to explore the open world and follow the journey that the protagonist, Altair started. The game is still seen today as potentially the most groundbreaking release in history. Especially so given the fact of the dynasty it started.

The first Assassin’s Creed focused heavily on stealth gameplay mechanics and using secrecy to complete objectives. Although a lot of the missions were faced with some repetitive aspects such as eavesdropping and tailing a target, it was the first of its kind, so although it certainly became repetitive after some time, it included elements that no other games included before the release of this game. It is no surprise the game was a financial hit by selling over 8 million copies worldwide and selling 2.5 million copies alone in its first month. These are very impressive numbers given the unfamiliarity all gamers had with it at first. It is evident the game was so desirable to gamers back in 2007 just based on the game itself compared to reputation status. It is even more impressive the game sold as well as it did as the first Assassin’s Creed title has yet to receive any port, remaster, or remake using modern technology and adding it to current platforms. The game remains only playable on the very dated and unsupported PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles and released on PC as well. Its lack of availability on modern hardware is a debate many fans have started over the years by asking the developers to start a full on remake of the original classic. It is understandable why gamers would want such a classic and monumental game released for modern platforms in an era where remakes and remasters are all the rage.

It would have been difficult to believe the idea of the empire of a franchise the Assassin’s Creed brand would become back in 2007. Nobody could have predicted how the Assassin’s Creed series would end up becoming one of the best-selling gaming franchises of all time if this was prior to the original release over 18 years ago. The greatest thing the developers at Ubisoft did was building off the momentum the first game created, and not letting its popularity die down. They started work on a sequel shortly after the first game was a smash hit, and the rest became history. The original Assassin’s Creed game belongs on a small list of games that changed the industry forever. It is responsible for starting one of the biggest gaming dynasties ever created and inspired the way other developers built their own games by using the techniques Ubisoft used when building the first game in the series. Its impact on the world cannot be understated, and there's no doubt decades from now the original Assassin’s Creed game will be in history books one day.