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Starter Guide focussing on Norway for new players looking to begin their Assassin's Creed Valhalla adventure. Community Guides Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Huntsman Gear Guide By Aaron Young 26/3/21 Share Top Stories The Assassin's Creed Community are raising money for Ocean Conservancy. Donate today After the relatively long intro in Norway, you will no doubt be eager to find a new armour set when you arrive in England. One of the easier sets to claim is the Huntsman, which can be found in the opening areas of England. All items can be found in-game without the need for DLC or micro-transactions. All gear sets in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will not only provide the player with an aesthetic look, but also stats and bonuses that increase Eivor’s strength. Further to this, your gear will also be aligned to one of the three branches of the skill tree. The Huntsman set follows the wolf skill line and therefore will benefit from any skill points you have placed here. It is also good to consider the set bonus perks that are different for each armour set. The Huntsman gear provides you with a nice Viking look and leans heavily into an archer playstyle. The two bonuses for equipping the Huntsman set are in the image below. It is good to remember that the more pieces of the set you wear, the bigger the bonus. It is not essential though, and you can mix gear for interesting perks. Edited by Ashlea Buckley The Huntsman Set Interview with Magnus Bruun - Eivor Assassins' Creed Valhalla Merchandise Guide Q&A with Abubakar Salim - Bayek of Siwa TOWCB Plans for 2021 Netflix announce upcoming live-action Assassin's Creed series Female Vikings: The Real History Building an Assassin's Creed Community: Getting Started Mentors Guild Announcement Interview with Benoit Richer: Valhalla Co-Dev Game Director Interview with Eric Baptizat: AC Valhalla Game Director Interview with Jordan Van Andel (JorRaptor) Colours in Assassin's Creed: A Short Review 6 ways to stay entertained in the Assassin's Creed Community during isolation Interview with Carlos Ferro - Da Vinci 5 ways you can support TOWCB Interview with Jesper Kyd Top Stories How to Get the Huntsman Gear Set The Huntsman Cape This seems like it could be more difficult than it actually is. Your best route is to take your Longship up river to Templebrough Fort in Ledecestrescire. The Huntsman Helm This one can be a little trickier. The helm can be found at Tonnastadir fort in Ledecestrescire. It is a heavily guarded area, which can be difficult early in the game. You will come here as part of the Ledecestrescire story arc, and I would suggest waiting until then to collect the helm. Hopefully these tips will help you get started on your Viking adventure. Valhalla is a wonderful game full of intrigue and mystery with a story that sucks you in slowly. Be patient and take your time, you will not regret it. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who recently joined TOWCB AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer. Throughout 2021, Aaron and other writers will be joining the admin team in a collaborative effort to create an Assassin's Creed Valhalla Guide Database, which you can find here . Twitter Aaron Young Save 10% on officially licensed Assassin's Creed Origins merchandise with the code "TOWCB" Unfortunately you cannot obtain all of the set pieces in the same region. There are five gear items to collect, with three in Grantebridgescire and the other two in Ledecestrescire. The Power Levels of these regions should not pose too much of a problem, as when you arrive in England both Grantebridgescire and Ledecestrescire are early story destinations. That being said, all of the Huntsman armour is well guarded so you will need to either fight your way to it or use stealth. Grantebridgescire and Ledecestrescire are both Power Level 20, so following the story would be the best way of attaining this set. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has four tiers for gear pieces: Grey (Fine) Red (Superior) Blue (Flawless) Gold (Mythical) When you fine each piece of the Huntsman set it will already be Superior. It is wise to use what resources you have to bring the gear to its highest level, and save your nickel ingots to upgrade the armour to flawless when you return to Gunnar at the Settlement. It is important to note that Ubisoft recently patched Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, implementing the transmogrification feature. This means you can upgrade your gear to the highest level but not have to worry about not liking the look. You can pay fifty coins to Gunnar and he will amend the aesthetic to one of the previous iterations but with the highest stats. The helm is locked behind a gate, so you will first need to head to the longhouse. The key can be found on a table, but be careful as sometimes there will be guards in the room. Once you have the key, head to the metal gate where three guards will be waiting. There is some debris you can drop on them. Either way you will need to dispatch the guards before entering. The helm can be found at the end of the hallway in a chest. The Huntsman Armour The chest piece is probably the most difficult to obtain. It can be found in Ravensburg outpost, Grantebridgescire. This outpost is part of the story arc so waiting until then is a good option. The cloak can be found in a tower situated in the middle of the river. Just climb the tower and shoot the wood hanging to break the floor below. From here jump down and open the chest. There are a few guards so be careful not to been seen, but it is possible to avoid them altogether. You will find the chest containing the armour in the main hut at the centre of the enemy camp. Despite the camp being well guarded it is possible to get all the way to the hut unnoticed. You may wish to tactically remove some of the guards just so if you are caught you will not be overwhelmed. The Huntsman Vambraces The vambraces are hidden behind a waterfall in Grantebridgescire. The location is not too far from your settlement. Just head south of Ravensthorpe and you will see an area with two sections of water. The vambraces can be found in the first section of water, behind a waterfall. Once you enter the cave you will find another section of water. You will need to dive in and swim underwater until you reach the end. Straight after exiting the water you will see the chest in front of you. The Huntsman Breeches Your final piece to collect will be the breeches. They are situated in Soham hideout, which is on a patch of land not too far from Isle of Ely Monastery, Grantebridgescire. You will want to sneak into the camp and head towards the large stone building in the centre. Inside you will find a chest containing the breeches. You may also need to dispatch some of the guards. There are two sat at a table in the main building, making it difficult to sneak up on them, so be careful. Once you have all the gear items, you can return to Gunnar to upgrade them. Don’t forget to take a look at the transmogrification feature. It is also worth mentioning that you can pay travellers for information regarding the location of gear items (represented on the map by a question mark)

The Gaming Library: How Assassin’s Creed Influenced My Interest in History Books Other Share 12 Feb 2024 Written By: Edited By: Michael Smith Colum Blackett Back To Database Banner by Thea Marie Rivedal (Moonchildgecko) from TOWCB Art Team. Collecting has been my favorite hobby since I was a child. Whether it be games, comics, trading cards, or random items with a shared theme, I was always driven to collecting. As I grew, my focus would change and my collections would be the funding to help me start my next pivot at reaching an undetermined and unmet goal of having an interest to talk about. This would continue with only one collection ever growing, my gaming library. Each year (or sooner) I would find myself bored with my current system and with no way of getting money to purchase something new, I would gather what I owned, go to a game store and trade it all in towards a different console, usually something older as they were cheaper at the time. In 2020 I made a decision to pivot my collecting of games for the Nintendo Switch, to the Xbox family of systems. Selling most of my games, I was able to fund a secondhand system (and later a Series X) and start a new collection of game series that I had interest in or had played before and wanted to revisit. It was a quick way to build my library up again and play games that I actually wanted to and not ones that I felt like I had to because I purchased them for my shelves. One of these series was Assassin’s Creed. A few months after starting this new gaming journey, I began expanding my collection for the Assassin’s Creed series. Purchasing all of the games, their respective strategy guides, novels, art books, and anything I could get my hands on that were considered content for the full world of this franchise; in addition to collectables like statues and figures. My plan was to layout all of the content and transmedia into one large timeline and play/read everything from the oldest historical time periods to the most recent. This is something I have openly shared in other articles written for The Ones Who Came Before and one of the biggest accomplishments in my years of gaming. Starting with Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, I explored and absorbed the history of Ancient Greece. I wanted to search every inch of the map to complete the game in its fullest form and try to catch up on the series as I was very behind, with Valhalla being the current game at the time. After finishing the game and reading the extra content in the strategy guide and art book, I moved to the novelization of the game and then onto AC Origins. This trend will continue as I work through the series, where I am currently in the 18th Century during the Golden Age of Piracy. As I continue, I keep revisiting older centuries while new content is released, waiting for more from Assassin’s Creed Mirage at the time of this writing. In June of 2022, I was walking around a local bookstore and saw a series of museum photo books for Ancient Greece, Egypt, Rome, and the Viking era. I gathered them and flipped through a few pages to see what they were and sparked the idea of building a library to help me learn more about the real world history that is laid out in the Assassin’s Creed games so that I could have a better understanding and experience when I replay the games in the future. Prior to this visit, I had finished reading Kate Heartfield’s first entry in the Assassin’s Creed Engine of History trilogy; The Magus Conspiracy . In this story, Assassin in training, Simeon Price studies under the mentorship of Oscar Kane and is tasked not just in the art of stealth and combat, but also studies to better his education. Listed in various parts of the book, Simeon reads tomes of great historical value to mankind. This was the first time that an Assassin’s Creed story has provided insight to the materials an Assassin would study. Opening the digital copy I kept on my phone, I went to my highlighted notes and looked at the books Simeon read. Two of them I knew to be easily available so I searched for them with the assistance of an employee and left with the four previously mentioned museum books and a copy of the 1818 text edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall . The former was a book that Simeon was tasked in reading and the former was used in comparison of the creation and rebellion of Frankenstein’s monster to that of the humans to the Isu race; the ancient civilization behind the lore of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. I purchased these two books and when I returned home, I started my comment thread on Twitter to catalogue and share my progress on this new project. Over the course of the next few months, I started scrubbing through the Assassin’s Creed transmedia items in my collection, looking for references to any book in their pages. When I started a new game, such as Black Flag, I would document the books that were used for the codex, mentioned in conversation, or referenced in the Modern Day content or the supplementary strategy guide and art book. I would continue to do this for each new media I consumed and at some point, I will go through the games I have already finished when I work through my timeline the second time. While doing so I will also make note of figures and events in the games so that I can expand my library past the referenced materials. One of the more entertaining ways of finding books that were used to design the games was through old production videos from Ubisoft and pausing to look at the covers and spines and write down what I found. I luckily had picked up one of these books for Assassin’s Creed Origins titled, Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds without realizing it until I saw the BTS video for it. This just excited me more so when I ran out of videos to review, I reached out to a few people around the internet to gather additional book titles and would ask authors for their lists of research books for the novels I would read going forward. Since I started I have collected 81 books covering nearly all of the time periods that have been depicted in the Assassin’s Creed series. Each section is noticeable, especially next to the games that were based around them, and Ancient Greece seems to be the largest group of books. What is funny about collecting is that I don’t read everything right away, so of the 81 books I own, I have only read 10 of them. I’m reading these sporadically, but collecting is the fun part. It is because of Assassin’s Creed that I have an actual interest in history now. In all games and media that I consume these days, I am listening for period appropriate texts and plan on continuing this collection once I finish the AC series with other game titles. Wanting to learn more about the contents of history so that I can better understand the games is enjoyable and I’ve learned a lot in doing so. I think about the future, of having a library that I can not only enjoy, but share with others. Not knowing where the series will go, or if it will even continue after the next decade, I can guarantee that my exploration of history will continue with other games & media. My most recent purchases have been based around the Middle East and The Golden Age of Piracy. I received books for Christmas tied to Assassin’s Creed: Mirage and Assassin’s Creed: The Golden City in addition to books I purchased about the pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy as seen in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag . I wasn’t aiming to get these specifically, but they were what first caught my eye and I had been wanting a few of them for a while (mainly the pirate books). This weekend I plan on going out again to see what I can find and maybe one day I can find and afford to purchase an original printing of an old book such as The Prince by Machiavelli, or a first edition of The Hunchback of Notre Dame as that would be a great focal point to my library. My love of the franchise has only grown with my yearning to learn more about history. Having the opportunity to look into the process of the developers and how they make the games, studying as Shaun Hastings would to assist Desmond Miles. For now though, I await to see what knowledge I will read from Feudal Japan, the witch hunts of Germany, the Great Wall of China and onwards. History has become my playground, much like Ubisoft sings from this franchise and the creed of the Assassins Brotherhood. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Mike Smith is a collector of all things Assassin's Creed and a major supporter of transmedia who joined TOWCB as a writer from 2021 - 2024 With nearly a full library of Assassin's Creed media, his work explored the universe in order of Genetic Memory. Notably, his Assassin's Creed Timeline became an essential tool for fans of the franchise looking to complete their collection and consume AC media in a particular order. Michael Smith

Wales Comic Con 2024: Wrexham Log Events Share 9 Apr 2024 Written By: Edited By: TOWCB Team Colum Blackett Back To Database We had a ton of fun at Wales Comic Con in Wrexham! It was great to see a life-sized statue of Ratonhnhaké:ton (Connor) on display in the Main Hall! Colum Blackett (@ Col_96 ) & Michael Doyle ( Michael_Doyle03 ) from TOWCB core team were practicing hidden blade techniques. Check out our video log on Tiktok or Youtube ! Until next time Assassins.. Safety & Peace. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author A collection of articles from The Ones Who Came Before team. TOWCB Team

This Week in Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography: 31st to 6th August Community Share 8 Aug 2023 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Back To Database Welcome to the weekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from The AC Partnership Program. Every week I will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. Aaron is a keen virtual photographer and loves to post his journeys through Assassin’s Creed on Twitter. Keep an eye on the site as more weekly shots are added, we are looking for captures across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture for a chance to be featured. This week’s theme: Assassin’s Creed Let’s Dive In Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ISAchan_97 “To perform the leap of faith, you must give yourself over to something greater” To serve the light is a great questline in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and exists to teach Eivor the ways of the brotherhood. As a Viking all the skulking around in the shadows seems alien. I like that Hytham and Eivor have a connection through the bureau in Ravensthorpe. This epic shot encapsulates Eivor attempting a leap of faith after Hytham’s teachings. The timing here is excellent with Eivor’s arms spread wide like an eagle. Fantastic choice of outfit too, it’s a shame this set did not become Eivor’s classic ‘Assassin’ robes. Phobos Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @WallyDaGreat66 “You’ve chosen the great Phobos. He’s never let me down” Phobos is Kassandra’s horse of choice in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. He accompanies Kassandra all across Greece after being gifted to her by Markos early in the story. There were so many skins for Phobos depending on your chosen style he could look as grounded or extreme as you wanted. Fun fact is Phobos means fear in Greek. This capture of your trusty steed is so striking, I love the lighting and how it is amplifying the stunning details of the horse. The facial position is perfect and the depth of field adds to the beauty. Warrior of the North Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @artschoolglasses “I do not seek battles. Battle just seem to seek me” Scotland was always out of reach for Eivor, apart from the Isle of Skye DLC which was such a nice surprise. It is a shame we don’t get to venture beyond the wall but then again it is never a wise thing to do. Many a Viking failed in their attempts to take Scotland. For me this shot of Eivor Varinsdottir surveying the snowy landscapes of the north gracefully sums up Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. She came from snowy Norway to battle through England and arrive back in the north. I adore the position of this capture with the mountains spectacularly on view in the background. I also love the snowy tree tops and for me the best armour set in the game, what more could I ask for. Northman Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @theonlyjess_vp “Basim fills your head with twisted prophecies” Eivor and Sigurd are so close, but as time goes on Sigurd becomes brain washed by Basim and the brothers bond becomes frail. This is mostly down to Sigurd seeking higher glory and forgetting that he is a Viking at heart. Eivor in this capture embodies the role of both Northman and Odin outstandingly well. I love this portrait and everything about it, the depth of field and colour tones are on point. The hair and beard combo works so well and the Raven tattoo heeds the connection to Odin. Got to love that raven skin with the bone armour, such a nice touch to put the wayfinder symbol on the headpieces. Footprints in the Sand Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins VP Artist: @KaiVirtualPhoto “We must sacrifice our personal lives for the greater good” One thing that really impressed most people when playing Origins is the minimalistic beauty of the desert. The way Ubisoft built the Origins world is nothing short of excellence. Bayek often finds himself wandering the desert in search of his next target. This capture has the wow factor, partly because shots with the minimalist vibe are hard to pull off. I applaud the saturation of the sand and the footprints left behind by Bayek, excellent little details that bring this shot alive. It just leaves you wondering where Bayek is going? The Ones Who Came Before Photo of the Week Judge: @TuridTorkil This shot is a great combination of timing, lighting and angle. It's minimalistic yet vivid at the same time. I know how tricky it can be to get a proper picture of running characters. I am highly impressed by this capture. And that sums it up for this week’s Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out this week’s photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next week keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

This Week in Assassin's Creed Virtual Photography: Feb 19th - Feb 25th 2022 Community Share 3 Mar 2022 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the new weekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from The AC Partnership Program. Every week, we will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. Aaron is a keen virtual photographer and loves to post his journeys through Assassin’s Creed on Twitter. Keep an eye on the site as more weekly shots are added, we are looking for capture across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture for a chance to be featured. 1) Rainbow Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla This week’s first capture comes from @PodToGo over on Twitter. A creepy shot is first up this week. It looks like one of the druid camps in Ireland. I am not sure I have seen a rainbow in Valhalla so far. What I like about this capture is the stone structures and the shrine which are covered in this green haze. The raven flying away also seems like an omen, making the scene very atmospheric. 2) Paris Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Photo number two comes from @WorldviewVP over on Twitter. This picture looks like it comes straight from the Assassin’s Creed Atlas book. For me City shots are the essence of Assassin’s Creed. This is usually where the enemies hide and plot their schemes. Although smaller in scale, it is cool to compare this capture to ones from Unity just to see the difference. 3) Burning Lands Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins This week’s third shot comes from @coalabr14 over on Twitter. I really like this capture. The glow from the sun breaking through the clouds casting a shadow over the burnt lands of Egypt. I love the silhouette of Senu and Bayek watching over a military encampment planning their next move. 4) The Archer Game: Assassin’s Creed III VP number four comes from @AHeinemann over on Twitter. Nice to see a different Assassin’s Creed game feature in this article. As I have said before archery capture are my favourite. What drew me to this shot was the dark night with the moon as a focal point adding some light to the scene. Connor looks impressive with his dark outfit and his half drawn bow. This bow was such a game changer back then, but now it is a staple of any AC game. 5) Falcon Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla The final capture of the week comes from @starlingspecks over on twitter. My bird of choice in Valhalla and also the inspiration for my gamertag. I love this shot, the stars and the clouds are a great backdrop to Eivor’s magnificent companion. The details on Synin are so impressive and this capture really showcases that. And that sums it up for this week’s Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out this week’s photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next week keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

Music Release: East Again - An Original AC Mirage Inspired Instrumental by Gustav Poulsen Community Share 22 Mar 2024 Written By: Edited By: Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon) Colum Blackett Back To Database We are thrilled to announce that a new original instrumental composed and recorded by TOWCB Team member Gargudon ( Gustav Poulsen ) inspired by the world Assassin's Creed Mirage is available now on streaming platforms! The track acts as a tribute to the newest instalment in the franchise, returning East where everything began. Here is the ambient visualiser video, featuring gameplay recorded in and taken directly from the game by Isu_Network admin UbiCypher ! Let us know your thoughts on the track in the comments, and stay tuned for more original music! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Gustav / Gargudon is an active community member, who started out in podcast hosting in 2016, but today mostly specialises in video creation, interviews & composing. By joining The Ones Who Came Before in 2019, originally reviving 'The Memory Corridor' podcast, which had been offline for nearly a year, he has had the opportunity to expand his audience and further develop his skills.

 His unique skill set made him the perfect candidate for our team. Among other things, he is known in the community for the Sounds Of History project - an original Assassin’s Creed inspired instrumental music project, featuring five tracks inspired by as many different games - other original fan themes plus covers of iconic AC tracks, as well as video interviews with a number of high profile names in the world of AC, from Roger Craig Smith, Jesper Kyd and more. Fun fact, among his growing colourful tattoo collection, Gustav is the only member of our team to have the TOWCB logo inked. Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon)

Yasmin is a Digital Artist based in Melbourne, Australia who discovered the Assassin's Creed series in 2019. Since then she has fallen in love with the franchise and created beautiful realistic digital artworks of several of the main characters. By joining TOWCB, we hope to introduce Yasmin to the AC Community by collaborating on a number of exciting projects such as art releases and podcasts. Previous Next Yasmin Page Artist Yasmin is a Digital Artist based in Melbourne, Australia who discovered the Assassin's Creed series in 2019. Since then she has fallen in love with the franchise and created beautiful realistic digital artworks of several of the main characters. By joining TOWCB, we hope to introduce Yasmin to the AC Community by collaborating on a number of exciting projects such as art releases and podcasts. Instagram | ArtStation | Tumblr | Twitter Work

Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography: 3rd to 14th February Community Share 8 Mar 2025 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Renzo Back To Database Welcome to the biweekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from the AC Partnership Program. Every two weeks we will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. This theme has been run by the TOWCB VP team. We have been monitoring the hashtag and the community hub to see all your wonderful shots. Keep an eye on the site as more shots are added, we are looking for captures across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to #ACFirstCivVP for a chance to be featured. Theme: Assassin’s Creed The Great Sand Sea Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins VP Artist: @ summers458.bsky.social The Ones Who Came Before Photo of the Week Judge: @ turidtorkil.bsky.social Such a breathtaking image would hardly be possible to capture in real life, but equally as difficult to achieve in virtual photography. The sun perfectly in the centre, the silhouette of our protagonist and his mount clearly visible but seamlessly integrated into the overall picture. A great composition that deserves a place on the wall. Aaron The beauty of Assassin’s Creed Origins will never cease to amaze me. As we sit on the cusp of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, reflecting back at the RPG games that came before, it is easy to forget how fantastic they all look. Origins will be eight this year and looking every bit as good as it did at launch. I must say this capture is right up there with my favourites from Origins. The composition and range are breathtaking, and the dunes look ultra realistic. There is certainly a fine art feel to this photo thanks to the soft tones. That sun is so powerful that I am feeling warm just looking at it. Bayek on his horse in the distance makes the shot for me. The bright sun next to the shadowy figure. The epitome of a Hidden One, working in the dark to serve the light. Artic Fox Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ m_nt_13 Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has such a great selection of wildlife throughout the game. However, the outstanding environments of Norway, along with the critters that live there, really stand out. The artic fox was definitely one of my favourites. Which makes it no surprise that we have featured this fantastic shot of a snowy fox wandering the mountains. This, for me, is a perfect example of animal photography. The composition and portrait style really showcases the vastness of the Norwegian fjords. I really like the fox’s stance, especially the paw held up and the head tilted to the side. You can tell it has just sensed a lumbering Viking trudging through the snow not too far away. The Day of the Jackal Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins VP Artist: @ xephon-70.bsky.social One thing I always thought Assassin's Creed Origins nailed was the use of the Gods. The Egyptians were renowned for their worship to the deities so it would have been strange not to explore these avenues. Having the Anubis outfit for Bayek was pretty cool and it fits so well with the story given the path of vengeance Bayek undertook. I think this is a sensational portrait of our hero dressed as the protector of graves and guide to the afterlife. The bright white background contrasts excellently with the black of the armour, acting as a metaphor for the Assassins. I particularly like the level of detail too, further enhancing the quality of this capture. I Never Sleep Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins VP Artist: @ charapof.bsky.social Assassin’s Creed Origins became the tenth new entry into this wonderful franchise and along with it a photo mode. You could say it was the perfect game for us virtual photographers as many went wild snapping amazing Egyptian vistas, and its captivating hero. Here we have a truly remarkable image of Bayek and Senu looking out across the desert. I adore the warm tones of this capture alongside the beautiful sand dunes, which add layers to the shot. Silhouettes always look good but this one in particular caught my attention. The black outline of our heroes really contrasts brilliantly with the colour palette of the background. A father and his companion seeking solace in the wilderness. Colourful Game: Assassin’s Creed Mirage VP Artist: @ SGVphoto It’s sad to say but we are a few weeks away from the curtain falling on Assassin’s Creed Mirage. A game that has largely gone under the radar but quietly reinvigorated the series with its blend of old and new. Shadows will soon take the mantle as the newest game, so a capture like this feels fitting to close out our article. This a beautiful photo that uses colour so elegantly. It’s quite amazing how there is a mix of blue, purple and orange in the sky. I love how the light is reflecting off the water. The sun setting in the background and Basim walking to it really has a feeling of closure. Although I am doubtful this is the last time we will see this complexed hero. And that sums it up for this Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out the photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next time keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

From Origins to Odyssey: Could Assassin's Creed be heading to Greece? Wishlists Share 13 May 2018 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database We are now less than a month away from E3 2018, and several rumours are stating that the next Assassin's Creed game will be set in Ancient Greece, this game is rumoured to be titled Odyssey. This means that the game is likely to act as a sequel to AC Origins, potentially confirming initial rumours which revealed that Ubisoft were working on an ancient trillogy (Egypt, Greece, Rome). Although nothing official has been revealed about the game, we can assume that it will have similarities to Origins. Here are my thoughts on the potential features that should be included in a Greek Assassin's Creed game. (In no particular order) An Established Brotherhood One of the big problems with Assassin's Creed Origins was 'The Hidden Ones' faction, a proto-Assassin order with no clear tenets or goals other than stopping the order than stopping the Order of Ancients and protecting the innocent. Other than the ambiguous drives and goals of the group, other than Bayek and Aya, are quite simply not memorable. As I'm writing this, I can only actually think of a couple (Taharka's son Phanos and Tahira). One of the reasons for this could be because The Hidden Ones act individually, and are rarely seen together in the same location. Many of the interactions between The Hidden Ones are done via messages sent between bureaus. This is unusual for an Assassin's Creed game, and make it difficult to understand each member's role within the group. For example, in the Ezio games, we would be present at Assassin meetings, and would hear everyone's thoughts on missions and strategies. For AC Odyssey, it would be clearer for the audience to understand the drives and motives of the group if we were able to see them interacting together (as was the case in Origins). An established brotherhood, with a clear plan and philosophy is definitely needed in the next game. Return of Bayek and Aya Bayek is arguably one of the best characters we have seen in the franchise for a long time, and deserves to be in another game. Whilst it is unlikely Bayek will be the main character in the next game, as it's been a while since Ubisoft took this approach with the franchise (Ezio games), it would certainly be interesting to see Bayek return as a side character. An older Bayek would be a great mentor to the next generation of Hidden Ones. Furthermore, Aya/Amunet was also a strong character in Origins, showing real strength and conviction during missions. Her transformation from Aya to Amunet left her as a shell of her former self, embodying a cold and calculating proto-Assassin. Although Aya's character thoroughly changed, traces of her old self could still be seen when interacting with Bayek,showing that she still cares about him. If an Assassin's Creed game were to take place in Greece, we could potentially see Aya develop even further as a person, and watch the final process of her transformation. It would also be interesting to see the conclusion of the marriage between Aya and Bayek. Will they, or wont they get back together? Either way, there's more story left to be told for these two. Explore the relationship between Aya & Khemu One thing that was noticable in Assassin's Creed Origins was the representation of grief. It's true that everyone experiences grief in different ways, but the game showed Bayek as a man dealing with real internal struggle over his son's death, whilst Aya focussed solely on getting revenge, and therefore we never see her taking the time to properly grieve. We hear that Aya was unable to accept the loss of her son, so she moves back to Alexandria, whilst Bayek dedicates his time to Egypt as a Medjay. Bayek was the only one present at the event, a horrific moment that changed his life forever. Whilst we see Bayek's interactions with Khemu during flashbacks, dreams and missions, the relationship between Aya and her son is scarcely featured. As the death of Khemu was an event that acted as a drive for both Aya and Bayek, it's something that would be interesting to see in a sequel. For every star gazing puzzle solved by Bayek and Khemu, there was surely a mother-son moment that was neglected from the game. These could be valuable interactions that Aya remembers fondly and could allow us to better understand her character and what motivates her as a member of The Hidden Ones. Participation in Historical Events Although Bayek and Aya participated in the political side of Ancient Egypt's history, it's fair to say that they didn't participate in actual documented historical events such as war etc. Once again, this was a new move for the franchise, with several previous instalments feeling unrealistic due to too much participation. (AC3: Connor was basically one of the sons of liberty. Unity: Templars cause the French Revolution conditions). I personally think that documented historical events should take place in all AC games, as long as the Assassin/Templar conflict remains secret. A great example of this is the Siege of Viana in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, where the historical event is the backdrop to the conflict between Cesare Borgia and Ezio.Although we did learn a lot about Ancient Egypt in AC Origins, and the political struggle between the Ptolemys, it was lacking in historical events. The Order of Ancients was a great addition to the franchise, but their goals and motives are nearly as ambiguous as the Hidden One's. In an Ancient Greek Assassin's Creed game, it would be interesting to see more documented historical events, outside of politics. However, it is important for Ubisoft to get the balance right for this to work or the game will feel too fictional. - An example of this would be the Olympic Games, which originated in Ancient Greece. Maybe the Order of Ancients used the event as a backdrop for a planned assassination of an Emperor?"Assassins are meant to be quiet. Precise. We do not go announcing conspiracies from the rooftops to all who pass by." (Achilles Davenport) Eagle Vision Explained Assassin's Creed Origins introduced a new ability to the franchise that allowed for Bayek to see through the eyes of his pet eagle, Senu. This was extremely useful for the player, with Senu acting as a personal drone with the ability to attack, distract and tag enemies from above. Bayek is not the first character in the franchise to have control over animals. In Assassin's Creed Reflections #4 , Connor's daughter Io:nhiòte is shown to possess a very similar ability, somehow connecting with an eagle in order to send a message to her father. This very rare form of eagle vision could be down to precursor DNA, but no lore explanation was given in AC Origins.In Assassin's Creed Odyssey, it would be useful for the main character to have both forms of Eagle Vision. Animus Pulse made sens e, but was a weak version in comparison. In or der to learn both versions of the ability, the main character will surely have to develop their senses. For this to happen, a valid lore explanation is needed for this rare form of eagle vision which has now appear ed twice. It's possible that a lore explanation was cut from Assassin's Creed Origins, but the next game should really explain the ability. Modern Day Progress Assassin's Creed Origins was the first game since AC3 that allowed players to control a third person protagonist. Ever since the death of Desmond, fans have been tormented with an inconsistent modern day experience, ranging from nameless first person characters, to limited cutscenes. Readers of the Assassin's Creed Uprising Comics have been following the return of Juno, a storyline that should have taken place in the games. Layla's story was standalone. New fans to the franchise could pick up the game without needing to understand the previously established lore or events. Although Layla was a new character, Ubisoft did a great job in making her seem like she'd been a part of the world for a while. This was done through Email interactions with Sofia Rikkin (AC Movie) and diagolue. It was discovered that Layla was the one who came up with the ideas for the Movie Animus. The Modern Day storyline in Origins shows Layla defying Abstergo, a mistake that ultimately sees her terminated by the company. This leads to Abstergo sending Sigma Team agents to put an end to her unapproved Animus sessions. With the help of the bleeding effect, and an ancient hidden blade, she kills the agents and returns to her portable Animus.Whilst reliving the memories of Bayek, she is interrupted by William Miles, leader of the Assassin Brotherhood. She was then invited to join the Assassins in Alexandria, where she would be able to work on the Animus Project without the rules and regulations enforced by Abstergo. The next game has to show significant modern day storyline progress in order for it to remain relevant. Layla should have training in order to become an Assassin. Hopefully, William is taking her to an Assassin HQ, where she can meet other members of the brotherhood. This is the perfect opportunity for Ubisoft to finally make the Modern Day in the games worthwhile again, revisiting the conflict between the Modern Day Assassins and Templars. If the conflict looks anything like the comics, then we could be in for a treat! Hopefully, Ubisoft have been listening to fans, and deliver a unique and interesting modern day experience Juno needs to start doing things Following on from the last point, Juno needs to either become a threat to the Assassins and Templars, or be removed from the franchise. I personally think that Ubisoft are going with point A, likely removing her in the comics. This is such a shame for the franchise, but incase I'm wrong, and Juno does survive Assassin's Creed Uprising #12 , then she needs to finally start doing things that affect the real world. In the comics, her Instruments of the First Will are brutal, kidnapping the son of Desmond's Miles, and beheading people. It's only a matter of time before Juno has a body again, so it would be great to see her walk amongst her followers (Not in a comic book though), and wreak havock upon the world. As much as i've enjoyed the AC Uprising comics, this storyline is way too big to be shoved in to print, and should have been in the games or another format such as an animated movie. In Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Juno needs to start causing damage to the world, and work towards enslaving mankind. Assassins & Templars are already teaming up to work against her (comics), so the next game would be the perfect moment to show a full scale war between the factions. Fingers crossed this storyline isn't completely resolved in comics. Return of the inventor Assassin's Creed Origins was lacking someone who could modify and equip the brotherhood with new weaponary and tools. AC2/ACB had Leonardo Da Vinci, a good friend of Ezio Auditore who crafted may useful upgrades and enhancements for the Assassin. AC Syndicate had Alexander Graham Bell, who equipped the Assassins with Rope Launchers, Voltaic Bombs and other useful gadgets. It would be extremely useful for someone to return in Assassin's Creed Odyssey who could fill the role of inventor. Bayek had a decent range of tools and weapons, but it's always nice to have more. Throwable smoke bombs for example, rather than just dropping them during conflict. Speaking of bombs, Ezio could also speak to Piri Reis in Revelations, who would help him craft and create a range of combinations.Inventors are extremely useful for the brotherhood, and make the weaponry of an Assassin even deadlier. Perhaps a Greek philosopher can help The Hidden Ones with their arsenal? New Animus Model It's always cool to see the latest technology available from Abstergo, but it's been a long time since we saw an Assassin Animus. As William said in Origins, Layla is free to work on their version of the Animus Project for them. It would be great to see another variation of the Animus in Odyssey, possibly something involving water cooling or motion sensors this time. We've seen some interesting variations, but hopefully Layla gets to experience something a little bit more interesting than the Sarcophagus HR-8 Model.Rebecca Crane has surely been working on something special for the Brotherhood.Hopefully we get to see it in the next game! A few other things worth mentioning Ancient Greek Weaponry: Different style to what we saw in Origins. Possibility of seeing the original Olympic games. Could we see missions set in this content? Possibility of seeing more Pieces of Eden (Not just Apples) Return of Shaun and Rebecca Thanks for reading Assassins!I hope that you enjoyed this article.Let us know your thoughts in the comments! Are you hoping for an AC Game set in Ancient Greece? Do any of the points mentioned here interest you? Are you excited for E3 2018? comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

Assassins Creed Tribute game - TOWCB Interview with Fan Project Game Director Noah Stavish Community Interview Share 9 Apr 2023 Written By: Edited By: Finn Fletcher Colum Blackett Back To Database Back in December, a devoted and skilled group of fans who had spent the past year building their own Assassin Creed game released their first preview video, showcasing initial footage from the project. Now in its early stages, details on gameplay, story and the inspirations are ready to be revealed. Teaser trailer showing the environments of the city of Valletta, located on Quarry Wharf. It’s hard to deny that Assassin's Creed has gone through a bit of an identity crisis in its 15 year long existence, and endless stream of games. Originally lauded for featuring “one of the most unique gameworlds ever created” , the early titles included groundbreaking and innovative approaches to movement, story and the use of history in video games. As the series aged it grew past what once made it special. With the implementation of RPG elements, a stripped down movement system and mythological creatures patrolling the once purely historical settings, it’s hard to find the original ideas that drew audiences to these games so long ago. In lieu of official content to scratch that Assassin itch, a group of long term fans have decided to take on the challenge. “We really just started off with the desire to make a game,” explains game director Noah Stavish . “We didn’t have a single thing in mind for the setting or anything like that. “We just weren’t happy with the direction of the franchise, we’re big fans of the older style games.” “Tribute: An Assassin’s Creed Fan Game”, is a non-profit PC game, currently in development by Erudito Entertainment.'' Set during the French invasion of Malta in 1798, the team aims to bring the franchise back to its roots, with complex parkour and potentially even a few recurring characters. With his cat meowing behind him, I sat down with Noah to learn more about the development process and details of this upcoming game. It started quite earnestly, Noah recalls: “A group of us were talking about making a fan game over on the Assassin's Creed subreddit Discord. We then created our own separate Discord and started seriously discussing the potential locations.” “One of the big things we knew was that we had to have a setting where you play as an Assassin. We want to play as a capital A Assassin.” With this in mind the team created an 800 year period of time to choose a setting between, 1100 (the time of the first game) to 1900, where technology felt too advanced to tell a truly historical tale. Between that, and the gameplay intentions of bringing back complex parkour and detailed stealth mechanics, Malta seemed like the ideal setting; a unique location and period with enough political intrigue and highly populated cities to service a perfect Assassins tale. But, Noah made sure to point out that this setting will be more than just a pretty backdrop. “There’s a lot of really interesting conspiracy and intrigue and politics to play around with.'' “At the time the Knights Hospitaller, the Knights of Malta, started digging into the ancient temples of Malta.'' Concept work for customisable outfits. The team is taking inspiration from the disguise mechanics of Hitman and Assassin’s Creed Liberation, while keeping the visual codes of Assassin robes “We were looking at this, there were reports of this digging continuing throughout the late 18th Century. What were they digging for? “They’re in the middle of a siege and have a department of people going to dig up the site every day. That’s really weird.” It’s within the crevices of histories strangeness that Euridito Entertainment plan to build their story, playing into mysteries like what the Knights Hospitaller were truly upto, or Napoleon's secret motivations. The story itself will follow a young Assassin named Karmena, as she gains new skills to take out the threats that face this island. Harkening back to the Ezio trilogy, her family will be recurring characters, with their safety and own philosophies being constant pressures on Karmena’s actions. It’s all shaping up to be a true spiritual successor to the original titles, with an experienced developer leading the project. Noah told me: “I started off as an indie [developer] back in 2014. Game development has really been a passion, something I wanted to go into. “I ended up working at project contingency, project coral and a few other fan projects. That eventually led to me getting a job with Microsoft, I helped release Crackdown 3, Gears 5, and a couple Minecraft updates.” With this breadth of experience leading the team, and a dedication to the franchise, only one threat really stands in their way. Copyright law. “Shortly after we had the idea I reached out to Ubisoft support to see about whether or not this was allowed. “We didn’t hear from them till a week or two ago when we posted the teaser trailer. I was contacted directly by a Ubisoft representative who was just asking about the project, and I told them we were fully willing to comply with any of their demands.'' “I’m happy to do anything to make them feel secure in their IP.” So far Ubisoft seem to be happy, leaving the project to tick along without intrusion. With a few years of development left however, we will wait and see. Currently, the team are looking for artists and animators, especially those who can work with metahumans and Unreal Engine 5. To find out more about “Tribute” visit their Discord, or their ModDB page. Fact File Originally Assassins Creed was intended to be a spinoff of the Prince of Persia franchise, however as development progressed the team saw the potential of turning it into an original IP. The series' philosophies and historical influences are inspired by the Russian novel Alamut, which explores the real Islamic rebellions during the crusades. A TV adaptation of the series is currently in development by Netflix. At least four official Assassins Creed games are currently in development at Ubisoft, two of which will finally take the player to Asia. Ubisoft hire doctors of history to research the periods the game will be set in, as this allows them to build as accurate as possible depictions of the periods they explore. We would like to say a huge thank you to Noah for joining us for this interview. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Finn is a creative writer from Rotherham, UK who has previously supported TOWCB's Fundraising events, and raised awareness surrounding Men's Mental Health. Finn's writing covers a wide scope, with releases including reviews, interviews and stories. He is known in the AC Community for his 'Pitching an Assassin's Creed Game' series, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website! In February 2026, he left the team to focus on real-world opportunities as a journalist, writing for a newspaper! We're thrilled to see Finn using his skills to build a career! Finn Fletcher

This Week in Assassin's Creed Virtual Photography: 14th - 20th May 2022 Community Share 20 May 2022 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the new weekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from The AC Partnership Program. Every week, we will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. Aaron is a keen virtual photographer and loves to post his journeys through Assassin’s Creed on Twitter. Keep an eye on the site as more weekly shots are added, we are looking for capture across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture for a chance to be featured. 1) Burning Sands Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins This week’s first capture comes from @missroseplays over on Twitter. Photo number one this week is all about the colour. I am loving the deep red of the sand and the purple in the sky. The hero under a shadow walking away from his last mission gives me endgame vibes. It is as if Bayek has fulfilled his destiny and is walking off into the sunset. Such great use of lighting and colour. 2) Arno the Assassin Game: Assassin’s Creed Unity Photo number two comes from @babidk1 over on Twitter. I picked this capture due to the mood, as it has such an Assassin feel to it. You get a real sense of ‘we work in the dark to serve the light’ from this. I love how Arno is on what looks like a Sync point watching over his city. My eye is always drawn to the lighting on the tower, it just looks so mysterious. 3) Traveller Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins This week’s third shot comes from @GirlWYellowEyes over on Twitter. This capture is really cool. What an array of detail and colour amongst a sandy desert. I must admit I have played Origins many times and I do not remember this outfit. Bayek and his camel are very much coordinated in this shot. I am definitely getting Geralt and Roach vibes here, incredible shot. 4) On Point Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins VP number four comes from @juanmawl using the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture hashtag on Twitter. Photo number four brings me right back to the launch trailer of Assassins Creed Origins. Bayek atop a Pyramid looking out across the sun-drenched desert. The standout here for me is the positioning of this capture, as it is lined up so well. I am also a fan of Senu circling Bayek on the Pyramid. 5) The Norse Medjay Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla The final capture of the week comes from @kingforever008 over at ACFirstCiv Community. I cannot quite make out how this shot was taken but it seems like Eivor is mid leap to me. It is great how Assassins Creed Valhalla paid homage to Origins throughout the game. Eivor looks awesome in the Egyptian Armour, giving off real Assassin vibes. Great positioning to have Eivor’s eyes covered by the hood, as it adds to the intrigue. And that sums it up for this week’s Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out this week’s photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next week keep those shots coming in. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

Assassins in Need: Heart of the Creed (2022 Community Fundraiser) Fundraising Share 17 Aug 2022 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database We are pleased to reveal that our 2022 Assassin's Creed Community Fundraiser will run from the 15th August - 10th September 2022! This year's campaign is titled 'Assassins in Need: Heart of the Creed', and will raise money for The British Heart Foundation and The American Heart Association, two incredible organisations providing critical cardiovascular medical research and education to facilities around the world. This lifesaving campaign launched by The Ones Who Came Before in association with various different companies and communities hopes to be our biggest yet, with a target of £1500. Here you can learn more about the 2022 campaign and our partners! This is a cause which we can all get behind, as many of us in the community have lost family members and friends to heart disease or related conditions. Earlier in the year, Assassin's Creed scriptwriter Russell Lees sadly passed away from a heart attack. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time. Our Assassin's Creed community fundraisers have collectively raised over £2500 for various causes, and we hope to once again support a worthwhile cause which can save lives. Thank You Dave Woodward from Assassin's Creed United Kingdom Declan from Let's Talk Assassin's Creed promoting the campaign on his podcast The Maverick (A Hidden One) promoting the campaign onhis TikTok channel. Aaron from the AC Partnership program thanking donors 2022 Partners Links to Assassin's Creed As longtime fans of TOWCB will know, we pick our fundraising causes very carefully, finding ways to connect real-life issues to the Assassin's Creed series In the Assassin's Creed series, Master Assassin and Mentor Ezio Auditore died of a heart attack on a bench in his beloved city of Florence. We were also saddened to report the death of Assassin's Creed scriptwriter Russell Lees earlier in the year, who passed away from a heart attack. Russell worked on various AAA Ubisoft titles as a script writer, most recently as Lead Writer for Assassin's Creed Valhalla Wrath of the Druids and ACV's Sciropscire & Oxenefordscire arcs. Milestones & Raffles £100 reached: Lisa Zaman Art Sale. All profits go towards the fundraiser. We are thrilled to announce that Lisa has once again teamed up with TOWCB team to host an exclusive art print sale! £300 reached: Assassin's Creed History Livestream launched, covering historical figures, landmarks and events. Hosted by @science_creed, @ac_landmarks and @HistoriansPers and by our YouTube channel names The Science of Assassin's Creed and AC Landmarks. Additionally, you can find the channel of our collaborator Master Hekate's Ceremonials also on YouTube £400 reached: Merchandise Sale launched We are pleased to announce the launch of our Assassins In Need merchandise sale, featuring a design created by TOWCB team member Thea Rivedal! 100% of proceeds support the 2022 community fundraiser, raising funds for @ TheBHF & @ American_Heart £500 reached: Ezio Auditore Statue Auction: All profits go towards the fundraiser We will be auctioning an Ezio statue, kindly donated to the fundraiser by Ubisoft UK! £1000 reached: Merchandise Sale: We will be selling even more exclusive Heart of the Creed fundraiser merchandise, using designs created by AC Partnership Members. Opportunity! All donors of £5 or more will receive access to our Thank You pack, containing a special video! You'll need to donate to find out more! Opportunity! All donors of £15 or more will be entered into a raffle! Aconyte Books have kindly donated x5 digital bundles containing the following novels! Assassin's Creed: Sword of the White Horse Assassin's Creed: The Magus Conspiracy Assassin's Creed: The Ming Storm Opportunity! All donors of £20 or more will be entered in to a raffle! We have x3 Ezio Auditore Assassin's Creed Revelations prints by Chariflame to giveaway! Opportunity! All donors of £50 or more will be entered into a raffle We have x1 signed Evie Frye Print, signed by voice actress Victoria Atikin, kindly donated to the fundraiser by Kim Beacham from the Assassin's Creed United Kingdom team! Get Involved You can now find the 2022 Assassins in Need fundraiser on GoFundMe. We need your support to make this a success, so please donate and support the fundraiser if you can. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

The Hidden Blade in the Stone: A Review of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Sword of the White Horse Review Share 24 Jun 2022 Written By: Edited By: Michael Smith Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Article contains ads that support TOWCB A Celtic warrior defending her people from Viking raiders infiltrates an ancient sect to save her homeland, in this gripping original saga set in the world of Assassin's Creed® Valhalla Mercia, 878. Witch-warrior Niamh discovers a new order called the Hidden Ones is seeking to establish a foothold in Lunden. Her land is already scarred by Viking raiders, bloody wars, and clashing cultures. Determined to protect what remains of her homeland, she infiltrates this new group to discover whether they stand with her… or against her. Yet when Niamh learns the Hidden Ones have stolen an artifact sacred to her people, her own loyalties are challenged. Casting aside newfound alliances and friendships, Niamh soon discovers that betrayal comes with a heavy price and it will take everything in her power – her gods willing – to survive. *Review copy provided by Aconyte Books | Minor character/story spoiler warning 2022 has been a major year for transmedia in the Assassin’s Creed Universe, with a major focus on Ubisoft’s latest entry, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. With multiple updates adding additional content, a third expansion and prequel comic which explores the Norse God storyline of Odin/Havi. The most recent of the additions being a new novel, in which the world of 9th century England reaches aspects that no other title in the series has met before. Characters continue to be developed and periods of time between content releases on the Valhalla roadmap are being filled in an effort to keep fans of the series engaged until the next flagship title. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Sword of the White Horse (SotWH) is the newest novel released by Ubisoft and publisher Aconyte Books, written by author, Elsa Sjunneson; a Hugo, Aurora & British Fantasy Award Winner who’s work has appeared in Serial Box’s: Marvel’s Jessica Jones: Playing with Fire, Uncanny Magazine, and Fireside. Set in 878 Mercia, SotWH follows a new character Niamh (pronounced Neeve), a witch-warrior tasked with retrieving a sacred artefact stolen from her people by the Hidden Ones. Her mission takes her across England with opposition from factions attempting to claim the artefact for themselves, in a story that takes place post-Valhalla, but before Wrath of the Druids. Initial impressions from the cover gives us an insight into what we can expect the book to be about, as it depicts who we can safely assume is our lead character holding Excalibur in front of Stonehenge, Beginning in Caledonia (modern day Scotland), Niamh of Avalon receives orders from The Lady, leader of The Women of the Mist, and protector of Excalibur (of Authurian legend), who has intercepted an invitation from the Hidden Ones to another woman named Nimue whom they are wanting to test to see if she would fit in with their Brotherhood. The Lady requests that Niamh takes her place and infiltrates this order that is trying to expand its foothold in Lunden. Her background as a witch-warrior, skilled with a sword and healing abilities from experiences of Viking raids and understanding the properties of nature will aid her in the task to locate and reclaim Excalibur from those that had taken it from its vault under Stonehenge. Sword of the White Horse builds upon the world of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla already established within the game's lore. With a focus on the story of Excalibur, a Sword of Eden, this book takes a single Isu Artifact and develops a story around that. The history of the blade and how it was used as a symbol of righteousness that would be provided to a chosen king provides backstory without the need of an origin story or flashback chapter. From this, the Women of the Mist were the expanded group that the Lady of the Lake represented in the legend of King Arthur. From this group the lead character Niamh was formed as a guide through the lore. During the opening chapters, Sjunneson does a fantastic job of not only introducing and describing this main character in a pre-existing setting of AC Valhalla’s England, but explores the spiritual beliefs of Niamh, a follower of the Morrigan (an Irish God of war and fate), and how she sees nature as a living being and something to respect, as its wrath can be worse than her enemies. Using the Women of the Mist as a way to tie in the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table to Valhalla, Niamh will learn the history of Avalon and what makes Excalibur so powerful. I found that Sjunneson’s writing was so well laid out that everything made sense without needing to know the full history of the real world lore of this story, and felt like a traditional Assassin’s Creed story as the writing is easy to visualise as a scene from the game. Having played Valhalla myself, it was easy to dive into the story as if I was loading a save file. While I believe the story can stand on its own as all characters are well described, it would be beneficial to play the game first so you have a more general understanding of the characters and settings from this universe and the knowledge of how Excaliber is taken, giving context to why this story was written. The supporting cast is composed of familiar characters from the game, Hytham and Valka, in addition to a few new characters on both sides of the main conflict in the story. This was one of my favourite aspects of SotWH as getting to learn more about the fan favourite Assassin and Seeress was something that Valhalla lacked. By using these returning characters, fans of the game are not left to struggle with determining how the story fits into the game and gave me personally a yearning to know what did happen to Hytham post game?. In the previous AC Valhalla novel, Geirmund’s Saga, the protagonist Geirmund was the son of two supporting characters that players would meet during their playthrough, Ljuvina and Hjörr, but as the book was a prequel to the events of the game, visualizing it could be considered difficult. Getting to read about Hytham as a mentor to Niamh, and learn what has happened to him post-game and how his training of this new recruit reflects the teachings he learned from Basim (though not mentioned). We also get to see how Hytham responds to an Assassin with a more aggressive nature, with the introduction of the Roman Assassin Marcella, who is the leader of the Lunden Bureau. Marcella’s “prove yourself” attitude vs Hytham’s “lets see what you can do” approach fuels the internal conflict that Niamh will use to her advantage to accomplish her end goal. However, Marcella’s distrust of Niamh creates a hindrance that adds her to the list of opponents. Valka’s storyline gave the mysterious character a more grounded persona and more natural dialogue than what she has in the game, where she acts as Eivor's connection to the gods and lore of the Norse religion. In SotWH, Valka wants to learn more about the beliefs of Niamh’s people and her history of healing with natural herbs and the earth. While initially kept at a distance, Valka and Niamh become closer as they work together against their enemies The Hidden Ones, the Order of the Ancients and the enemy of Avalon, the Descendants of the Round Table. Stealth, sword fights, and parkour playout in the traditional style of an Assassin’s Creed story and culminate in meeting the one who is in possession of Excalibur, Eivor Varinsdottir in a scene that is fuelled with a Viking Battle Cry. The amount of female characters from the lead to supporting characters is something that is a benefit for the AC universe as a whole. Since the release of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, players have wanted to see more female leads in the stories as the series in whole was male-dominated for the many years prior. Niamh, The Lady, Valka, Marcella, Eivor, and other smaller roles are all women that have key arcs in the story, but don’t overshadow or look down on the male figures such as Hytham and the Order of the Ancients antagonist. The story is powerful in its representation without being pandering. This comes from the experience of the writer, as Sjunnesson herself is a vocal ally for women-rights and those of the Queer community. She is someone who has made her voice heard in real life and in her writing. As I explore readings like this more and more, I find that this is a sign of the future of the Assassin’s Creed series and the core beliefs of the Ubisoft Team’s multicultural/gender/orientation equality stance. This book is an absolute must for not only fans of the Assassin’s Creed games, but for fans of stories of legend and readers of any age. As a work of historical fiction, the story is a solid concept of what could happen to the sword, but as an Assassin’s Creed title, it provides another serving of the Valhalla epic that has been growing larger and larger into its second year of connected content. I would love to see future stories on this unique and original character in the future, even after the focus on Valhalla ends and fans move onto the next title. A sequel could be written as the question, “What's next for the lead?” was on the tip of my tongue, seeing the book end with a new role given to Niamh. While the AC Valhalla story may be finished with the original characters from this story, a spin off series could be made to explore the history of the Women of the Mist and their foes The Descendants of the Round Table, much like the history of the Assassins v Templar. Once again, Aconyte has published a great read that ties-in perfectly with Ubisoft’s action-adventure series. Much like Geirmund’s Saga, and The Ming Storm, each release from this publishing house is a guaranteed hit in my eyes. In my time exploring the AC Universe, and having read seven of the novels published previously by Penguin, and Geirmund’s Saga, published by Aconyte, I have found that novels are a great way to retell the story of the games in an organized fashion that cuts out the filler of controlling the character through side quests and uncovering a full map. These mechanics are great for a game, but the books will tell the story as it is meant to be told and provide the additional insight of a character’s emotion or inner monologue. When the book stands alone as an Assassin’s Creed Stories Chronicles or Original, the freedom of not knowing what will happen and truly experiencing a work for the first time, for me at least, is much more intimate. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Sword of the White Horse is available worldwide via Aconyte’s site and wherever books are sold. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Mike Smith is a collector of all things Assassin's Creed and a major supporter of transmedia who joined TOWCB as a writer from 2021 - 2024 With nearly a full library of Assassin's Creed media, his work explored the universe in order of Genetic Memory. Notably, his Assassin's Creed Timeline became an essential tool for fans of the franchise looking to complete their collection and consume AC media in a particular order. Michael Smith

AC Community Questions: Eric Allen Share Written By: Edited By: Reporter Name Back To Database comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author This is placeholder text. To connect this element to content from your collection, select the element and click Connect to Data. About the Author

Assassin's Creed Nexus VR Non-Spoiler Review Reviews Share 21 Nov 2023 Written By: Edited By: UbiCypher (Joe) Colum Blackett Back To Database I have always loved when a videogame that I like becomes much more than a simple matter of sitting in front of a TV and playing it. The universe in which the game itself is rooted in, that’s what appeals to me. I love exploring the deepest corners of such worlds and all their possible adaptations and literary works that would help me expand on those very worlds. This is exactly what Assassin’s Creed Nexus does, being a VR title and also a lover of virtual reality ever since it was a thing, having the opportunity to be in the world of my favourite video game franchise ever makes me feel so satisfied and it will most likely be a point of no return in terms of experience, as after several hours of gameplay this is without a doubt, the true Assassin’s Creed experience, in which YOU are the Assassin, and it all depends on you. First and foremost I should say for the record that this is truly an amazing experience. The fact that you can climb and assassinate in first person is simply a dream come true. I know that this is nothing new and there are certainly mods that some adventurous souls dared to make for games like Boneworks or Blade and Sorcery, however this is of course executed much better, on top of the fact that it comes from Ubisoft’s hand itself. Assassin’s Creed Nexus behaves itself mostly as any other VR action/adventure title available on the market, with the ability to choose between smooth movement or teleportation, which comes in handy to reduce motion sickness. When it comes down to movement and traversal, this is where the game really shines and allows you to freely interact with the world around you however you like. You need to grab ledges and climbable surfaces with your controllers without losing grip, otherwise your character falsl flat on their face, which is pretty cool, adding an extra feel of immersion/stress, constantly reminding you that you are about to take a long fall if you somehow think it is ok to release the grab button for some reason. Of course, this comes with some cons that I find are a bit draining at times while playing the game for a long session. However I would say this is somewhat compensated by the feel of actually being able to scour through the streets of Monteriggioni and revisit the iconic church of the village or the Auditore Crypt with a now 1:1 scale of how the statues really look, it is simply a constant rush of those sweet 2009 memories when you first ventured into the villa’s main hall, and where I felt at home, just as if I picked up right where I left it back in the day with a complete knowledge of the villa’s room distribution. But I digress. Don't be afraid! In the game menu you can swap to the option of one press of the grab button to make the climbing easier, allowing you to forget the danger of falling down and focus on the next anchor point for your hands but honestly, I recommend for you to try and train yourself into actually manually climbing walls for extra immersion. Even though you can customize your climbing experience, since the climbing system is a constant movement of your arms in real life, you will most likely end up tired the longer and more aggressively you play the game as there is no speed limit to how you can actually climb surfaces, which is a nice feature on its own but it may encourage players to take a more proactive approach while starting your game and ending up tired and walking in the streets rather than rooftops the longer you play. While the grab and climb system is mostly accurate and effective, due to the clunky nature of the yet underdeveloped VR technology, you may have a hard time actually climbing on surfaces. As for the pull-up you need to pull yourself up as if you were climbing an imaginary ledge and the subsequent jump performed by the character in-game can sometimes eject you or simply not mantle over the spot you would like to land on, leading to a very frustrating experience and sometimes even more tiring for your arms. (It's as if this bug follows Assassin's Creed everywhere it gets ported to!). You can manually jump but only in the vicinity of actual surfaces that require mantling or vaulting over them to perform the jump itself, which at times can be inconsistent and you might find yourself not reaching some specific ledges or roofs and having to start over and climb your way up again which is rather annoying. The fact that they made jumping only available when near objects that trigger the action often causes the game not to register the input properly and it can lead to the alternative of taking a ladder instead, which you can find conveniently placed around the map as if developers knew of this problem. Movement aside, the combat however is really something that needs to be reworked completely. The game encourages you to act as a real swordsman but the hits and parries don’t register that well either. You will often find yourself leaving your hand held up with your sword to automatically block the enemy’s attacks. The game allows you to use multiple weapons from ranged weapons like Bows and Throwing Knives to close-quarter combat ones like Swords, a Tomahawk and the iconic Hidden Blade. Even though the combat might feel inconsistent at times, the blade feels very satisfying to use when you engage in combat and land successful finishers. This can be an instakill if the enemy is weakened before performing a Hidden Blade attack depending on the enemy type which range to basic, medium and professional (elite) NPC’s carrying a wide variety of weapons in the likes of ranged and close quarter weapons. (Bows, Spears, Heavy Swords etc..). In some sections you are given the option to use Throwing Knives but there is no HUD or indicator as to where your knife will end up, resulting in a random throw with the hopes of actually hitting the target, which I missed on multiple occasions hitting the wall next to the enemies and of course since the game has a noise detection system if you miss you will attract uninvited NPCs. For my first walkthrough I immediately decided to set the difficulty option to hard to see what the game has to offer and to add another level to that feel of immersion. To my surprise, the game is relatively easy. As for my first few hours of gameplay, the game doesn’t throw too many NPCs at you and their AI is somewhat dull, similar to that of the franchise’s main games showing once again Ubisoft’s lack of dedication to their NPC’s AI. Most of the levels can be passed easily using stealth which is highly encouraged, distracting enemies by throwing objects or whistling behind cover, putting your fingers in a circle position at the height of your mouth which the game automatically recognizes as a whistle, which in itself is amazing, but again as many of the other features that are on-point and add an extreme level of immersion to the game, you will sometimes find yourself attempting to perform the whistle, and in the heat of the moment, were it adrenaline or simply excitement of getting past guards undetected while crouching, you will most likely hit your headset with your controller’s detection ring once or twice. Be careful with that. Also I should add that while in combat with your Hidden Blade deployed, if you get your hand close to your headset while in a defensive stance you might get distracted by a whistle sound that the headset mistakenly recognizes for some reason. Don’t do that either. The levels are fairly open and nicely merged with linear sections for what the VR has to offer in terms of power and rendering capability, obviously not as good as the main open world titles but still visually impressive for the regular VR titles available out there. In the levels, you can take the time to perform various activities like free running challenges or looking for hidden objects scattered across the small open world as well as during the linear-levels pretty much like in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood’s Romulus Lair missions where you had to look for hidden chests. It isn’t something too rewarding as there isn’t anything substantial rewarded to you for obtaining them, but you still can access special historical database entries that you can find across the levels sharing some juicy historical facts supplied by Shaun Hastings, and let’s be honest, we all love Shaun. They also included some puzzles in a good old fashioned AC II style, with parkour puzzles and secret rooms pretty much like what you would find in the original Resident Evil games. But I won't spoil them. Overall Assassin’s Creed Nexus is a dream come true for long-time fans who craved to be in the shoes of their favourite Assassins. The Hidden Blade actually retracting and extending at will with a flick of the wrist is one of the most satisfying feels the game has to offer. From the soundtrack to the level of details on the maps I would say Assassin’s Creed Nexus surely deserves some praise, especially for the amazing soundtrack composed by Christ Tilton, who managed to capture the Modern Day-esque feel of the Animus in the VR headset, as well as the nostalgia of our most beloved adventures of Ezio back in the day blended with well known tracks refreshed with a modern touch. This wraps it up for the spoiler-free review covering the core mechanics of Assassin’s Creed Nexus, stay tuned for the upcoming spoiler review that will be available soon in which I will cover the story and the memories of each Assassin, as well as the ties to the actual lore of the franchise. Assassin’s Creed Nexus is now available for Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3 on the Meta store for $39.99 comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author UbiCypher (Joe) is an Assassin's Creed Transmedia expert who worked as the Lead Admin for the Isu_Network social media team, providing consistent social media content in the form of Assassin's Creed lore trivia, puzzles and news coverage, spending countless hours researching the series and real history. In 2025, he stepped back from his social media duties to pursue other opportunities. UbiCypher (Joe)

Aztec Empire: Pitching an Assassin's Creed Game Wishlist Share 26 Jul 2022 Written By: Edited By: Finn Fletcher Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Since the release of Assassins Creed II, one of the most exciting aspects of the franchise has always been fantasising about how the creed could apply to different places in history. Although many websites have created drawn out listicles, I want to try something different, creating a detailed pitch for a games setting. Discussing the true history, the style of the story, and the type of unique gameplay that could be applied to this period. One of the most important factors when choosing a setting is applying themes relevant to the turmoil and struggles of the time. AC III used the American Revolution to discuss freedom and corruption, while Black Flag used piracy to discuss greed and inequality. So today, I'm going to take the opportunity to pitch a game in what is currently one of the most heavily rumoured settings, the Aztec Empire. Now simply saying "Aztecs" is pretty broad, covering a people and Empire who existed for centuries. First things first then, a little history. The legend goes that the Aztec people founded their capital city of Tenochtitlan under strict instructions of one of their gods Huitzilopochtli. He told the settlers to build a city where they find a giant eagle eating a snake while perched on a cactus (a symbol which is now used on the Mexican flag). Supposedly, this strange event was seen in the marshy land of Lake Texcoco around 1325 CE, and construction began. The city's construction was a technical marvel, consisting of multiple connected artificial islands, that allowed for irrigation of gardens as well as construction for towering pyramids. Moveable causeways connected the islands to the mainland, while also functioning as dikes that could separate the freshwater and saltwater of the lake. It truly was a floating marvel, like Venice on steroids, that at its height was the most populated city in Mesoamerica. Originally one of many city states in pre-colonial Mexico, the Aztecs' impressive military conquered the surrounding land, with the aid of an intelligent group of diplomats and traders. By the early 16th century, the Aztecs had come to rule 5 to 6 million people across 200,000 square kilometres. It was around this time that tragedy struck. The arrival of the Spanish led to the destruction of the empire and genocide of it's people. Through disgusting military tactics, and the spreading of diseases that the native people lacked immunity to, the Spanish managed to tear the entire civilization to the ground, destroying centuries of history and culture in the process. This is the period I believe the game should be set, during the final war of the empire against the Spanish. This period of tragedy could be used as a great foundation for a discussion of grief, loss and imperialism. What a perfect time for this story to be released, after we ourselves have come out of the biggest pandemics of our lifetime and are currently facing rising temperatures causing wildfires across the planet. If done well, this touching story of someone watching the destruction of everything they know, the whole world from their perspective, could allow for a relevant and inspiring journey for players. The story will follow Guatemoc (OC: name translates to 'attacks like an eagle'), an elite soldier of the Eagle Warrior guild. From a poor background, he worked in the military as all men were expected to at the time, showing great prowess and rising through the ranks. The greatest units of soldiers were the Jaguar or Eagle battalions, with soldiers having to take enemy captives to rise to this divine duty, a group Guatemoc rightly earned his place in. The opening of the game will be set before the Spanish arrived in Tenochtitlan, with NPC's discussing and questioning the rumours about new arrivals to the land. During this time the player will be sent on tasks for the Eagle warriors, acting as a gameplay tutorial, while the open world will give an opportunity for exploration of a still fully native Aztec world. The city of Tenochtitlan will be filled with different activities, allowing for full immersion in the period. Mainly I would love to see mini games (a fan favourite within the franchise, just think of Orlog), that would allow you to play Ullamaliztli, an Aztec sport, as well as Patolli, a board game of the time. Ullamaliztli would definitely be more difficult, a type of proto-basketball where two teams of seven players aim to get a rubber ball through a ring on either side of the court. If this is too difficult to create in gameplay, it would still be great to watch and potentially place bets on games played by NPC's. I believe the open world as a whole would benefit from remaining rather small, focusing mainly on the city of Tenochtitlan, which needs the same level of detail as Paris or London from previous titles. I do however believe it's important that the game isn't limited to a single city, with the surrounding area offering an important perspective for the period. Smaller towns and villages can provide quest opportunities and loot for players, whilst ancient ruins, functioning as tombs, unravel a larger mystery and provide access to late game armour. Veracruz, the Spanish headquarters in Mexico, needs to be a secondary city in the game that can be used to shine a better light on Spanish culture, and will also offer a completely unique setting to explore for this game. In terms of gameplay, I think it's important to return to the roots of the series somewhat, especially in regards to parkour. As much as I may enjoy the recent RPG games, the parkour has been undoubtedly lacklustre, providing nowhere near as much complexity and style as before. Traversing across rooftops shouldn't be a simple task, it needs to be challenging, where finding and successfully pulling off the best route will reward you with more speed, and some visual flair. I would also love to see the return of tree climbing from Assassins Creed III. The Aztecs lived among rich jungles that were difficult to travel across. It would be amazing to see a change from the usual use of horseback, in favour of full parkour, where in a seamless open world you can travel from city to city across tree branches while never touching the ground. Combat meanwhile needs to retain the grittiness of the newer games, especially Origins, while fine tuning to adjust for new weapon types. Aztecs used a variety of weapons, from short spears to clubs, and having the option to use them all would be incredible. Obviously when meeting the Spanish, players will also be introduced to early muskets, as well as more European weapons like lances and crossbows. These should definitely be usable by the players, though I would like guns to be temporary tools, similar to muskets in The Kenway Saga, where they can't be added to the players main arsenal. After completing these introductory tasks for the Eagle Warriors, the narrative will introduce Hernán Cortés, when he arrived at Tenochtitlan in November 1519; one of the most important moments in Aztec history. Cortès was a vile human, a bloodthirsty warmonger who's only thought was who to kill next. He even directly defied the orders of his higher ups in his determination for nothing short of genocide. These historical accounts provide a clear path for Cortès to be the main villain of this title. His arrival in Tenochtitlan however, was unusually peaceful as he entered the city as an honoured guest of King Montezuma. This diplomatic invitation was quickly upended, when Cortès slaughtered his way out of the house he was staying in, entered the Royal Palace and took the king hostage, claiming the city as his own. I imagine this event being a major set piece for the game, with Guatemoc acting as a guard for the Montezuma and Cortès, allowing peaceful interactions with the villain prior to the conflict. Additionally, for the keen eyed players, a white hooded figure can be seen skulking in the shadows, watching the ensuing events. The conquest of the palace will then play as a drawn-out action sequence, where Guatemoc fights his way through the burning city, barely escaping after failing to kill Cortès. It would be obvious to make Cortès a Templar, however I feel that his cartoonishly evil behaviour doesn't fit with the more sympathetic Templars we've come to expect. Instead, I would make him a failed Templar candidate, someone aware of the ancient struggle who was denied entry to the Templar Order due to his brash attitude and uncontrolled rage. Since that point, he has aimed to surpass the Templars, his ego getting the best of him as he hopes to someday show the Order what they missed. By taking over Tenochtitlan, he effectively became the Spanish ruler of the land, leaving him somewhat in command of even Templar officials. Meanwhile, the loss of his home will leave Guatemoc in the worst position of his life, and it is here that we will be introduced to the Assassins. Alejandra is a Spanish master Assassin, born to wealth and finding the Brotherhood after her curious young mind spent too many hours searching through the inconsistencies of historical texts. She's a devout follower of the creed, loyal to her core. When learning of the "new world", she snuck aboard a ship, hiding away to attack the Templars who have already settled in America. After the attack on Tenochtitlan, she would follow Guatemoc, a clearly skilled soldier closer to the king and culture than she will ever be. Finding him passed out in the dirt, she will wake him and introduce him to the creed, giving him the hidden blade. Despite being deep within the rainforest, Alejandra needs to be perfectly clean, with every inch of her robes in place. Her upbringing left her with a posh sensibility; she speaks well and even as an Assassin, looks down on others. Guatemoc only earn her respect because he is useful to her. It is then through her, that the player will learn more enhanced stealth techniques, as Guatemoc becomes a blend of Aztec warrior, and ancient Assassin. This game could finally provide a return to the much beloved stealth of older Assassin's Creed games which has been missing from recent titles. Stealth will be vital for our Aztec Assassin, with a return to tools and a need for fleeing from battle when outnumbered. Spanish Conquistadors will be unstoppable in open combat, heavily armoured with better weapons. Attacking from the shadows will be the only option, with in-depth social stealth mechanics playing a key role. As an Aztec soldier, appearing in Spanish controlled areas will instantly attract attention, meaning a hood and crowd blending approach will be the only effective way to travel safely. I would also love to also see the option to raise and lower the hood at will, just for the aesthetic. A range of new and exciting tools will be available to players, I personally would like a range of poisons that cause different effects to enemies. These can be deployed through atlatls, Aztec dart and spear throwers that would be a historically accurate and unique weapon for this outing. Additionally throwable smoke bombs and the bows of Origins are a must. This will provide the basic foundation for the rest of the game, as Guatemoc assassinates Spanish Templars across the land, working his way to Cortès. Each target needs a solid reason for invading, with some being completely opposed and trying to take down the manic Cortès, while others have become corrupted by his actions. Historically speaking, it was decades after the invasion that Cortès died in Spain after fighting dysentery. Part of me wished to change this to allow for a final battle to the death in Tenochtitlan, possibly atop one of their incredible pyramids, however after reflection I don't think this is the best solution. That fight could still take place as the climactic action scene of the game, but there's something more tragic about Cortès escaping and living a full life despite his despicable behaviour. This made me reconsider, with Cortès' death still taking place during the epilogue of the game set at a much later date in time. In 1547, having spent his life trying to save his people and culture, Guatemoc is a bitter old man. His people have been killed, his history tarnished, and Mexico is now nothing more than an extension of the Spanish Empire. Having tracked Cortès down, the man whose actions he cannot forget, Guatemoc approaches him while he's stuck in bed worsening from his illnesses. Even after all these years, Cortès recognises the old Aztec and smiles. They have a discussion about what's been lost. Having mellowed somewhat in age, Cortès does admit to regretting some of his actions, having children of his own now from Aztec heritage who he truly cares for (according to historical accounts). Still, he can't help but smile when thinking back to those days, clinging on to the moments where he "ruled the world". Angered, Guatemoc finally finishes off Cortès, knowing full well it means little now. Everything he knew is gone, and the killing of an old man is the only compensation he can get. Throughout the story, Alejandra, while an ally, will grow into a more antagonistic role. Her self determination and snooty attitude contrasts with Guatemoc's humble beginnings, and the further she pushes him to her own ideals, the more he feels distanced from his cultural beliefs. This could even progress into her initiating plans which include the destruction of Aztec monuments, rigging them to blow with Templars inside. In the end, even the Assassins in this story are colonisers, judging the Aztec culture as primitive and in need of their guidance to progress. This may cause contention with some fans, but I believe this story would be most effective if by the end Guatemoc disowns the Assassins, turning his back on all those who's petty political and philosophical struggles led to the destruction of his home. He, like us, is the everyman, watching as titans battle with little care for those they claim to protect. And so that's it, my pitch for Assassins Creed Aztec. I've tried to provide something different, while not forgetting what made the series great. I hope you enjoyed it, and we would love to hear your ideas for future Assassin's Creed games in the comments. A special thanks goes to all the artists whose work continues to amaze, especially BQoverlord0 who's work helped create a visual inspiration for our original creation. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Finn is a creative writer from Rotherham, UK who has previously supported TOWCB's Fundraising events, and raised awareness surrounding Men's Mental Health. Finn's writing covers a wide scope, with releases including reviews, interviews and stories. He is known in the AC Community for his 'Pitching an Assassin's Creed Game' series, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website! In February 2026, he left the team to focus on real-world opportunities as a journalist, writing for a newspaper! We're thrilled to see Finn using his skills to build a career! Finn Fletcher

New Assassin's Creed Mirage Promo Images: Game Informer September 2023 News Share 31 Aug 2023 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Here is a collection of new promotional images for Assassin's Creed Mirage featured in the latest issue of Game Informer magazine! Alongside the new issue, writers from the company joined Ubisoft at the Bordeaux studio for a sneak peak at the upcoming title! Check out the behind the scenes video showing the creation process of Assassin's Creed Mirage below, also featuring new gameplay clips! We take a leap of faith into Assassin's Creed Mirage for the latest issue, giving you new details on the back-to-the-roots game before it launches in October. Game Informer: Issue 359 available now! Digital Edition IOS Android comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

TOWCB Website - One Month Since Launch News Share 10 Sept 2019 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database It has been exactly a month since we launched the new website, and we're pleased to say that it has been well received! Here's what we've been up to since launch: 1) Adding content from the old website. Every day the website grows, as we are slowly adding all of our old articles and projects. As you can imagine, this is an extremely time consuming process, as we first created our community in 2014. This means that 5 years worth of content will soon be available on the website. You can track our progress here 2) Navigation As we are continually adding new pages, navigation of the site becomes a priority. In order to improve this, we have added a grid to the bottom of every page, so that our fans can find the current top stories on the site. This will be updated regularly using google analytics. We are also improving navigation on the site by frequently testing hyperlinks, and changing their colour to green when they are working. You may stumble upon a few red links when browsing the site. This is most likely because the page does not yet exist. We are hoping to have all our old articles and projects on the site very soon! 3) SEO We are also frequently updating our SEO (Search engine optimization), so that we can increase traffic on the site. The website can now be found on Google, but eventually we would like our pages to be ranked higher. This is done by updating the SEO, which allows search engines to show relevant content that users are searching for. Keywords, snappy page descriptions and more content will surely help us to improve traffic, and help the website become the #1 location for fans searching for Assassin's Creed Community content. 4) Launch of Mobile Version Shortly after the launch of our new website (10/8/19), we launched the mobile version! Using the same URL, the site should now work on mobile devices! We have tested it many times on mobile phones and iPad, and it seems that many hours editing the site were well spent! We currently have a majority of users viewing the site on mobile devices, so it's a good thing we managed to launch the mobile version so quickly! Let us know if you have any tips on how we can make the site even better on mobile devices! We have a ton of new content planned for the site, so make sure to add it to your bookmarks and check back regularly to see what we've been working on! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

This Week in Assassin's Creed Virtual Photography: Feb 12th - Feb 18th 2022 Community Share 23 Feb 2022 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the new weekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from The AC Partnership Program. Every week, we will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. Aaron is a keen virtual photographer and loves to post his journeys through Assassin’s Creed on Twitter. Keep an eye on the site as more weekly shots are added, we are looking for capture across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture for a chance to be featured. 5) Raiding Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla This week’s first capture comes from @KupOfGreenTea using the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture A stunning capture of Eivor’s longship docked at a raiding point in England. I love the stillness in this shot especially knowing the carnage that is likely happening behind the lens. The clouds coupled with the mist really make for a moody scene. The sun breaking through adds a warmth that makes this shot very picturesque. 4) Paradise Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins Photo number two comes from @Helenthirty over on Twitter. A beautiful shot from Origins which really stood out. Most Origins landscape captures are of the desert so this one caught me out. I don’t actually remember the location from the game. I love the vibrant colours, the light blue sky with the thick white clouds really makes this shot pop. The ancient structure and the placements of the boats gives a real Odyssey feel. 3) Assassin’s Creed Game: Assassin’s Creed This week’s third shot comes from @RobRagiel over on Twitter. What a gem. I have not played this game since 2007. A true great that started it all. This capture really defines Assassin’s Creed. Altair on top of a building looking out across the city. The whites and greys so focal back then with the red of the Assassin standing out amongst the crowd. And that sums it up for this week’s Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out this week’s photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next week keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

Assassin's Creed Revelations: a Fitting Finale Analysis Share 17 Apr 2025 Written By: Edited By: Hayden Bird Colum Blackett Back To Database When Assassin’s Creed Revelations released worldwide back in 2011, it made an impact on the series as a great conclusion to the “Ezio Trilogy”, which is a collection of three games released in a row featuring the fan-favorite protagonist, Ezio Auditore, who had his entire story told throughout three mainline entry games. Gamers follow Ezio from birth, literally, until his older age. His story began in 2009’s Assassin's Creed II and continued with Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood in 2010 and ended his journey with Revelations , which was then concluded in the short animation titled Assassin's Creed: Embers. While Assassin’s Creed Revelations is by no means perfect, it was a very satisfying end to such a renowned trilogy, and wrapped up Ezio Auditore’s story nicely and did his character justice with such a strong finale. Revelations tried to be different than its predecessors by adding in unique gameplay elements, such as a new tower defence feature minigame, the addition of crafted bombs to take on or lure enemies, and even an upgrade to the famous hidden blade, a weapon that defines an Assassin, which was called the “hook blade” that offered gamers a faster way to scale buildings or take down enemies with style. While some of these additions were welcomed by fans, others were not, specifically the tower defence minigame, but the game’s brilliant story and narrative direction made up for that, and then some. Revelations had a unique storyline where it not only continued and told the story of Ezio, but also told the story of the franchise’s first protagonist, Altair Ibn La’Ahad, and the direction his life took him after the events of the very first game until his old age. The combination of two fan-favorite protagonists was a beloved feature that fans easily appreciated. It was a unique and creative narrative element that really turned the game into the great memory it is today. Having two characters and their story coincide really impacted the story and the emotional turns it took. This new feature worked out perfectly and as it told two separate stories, they were both connected narratively. That was seriously impressive from a creative standpoint, as the ability to mix two storylines at once but have them both connected really made fans love Revelations , despite whatever flaws it may have had. Revelations also took us on an adventure to Constantinople for the first time, which brought with it connections to the famed Ottoman Empire. This was a welcome time period that fans enjoyed. It was also creatively genius to explore a location outside of Italy, as that is where the past two games took place. It worked out perfectly to explore a different part of the world while not jeopardizing the story and the journey Ezio took. It likely was a narrative gamble that Ubisoft took, as they had to make the location work even if the previous two games relied heavily on Italian culture and lifestyle. To branch out of this familiar setting and completely nail it was great work from Ubisoft, and showed that they were willing to take a gamble to please gamers around the globe. Revelations also focused on the Assassin recruitment ability, where you could use and train your own personal apprentices to help in combat or quietly take down nearby enemies to help you sneak around and complete the mission. This was a very unique and tactical option that expanded on the previous game’s similar feature, but made it better in every aspect. Sometimes it is useful having extra help against a large number of enemies and apprentices that could develop and achieve higher ranks in the brotherhood to make your apprentices more powerful and more durable against tougher enemies. This feature was certainly a welcome addition to the already great Revelations . Assassin’s Creed Revelations also added a fun multiplayer game mode option. It was an improvement on the previous game and was a complete upgrade in every aspect. The online feature was not used by everyone, but it offered variety for fans who loved and finished the main story and had something extra to do, or gamers in general who prefer online games and had the ability to experience online features in the unique format that the Assassin’s Creed games offered. It was a fun feature to the game that remained available even several years after the game’s lunch until it somewhat recently shut down for good. Some fans do not remember that Assassin’s Creed Revelations was originally planned to be created as a Nintendo 3DS game until Ubisoft realized the potential their idea had as a mainline game and the formerly planned 3DS game was quietly cancelled in favor of the game we know and love today. Ubisoft made a smart choice scrapping the original 3DS plans to focus on a mainline game as the story they had in mind was far too good to be limited to a handheld device, and instead fit perfectly in the mainline story of all the games in the series. While Revelations certainly has its flaws, its plot and perfect ending to Ezio’s story made it a beloved adventure that fans still enjoy to this day, and its legacy will undoubtedly live on. There were a lot of factors that went into the creation of this game, and smart choices that the developers made in order to let Revelations reach its full potential. As imperfect as it may be considered, there is no doubt it became an emotional and fitting end to such a great story from such a beloved character in Ezio Auditore. It truly became a fitting finale. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Hayden is a passionate Freelance Writer based in South Carolina who joined TOWCB's Writing Team in 2020 during the Covid-19 Pandemic, writing articles on all things Assassin's Creed Valhalla. He left the group to focus on studies, joining our Alumni program, but triumphantly returned with fresh ideas in 2024 to pick up where he left off, only this time covering Assassin's Creed Shadows. In 2025, Hayden took on the position of Team Leader for TOWCB's Writing Team, overseeing article releases, assisting with recruitment and providing assistance with internal operations. Hayden Bird