Search

Wales Comic Con Homecoming (2022) Photo Gallery Events Share 7 Sept 2022 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Here are our photos from the Wales Comic Con Homecoming event which took place in Wrexham on the 21st August 2022. We met up with Kim and Mikey from Assassin's Creed United Kingdom, ate Haribos with Matt Ryan (Edward Kenway), and talked everything Assassin's Creed with Insomnia 2022 panel judge Tabitha Lyons! The event was a ton of fun, and we look forward to attending more smaller events like this in the future. 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)

Laura M. Jung is a variety streamer based in Germany who joined TOWCB Video Content Creation Team in Summer 2024. She has a love for RPGs & Assassin's Creed, and will be helping TOWCB establish a clearer identity for Isu_Network and also with the growth of our Twitch channel. Outside of streaming, Laura is also a copywriter, and is excited to help the Writing Team with editing articles. She has two cats who often appear on stream Previous Next Laura M. Jung Video Content Laura M. Jung is a variety streamer based in Germany who joined TOWCB Video Content Creation Team in Summer 2024. She has a love for RPGs & Assassin's Creed, and will be helping TOWCB establish a clearer identity for Isu_Network and also with the growth of our Twitch channel. Outside of streaming, Laura is also a copywriter, and is excited to help the Writing Team with editing articles. She has two cats who often appear on stream Twitch │ Instagram │ Website (Copywriting) Work

Assassin's Creed Mirage DLC Wallpaper Collection Released by Frame Hold Photography Community Share 16 Nov 2025 Written By: Edited By: Frame Hold Photography Colum Blackett Back To Database The launch of Assassin's Creed Mirage Valley of Memory DLC is fast approaching and the recently released Launch Trailer has only increased excitement for the expansion. Our very own Frame Hold Photography today released the Assassin's Creed Mirage Valley of Memory wallpaper collection, compiled of edits and key moments from the trailer! Let us know your favourites in the comments down below and enjoy Assassins! Desktop Desktop Textless Mobile Feel free to use any of the wallpapers in the collection! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Frame Hold Photography is a passionate Virtual Photographer who joined our Video Content Creation Team in Summer 2022, as we began our efforts to break away from solely written content. During a period of uncertainty for TOWCB website, FHP stepped up and took on the role of Site Manager, overseeing our restoration efforts. Our website today now sits at the top of many Google searches📈 Outside of AC, she is also a full time editor and visual effects artist on TV commercials, and has been putting her skills to use in the community by creating epic Assassin's Creed tribute videos, miniature figure painting videos and editing episodes of our Rally the Creed podcast! Frame Hold Photography

In November 2025, Evil (AJ) joined TOWCB's Art Team in an effort to widen the variety of art styles on the team. He is known online for his versatile style, where he often uses graphic motifs and powerful color palletes. His mixed media art ranges from sketches, digital art, and illustrations. In late 2025 and beyond, Evil will be working alongside TOWCB's Art Team on a variety of projects which range from creating art for fundraising to live art creation watch-alongs! By joining the AC Partnership Program, we aim to boost his profile within the community and create a meaningful relationship with Ubisoft Previous Next Otamotts (Evil) Art Team In November 2025, Evil (AJ) joined TOWCB's Art Team in an effort to widen the variety of art styles on the team. He is known online for his versatile style, where he often uses graphic motifs and powerful color palletes. His mixed media art ranges from sketches, digital art, and illustrations. In late 2025 and beyond, Evil will be working alongside TOWCB's Art Team on a variety of projects which range from creating art for fundraising to live art creation watch-alongs! By joining the AC Partnership Program, we aim to boost his profile within the community and create a meaningful relationship with Ubisoft TikTok Instagram Work

Celebrating 10 Years of The Ones Who Came Before Community Share 14 Sept 2024 Written By: Edited By: TOWCB Team Colum Blackett Back To Database August 10th marked ten years since the creation of The Ones Who Came Before (@ ACFirstciv ). What started out as a passion project set up at home in 2014, TOWCB today is a recognisable brand within the AC Community which has gained momentum around the globe, today acting as reliable source of information for over 60,000 fans. Today we are officially recognised by Ubisoft as leaders within the community, and we want to thank each and every person who has contributed towards our journey. Here is our round-up as we celebrate the creation of The Ones Who Came Before, and a decade of Assassin's Creed content and community moments! Graphics by MoonChildGecko We kicked off our celebrations with a new wave of graphics thanks to our very own Thea Marie Rivedal (@ MoonChildGecko ) We wanted to replicate the style and colour scheme of the official Assassin's Creed 15th Anniversary but with our twist, and Thea delivered on the brief. We had numerous options so selecting a favourite was incredibly difficult. Which variant is your favourite? Let us know in the comments! Interview with Jesper Kyd We are proud to present our interview with veteran composer Jesper Kyd, hosted by Gustav Poulsen ( Gargudon ). This truly unique discussion covers all things music creation, influences behind the Assassin's Creed soundtracks and more! Additionally to go with the interview, we also put out covers of "Wetlands Combat" & "Flight Over Venice" - arranged and produced by Gargudon also - from Jesper's legendary Assassin's Creed II soundtrack, and two more covers are still to be released coming very soon! Celebrating 10 years of TOWCB as well as 15 years of Assassin’s Creed II, a few weeks ago our team’s fellow musician Gargudon, had the opportunity to sit down with renowned composer Jesper Kyd - the man behind the soundtracks of Assassin’s Creed I, The Ezio Trilogy & Valhalla, and some of the most iconic tracks of the franchise - for a chat about everything from Jesper’s journey in music, writing process and influences, capturing the sound of AC, sound design and production, advice for aspiring composers and more. Rally the Creed #10 : 10 Years Of The Ones Who Came Before In this special tenth episode of our community podcast Rally The Creed, site founder Colum and Gargudon reflect on 10 years of The Ones Who Came Before. From the site’s origin and growth, the evolution of our team, our hosts’ 9 years of friendship, looking to the future and much more. Enjoy listening! Thanks for 10 years to every single one of our followers, whether you have been with us from the beginning, have just hopped aboard, or anywhere in between. Cheers Assassins and here’s to 10 more! Assassin's Creed Mirage Giveaway Finally, to conclude our 10 Year Anniversary Celebrations, we gave away an Assassin's Creed Mirage Collectors Case (without game code), courtesy of Ubisoft UK! Congratulations to our winner! The Isu Network Expands ''It's an absolute privilege to work alongside such a creative group of content creators each day as we seek to produce an array of unique and interesting content for our audience members around the world. The Isu_Network is the heart and soul of The Ones Who Came Before, and I'm thrilled to be working alongside such an incredibly talented team. In the final months of 2024, I'll be working alongside the team to identity our strengths and weaknesses, and recruiting even more members to our ranks to ensure that TOWCB remains the home of AC Community content.'' Colum Blackett (The Ones Who Came Before Team Leader) 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

Ubisoft stuns with new article diving deeper into the world of Assassin's Creed Shadows News Share 17 Jan 2025 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) FrameHoldPhotography Back To Database Dynamic weather. Cherry blossoms. The sun rises over Japan in new Assassin's Creed Shadows gameplay. We would like to say a huge thank you to the Assassin's Creed community team for providing early access to AC Shadows material. The marketing campaign for Assassin's Creed Shadows is finally ramping up with the release of regular articles covering core aspects of the game. In the latest article featuring Game Director Charles Benoit, released today on the Ubisoft website, we get a better look at the expansive world of Assassin's Creed Shadows, and the activities that fill it. SNIPPET 1: WORLD MAP The clip starts with a closer look at an uncovered part of the map, showing that the player is on a river north of Shoryuji. The player leaves the map, and we get our first look at navigating Japan by boat. “When exploring the world, you should look out for undiscovered locations (i.e. “?” icons), because there are so many interesting places to seek out, whether in a destroyed camp or a hidden shrine, we want you to always feel a sense of discovery.” Thunder and lightning provide a moody atmosphere, and the perfect cover for a stealth approach. It looks like fireflies act as a lantern, sitting at the tail of the boat to provide a flicker of light. This method of transportation appears to be silent, moving swiftly with the river towards a destination. SNIPPET 2: VIEWPOINT Synchronization has changed Viewpoints are a staple of the Assassin's Creed series, and are returning in AC Shadows but with a difference. According to the article, “Rather than unveiling large sections of the world map along with all its opportunity icons, climbing viewpoints now reveal nearby points of interest as you observe your surroundings from the top of the high point: city districts, temples, shrines, castles - most of which are tied to quests or activities you’ll want to engage in.” We can see that the player is at the Osaka Tenshu viewpoint. From the vantage point, you can see that icons are visible on the mini map, and players have the option to place markers to highlight a specific destination. “By using the observe mechanic – first shown in our stealth overview article – you can move the camera manually through a 360-degree range to contemplate these points of interest and tag them” “Our goal in evolving the way viewpoints work was to give players a more intentional and active way to find their next adventure. For our long-time fans, you'll be pleased to know that on top of the new manual camera move feature, the iconic synchronized camera movement will also return. This will let you fully appreciate the stunning scenery around you.” It's interesting to see synchronization evolve after so many iterations, but it sounds like the more manual approach will allow players to discover opportunities and plan accordingly. SNIPPET 3: VANTAGE POINT Tagging enemies In the clip Naoe can be seen on a rooftop overlooking Kameyama Castle tagging enemies until her target is located. She observes her surroundings, highlighting enemies, watching their patterns, and discovering entry points, all giving her time to plan the perfect stealth approach from above Looking to her left, a beautiful cherry blossom tree sits within the castle walls. It also seems that numerous options are available around the perimeter for Naoe to use her grappling hook. For Yasuke however, gaining access to a rooftop will be trickier. “Yasuke will likely need to take the stairs and go through the guards to reach the top” Observing the enemies, we can see a level 34 guard, and another marked with a skull, indicating that he is an extremely high level. “In Shadows, we don’t have any companion Eagle to help you; now, you are the Eagle.” After locating the target, the camera zooms in and gives further details. This quest is all about finding Masatoshi Nakahara, who is marked on the objectives board. Throughout the map, players can discover ‘kakurega’ safehouses which act as ‘extensions of the Hideout (i.e. your central homebase that is fully customizable) and offer some of its practical functionalities such as refilling your rations/tools/ammunition, accessing your gear stash, managing and accepting contracts, and replenishing scouts as well as managing which allies can be summoned for help.’ This will be incredibly useful for players who venture far away from the hideout, and wish to resupply before planning their next attack. SNIPPET 4: PATHFINDER Horse travel In the next clip, we see Yasuke travelling through the trees on a horse, looking for the next objective, 1500 meters away. At the bottom, players have the option to turn on pathfinder. This will be incredibly useful as Japan's landscape is full of hills, some of which may be difficult to climb without paths due to the height or quantity of trees. When switched on, pathfinder appears as a winding line which the player follows until a path has been discovered. SNIPPET 5: OBJECTIVE BOARD Next we see the objectives page, which features allies and enemies. At the top we can see members of ‘The League’, which is marked with the Assassin logo. Could this be the local name for the Assassin Brotherhood? Presumably this footage is taken at the start of the game before further recruits are added, as only one member of The League can be seen around the Assassin insignia: A female dressed in a golden robe. Could she be the Mentor, or even Naoe’s mother? Another group at the top of the board, (allies), are ‘The People of Settsu’, who also appear to be quest-givers. Naoe and Yasuke can help the local people, which may lead to information or rewards. The player scrolls down, and we get our first look at the main enemy faction in the game, ‘The Onryo’. All dressed in masks, it is currently unknown if this faction are an offshoot of The Templar Order, or if they follow similar beliefs to The Order of Ancients. Wikipedia translation: In Japanese traditional beliefs and literature, onryō (怨霊, lit. 'vengeful spirit', sometimes rendered "wrathful spirits", "hatred spirits", "resentful spirits", "ruthless spirits", "envious spirits", "dark spirits", "fallen spirits", or "downcast spirits") are a type of ghost (yūrei) believed to be capable of causing harm in the world of the living, injuring or killing. I love the idea that the enemy faction in the game are seen across Japan as otherworldly, causing harm to the living. This is likely due to them operating from the shadows, and rumours spreading about their presence. The masks all look unique, some featuring horns, others imitating animals. Assassin's Creed Origins and most recently, Mirage did a great job at matching specific masks to enemy personalities, so it will be interesting to see if AC Shadows does something similar. Close to ‘ The Onryō’ at the bottom of the page are ‘The Kabukimono’, whose circles are positioned around a sword. Wikipedia translation: “Kabukimono were rōnin, wandering samurai, or men who had once worked for samurai families who, during times of peace, formed street gangs.” The in-game definition of this faction can be seen below. In particular, the player highlights ‘The Grave Dancer’, who seems to be the leader of a group of Kabukimono calling themselves ‘The Defilers’, believing that the world is corrupt and therefore nothing is sacred. From the objectives board, players can track quests using information they have gained, or go back to the map to send scouts to areas of interest to discover further details in regards to target locations. Finally, “When an alarm has been rung and an entire province has been put on high alert by your actions, you will be wanted and tracked down by deadly groups of enemies: the Guardians. While you can wait for the turn of the season, which happens dynamically over time, you can also switch protagonists or deploy some of your scouts to cancel the provincial alert. This will remove the aggressive attitude of the military patrols in the province and reduce the readiness levels of guards in military zones.” It sounds like this enemy faction will operate in a similar way to the zealots in Assassin's Creed Valhalla or the Mercenaries in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, chasing the player across the map. SNIPPET 6: SCOUT A short 20 second clip shows the map being used to locate a target in a specific area. The map is done in a Japanese watercolour art style. “The World Map is the backbone of exploration. You will start the game with a map that only reveals region names and drawings hinting at the potential nature of key locations. “ Similar to Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla, the game hints at a location and the player has to investigate. On the AC Shadows map, hints can be found in the top left corner. At the bottom of the map, you can see the option to dispatch scouts to retrieve information from a specific location. It looks like the maximum number of times a player can dispatch scouts is three times before they need recharged. “Once deployed, scouts will return at the end of the season and become deployable once again. However, you can always pay with in-game currency at a kakurega to speed up their return” “In Shadows, information is something you need to look for and earn, whether through your spies, NPC encounters, or through your own eyes.” ‘They are central to exploration and play a significant role in the war of information, which is an important aspect of your journey in Shadows.’ In the recently released episode 11 of our Rally the Creed podcast, Andy and Jen detail their hopes for the AC Shadows scout recruitment system. In a way, the scout system calls back to the original Assassin's Creed game, where information had to be earned before action could be taken. This exploration mentality returned in Mirage and is a great way for players to uncover details first instead of charging blindly into an important mission . SNIPPET 7: SMUGGLING Smuggling is a useful way to gain resources for the hideout, finding enemy supplies and marking them for collection. Over time, supplies can be used to upgrade the hideout, with lots of options available across an acre of land to truly make each hideout unique to the player. As the supplies are too large to be transported by Naoe or Yasuke, '‘they need to be marked with a flag to be smuggled out over time by one of your scouts. At the end of the season, all flagged stockpiles are cashed in for you to upgrade your Hideout.’' We can't wait to see what players do to their hideout to make it a central base of operations! SNIPPET 8: SUMI-E Japanese ink painting, al so known as sumi - e. Naoe sneaks up on a grey heron and observes her surroundings. After watching the bird bask in the sunshine, she captures the moment by painting. “For the more contemplative players, both Naoe and Yasuke can participate in the painting of wild animals of Japan, showcasing the diversity and majesty of its ecosystems.” In these quiet moments Naoe and Yasuke both have the opportunity to practice stealth and also enhance their focus, but for players, it's a nice calm activity that acts as a break from combat. “Naoe has a unique Kuji-kiri meditation activity that helps her focus her mind and reveals more about her life and backstory, while Yasuke will encounter people in the world that can teach him new weapon-specific Kata — special maneuvers you can unlock by performing a series of fight moves in a specific order with good timing. Yasuke can also show off his skills in various horse archery events.” “There is a lot to discover in the open world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, from temples to castles, hidden parkour trails to training grounds, and other secrets.” It's clear that the world of Assassin's Creed Shadows has a ton of activities for players to sink their teeth into, and the world offers a huge variety of opportunities for players to embark on that are both memorable and entertaining. Once again we would like to say a huge thank you to the Assassin's Creed community team for providing early access to the exploration article and for always supporting The Ones Who Came Before. Assassin's Creed Shadows releases March 20th 2025. Check out our video summary of the new exploration article by FrameHoldPhotography! 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)

New Member Dave Rutter joins TOWCB Virtual Photography Team News Share 15 Oct 2023 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) TOWCB Team Back To Database We are pleased to announce that Dave Rutter ( @ dpruttz_vp ) is the latest member to join our @ Isu_network , taking on the role of Engagement Strategist for the Virtual Photography Team! Dave first started playing Assassin's Creed back in 2020 when Valhalla launched, capturing memorable moments using his expertise with the photo mode tool. By joining the program, Dave will have access to our social media platforms and website from which he can use to promote his captures and virtual photography in general. He will also take on new responsibilities as a moderator for our VP Twitter Community, making him a recognisable leader in the AC VP Community. Team structure We look forward to working with Dave & the rest of the Virtual Photography Team as we aim to shine a spotlight on community captures. Twitter Community Do you plan on using photo mode in Assassin's Creed Mirage? If so, it's time to share your captures in our Assassin's Creed Virtual Photography Community! VP Safe Space Here to support the #virtualphotography community. Because sometimes everyone needs a #safespace & someone to talk to. VP Save Space is a DM support service for the Virtual Photography Community for people who need someone to talk to. Here to support you when you need it with a place to reach out, vent or for a friendly chat. You are NOT alone. 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)

Partnership with A Nutrition Transformation Announcement Community Share 10 Jun 2025 Written By: Edited By: TOWCB Team Colum Blackett Back To Database We are excited to announce that we have agreed terms with Andrew Brown from A Nutrition Transformation for a promotional partnership! Andrew is a qualified GPNi Sports Nutrition Specialist who is looking to work with members of the Assassin's Creed Community seeking to achieve their health, fitness and wellbeing goals. Through our collaboration, Andrew will be offering his services at reduced rates, providing expert advice and education at an affordable price. We can't wait to get started! Keep an eye on our socials for updates. 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

Assassin's Creed Shadows: First Impressions and Gameplay Analysis Share 23 Jan 2025 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) TOWCB Team Back To Database We are now just two months away from the launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows, and we are thrilled to reveal that two of our team members, Col and Taylor were selected by Ubisoft to participate in a remote early-access play session event along with other content creators and media outlets around the world. Below you will find the initial thoughts and feelings written by Assassin's Creed Community Ambassador @ Col_96 after a four hour play session, brand new screenshots, and exclusive gameplay captured during the session. Keep an eye on the page as we will continue adding content throughout the week! Enjoy! Possible spoilers for Assassin's Creed Shadows First Impressions Hello Assassins. I'm Col, Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, and I was lucky enough to participate in an early access event for Assassin's Creed Shadows thanks to the AC Community Development team at Ubisoft. I'll start off by saying that I had a really positive experience, as the world of Assassin's Creed Shadows is incredibly beautiful, intertwining two stories in a way that creates an experience that is both shared and standalone, as Naoe and Yasuke, two outsiders in the world, find comfort in each other's pain, and try to make a difference to heal Japan. I think what the development team at Ubisoft has done is incredibly clever, weaving history into the main characters for the first time, selecting Yasuke, a historical character, and Naoe, the fictional daughter of real life ninja Fujibayashi Nagato. For me, both characters make perfect sense, and show a different perspective on the brutal history of the time period. AC Shadows takes a stab at bringing back a sense of mystery that long-time fans of the series will love. The game encourages you to uncover the next secret in a land of danger, something which is incredibly rewarding for players. The passage of time is interesting too with a fixed day/night cycle that provides atmosphere as every storm is different. You can feel the effects of the wind as your riding through an open field. Lightning can flash across the sky and light up the whole scene. Naoe ''The life of an assassin is pain , You suffer it, you inflict it, you watch it happen in the hope that you can make it disappear in time.'' Ezio Auditore I feel that this quote perfectly describes Naoe. Although not strictly an Assassin during my playthrough, or at least, that word was never said, her quest for revenge after the attack on her village is fuelled by a hunger for vengeance. Rather than blind rage, she is incredibly focussed, seeking those who are harming Japan and its citizens. You can feel her pain, and she takes no joy in inflicting it upon others. It is a necessary evil. Throwing knives are lethal when timed correctly, but can also be used to extinguish candles from a distance, creating darkness and the perfect environment for a stealth attack. I particularly liked the dialogue options, as they can make a difference to the outcome of a mission. This is why the team added a canon mode, so that the Animus makes the decision for the player. I like how Naoe is the sum of her history, learning from the past, but also taking onboard the teachings around her. She is thoughtful, reflective, and resourceful. She will no doubt be a fan favourite. Yasuke An outsider in a foreign land, Yasuke has to learn the true meaning of honor and respect when he is stripped of his name, all authority and ownership of his own decisions. He shows a willingness to survive in a hostile environment, learning the language, customs and more, and is rewarded with his life. Often shown as a 'one man army' Yasuke is all that and more. There is a kind side to Yasuke that makes him relatable and more human in side quests. He is not the brute he has been portrayed to be. I was really surprised by this as I suspected it would be the case that he was the brawn and Naoe the brain, but that's not the case. He shows intelligence and understanding, opting for a more physical approach to quests due his size, but I also found stealth with Yasuke to be incredibly satisfying considering his limited capabilities. Combat is great, as Yasuke can take a lot of damage, giving you the chance to recover, reset, change strategy and break down enemy armour before delivering a brutal finishing move. I can see players being very happy with the weapon choices, enemy types, finishing moves and overall effort that is gone into crafting a brutal combat system that is all about breaking the opponent down and destroying their armour. Things I liked The Scout System: You can recruit scouts and send them to attack enemies. It's extremely satisfying, and you can customise everything from their weapons to outfits. Building the network of spies has its benefits as they can also be sent out to collect information across the map! Eagle Vision can be used indefinitely: I didn't notice Eagle Vision timing out, which means it can be used without the worry of it disappearing. You can use it to highlight points of interest or observe and tag enemies. Voice Acting : I was really impressed with the voice acting, from all age ranges. Music: Absolutely incredible score! This will be a soundtrack that players will adore for sure, as it captures a mix of emotions. Sadness, anger, and hype! I was really motivated by an incredible fast paced track at a key moment early on in the game. Facial Expressions: Game looked absolutely incredible on my PC (Nvidia RTX 3070 TI), and the facial expressions, especially in cutscenes were so lifelike! Parkour: Feels quick, rebuilt from the ground up. Naoe is easily the fastest character in an AC game. It feels like a mix of balance and precise manoeuvres. She is lightweight and nimble, moving silently Grappling Hook: Like the rope launcher but more useful. You can swing from trees to perform air assassinations. Extremely satisfying. Tall grass, low grass and prone: The introduction of prone is perfect for an Assassins' Creed game, and I particularly like that AC Shadows has heights of grass. Brutality during combat: Decapitations, impaling, you name it, AC Shadows will shock and surprise with it's brutal combat system. The World has so many opportunities: Uncovering secrets, side quests and moments of tranquillity create a game of many tones, dark and light, and I feel like it encourages the player to get lost in the world. You have to unfog the map yourself, as viewpoints only uncover so much. This is great news for completionists. Enemy Types: Guardians are my current favourites. You'll see why when the game launches! Very similar to the mercenaries in AC Odyssey that hunt the player! Visuals: I didn't get to use photo mode but I know that players are going to have a great time with this game. It's incredibly beautiful. Stealth: It will take some practice, but with more time, I can definitely see players perfecting stealth and using all the tools at their disposal to their advantage. Things I Didn't Like The night is incredibly dark: I had to turn the light off in my office to see the screen as when the game takes place at night, it is incredibly dark. Hills and thick trees: Without the pathfinder, my horse would still be stuck up a mountain somewhere trying to find a way past the incredibly thick trees. Hunting isn't in the game, or at least, I didn't find any way to kill a deer. I thought it would be similar to AC III where pelts could be used for crafting, but I didn't see this in my playthrough. Health potions don't fully heal , or at least, with my current skill level and abilities during the playthrough, I needed to use two to fully reset the health bar. Yasuke doesn't have Eagle Vision: I understand that this could be for a lore reason, but it would have been a useful addition. I didn't see any Modern Day Gameplay. Animus Hub has huge potential though. Enemies can literally walk away from smoke bombs and be unaffected. I died so many times when playing as Naoe in combat situations. Some of the enemies have huge health bars compared to Naoe, and thick armour so it's a real challenge to defeat them in combat. I will say that it is incredibly satisfying when you do though, but similar to Basim in AC Mirage, the game encourages a stealth approach. Not a bad thing, just worth mentioning for those looking for a fight. I genuinely think that fans will be surprised when they pick up Assassin's Creed Shadows in March. There's a lot to love about the game, as you'll see in our exclusive gameplay below! Enjoy! Dev Comments We reached out to the development team at Ubisoft Quebec regarding our experience and received a response from Game Director Charles Benoit! ''I think once settled, you could play with contrast setting for the night. We wanted to have a black night, not a blue one. About Hunting, we saw the hunting wasn't a big thing compare to the respect of nature, so we wanted to turn hunting in something more positive, it's why we introduce the Sumi-e activity instead. For healing potions, it's with some Hideout upgrade that you can boost it. You can boost efficiency and quantity. And about the smoke bombs, it's Only Samurai that deny it by running away, we wanted to avoid cookie cutter strategy and have some enemy "smarter" than other. And yes, Naoe and fight can be challenging, Preview is not the ideal learning curve. But Naoe can be very lethal if you build your gear in some was, using the fight system in the best way too.'' We would like to say a big thank you to Charles for reading our first impressions article and for providing insight into the creative decisions! Animus Hub Welcome to the Assassin's Creed Animus Hub: An Explanatory video by Ubisoft showcasing the Animus Hub, a new platform and gateway to Assassin's Creed content which launches alongside Assassin's Creed Shadows. Analysis by UbiCypher Exclusive Gameplay Stealth and Combat Youtube TikTok Sumi-E Painting Boars Youtube TikTok Naoe Combat Youtube TikTok Desyncronization Youtube TikTok Cherry Blossom Trees Youtube TikTok Deploying scout, combat Youtube TikTok Syncronization Youtube TikTok Shrines Youtube TikTok Failed Assassination Attempt Youtube TikTok Naoe Projectiles Youtube TikTok Assassination Compilation Youtube TikTok Leap of Faith Youtube TikTok Brutal Naoe Finisher Youtube TikTok Naoe Customisation Options Youtube TikTok Yasuke Customisation Options Youtube TikTok Switching Character Youtube TikTok Synchronization Youtube TikTok Horseback Riding Youtube TikTok Yasuke Sumi-E Activity Youtube TikTok Bamboo Destruction Youtube TikTok Brutal Finishing Move Youtube TikTok Sumi-E Activity Youtube TikTok Killing a Guardian Youtube TikTok 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)

Assassin's Creed Shadows - First Impressions, Naoe & Yasuke, Gameplay & World & More News Share 27 May 2024 Written By: Edited By: SisterlyThrower Back To Database In one of our many videos to come, covering the newly announced Assassin's Creed Shadows, SisterlyThrower shares first impressions of the game and thoughts on the trailer, dives deeper into protagonists Naoe & Yasuke, the game's portrayal of Japan, gameplay and more. Stay tuned for more content on Shadows! Video written and narrated by SisterlyThrower , background music and editing by Gargudon . comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author SisterlyThrower is a Twitch streamer who began streaming in 2019. While initially covering a variety of different topics and games, he eventually leaned into one of his first loves of modern gaming, Assassin’s Creed. While he was playing through the series much, much later than most everyone else, he quickly grew to love the lore, the gameplay, and yes, all those pesky achievements. This love for Assassin’s Creed has blossomed into his current suite of projects, lovingly entitled, “Assassin Academy”. Working to learn more about the Assassin’s Creed universe, Assassin Academy places SisterlyThrower into what will soon be a whole host of different themed videos and streams. Currently, SisterlyThrower is conducting a series of playthrough streams under different challenges (Assassin 1001 – Fundamentals of Assassin-ing). While not streaming or looking up achievement lists, SisterlyThrower spends most of his time with his wife, WifeyThrower and their two cats: Mary, who was supposed to be SisterlyThrower’s cat at first, but of course glommed onto WifeyThrower and won’t let go, and Jimothy, the quintessential essence of what happens when you give a cat only three brain cells and he loses two of them. SisterlyThrower also enjoys making videos under his other moniker, The Video Game Therapyst, where he utilizes his real-world expertise as a therapist to analyze the mental health messages found in today’s games. SisterlyThrower

Possible Ubisoft Employees spotted photographing Italian architecture Rumor Hub Share 30 Jul 2018 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Colum Blackett Back To Database Freelance journalist Jordan Oloman recently visited the area surrounding Lake Como in Italy, which is situated roughly 2 hours away from Milan. On his travels to the beautiful location, Jordan and his travelling companion Helena had the opportunity to visit Villa del Balbianello, which was used for the filming of Naboo in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Image by Jordan Oloman Image by TREMEZZINA It was on this visit to Villa del Balbianello that Jordan and Helena noticed two possible employees from Ubisoft taking very particular photos of the architecture. He notes that the two people carried a Ubi30/ UbiProud bag, which were campaigns run by the company. After describing the two individuals, Jordan jokingly wondered if the sighting could be connected to an unannounced Assassin's Creed project. Could the two employees be location scouts? Although the Assassin's Creed franchise has already visited Italy in two major installments (AC2& AC Brotherhood), rumours circulating in 2017 suggested that the franchise would be soon be introducing an Ancient Trillogy, visiting Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. The reveal of Assassin's Creed Origins confirmed these rumours for many fans, and the introduction of Assassin's Creed Odyssey made the claims even more believable. We contacted Jordan, who informed us that he has no concrete proof that the two individuals worked for Ubisoft, and may have just be tourists interested in Italian architecture. Do you think that the two individuals were Ubisoft Employees scouting out locations for an unannounced AC Project or just tourists? Could the Assassin's Creed Franchise be heading to Italy? Would you like to see the franchise return to the country? Does this sighting confirm the Ancient Trilogy rumors for you? Photos by Jordan Oloman You can find Jordan on Twitter Information source 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)

Discovery Tour by Ubisoft: The Educational Software and Books for Exploring History Breakdown Share 14 Sept 2021 Written By: Edited By: Michael Smith Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Assassin’s Creed was first introduced to the gaming world in 2007 with the release of its titled release “Assassin’s Creed”. The game told a fictional story of two warring factions seeking an artifact of unknown power during the real historical setting of the Third Crusade in the Holy Land (modern day Jerusalem). Throughout the game, players were provided information via game dialogue and recaps from the perspective of the protagonist to provide historical insight of the world around them. This idea of historical education embedded in an action stealth video game would progress further as the series continued, adding codex libraries of reference data for historical locations, people, and various additional subjects. Ubisoft, the publisher of the Assassin’s Creed games, decided in 2017 alongside the launch of Assassin’s Creed Origins, to release a new game mode titled Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt where players and those interested in history would be able to control a character within the digital representation of Egypt and participate in walking tours that educated them on the history that influenced the flagship series. This was successful enough that a second entry of the new mode was released the following year with Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece. In 2020, Larousse (a French publishing house) released a physical print of the Discovery Tours via the Discovery Book by Assassin’s Creed Series, titled Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. Within these reference books, 1001 facts about the eras were collected with their pages. At the time of this review, these books have only been released in French, but are advertised on the Great Britain and French Assassin’s Creed Stories publishing sites. For this article, the Ancient Greece version of the Discovery Tour and Book will be examined after completing the full game mode, and reading the book with Google Translate. In both the book and the game, the history of Ancient Greece is broken down into “Themes” and within those themes are the “Tours” that educate on one of 30 different subjects. Within the game mode, the player can select a character from a list of fictional and historical persons, such as the main protagonist Kassandra/ Alexios or a simple farmer from that era, some of the characters must be unlocked by completing a set number of tours or themes, as well as a horse to travel from location to location without having to worry about combat and stroll through the vibrant environment designed by the Assassin’s Creed team while listening to a narration of the history of Greece. The player is greeted at the start of the tour by one of a small handful of tour guides, such as Herodotus and Aspasia. The player can ask the guide questions about themselves to learn of these historical figures/characters from the game. From here, the game's narrator will highlight numerous stops that players will traverse the environment by following a lighted pathway to get to a stop and interact with it to play the audio information about the subject of that stop. Once completing the tour, players will return to the tour guide at the end of the guided pathway and take a short multiple choice quiz to see if the player remembers what they just learned. There is no failure to the tour quiz as the guide will correct you and reeducate about the correct answer if necessary. Players can discover new tours by Fast Traveling to the starting location or exploring the map at their own pace and tracking their progress via in-game menus and checkpoints on the Map. Each tour informs of the number of checkpoints, known as Stations, and the estimated time it should take to complete that tour. Tours can take anywhere from 5 minutes to half an hour, but are filled with visuals, camerawork, real pictures and sketches of the subject to compare to the ingame models. Players of the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey title will notice that locations in the Discovery Tour are different than they were in game as the developers adjusted the locations to be more historically accurate and less focused on integration with game mechanics. Players that would like to experience the history of Ancient Greece also have the option of taking the tours in order of the timeline available in the menu. This option is partially how the Discovery Book is organized. The book is sectioned into 9 sections of interest and within those are 42 subjects over 95 pages. The information provided in the book is the same information provided in the game mode, arranged alongside images of items from the real world or screenshots of the game. As you can see in the images below, the information provided is similar, appearing differently due to translation and where said information is provided on the page. The book, while providing the same information as the game mode, provides a better sense of educational value as it reads like a traditional encyclopedia, with the downside of being currently available in French only. However the gamification of unlocking additional characters and mounts as well as traversing the beautiful landscapes of Greece make the adventure of finding and going through the tours more entertaining. With children these days generally more intrigued by computer screens than books, this software provides a great way of educating children and classrooms in a new way. The potential of coming into class and playing a Discovery Tour game versus watching a film would be beneficial to students absorbing information and talking more about what they learned and found while exploring the Greek World. This could also be a great format for museums to expand exhibits and offer new experiences from home via live service updates similar to that of the main Assassin’s Creed games. Both the Ancient Greece and Egypt Tours and Books are a great way to learn about the history that inspired the Assassin’s Creed series and a great addition to any collection. For those that are not interested in purchasing the full games that include the Discovery Tour, the tours are offered as a stand alone product for PC users and videos of the tours are available on the Discovery Tour by Ubisoft website. Previous fans of the game mode will be happy to know that the next entry Discovery Tour: Viking Age for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will be releasing in the fall of 2021 (October 19th) . In this new era, locations from around the Valhalla game will be explorable, such as Englad, Ireland, France, and even the home of the Norse Gods, Asgard. Players will be able to play as favorite characters and NPCs from the game and explore the real world influences in depth. Information provided by the Ubisoft team working on this mode confirms that it will be more immersive than the previous iterations. This could mean new mechanics such as puzzles to learn secrets of the past, or possibly the introduction of a more interactive tour that is more than a stop and admire version that players are used to with museums and games like this. 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

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)

Why Assassin's Creed Remakes Will Succeed Wishlist Share 12 Jul 2024 Written By: Edited By: Hayden Bird Colum Blackett Back To Database Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot announced recently that some of the classic original Assassin’s Creed games would be getting remakes, which means completely rebuilding and overhauling the original games in the series to hold up better against modern gaming years later since the beginning days of the series. Given the technology in the gaming industry has rapidly advanced since the start of this franchise, it makes sense for Ubisoft to use this modern tech to their advantage. The Assassin’s Creed series has been active and alive for over 15 years and counting, and over that time the games have changed a lot. The original games from the beginning were ground-breaking games in the industry that still have impacts to today’s game development. The stealth and parkour formula became an inspiration for other games following this same template. Even today, stealth themed games are in some way created by the foundation that is the Assassin’s Creed series. Now that Ubisoft has shown more interest in their roots of the franchise, only good things can come of this development direction from the company. Assassin’s Creed as we know it is unlike its past. Which has been a change for the good, as certain aspects of the older games simply do not hold up today, like oblivious side characters and enemies, old reused mechanics, or features from the original games that would make the current state of these games seem outdated and considered being out of touch with the rapid change of the gaming industry. Times have changed in this business, and to survive, Ubisoft has to evolve with the median, otherwise the series would remain stuck in the past and unoriginal. Ubisoft shows they not only care about the future games of the franchise, but also showing their appreciation to their beginnings. Creating these remakes is a huge step forward for this world-wide game industry giant, as they are aware that Assassin’s Creed is still as popular as ever, and doubling down on their best franchises is the way to succeed as a company. The future of the series already has several games announced and rumored, and now the idea of remaking the older games would be great for the reputation of these all time classic games. While the originals still are impressive and great, some of them do not hold up well in today's standards, both graphically and mechanically. The technology used in 2007 is much different than what we have today. The tech industry is a quick and ever evolving business, meaning you're forced to adapt with the change, or you could be left behind. The graphics from the original games were considered impressive at the time of their release, but now in an era where games can be created in almost life-like visuals, the state of the classic games look outdated. So, remaking these games can do justice to their legacies by improving on what are already industry-changing games, and making them hold up in our modern standards. Ubisoft has many years to plan and decide on the exact direction to take for these remakes, but from what we know already, fans should be excited for what to expect in the future. Ubisoft could make these games impressive in today’s vision by not only improving their visuals, but also going in depth into development and changing the way these games are played that would match what we expect today. It's clear Ubisoft knows that to create these remakes, the games should be updated but not abandoning its core. A way Ubisoft could approach this idea is by changing the more outdated mechanics of the past, but keeping the concept the same. Such as updating the parkour from the original games, by cleaning up the outdated parkour such as accidentally ejecting off tall building one has climbed by pressing the wrong button, which, thankfully, has been changed in the more modern Assassin’s Creed games where accidentally jumping to your death is not very possible anymore by not allowing it to be so easy to fall down. Ubisoft could also update these games with adding enemy AI awareness. In the past when playing the game it sometimes would be easier to pretend to be spotted until the enemy notices enough to come and investigate your position and you could take them down from there. This altered the way enemies are traditionally supposed to react, and is unrealistic to how modern enemies in gaming are. Which makes you have to be more careful about being spotted, instead of using it as an unfair advantage. Ubisoft is capable of perfecting these remakes to the point where it plays similar to current Assassin’s Creed series mechanics. The graphical updates could also have the game look as the developers would have originally envisioned, given the lack of advanced technology at the time of the games creation. Now, since games look so close to life-like graphics, these classics will look like they would have if the gaming world had today's technology available years prior. It is up to Ubisoft on how to approach these remakes. Whether it be remaking all of the originals, or remaking the ones they think would play best in modern standards. Ubisoft has plenty of options to choose from as the production could begin in the near future. However they decide, fans should trust that the vision Ubisoft has selected for these remakes will be a faithful adaptation of these all-time great gaming masterpieces. It is smart Ubisoft is investing their efforts so much into the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and not only focusing on future installments, but other ways to bring this beloved franchise to life. Remakes of these games are a brilliant idea from Ubisoft, as it will cater to all fans of this series, and those who may be new to Assassin’s Creed . Now that remasters and remakes are all the rage now, plenty of popular classic games are getting that treatment, so Ubisoft has picked a smart time to take advantage of this rise in popularity, and honor the roots of this franchise with remakes that rejuvenate the history of the series and perhaps one day have all the rather outdated Assassin’s Creed games match modern standards and once again have them become a staple of the industry, just as the did when they originally released many years ago. The Assassin’s Creed fan base should be excited for the future of these games, and Ubisoft’s dedication to admiring and adapting their massive money-making franchise. 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

This Week in Assassin's Creed Virtual Photography: 27th August - 2nd September 2022 Community Share 3 Sept 2022 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the weekly virtual photography round up 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 capture across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture for a chance to be featured. 1) Ravensthorpe Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Console: PS4 This week’s first capture comes from @ tn_taurus a member of our Assassin’s Creed VP Twitter Community . First up this week we have a wonderful set of shots from Eivor’s Settlement in England. I really enjoyed having a home base in Valhalla, it gave me a real sense of achievement each time I returned. The edit on this set really gives off the sense of a Viking home. Taken during the Sigrblot festival, we are treated to some great shots of a decorated settlement. I particularly like the capture inside the longhouse. Fantastic Scandinavian vibes, reminds me of the Vikings TV series. 2) Lighthouse Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins Photo number two comes from @ warriorqueenvp a member of our Assassin’s Creed VP Twitter Community. Next up we have a fabulous capture of the lighthouse in Alexandria. The saturation of this shot is perfectly executed. I love the orange reflection of the sun on the water and the shadows of the boats as they navigate the waters around the great city. The stand out though has to be the lighthouse, always a great place to take a photo in Origins. The beautiful architecture and the burning light on the top make for such beautiful photo opportunities. Link to set 3) Ready for Battle Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla This week’s third shot comes from @ Ao_sly over on Twitter. I have such respect for this shot as the pose is one I often try to achieve myself. Timing is always critical with these captures as they can look odd if not done correctly. This one, however, is flawless, every little detail has been captured brilliantly. I am impressed with Eivor’s hand reaching for her weapon, but at the same time the hood is raised giving a slight assassin feel. I think the outfit combo works brilliantly, with the stomach tattoo giving the shot that Norse feel. A fantastic capture worthy of the Ragnarok setting. 4) Eivor Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Console: Xbox One X VP number four comes from @ xo_Sweet_Pea over on Twitter. Photo number four continues on from the previous shot with a hauntingly beautiful portrait of Eivor. The decision to go with a black and white photo here is what makes it a winner. It highlights the face tattoo so well, which gives huntress vibes. The look isn’t too dissimilar to Kassandra’s huntress set either. Once again I love the use of the hood which adds to the shadows in this shot. It is also great to see Eivor’s braided hair poking out without any clipping. A truly wonderful capture of our favourite Viking raider. 5) Lion King Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins Console: PS4 The final capture of the week comes from @ SoldjahOfLighta over on Twitter. The final shot of the week is in keeping with my attempts to find great animal shots. This particular photo is from a set that showcases this Lioness exquisitely. I am actually is awe of how good this is, the level of detail on the lion is excellent. Sometimes when taking shots of NPC’s/wildlife the fine points are not as crisp as the main character. When I saw this capture, though, it just reminded me of a wildlife documentary. Link to set 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 Virtual Photography: 16th to 27th September Community Share 17 Oct 2024 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Colum Blackett 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 alongside @ Cll3ar a long-time friend of TOWCB. Raven has been delighting us with her beautiful and unique virtual photography from the RPG games. Her dark and gritty Valhalla shots are some of the best I have seen, while she also charms us with the softer tones of Odyssey. Raven was the very first guest judge for these articles, so it is a pleasure to have her return. 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: Peaceful Blossom Game: Assassin’s Creed Mirage VP Artist: @ playpausephoto The Ones Who Came Before Photo of the Week Judge: @ Cll3ar Raven When it comes to capturing what I consider peaceful, it’s mostly places in nature, ambient spots or details with soft colours. Each of the participants did an amazing job of showcasing these. However, as only one can be the winner, I definitely see it in Malin’s capture. It is lovely, soft and shows peaceful details from nature. Aaron In some ways it is the perfect theme for the minimal queen. When Malin won the code for Assassin’s Creed Mirage, I knew we would be in for some different and distinctive captures. This theme really breaks away from the standard Assassin’s Creed shot and delves deeper into the finer details. Malin’s beautiful photo mixes vibrant flowers against some soft calming negative space. I just can’t get enough of the colours in this shot. What I love about it though is the fact you could not tell which game this is from. A worthy winner for the peaceful theme. Warm Glow Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ WonDerNooB_VP RS is a fantastic virtual photographer who consistently supports our themes. This time we had a really hard time picking which shot to feature. For all the action and bravado of the Assassin’s Creed games there are always softer, more peaceful moments to find. I think RS has found one of these here with this capture. There is a real relaxing vibe with the stunning view and the warm glow of the fire. I really like how this photo makes it feel like we are playing in the first-person perspective. Looking at this reminds me of some of the promotional shots for the VR game. Excellent work as always RS. Autumnal Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ UVioletra Much the same as Malin, Bianca excels with peaceful photography. Although known for her vibrant Odyssey shots, Bianca actually produces quite a lot of remarkable Valhalla environments. The diverse seasons within Valhalla really do lend themselves to some truly beautiful VP. I am sure this is something we will see a lot more of once Shadows releases. The distinctive colour tones displayed here make this look like a painting. I love the autumnal colours, with the trees looking so good. The house and the people in the fields working really gives that lived in experience. Wonderful photography as usual. Sunset Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ cyrielle_vp Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has such contrasting landscapes that offer sublime photo opportunities. The Sunsets in all the RPG series have been quite something and activating the PM during these moments often ends with a mesmerising capture. This beautiful shot from Cyrielle is the epitome of peaceful. What I love the most is the framing, with the tree branches encompassing the sun as it sets behind the mountains. That reflection on the water is very picturesque adding to the sense of calm. This is the perfect photo to accompany the end to Kassandra’s story. The Forest Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ NovA1990 This capture confused me as I was sure this was the English countryside. Once again showing that Odyssey has some of the most diverse landscapes in a video game. What I like about his photo is the way it reminds me of summer walks in my local area. The varying vegetation on both sides of the path adds variety and that leading line from the walkway is a great addition. You can feel the peace exuding from this capture. I am sure Kassandra enjoyed walking this path after a hard day on the battlefield. 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

Assassin's Creed Shadows World Trailer Released News Share 13 Sept 2024 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) TOWCB Team Back To Database Ubisoft has released the World Trailer for Assassin's Creed Shadows, showcasing the new dynamic weather system and stunning landscapes. We are now just three months away from launch, and we here at The Ones Who Came Before can't wait to play the latest instalment. Here is our Trailer Analysis video by SisterlyThrower from TOWCB Video Content Creation Team exploring likes and dislikes from the new footage. Stay tuned for all things Assassin's Creed Shadows here at The Ones Who Came Before 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)

What Netflix can learn from Fallout's Success for Upcoming Assassin's Creed Projects Analysis Share 25 Apr 2024 Written By: Edited By: Finn Fletcher Colum Blackett Back To Database Amazon Prime’s new Fallout show is excellent, and like many people I got a bit addicted and binged the whole thing over the weekend. It's an intriguing, dramatic, action-packed narrative with some really compelling characters and performances. As a fan of the franchise, I felt it perfectly captured the tone that made me love the games, but importantly it was still welcoming to newcomers. This is likely why it's had such critical success, and why all of the games are seeing a massive rise in active players. It's an almost perfect live action video game adaptation, and as we wait for Netflix’s new Assassin’s Creed show, I think there are plenty of lessons that the Netflix production team could take from this success; a few of which I actually think we already got in the Assassin's Creed Movie (2016). While it has its fans, I think the film overall was a failure. It didn't resonate with audiences, and the narrative felt jumbled. But, choosing to create an original story within the world of Assassin's Creed that actively affected canon was the right move. I care about the stories of these games, and while it would be great to see characters show up (you could pull off a pretty cool Kassandra appearance with Melissanthi Mahut), I have no interest in seeing their stories again in live action. If you want to get people interested, show them something new and add to the games. An original story would be a great opportunity to introduce new people to the franchise, while giving hardcore fans something to chew on. With that, I also think that you need to ruffle a few feathers. Some Fallout fans have taken issue with the show’s additions to canon. There's nothing that breaks what came before, but theories and questions were put to bed, while the fate of a major city was decided. It's brave and shows a creative team who weren't willing to do a simple paint by numbers story. There are much easier, less controversial plots that could have been written, but by being bold the show stands out and doesn't feel like a watered down add-on. Even though some fans are annoyed, the decisions were handled well to fit within the narrative of the show (rather than be purely for shock value), by a team of creatives who are clearly fans of the games themselves. If Netflix wants the Assassin's Creed show to work, they need to make some bold decisions. The show could be a perfect opportunity to finally conclude some of the dangling threads left by previous games that Ubisoft no longer cares about answering. We could find out what happened to someone like Bishop and Erudito, get details on the Roman Hidden Ones who Aya led, or even expand on the Juno and Phoenix Project sub-plot which, as far as I know, was quickly resolved in a comic. These are just suggestions, but if you get in a talented team who are also fans, you could pull off something really exciting here. That, I think, was the core problem with the film. The filmmakers were incredibly talented, Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard and director Justin Kurzel had just come off making Macbeth (2015), a genuinely brilliant film. There's talent there, but for whatever reason it didn't manifest into a good adaptation of Assassin's Creed. There could be plenty of reasons for that, Kurzel himself admits the film was a mess and struggled with his first jump into Hollywood Cinema, but I would say that a big challenge may have come from his unfamiliarity with the source material. Recounting his involvement in the film, Kurzel explains that it was Fassbender who first informed and drew him into the project He was introduced to the idea as a director, not a fan. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but if Netflix wants to course correct now I think getting an actual fan who's played the games to show run would be an important first step. Jonathan Nolan, Fallout showrunner and brother of Oscar-winning Christopher Nolan, isn't just a talented individual (with work on Westworld, Person of Interest and many of his brother’s films), he's also a huge Fallout fan. He describes Fallout 3 as ‘consuming a year of his life’. He cared for the source material and made a show he would want to watch. That's the kind of person we need helming Assassin's Creed, someone who can't only prove their talent, but bring in the tiny details that made us all fall in love with the games to begin with. Fallout has given me hope, and I think if done right Assassin's Creed could end up as an amazing show. Sources: Deadline Independent Collider Images via Amazon Prime video 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 so far 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! Finn Fletcher

TheNerdyArcher and Frame Hold Photography from TOWCB Join the Ubisoft Creators Program News Share 29 Jun 2024 Written By: Edited By: TOWCB Team Colum Blackett Back To Database We are absolutely delighted to announce that Louise Chase (@ TheNerdyArcher ) and Frame Hold Photography from TOWCB have been accepted in to the Ubisoft Creators Program! This means that going forward, both will have more access to opportunities like playing game demos, Twitch drops and downloads supplied directly by Ubisoft. We are particularly proud of this achievement since both are members of The AC Partnership Program (@ Isu_Network ), a community initiative created by The Ones Who Came Before which aims to promote and share content. The program is a great way for content creators to gain recognition for their work within the community, and expand to a wider audience. About the Program: ''Welcome to the Ubisoft Creators Program, our home for content creators, community leaders and creative minds who bring our games to life thanks to their passion, engagement, and unique voices. Once you join, you can access a personalized dashboard with a lineup of different activities and choose to join the ones that best support your channel, interests, and tone.'' Louise (TheNerdyArcher) is a UK Assassin's Creed community ambassador and former member of The Mentor's Guild and 'Scholars of the Creed' community. She is an Archaeology graduate and passionate historian. By joining TOWCB Writing Team, we aim to provide her with structured guidance, early access to transmedia, and a platform for her written works. Throughout 2024 and beyond, TOWCB will be working on a variety of projects covering the series. Blog | Twitter | Instagram Frame Hold Photography is a passionate Virtual Photographer who joined our Video Content Creation Team in Summer 2022, as we began our efforts to break away from solely written content. During a period of uncertainty for TOWCB website, FHP stepped up and took on the role of Site Manager, overseeing our restoration efforts. Our website today now sits at the top of many Google searches📈 Outside of AC, she is also a full time editor and visual effects artist on TV commercials, and has been putting her skills to use in the community by creating epic Assassin's Creed tribute videos, miniature figure painting videos and editing episodes of our Rally the Creed podcast! Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Congratulations Assassins! 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