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Autumn 2019: Assassin's Creed Community Projects To Watch News Share 14 Nov 2019 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Autumn is upon us, and members of the Assassin's Creed Community have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to craft unique and interesting fan creations. Here are our top 6 projects you should look out for this Autumn. 6. Galina Cosplay - Assassin's Creed Cosplay Project Check out this brand new Assassin's Creed cosplay project, created by Galina Cosplay for UniCon and Game Expo, which takes place in Belarus! The costume seems to take inspiration from tribal cultures, featuring elements such as feathers, beads and bone charms. It's clear that this Assassin is a badass warrior who you really don't want tracking you down! I can see this member of the brotherhood taming wild animals and using a mix of stealth and brutality to eliminate enemies. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/06e6c8_4684adeb084041178203935eef023457/360p/mp4/file.mp4 5. Lorenzo de Sanctus - Assassin's Creed Japan Fanart Feudal Japan is a location many Assassin's Creed fans dream of visiting one day in a game, with the potential for ninjas, Samurai sword fights and epic rooftop battles. With the release of Ghost of Tsushima, AC fans can get a glimpse at what the setting could offer. 21 year old freelance concept artist Lorenzo de Sanctus has recntly been releasing his fanart on ArtStation. "Assassin's Creed is the game that i always loved, the idea, the style and the story! The idea to live the life of your ancestor is amazing. So I started to think about a game set in the Feudal japan, that could be great for me!" You can find all of his work here You can also follow him on Twitter 4. Connor Ellis - Orchestral Covers With the success of the Assassin's Creed Symphony, the AC Community is ready for more orchestral pieces to inspire its members. 21 year old Connor Ellis has recently begun uploading orchestral covers of Assassin's Creed music, and the timing could not be better. If, like us, you're eagerly counting down the days until the Assassin's Creed Symphony in London, then this is a project you won't want to miss! Connor also revealed on Twitter that he might try and do an orchestral cover for each game, and time the video releases to sync up with the Assassin's Creed Marathon! Here is his Assassin's Creed III cover! You can subscribe to his c hannel here , and follow him on Twitter here . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVbqdGvmVGc 3. Access the Animus - Monthly Interviews covering Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice The team over at Access the Animus have been working hard to release monthly interviews dedicated to the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice tabletop game by Triton Noir. Each interview examines a different aspect of the project, and have so far covered Assassin's Creed elements, Birth of the Concept, Playtests with the Community, Gameplay and The Miniatures. You can bet that the ATA team have more interviews ready for their monthly release, so be sure to follow them on Twitter and check out the releases below! April 2019 - ' How was the concept of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice born?' Featuring members of the dev team May 2019 - The Assassin’s Creed DNA in collaboration with Ubisoft, featuring Aymar Azaïzia June 2019 - The Gameplay, featuring Lead Game Designer Thibaud de le Touanne July 2019 - Playtests with the Community, featuring Lead Game Designer Thibaud de le Touanne! August 2019 - The Miniatures, featuring Art Director Manuel Sanchez 2. Art by Lisa Zahman Lisa is a talented portrait artist specialising in graphite work. Recently, she began capturing the world of Assassin's Creed with her amazing portraits, bringing the characters to life. Last month, Lisa joined our Assassin's Creed Partnership Program , a community initiative which aims to promote and share content. We also recently collaborated on an art giveaway to celebrate our 5th anniversary! Congrats to the three lucky winners who won prints! Lisa is currently working on portraits of Edward Kenway, Kassandra and Ezio Auditore. You can follow her work on Twitter and Instagram ! 1. The 2019 Assassin's Creed Marathon The annual Assassin's Creed Marathon is back for a sixth time, starting October 10th! Over the course of 72 days, community members will replay many of the games in the Assassin’s Creed series, roughly one sequence at a time, leading up to December 21st, Assassin's Creed Day, and discuss their playthrough on Reddit. You can take part in the Marathon and learn more on the Assassin's Creed Subreddit Marathon Thread Twitter 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)

Why Assassin's Creed Shadows Succeeded Analysis Share 29 Jul 2025 Written By: Edited By: Hayden Bird Colum Blackett Back To Database Assassin’s Creed Shadows , the long-awaited newest major instalment of the Assassin’s Creed franchise is off to a hot start now several months since launch. It has exceeded Ubisoft's expectations both financially and critically. It became the second biggest launch of a game in franchise history, only behind 2020’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla , but that was a much different time when the Covid-19 Pandemic was in full effect and gaming consoles and games themselves were highly in demand as most people were staying at home to quarantine and social distance. Shadows has succeeded in a market where Covid-19 is no longer a major crisis, and now in a world once again where going out to work or school is the usual again. Shadows had that as a minor disadvantage, but its sales records thus far and player count has been a massive success despite a time of uncertainty for Ubisoft and some controversies surrounding the game all the way up until launch. Shadows was a success for many reasons, and was the big hit Ubisoft needed most desperately. Yasuke and Naoe in promotional material for Assassin's Creed Shadows Assassin’s Creed Shadows was the best-selling game in the United States for three weeks straight post launch and is currently the second highest selling game in the US this entire year only behind Monster Hunter Wilds . It is impressive that Shadows was able to produce such strong numbers in a much different gaming market that was the norm for several years and despite controversy surrounding the game for various reasons. A lot of people expected the game to fail, but that has not been the case at all. Ubisoft needed a smash hit like this in a time where their company is facing some serious uncharted territory and needs all the hits they can get with their major new releases after a trend of disappointments in the past years. Shadows in a way was their make or break game. If it didn’t succeed the way it has so far, things would have only gotten worse for the company. Thankfully, the fans and gamers alike have enjoyed the game and their journey into Feudal Japan and the sales reports have proven that Shadows became the hit Ubisoft expected it to become. Shadows has most recently been announced to have reached five million total players across all platforms. This is a huge success and really goes to show how strong the Assassin’s Creed fanbase is, along with gamers in general who may not consider themselves to be big fans but enjoyed the ride nonetheless. Having such a large player count shows Ubisoft’s strategy of focusing on their top franchises in an uncertain time is paying off. Shadows certainly can credit a good amount of the game's success to its day-one Steam release. Ubisoft had fully skipped Steam since it released The Division 2 in 2019 after striking a deal with the rival Epic Games Store. Multiple gaming companies have gone down this route with PC gaming yet all of them ended up returning to Steam, where it is still the dominant place that the majority of PC gamers play at. Steam continues to break its all time records in player count even decades later into its creation, so the fact that Steam remains the king of PC gaming was clearly a sign for Ubisoft to launch Shadows day one so their game can reach the maximum amount of players as a lot of PC gamers avoid other platforms like the Epic Games Store and prefer to keep all their games in one place on Steam. Ubisoft's choice to return to Steam for the first time in over five years clearly was a smart one. Promo image for Assassin's Creed Shadows Ubisoft has a lot more in store for Shadows post-launch, as they have multiple DLC’s, which stands for downloadable content, that are planned to release in the following months that will give players who have already completed the main story and side quests more content to enjoy and new storylines to further expand on the ending of the main game. Fans are highly anticipating the upcoming releases such as the DLC called ‘ Claws of Awaji ’ that takes gamers to a new location based on Awaji Island near Osaka Bay, which are all in real life Japan as well. This DLC is heavily anticipated as fans cannot wait to continue the story of the two main protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke, and see where their journey leads them next after the events of the main game. Along with this DLC, more add-on content is planned with features such as New Game Plus, which offers gamers a chance to play through the story of the game again but without losing their progress and not having to start all over. This feature has become highly common amongst games released in the previous years. Along with the New Game Plus, an enhanced Photo Mode option is coming in the near future too. A lot of gamers love the feature of the Photo Mode, where they can create digital captures of things they see in game that can be enhanced via the options the game usually gives players to customize their photos like having filters, color changes, and lots of features to make your capture beautifully the way you'd want it. Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been everything fans could’ve asked for, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the developers at Ubisoft who relied on this game to be the hit they expected it to be. The future of the game is bright, and there’s plenty to look forward to for gamers who enjoyed the game that want to see more content for both the story and the gameplay as well. Ubisoft made a very successful game that had fans waiting for a long time for, and this big hit only shows that Ubisoft has truly doubled down on the Assassin’s Creed franchise as a whole and the future of not only Shadows , but the entire series as a whole, is undeniably bright with endless possibilities ahead. Promo image for Assassin's Creed Shadows 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

Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography: 19th to 13th June Share 25 Jun 2025 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Turið Torkilsdóttir Back To Database Welcome to the monthly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from the AC Partnership Program. Every four weeks we will be picking our top five 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 @ itsphysicsjim a longstanding member of the virtual photography community. Sammie is a YouTuber and Twitcher but also likes to post VP, most recently from Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Sammie really enjoys Japanese culture and has produced great photography in Ghost of Tsushima. We are delighted she agreed to join us for this theme. 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: Weapons The Hidden Blade Game: Assassin’s Creed Mirage VP Artist: @ cyriellevp.bsky.social The Ones Who Came Before Photo of the Theme Judge: @ itsphysicsjim Sammie I love this particular shot by Cyrielle for several reasons. The black and white emphasises the sleek design of the hidden blade and the intricate details of the gauntlet. This gives it a timeless and artistic feel. The upward angle and minimalist background also draws all the attention to the subject. This makes the photo feel powerful, iconic and instantly recognisable. Aaron In the last few weeks, I have actually thought about Assassin’s Creed Mirage and how the game had much more of an impact on me than Shadows. The focused Assassin story probably played a huge part, and the fact you are largely based in a city. When looking at this beautiful capture from Cyrielle I was instantly transported back to the game. I adore the minimalist approach; it really pays off when attempting to highlight specific weapons in virtual photography. Capturing this moment in game is a stroke of genius and takes more effort than you might think. The white background and the position of the hand are so reminiscent of the original Assassin’s Creed. Fantastic photography Cyrielle, a worthy winner of the theme. Weapon of the Gods Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ wondernoob.bsky.social It’s got to be said that Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has some very cool looking weapons. None more so than the spear of Leonidas. The decision to use this as the ‘hidden blade’ of Kassandra’s story worked a treat. Here we can see the blade in all it glory, beautifully highlighted on Kassandra’s back. The ornate design makes it standout despite being attached to her quiver. Wondernoob has done an excellent job of showcasing this piece of weaponry through a smart use of the depth of field and some top-notch lighting. The black background really helps to elevate the image and further focus our attention on the subject. Ready to Duel Game: Assassin’s Creed Shadows VP Artist: @ G_Assassin90 I think most of the Assassin’s Creed fan base has waited a long time to finally explore the world of Japan. It’s probably beneficial that we finally get it during the RPG reign, where we can explore to our hearts content. One of the key features on the time period is beautifully designed weapons and armour. There is a stylish efficiency to the Japanese culture, and you can see that in this capture from G_Assassin. I thought it was very smart to capture this in the snowy season as the background helps to elevate the details. I think this photo wonderfully shows off the hard work the developers put into creating all the little details from the various markings on the katana to the flower designs on the armour. This shot really meets the theme and arguably shows why we love the Japanese setting so much. Perspective Game: Assassin’s Creed Shadows VP Artist: @ TakaSanGames Assassin’s Creed Shadows features quite a few new weapons to the franchise, and they all come with new takedown animations that can lend themselves to great captures. Couple that with the implementation of character poses and you have the receipt for some very intriguing captures. Taka is often known for creating stylish compositions and that once again become the case with this shot. It is such an eye catcher with the chain exquisitely framing Naoe’s head as she swings the kusarigama. As the viewer it really feels like the metal ball is about to hit me in the face. It’s the striking nature of this photo that really stands out to me and Taka has very kindly created a mini video showing us how to do it. Stay Your Blade Game: Assassin’s Creed Shadows VP Artist: @ framecapturevp.bsky.social The filters that were added to Assassin’s Creed Shadows really give the photographer additional opportunities to create unique and interesting captures. It has been refreshing to see Ubisoft add to the photo mode with quality-of-life upgrades. I think Mario has truly captured the essence of the Creed with this ink silhouette of Naoe’s hidden blade. The filter does the work of making this feel as if it has been drawn. The composition then adds to the photo by perfectly showcasing the released blade right after an assassination. I do love the splash of colour from the blood falling from the blade. The silhouette nicely highlights the intricate details of the hidden blade culminating in a classic piece of virtual photography. 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

Jesper Kyd Interview Interview Share 31 Oct 2019 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Buckley Back To Database To celebrate the upcoming 10 year anniversary of Assassin's Creed II, we're proud to release a new Q&A with BAFTA award-winning composer and sound designer Jesper Kyd. Col: Hi Jesper, thank you very much for joining us today. It's a huge privilege to be able to conduct this interview. I'm sure most of our fans already know, but please could you tell us a little bit about yourself, and your work on the Assassin's Creed franchise. Jesper: I wrote the scores for the first 4 Assassins Creed games including what has become the theme of the franchise, Ezio’s Family. I have also composed all the Borderlands games, the first 4 Hitman games, Darksiders 2, all the State of Decay games, Freedom Fighters and many more. Outside of games my most recent project is the fantasy horror film Tumbbad (Amazon) . Col: It's been a couple years since you last composed a full soundtrack for the series, but your work has now become a big part of the Assassin's Creed legacy. How does it feel to hear different variations of your music in the recent soundtracks, and to have Ezio's family become the signature theme for the franchise? Jesper: I am a huge fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise and it’s a thrill to see that Ezio’s Family has become the franchise theme. I originally envisioned the theme to represent Ezio’s loss and struggles and I tried to capture the emotion Ezio felt when thinking about this act of betrayal and tragedy. This moment defines who he is and who he becomes and of course why he joins the brotherhood and becomes an Assassin. There is always a sacrifice and struggle for all the characters in the series when they join this secret brotherhood and to me, that’s what Ezio’s Family has come to represent. It’s absolutely wonderful to hear all the different versions of Ezio’s Family not only in the games but also the many fan versions on YouTube . This theme has evolved so far beyond anything I could have imagined. Col: What are your top 5 Assassin's Creed soundtrack songs? Jesper My top 5 Assassin’s Creed tracks that I have written? That’s a tough one but here goes… Ezio’s Family \ Earth, Venice Rooftops, Sanctuary, Home in Florence, Dreams of Venice but there is also of course, Access the Animus. I am proud of all my Assassin’s Creed music, however the creative freedom and journey creating a new music style for the Italian Renaissance in Assassin’s Creed 2 was one of my favorite experiences of any score I have written. I did not have the benefit of a live orchestra budget for Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed Revelations so it was a bit limiting in trying to match the vision of a similar setting without the means that contributed to the sound of Assassin’s Creed 2. In many ways the achievements of the original Assassin’s Creed led the way for Assassin’s Creed 2 and enabled me to be set absolutely free creatively for the 2nd game. On the first Assassin’s Creed we spent a lot of time and effort coming up with the central music ideas and creating the blueprint for the ‘Assassin’s Creed sound.’ This includes mixing live performances through electronics to remind the audience that the experience is simulated through the Animus. We also had to invent a lot of new gameplay specific music for game mechanics such as eavesdropping, following targets, chase music, unique music for each of the 3 different cities (which included different music writing styles, different arranging and orchestration techniques as well as different instrument sets). Col:Which song for the series do you think holds the most emotion, and why? Jesper: That would be hard to say. I always try to put a lot of emotion in my Assassin’s Creed music such as “City of Jerusalem” from Assassin’s Creed or “Ruins of Rome” from Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. I can say this though, I was pleased with the emotion in “Earth” from Assassin’s Creed 2 and when we recorded that theme with live orchestra and choir for “Ezio’s Family” I was very moved by the emotion the orchestra and choir brought to the performance. Similarly, with the choir’s performance on “Sanctuary” from Assassin’s Creed 2. Col: Do composers ever experience the musical equivalent to 'writers block', and did you find it difficult at all creating music for a video game? Jesper: I can’t speak for other composers but I feel music should flow naturally so if it doesn’t I think it’s because there’s something wrong. If I have trouble finding the sound or theme it either means I have not fully stepped into the project yet, meaning it’s the wrong time to write the music or perhaps there’s another idea floating around in my head that I need to express first, even if it doesn’t initially fit the game at all. I have been writing music pretty much every day since I was 13, so I just tend to keep writing until I get there. I don’t call that writers block, it’s more like you have to process ideas in your mind before fully finding the right sound, especially when you are inventing something unique, such as the Renaissance sound of Assassin’s Creed 2. Col: When composing music for AC, what would you say were your biggest inspirations? Jesper: How the game feels to play, the setting, the story, the characters and the atmosphere of the game. These are all very integral to the music creation process. On the first Assassin’s Creed, we focused on 3 main themes, Mysticism, War and Tragedy (of the Third Crusade). Then I worked these ideas into 3 different styles of music for the main areas in the game, Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem. For Assassin’s Creed 2 the music was inspired by Ezio’s story and the Renaissance and with Assassin's Creed Brotherhood we introduced a darker tone to reflect the corrupt and tyrant regime of the Borgia family in Rome. My music for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations was inspired by the city of Constantinople (today’s Istanbul), particularly the exploration and city music which features Greek as well as Renaissance and Middle-Eastern instrumentation. Additionally, all of the scores are filtered through the Animus. Col: Do you ever sit and listen to the AC soundtracks, like many of our fans? Jesper: I do listen to the music since it still retains a lot of deep emotions for me. It’s also important to review what you have written before as a refresher for interviews like this one(!) or when talking with fans at events. That might sound kind of strange but when you are working on the score, you are in the moment and everything is written to enhance the game. Once you take a step back, that’s when it helps you realize what you have created. A lot of people have told me Assassin’s Creed 2 is their favorite score of mine but to me it’s just one of many scores I have written and they all hold a special place in my heart for different reasons. Col: How many of the Assassin's Creed games have you fully completed, and which one is your favourite? Jesper: I have played quite a few but only fully completed Assassin’s Creed, Assassin’s Creed 2 and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. I really enjoyed the first Assassin’s Creed; Altair is a great character. But I would say Assassin’s Creed 2 or Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood are my favorites. They really improved the Assassin’s Creed 2 gameplay in Brotherhood and I really like the music implementation in Brotherhood. Assassin’s Creed 2 has the best story though. Col: Do you own Assassin's Creed merchandise? If so, what is your favourite item? Jesper: I quite like the Jack in the Box from Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. However, I would love to have some more vinyl of my music released from Assassin’s Creed outside of the ‘Best of Assassin’s Creed’ picture disc LP that’s currently available. We are in talks with record labels regarding more vinyl releases and hope to have more news to announce soon. I would love to see something similar to the ‘Hitman: The Critical Collection’ box set release from iambit. Col: How did you first hear about the Assassin's Creed Symphony? Jesper: I first heard about the concert tour when the producers of the show, MGP Live, reached out and started collecting material for their suites of my Assassin’s Creed music. Col: How involved were you in the song selection process for the Symphony? Jesper: I was quite involved with the music selection for the ‘ Symphony of the Shadows ’ concert celebrating the 10th anniversary of Assassin’s Creed 2. For the Assassin’s Creed Symphony world tour, I was not involved in the track selection. Col: I understand that you were recently part of a community meet and greet. How did it feel to speak with fans of the franchise after the AC Symphony event? Jesper: Yes, I was at the world premiere of the Assassin’s Creed Symphony in Paris, where they held a meet and greet with fans after the concert. I love speaking to the fans of all the various franchises I am involved with. Often people share their stories about why the music is so important to them and I feel blessed and honored when fans share such personal stories. It’s almost like sharing a part of you with people when writing emotional music. I really try to pick projects where I can maximize the truth behind the music, writing music that has a deep meaning to me too, and I think that translates to people that hear the music in the games. Col: Do you have any plans to attend more AC Symphony events? Jesper: Yes, I will be attending their next show at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on November 10 and we have a special surprise in store for the fans in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Assassin’s Creed 2. Also, as I am writing, I’m actually flying back from an amazing performance of Assassin’s Creed 2 at the 10-year anniversary concert ‘ Symphony of the Shadows’ which was performed at the National Forum of Music in Poland together with Hitman…one of the best concert halls in Europe and an absolutely amazing performance by the Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. We would like to say a huge thank you to Jesper Kyd for joining us for this interview, and to Top Dollar PR for making it possible. BAFTA award-winning and MTV nominated composer Jesper Kyd has created the iconic music scores for the ASSASSIN’S CREED series, BORDERLANDS series and HITMAN series. Renowned for his non-traditional methodology of blending live instrumentation and manipulated sounds, Kyd’s dark electronic, choral and symphonic scores for the HITMAN series received Best Original Music from the British Academy as well as an MTV VMA nomination. As pioneer of Assassin’s Creed’s musical universe, Kyd’s cinematic and uniquely atmospheric music helped define the series for fans around the world, including his ‘Ezio’s Family’ theme which has become the signature musical theme of the franchise. Most recently Kyd’s evocative original music can also be experienced in the visionary, multi award-winning Indian horror-fantasy Tumbbad. Bestowed with the 2018 Global Creators Award by Rock & Roll Hall of famer Nile Rodgers (David Bowie, Daft Punk), Jesper Kyd’s journey as an artist is ever-evolving and latest opus Borderlands 3 continues his penchant for experimentation with new sounds. Links: Jesper Kyd Website Assassin’s Creed Symphony World Tour Trailer Assassin’s Creed Symphony Tour Launch Trailer Jesper Kyd - Ezio’s Family Concert Suite (Assassin’s Creed II) | WDR FMF 2018 | Video Games Music Gala | Ezio's Family Suite from Assassin's Creed 2 FMF 2018 | Video Games Music Gala | Assassin's Creed Suite from Assassin's Creed 2 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)

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

Rally the Creed Video Podcast #1: Assassin's Creed Mirage, New Podcast Format & Choices in AC Podcast Share 10 Apr 2023 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database The Ones Who Came Before Team are proud to launch the reboot of our original podcast, Rally the Creed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fm3zWTQznA The original mini-podcast series aired back in 2020 during lockdown, but for the reboot, we have decided to make two major changes. Each episode of Rally the Creed (2023+) will be released in three versions: Video, Audio and Transcript, as to create a more personal experience, and allow for viewers to enjoy the podcast in multiple ways. The second and most important change is host rotation, as we plan on getting different members of TOWCB Team to host each episode. We hope that this new and exciting structure keeps the podcast fresh, and helps it to stand out from other fan projects. The new series will cover a huge range of topics relating to the Assassin's Creed series, and give a voice to community members. For some, the podcast will provide the opportunity to step out of the shadows for the first time, and introduce themselves to the community, whilst for others, it becomes a meeting place for long-time fans of the series to discuss all things Assassin's Creed. In episode #1 , Col and Michael from TOWCB Core Team discuss Assassin's Creed Mirage, the new podcast format and choices in Assassin's Creed. Listen here on Spotify! 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)

A Message to our Community Other Share 26 Jun 2020 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett 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 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)

Art Reveal: Brotherhood Ezio by SophiaEA16 Art Share 26 Jun 2022 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database We're pleased to reveal a new piece of art created by our very own Sophia from the AC Partnership Program! The Brotherhood Ezio sketch was created to mark Ezio's 562nd Birthday, and captures the Mentor during his time liberating the beautiful city of Rome. The shading in particular is impressive, and really brings the character to life! You can find more of Sophia's work here on the site! 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)

Best quotes in Assassin's Creed Revelations (2011) Share Written By: Edited By: Reporter Name Back To Database Edit and VP by Turið Torkilsdóttir ''I have lived my life as best I could, not knowing its purpose. But drawn forward like a moth to a distant moon, I discover a strange truth: That I am only a conduit for a message that eludes my understanding'' Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Assassin's Creed Revelations) 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

Check out the Assassin's Creed Merchandise Collection belonging to our admin Col_96 (Colum Blackett), Col- I became an Assassin's Creed Merchandise Collector in 2014, and I have some really special items in my collection. On this page I will be logging all Assassin's Creed items in my collection. (Please note: Not everything in my collection is logged. Just items bought after May 2015) Items I am looking for May 2015- Assassin's Creed Syndicate Replica T-Shirt- £10 in Game. Limited Edition Assassins Creed Unity Promo T-shirt - £6 on Ebay. Shao Jun Replica Necklace- £6 on Ebay- AC Embers Signed by Kulpreet Virdi. I won this on the Drink,Relax,Play Live Stream. June 2015- 3/6/15- Assassin's Creed Pin- £4.50 on Ebay 19/6/15- El Cakr Graphic Novel- £5.79 on Ebay 20/6/15- Assassin's Creed Syndicate Coin- £25 on Ebay (including P+P)- 21/6/15- Assassin's Creed Syndicate Lithograph- From the AC Syndicate Tour in London- £18 including P+P on Ebay 21/6/15- Assassin's Creed Syndicate Jacob Frye Shilling Necklace- £7.55 on Ebay- (Not the official one but still a nice replica) July 2015 3/7/15- Assassin's Creed Poster Collection- £12 on Ebay 15/7/15- AC Official Jacob Frye Shilling (Free thanks to a friend) 24/7/15- Art Cards - £3 on Ebay August- 2/8/15- AC Unity Guide- £10 in Game 3/8/15- The Art of AC Unity- £30 in Game 5/8/15- Haytham Figure for £7 10/8/15- Steel Cases have been signed by the Ubisoft Team at E3! 15/8/15- Assassin's Creed Hawk- £4 on Ebay 25.8.15- Replica Throwing Knife- £3.65 on Ebay 25.8.15- MCV Magazine- £3.50 28/8/15- Playstation Magazine (Free ACS Stickers) - £6 September 2015- 3/9/15- Ezio Bust- £30 at Game 4/9/15- AC1 Steel Case- £10 on Ebay 12/9/15- AC Unity Card Holder (£2 in Game) 12/9/15- AC Unity Gift Wrap set (£3 in Game) 12/9/15- Assassin's Creed 3 Tattoo Pack (£1.20 in a retro shop- Newcastle Metro Centre) 12.9.15- AC Unity Tattoo Pack (£2 in Game) 12.9.15- Play Magazine- Issue 261 (£5 in Tesco) October 2015 Edward Kenway- The Fearless Assassin Pirate (Birthday Present) AC Rogue Shay T-shirt (Birthday Present) Assassin's Creed Shot Glasses (Birthday Present) Assassin's Creed Lanyard (Birthday Present) 'The Life of a City' by Liza Picard- (One of the books used by the developers when creating AC Syndicate) (Birthday Present) AC Syndicate Promo Hat (Slightly Damaged Unfortunately. (Birthday Present) Assassin's Creed Birthday Cake! (Custom Made) AC Syndicate T shirt- £8 in Primark 20/10/15- AC Syndicate Promo Temporary Tattoo= £3 on Ebay 23/10/15- AC Syndicate Prima Guide- £15 23/10/15- (Came with Guide)- ACS Poster 23/10/15- AC Syndicate Promo Bag- 5p in Game 23/10/15- (Came with Guide)- AC Stickers 26/10/15- Assassin's Creed #1- 2 Covers Assassin's Creed Syndicate Promo Poster- (Stock image)- £4.05 on Ebay Assassin's Creed Syndicate Promo Poster- (Stock image)- £4.99 on Ebay November 2015: Assassin's Creed #1- Diamond UK Variant Cover- £3 on Ebay. 2x Assassin's Creed Syndicate Promo Poster- Free in Asda. Jacob Frye Promotional Stand- Free in Asda. Assassin's Creed Syndicate Promotional Cube- Free in Asda. Assassin's Creed #1- Subscription Variant Cover- £3 on Ebay. Assassin's Creed Syndicate Promo Money- £6.50 on Ebay. 19/11/15- Big Ben Collector's Case! 19/11/15- Assassin's Creed Underworld by Oliver Bowden. 19/11/15- Assassin's Creed Ultimate series guide. 20/11/15- Assassin's Creed Syndicate- Big Ben Collectors Case 20/11/15- Table Display images. December 2015. 18/12/15 - Assassin's Creed #3 Comic - £3 18/12/15 - Altair Bookmark from Etsy. - £2.60 25/12/15: Christmas - AC Syndicate Calendar - Jacob The Impetuous Brother Statue - Eagle Vision Ezio Figure - AC Syndicate T-shirt - AC Roma Creed T-shirt - Ezio with wings T- shirt - AC Syndicate Duvet set - AC3 Medallion - Connor Figure - AC Brotherhood - Auditore Edition - AC #1 - Signed Variant - Blank - Assassin's Creed - Assassin/Templar Coin - Connor Keyring - AC Black Flag Promo Map - AC Unity Torch (Shines a light in the Assassin Logo shape!) - AC Syndicate Promo Postcards from PAX East 26/12/15 - Syndicate Poster January 2016 Assassin's Creed - The Complete Visual History - £25 on Ebay Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia - Black Edition (Present) Jacob Frye McFarlane Figure (Present) Assassin's Creed Lanyard (Present) - (Double - This one is for home - Other is at Uni) UbiWorkshop Time Map (Present) Edward Kenway McFarlane Figure (Present) AC Rogue Coaster - £3.30 on Ebay AC Chronicles China Poster - £4 2 Syndicate Promo Rooks Bear Map Coasters - £7 for the 2 Assassin's Creed Syndicate Postcards - £7 on Ebay Assassin's Creed #2 - £3 in Comic Book Store Assassin's Creed #2 - £3 in Comic Book Store February 2016 Assassin's Creed Comics Syndicate Tshirt - £10.43 on Ebay. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - Ezio's Codex Box. - £27. Assassin's Creed #5 Cover A - £3 in Comic Book store Assassin's Creed #5 Cover B - £3 in Comic Book store AC Unity Flag - £6 on Ebay Starrick's Soothing Syrup Bottle - £11 on Ebay March 2016. Assassin's Creed Black Flag Steel Case - £8 on Ebay Assassin's Creed Movie T-shirt! - This was a gift from Ubisoft! Thank you so much Andie and Holly! Photographs with Paul Amos and Victoria Atkin! - £20 each. - Signed for £15 each more Syndicate Keyring - £6 Assassin's Creed #6 - Cover A, B and C - Like £3 each at Comic Book Store AC1 Numbered Steel Case. - £10 on Ebay Connor Statue - £18.50 +3.50 p+p Easter 2016: Shay Cormac McFarlane Figure (present) AC Unity (Arno/Elise) Necklace (present) 3 Assassin/Templar coins (present) - Ezio Leap of Faith Statue - £39.99 - Click here for all the photos - Connor Statue - £18.50 +3.50 p+p - Grand Temple Key unofficial replica - £2.77 - Templar Necklace - £2.70 - Assassin's Creed Anthology Steel Case - £13.50 on Ebay April 2016. Altair Print signed by Cas Anvar at Edinburgh Comic Con! - £15 Assassin's Creed #7 Cover A Assassin's Creed Templars #2 Cover Assassin's Creed Templars #1 Cover C May 2016 Assassin's Creed Unity Promo T-shirt - £6.05 on Ebay AC Syndicate Keyring. Special Thanks to Aymar for this Assassin's Creed FCBD issue signed by Aymar Azaizia. Special Thanks to Fae for this :) Assassin's Creed Anthology Steel Case has now been signed by Aymar Assassin's Creed #8 (x2 covers) £6 Assassin's Creed: Templars #2 (2 covers) £6 Hachette Ezio Statue (Very Rare at this point) - £15 on Ebay Assassin's Creed Jewellery Box (Rings, Pendants etc) - Present Connor Coin - Present June/July Assassin's Creed Movie Fridge Magnet: £3 Connor Mini figure - £6 on Ebay Assassin's Creed #9 - £3 Assassin's Creed: Templars #3 Ezio £50 note - £1 in shop Assassin's Creed #9 Cover C - £3 online Ezio Hachette Figure - £3 on Ebay Altair Hachette Figure - £5 on Ebay Ezio Mentor Legacy Bust - £30 in Game Altair Legacy Bust - £27 on Amazon Assassin's Creed #10 Cover A - £2.80 Assassin's Creed #10 Cover B - £2.80 Assassin's Creed #10 Cover C - £2.80 Black and Red Hoodie (Templar Style) - £15.29 Haytham Kenway Hachette Figure - £4.95 Assassin's Creed: Templars #4 Cover C - £3.10 August 2016: Assassin's Creed Movie Poster: £5 Abstergo Entertainment ID Card - Gift from a friend Ezio Coaster - £3 Assassin's Creed Hardcover Ruled Journal - £6.82 on Ebay Assassin's Creed #5 Cover C - £1.84 on Ebay Gamescom Ezio Print. Number 3 out of 100! (Handed out at Gamescom) Edward Kenway Dorbz Figure. (Gift from Assassin's Creed Community Team at Gamescom) AC Syndicate Red T-shirt. (Gift from Assassin's Creed Community Team at Gamescom) Assassin's Creed Movie Poster (Gift from Ubisoft Star Player Guides) (Image of all the Ubisoft Loot I was given at Gamescom) Special thanks to Star Player Guides + AC Community Team Assassin's Creed Movie Booth Photos. (Gamescom) Ezio Auditore McFarlane Toy. (Gift from Assassin's Creed Community Team at Gamescom) Assassin's Creed #11. Covers A, B and C Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants: £9.14 on Ebay September 2016 Assassin's Creed: Templars #5 Cover A. £3.10 on Ebay Assassin's Creed: Templars #5 Cover B. £3.10 in shop. Assassin's Creed: Templars #5 Cover C. £3.10 in shop. Jacob Frye Statue (Gift from Ubisoft) Evie Frye Statue (Gift from Ubisoft) Altair Bust (Gift from Ubisoft) Assassin's Creed Movie: Aguilar Costume (For Halloween): £40 October: Birthday Presents: AC Movie Promo Poster (Japenese) Edward Kenway Hidden Blade AC1 Steel Case (Brand new. Rare) AC Wax Letter Seal AC Pocket Watch AC Wallet Grand Temple Key by Ubiworkshop AC Movie poster November: Assassin's Creed Heresy (Special Edition + Aguilar McFarlane Figure. Gift from Ubisoft (Thank you so much to Holly Rawlinson) December 2016: Christmas - Assassin's Creed Movie Calendar - Replica Apple of Eden (UbiWorkshop) - AC Syndicate Rooks Keyring - AC Unity Lithograph Art print by Angry Blue - AC Syndicate Tshirt - Aguilar McFarlane Figure - AC Movie Poster with replica signatures by Michael Fassbender, Jeremy Irons, Marion Cotillard and Brendan Gleeson. - AC1 Medallion from San Diego Comic Con 2007 - Altair Mini Figure - Shay Mini Figure - Assassin's Creed Lego Set - AC Ezio Wallet+ Pencil Case - 3d Assassin's Creed Movie Lenticular Picture - AC Black Flag Pocket Watch - Assassin's Creed Promo Pen - Rooks Keyring - AC Unity Arno Bedset - AC Timeline. UbiWorkshop - Assassin's Creed Movie T-shirt: £6 in Primark January 2016: - Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Tie in - Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag: Blackbeard: The Lost Journal - Assassin's Creed Movie: Aguilar Tshirt - Assassin Insignia Bullet Necklace Assassin's Creed: Into the Animus: £30 on Amazon Febuary 2017 AC Movie Promo Stand - Free from Cinema Altair Pop Vinyl - Valentines Day Syndicate Wallet - Valentines Day April 2017 Sword of Altair: £35 from Blade and Bows Easter Aguilar Bleacher Creature Syndicate Bracelet Unity Promo Notebook Unity Wax Badge/Pin Black Flag promo Playing Card AC Movie Boxers AC Movie Vinyl Stickers Aguilar de Nerha Pop Vinyl Ojeda Pop Vinyl Assassin's Creed Official Collection #3 + #4 thanks to Hachette June 2017 Assassin's Creed: Origins: Dawn of the Creed Edition (Pre-ordered. £120) Assassin's Creed: Identity T-shirt (Won in Competition) July/August 2017 Assassin's Creed Origins T-shirt - £20 TeeRepublic Mini Sword of Altair - £10 on Ebay Last Descendants: Tomb of the Khan x2 Live by the Creed Wristbands Assassin's Creed Art Prints from The Desmond Files £4 Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Art Cards £4 Assassin's Creed Origins Pin: £2 on Ebay Assassin's Creed Origins: Bayek T-shirt by Grindstore: £12 September 2017 Aguilar's Hidden Blade by Ubiworkshop (£20 from EGX Ubisoft Store) October 2017: 21st Birthday: Assassin's Creed Arena Assassin's Creed Altair Rabbit Assassin's Creed Movie Cell Ezio Brotherhood Belt Buckle Assassin's Creed Movie Art Print + Bookmark Assassin's Creed Tshirt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Assassin's Creed Legacy T-shirt: We work in the dark to serve the light: £11 on Ebay Assassin's Creed Movie: Blueray edition Assassin's Creed Origins: Dawn of the Creed Edition: Bayek and Seny Figurine 2 Artcards Artbook Origins Map Soundtrack Green Steelbook Assassin's Creed Origins Shirt: Anubis: £8 Primark AC Origins Promo Material: Bayek, ACO Stand, 2 Promo Cubes November 2017 Callum Lynch Pop Vinyl: £7 in Forbidden Planet Assassin's Creed Movie Promo Material from FOX: 6x Aguilar Pins Promo Shirt Assassin's Creed Movie DVD Hidden Blade Sleeve December 2017 Ezio Plush (White) Ezio Plush (Black) Knights Templar Coin Assassin's Creed III Guitar Pick/Connor Plectrum Christmas 2017 Assassin's Creed Origins Geek Geer Enamel Pin 3/4 of the Arizona Promotional Cans (Missing Aguilar Synronising) Assassin's Creed Origins: Bayek T-shirt Ezio Auditore FigPin Assassin's Creed Minis: Altair (Double) Lego Ezio Auditore Keyring Assassin's Creed 2018 Wall Calendar Ezio Auditore Five Pound Note Assassin's Creed Soundboard Keychain by NECA Ezio Auditore Kubros by Mega Bloks Assassin's Creed Zippo Lighter (Arno, AC Unity) Assassin's Creed "Leave your Legacy" Coin: 25 Years of Ubisoft: Given out by EB Games: (Rare item) Connor FigPin Loot Gaming Edward Kenway Figure (From July 2017 Loot Gaming Crate: "Booty" Theme) Aya Figurine (Assassin's Creed Origins) Assassin's Creed Origins Coaster (From Playstation Magazine) Assassin's Creed Brotheehood Necklace (Ezio/Italian Brotherhood Black Flag Vinyl Sticker by GB Eye Assassin's Creed Unity Flag (France/French Brotherhood) January 2018 Assassin's Creed Jigsaw: 1000 piece Aguilar de Nerha by Trefl Altair FigPIN Edward Kenway FigPIN Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry: Mega Blox Set: Adewale Assassin's Creed Playing Cards Assassin's Creed Origins Wallet (present) Assassin's Creed Origins Keyring (Rare) : Promotional item from Australia Feb Assassin's Creed Origins Necklace: Gift March 2018 Crouching Aguilar Funko Pop Vinyl Assassin's Creed Origins Bioworld Necklace April: Jacob Frye Dorbz figure Bayek FigPIN Assassin's Creed Pen Assassin's Creed Playing Cards May: Assassin's Creed Rare Figurine: Altair: £35 in Ebay Auction (Worth £90+) May + 2018 Assassin's Creed III Promotional George Washington Coin Ezio Auditore Christmas tree decoration Assassin's Creed Odyssey Promo Pins AC Odyssey pin Christmas 2018 Broken Spear of Leonidas Replica by UbiCollectibles The Art of Assassin's Creed Odyssey & Map (From Omega Edition) Assassin's Creed Mini Figures by ZagToys: Ezio, Desmond, Shay, EV Connor, Adewale, Arno Assassin's Creed Top Trumps Assassin's Creed Lego: Jacob - Aveline - Adewale 2019 Assassin's Creed Origins Promo Card from Gamescom - Signed by Abubakar Salim Assassin's Creed - The Official Colouring Book AC Movie Brain Scan T-shirt Assassin's Creed Odyssey necklace (signed by Michael Antonakos - Alexios) 3x Assassin's Creed art prints by Lisa Zaman Black Assassin's Creed Symphony T-shirt Assassin's Creed III Pin Badge Ezio Auditore Statue Assassin's Creed III Lithograph - Rare and Numbered - 4000 made Assassin's Creed Liberation Lithograph - Rare and Numbered - 4000 made Assassin's Creed Odyssey Pin Assassin's Creed Movie Collector's Edition - Aguilar statue and 3x lithographs Assassin's Creed Postcard Christmas 2019 Elise de la Serre Funko! Pop Figure Assassins Creed Game Case Rack Assassin's Creed Odyssey Pin Ezio Caricature Trading Card signed by artist RAK Assassin's Creed Loot Gaming Playing Cards Assassin's Creed Syndicate Air Freshener AC Odyssey Promotional Spartan Mask (Rare) 2020 Assassin's Creed Official Collection: Limited edition Altair art print by Denis Calero x2 Assassin's Creed Valhalla T-shirts from ASDA Eivor print by Lisa Zaman Jacob Frye print by Lisa Zaman Assassin's Creed Pin by AbyStyle Aveline de Grandpré Statue Assassin's Creed Valhalla Snood Assassin's Creed Zippo: 10 Year Anniversary Edition Assassin's Creed 1 Japanese Promo Book Assassin's Creed Valhalla Jigsaw Christmas Assassin's Creed Multitool by Paladone Assassin's Creed Unity Pen Assassin's Creed Lanyard Assassin's Creed Legacy T-shirt Assassin's Creed Movie Promo Cans: Tornado Energy Drink (x2) Assassin's Creed III Connor Can Cooler Assassin's Creed Brotherhood: Harlequin Jack in the Box (Rare) 2021: Eivor FigPIN Assassin's Creed Revelations 3D Glasses (Promo item) Assassin's Creed Syndicate Bag Assassin's Creed Pint Glass 2022 Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Plague Doctor Jack in the Box (Rare) Connor Axe Necklace (AC3) Assassin's Creed Valhalla Promo Card (Origin Unknown) Assassin's Creed Odyssey Xbox Ultimate Rivals Alexios and Kassandra combat cards Assassin's Creed & V For Vendetta Crossover T-shirt Shao Jun Figurine: Gold edition (Rare - Mentors Guild exclusive) 2024 Assassin's Creed: Infographics Book Assassin's Creed Shadows Shot Glass, gifted by Ubisoft (Rare) Yasuke: The true story of the legendary African Samurai Paperback by Thomas Lockley Assassin's Creed Shadows Promotional Lockbox (Extremely Rare. 70 sent worldwide). Gifted by Ubisoft

Building an Assassin's Creed Community: Getting Started Community Share 24 Oct 2020 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Buckley Back To Database Setting up an Assassin's Creed Community can be a daunting prospect, as so many exist across multiple different social media platforms. Don't let that deter you though. The community is always ready to embrace the next wave of innovative projects, and in this new series we will help you to establish your own. In this first article, I will be drawing on my own experiences to help fellow community members start up their own projects, and build something that stands out from the crowd. Back in 2014, the community looked very different. You would wait eagerly for the next epic video produced by Assassin's Creed Universe, and use the Initiates platform to gain intel from an online database full of lore and mysteries. The Ones Who Came Before was created as a place to share theories and aimed to create a platform that encouraged positive discussion surrounding the games. We have since shifted our aims, and now strive to make our channels the home of Assassin's Creed community content, and hope to inspire a new wave of fan content. So, how do you get started? At the drawing board of course! Grab your nearest notepad and pen and jot down some initial ideas that come to mind. Find a niche and set your goals Once you have your initial ideas, conduct some research into past and present Assassin's Creed communities. Look for a way to stand out from the crowd, and highlight your niche area. A perfect example of this is AC: Landmarks , a new community project led by Arshak that provides in-depth historical discussions. Although the project only started up this year, it's been very successful and is different to anything else going on in the community right now. Next, set your goals and list your intentions. What are you hoping to achieve? Do you want to create a new form of community or simply cover the news? Whatever it is, make it a goal and keep going until you achieve it. You don't always need to be the biggest, and sometimes people make huge social media numbers a priority. I personally value small-scale interactions with passionate community members over this. Yes, growth is a sign of progression, but it takes time to achieve. You probably won't gain huge numbers overnight, but that's okay. So, you have your niche area and goals. Now what? Next, your community needs a name! Look for something that sounds Assassin's Creed related, but doesn't clash with past initiatives or projects. A great example of this is Access the Animus , which is actually a song by Jesper Kyd on the original soundtrack! Trial and Error Now you have your goals, niche area and a name, it's time to set up your social media channels/ platform! Where do you want to start? Probably best to begin with a platform you're already familiar with. Create your channels and begin your first Assassin's Creed community projects! In the beginning, you'll probably get a low response rate. That's to be expected when you start. You'll also start to notice what does well and what doesn't. Youtube is a good place to see this progression, as you can track likes, views and dislikes. Whatever you do in the beginning, make it work for you. One of the first projects for TOWCB was a wall poster that listed all the Modern day characters from Initiates. This sparked discussion about the Altair II ship and later developed into the Norway theory, which became popular with community members at the time. It really is just a case of trial and error. Thrive in your niche field, and people will notice. As I said before, it's not always about the numbers. If you have positive interactions with community members, you're on the right track and your platform is beginning to establish itself. Don't give up, and if you're unhappy with your response rate, reach out for support. Create an inner circle The Assassin's Creed community has always been extremely supportive, and you can always find people to give you a helping hand. You don't have to do anything alone. Collaborative projects with community leaders are a great way of making a name for yourself, and will also help you make friends. Establish a network, and build a team around you in order to take the pressure off. We here at The Ones Who Came Before have a huge inner circle thanks to years of working on projects. Some of our branches include: The core admin team, The Discord moderators and The AC Partnership Program members. As you can see, we have loads of community members we can call on for help or support, and you too can create an inner circle by working with people. You might even find that working on projects with other people can be more fun! This can seen by looking at recent episodes of the Let's Talk Assassin's Creed Podcast hosted by Declan from The Mentors Guild. Collaborative projects will always be a great way to spark discussion and explore different avenues of thinking. The Ones Who Came Before always aims to promote community content, so reach out to us directly for support. We would be honoured to join your inner circle, and will share your projects with our audience. Stay Unique This one can sometimes be hard, as other communities are also working hard to create content, but try your best to stay unique, and stand out from the crowd. If you notice similarities in your projects, maybe collaborate or put a unique spin on it. You can always adapt your work to stay innovative. As former community developer Justin Kruger used to say: #DoAThing . Keep going and establish yourself. I hope that you found the first article in the series to be useful. Let us know in the comments if you plan on setting up your own AC community/ project over the coming weeks, and if we can be of any help. Next time: We invite another Community Builder from The Mentors Guild to bring you some guidance on establishing and maintaining an Assassin's Creed community. Thanks for reading! 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)

Product Reveal: Assassin's Creed Through The Ages Tankard by Nemesis Now Merchandise Share 12 Feb 2024 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) TOWCB Team Back To Database We are pleased to reveal the 'Through the Ages' Assassin's Creed Legacy Tankard by N e mesis Now! Releasing Summer 2024, this masterfully crafted collector's item pays tribute to the series and the multiple developments made over time to the hidden blade, the Assassins weapon of choice. Step into the shadows of history with this Officially Licensed Assassin's Creed Through The Ages Tankard . A masterfully crafted vessel that pays homage to the legendary assassins who have left their mark across centuries. Adorned with intricate gold details that capture the essence of the Assassin's Creed legacy. This Tankard is cast in the finest resin before being hand-painted, and will let you relive the adventures of assassins past at every glance. We can't wait to see this product in person when it releases in a couple of months, and can only imagine the sheer joy fans will feel when they receive their own. Assassin's Creed Syndicate Cosplayers in particular are in for a treat, as the style takes a stab at recreating a historical drinking vessel. Look out for it in stores June 2024, or pre-order now from the following retailers. PlanetMerch ComicWarehouse 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 Virtual Photography: 1st to 12th April Community Share 24 Apr 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 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 Mask Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ Jaco8ee The Ones Who Came Before Photo of the Week Judge: Jack (@ _Virtualtourism ) This headset happens to be one of my favourites from the game, so I was happy to see it this week. It’s such a great piece and very menacing in the right light. Jacobee nailed the lighting in the image as it plays the crucial role of highlighting the vibrant colours and bringing out the details of the headpiece. Couple that with the contrast between the vibrancy and the cold, metallic surface it creates a striking visual. The subtle expression in the eye adds some sort of humanity giving the otherwise lifeless exterior a sense of emotion. Aaron (@ FalconSwift87 ) “The cult is nothing without me, even the gods cower in my wake.”. Dramatic outfits and concealing masks have always featured prominently in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Most notably the order, who often conceal themselves in a manner fitting of the deeds they carry out. Here we have such an awesome shot of Alexios hidden behind the mask. The portrait is perfect with that striking black background. The details are insane, with both mask and fabric looking so good. Despite this being the hero, it feels like a menacing shot and instantly reminds me of the Origins cinematics. A glorious portrait that fully deserves photo of the week. Lookout Game: Assassin’s Creed Mirage VP Artist: @ visionevp “Baghdad and its surroundings call to me”. Stunning scenery has always been one of the huge pulls for the Assassin’s Creed franchise. We get to experience so many beautiful worlds that many of us will never see in real life. Mirage and its colour palette are simply gorgeous, and when roaming the wild you cannot help but stop and stare. For me this shot is so peaceful and reflective. I often find myself doing this when riding my horse in the desert. Visione has captured the moment the flamingos have taken off which is always a delight. I love the blue and sandy tones with Basim looking on over the water. A very captivating picture that brings a little calm. Hidden Blade Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ playpausephoto “The world is changing, and we must change with it”. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla features for me one of the coolest looking hidden blades. It’s a shame that it often gets overlooked due to Eivor not actually becoming an Assassin. Either way it is still awesome, and I am curious why Basim does not use the same one. Here we can see Eivor thrusting the blade in what looks like a training session. I really like the use of fog as it reduces the noise in the background. The purple flowers add a softer touch to the capture in contrast to the hidden blade and Norse tattoos on Eivor’s body. An elegant shot which is quite unique for a Viking simulator. Lone Warrior Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ redmaiden_vp “We are all lonely and all seek a hand to hold in the darkness.” Assassin’s Creed Valhalla struck a perfect balance between solo and team play. I really enjoyed that you could just ride your horse around the breath-taking landscapes, and take it all in. Equally you could travel by longboat with your crew and raid as part of a war band. The capture we have here is one of those beautiful solo moments within the game. I think the shot is elevated by using black and white, it adds both mystery and grace. I love how the photo has been split by the land and the sky, and how Eivor is riding up the incline. The sunrays bursting through from the left look magical and having the stone structure and Sýnin in the distance adds further context to this exceptional capture. Vengeance Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ UnfazedVP “You would fight me?” The range of outfits in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is quite something. You can be a nimble Assassin or full-blown gladiator. Either way you will look like a badass as you traverse the Greek landscapes. The moment I saw this capture I could not think of anything else but the arena scenes from Gladiator. This is absolutely a movie poster shot. The details on the helmet are incredible, especially the dents and scratches. But for me that background is ferocious and gives the heat of the battle vibes. It is all consuming and sums up this warrior’s tale. 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 Beans: An AC Fall Guys Crossover Event Breakdown Share 8 Jul 2022 Written By: Edited By: Michael Smith Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Article contains ads that support TOWCB Fall Guys is a platforming-based, battle-royale game show where players control a customizable “Bean '' character in a variety of obstacle course races, or survival matches against up to 60 other contestants in a Solo, Duo, or Squad mode. This is a fun fast-paced game that can be played in small sittings, or for long marathons as each “show” lasts 5 rounds at a few minutes a piece. For those that can make it to the end, a show can last up to 25 minutes, but the chaos of everyone grouped together, jumping and diving around obstacles, can eliminate a player within seconds of starting. For those that do reach the final match, the end goal is presented in a floating crown that goes to the first player to grab it. Initially a paid title on Playstation 4 and PC, the game was then rereleased for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series S/X on June 21, 2022. Now the game has been released as a free-to-play title for the Epic Game Store on PC with a Season Pass allowing players to unlock new customization items for their 'Bean'. With the release of Season 1, Fall Guys began a cross promotional campaign with Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise. The first character they released was a Special Costume for Ezio Auditore from the Assassin’s Creed: Ezio Collection, the most recognizable character from the franchise. Within the Season Pass purchasable with 950 Showbucks, the game’s premium currency (1000 Showbucks can be purchased for $7.99 USD), a handful of Assassin’s Creed customization items can be unlocked. When purchased, the Season Pass rewards the player with: Ezio Special Costume (instant unlock) “Enter the Animus” Special Nameplate (Level 3) “House of Auditore” Special Nickname (Level 8) Leap of Faith Celebration (Level 9) (which plays when the player wins a full show). On July 7, 2022 the second collaboration with Assassin’s Creed was released with a Special Costume Pack and Limited Time Event. Eivor’s Big Bundle was made available until July 12, 2022 for 2000 Showbucks ($16 USD) and includes: “Odin the All-Father” Special Costume “Eivor the Wolf-Kissed” Special Costume “Eivor’s Battle Cry” Rare Emote “Vitruvian Guy” Special Nameplate “Animus Training” Special Nickname. The Odin costume is based on the “Twilight Armor” from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök expansion. With his golden eye-patch and Hugr-Rip equipped on his arm, this little Bean will fight his way to Valhalla! This costume can be purchased separately for 1200 Showbucks. Eivor’s Bean costume (shown here with the Battle Cry Emote) draws inspiration from the Raven Clan Armor and shows Eivor with Varin’s Axe and the Raider’s Axe from the game. As leader of Ravensthorpe, Eivor can lead her Squad to victory! This costume can also be purchased separately for 1200 Showbucks. To draw players back into the game, Fall Guys has limited time events that are themed by a special reward or promotional property. Previously in Season 1 was a Limited Event for the Halo video game with the final prize of a cat-eared Spartan Helmet achievable through the multiplayer mode. For the period of July 7 - July 11, The Abstergo Challenge, which is free for everyone, has players completing 10 tasks around the limited ''SWEET THIEVES'' game mode. These tasks range from winning shows in teams based “capture the flag”, to performing actions across matches. As a reward, players will unlock the following items: “Abstergo Trainee” Special Nickname (100 Candies) 200 Kudos Game Currency (300 Candies) “Apple of Eden” Special Nameplate (500 Candies) “Animus Synchronizing Special Pattern (700 Candies) “Apple of Eden” Special Costume Top (1000 Candies) Guardians must defend the candy by capturing the Thieves with the grab action to send them immediately to Prison. They are unable to pick up the candies, but can move certain platforms around the map to limit access to the spawn areas for the candies. If the Guardians capture the opposition or if time runs out, they win the match. I spent a few hours playing the limited mode to gather all of the Assassin’s Creed customization items and had a lot of fun doing so. This is a great game to play in short bursts in breaks between longer sessions of Assassin’s Creed playthroughs or while waiting for the next announcement to come along. Fall Guys is available now on all major platforms and the limited event ends on July 11th. The Season Pass for the first season ends on August 29, 2022, so make sure to download the game and grab your Season Pass while you can to access all of the Assassin’s Creed items. 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 Shadows: Claws of Awaji DLC Review – Worth the Hype? Breakdown Share 17 Sept 2025 Written By: Edited By: Zephryss Colum Blackett Back To Database Ubisoft finally released the much-awaited Claws of Awaji DLC for Assassin's Creed Shadows on September 16. I have already played the full Claws of Awaji DLC early. Big thanks to Ubisoft and the Assassin's Creed team for providing me with 5 days of early access to the DLC. Here is my spoiler free review of the DLC for Assassin's Creed Shadows. STORY & PLOT The story starts right after the ending of the main game. You will need to complete a quest first before traveling to Awaji Island. After avenging her father, Naoe learns Tsuyu is alive. Tracking rumors of a hidden-blade wielding shinobi, She journeys to Awaji in search of her mother. With his vengeance complete, Yasuke also travels to Awaji to honor his vow. The main focus of the story is on finding the third regalia and defeating the Sanzoku Ippa. There are 4 major narrative arcs in Claws of Awaji. While there is a strong core story in the game, many of the objectives, quests and opportunities can be tackled in a non-linear fashion. You can track the main targets in pretty much the order you want and through your exploration, you will discover new opportunities and challenges across the island. Each arc contains 2 to 3 hours of content, which is why the whole DLC adds up to more than 10 hours of gameplay. NEW AWAJI ISLAND The atmosphere of Awaji Island is very cosy yet dark. The forests are dense, with very few areas where sunlight breaks through. The seasonal changes are also quite different from those in the main game. The weather shifts between calm, foggy, stormy, and rainy conditions. This DLC was created by the same studio that developed the Wrath of the Druids DLC for AC Valhalla, and they wanted to give it their own touch by designing this unique, eerie environment. You will often notice movement in the grass and trees, as the island is full of traps and ambushes by Shinobis and other enemies. That’s why you can’t freely travel like in the main game, you have to be careful every time you explore the island. When you use scouts to uncover an area of the map, you’ll notice some red zones. In those areas, you’ll face the highest number of Shinobi ambushes. Here are some important locations in the DLC: Iwaya Castle, Eshima Rock, Kamaguchi Village, Sumoto Town, Sumoto Castle, Yura Town, and Fukura Village. There are also several temples and shrines in the DLC. There’s a cool Naruto easter egg in the DLC. I won’t say anything more about it, I’ll leave it to you to discover. DUAL PROTAGONIST SYSTEM Ubisoft Bordeaux did a really good job designing the dual protagonists system in the DLC. The teamwork between Naoe and Yasuke feels natural and well executed. There’s a mission in a castle where you truly get to understand this mechanic. This isn’t like in the main game, where one character suddenly pops up out of nowhere. SANZOKU IPPA Like Shinbakufu in the main game, here in this DLC you will find a new enemy faction called Sanzoku Ippa. But these new enemies are much better than the Shinbakufu. There are 4 of them. Each character is designed with a good story, and each one has unique capabilities different from the others. Each boss offers different gameplay perspectives on Awaji Island. You can't use the same technique on each member, you will have to use different techniques to defeat them. There is a boss fight that I think is one of the best Ubisoft has designed in a long time. The mechanics of this fight are inspired by the Fear and Quiet missions from the Metal Gear Solid games. You have to face this boss in a large arena on a foggy night in a forest, with traps scattered everywhere. You’ll need to adopt a different approach to defeat the boss, use the observe mechanic, eagle vision, stay stealthy, and be patient, because it will take some time to defeat the boss. NEW BO WEAPON & NEW ABILITIES The combat system is much improved in the DLC, especially with the new Bo weapon for Naoe. The animations with this weapon look pretty good, and there’s even a tutorial mission for it in the DLC. The Bo is a versatile multi-range weapon. It focuses on controlling opponents via pushbacks, knockdowns and other similar effects rather than inflicting raw damage. This weapon has its own mastery tree with new abilities and three stances. Here are three new abilities for this weapon: Windstep, Grab & Throw (my favorite), and Flurry of Blows. The Bo weapon is free for everyone in Assassin's Creed Shadows. However, if you want a legendary Bo staff, that will only be available in the DLC. There are also gear vendors across the map who sell epic Bo weapons. There are also new abilities for Yasuke in the DLC. There are five different abilities connected to his weapons: Hurricane Stance (Naginata ability), Kanabo Throw, Wind Burst, Spread Shot (Bow ability), and Tezutsu Burst (Teppo Ability). They deal good damage and have pretty cool animations. I liked them. NEW IMPROVEMENTS One thing I really like about this DLC is that when looting a legendary chest, you have to find clues and notes in the open world and from NPCs to open it. It’s not like in the main game, where you just go to a place and open the chest. This encourages players to explore more areas and interact with different NPCs. The cutscenes in the DLC are much improved compared to the main game. Side activities also return in the DLC. While many are the same, some have been improved and redesigned, especially the hidden trails and Sumi-e paintings. AREAS OF CONCERN One feature I didn’t like is that you can’t travel to Awaji Island by boat from the mainland. Instead, you have to use a fast travel point between them to go to Awaji, and then from Awaji to your hideout. This is probably a restriction for players who don’t own the DLC, preventing them from traveling to the island. Then I think there should be more legendary gears in the DLC, as there are only a few of them. The Awaji map is not fully open-world. There are mountains and large trees that block your path while exploring, and you cannot climb them. This is something I also didn’t like in the main game, that you can’t go everywhere freely. The level cap should not be increased to 100 for the DLC. It was recently raised from 60 to 80 for NG+. Even after completing NG+, you won’t easily reach level 80, you’ll need to do lots of contracts and other activities. Many players still haven’t reached level 80 in Shadows. I think the cap should be increased only to 85 or at most 90. Raising it to 100 makes the game feel too grindy, forcing players to do more NG+ runs or complete many contracts daily just to reach level 100. The rarity enhancement system isn’t that good. You need lots of mons, resources, and especially gold to upgrade it to the max level. This means you’ll have to spend many more hours in AC Shadows just to fully upgrade your gear to Artifact level 9 rarity. Although Ubisoft mentioned that these powerful enhancements are designed as long-term goals, they support players through the increasing difficulty of subsequent New Game+ cycles and other upcoming challenges. CONCLUSION Overall, I am impressed with the Claws of Awaji DLC for Assassin's Creed Shadows. Ubisoft Bordeaux really put in a lot of effort to make this DLC stand out. I even enjoyed it more than the main game. It doesn’t feel like a simple, forced expansion of the main story; instead, it’s designed in a unique way to give players a different experience from the main game. I still need to explore 100% of the map, and there are more secrets and Easter eggs left to discover. I’m giving the Claws of Awaji DLC an 8.5 out of 10. If you did not pre-order Assassin's Creed Shadows, the DLC is now available for purchase on all platforms for $25/€25. Have you already played the Claws of Awaji DLC? What are your thoughts on it? Share them in the comments down below. Promo image by Charlie Cooper comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Zephryss is a passionate social media manager based in India who joined TOWCB's Social Media Team in Summer 2024 to help the team prepare for coverage of Assassin's Creed Shadows news and updates. Recently, he completed his Masters degree in Electrical Engineering and is now preparing to take on a PhD. He loves video games very much, and since childhood has enjoyed playing various types of games in different genres He also has 3 gaming channels (Zephryss, Assassin Zephryss & Spider Zephryss) where he uploads gameplay videos regularly. Zephryss

In late 2024, Taylor (TMAC) joined The Ones Who Came Before's social media team as a guest moderator, providing support to re-energise our Discord server. Taylor is a long-time fan of the series who has spent many years as a moderator on the official Assassin's Creed Discord server. In 2025, the social media team will be working with Taylor to improve engagement on our own Discord server, and learn from his many years as a community moderator. Previous Next Social Media Team Taylor McKay (TMAC) In late 2024, Taylor (TMAC) joined The Ones Who Came Before's social media team as a guest moderator, providing support to re-energise our Discord server. Taylor is a long-time fan of the series who has spent many years as a moderator on the official Assassin's Creed Discord server. In 2025, the social media team will be working with Taylor to improve engagement on our own Discord server, and learn from his many years as a community moderator. X (Twitter) Work

Assassin's Creed Mirage Art Dump: ItsACreed Other Share 17 Mar 2024 Written By: Edited By: Al Boncompagni (It’s A Creed) Colum Blackett Back To Database We are pleased to present the works of TOWCB Artist ItsACreed (Alice) who has created a series of sketches and digital creations inspired by the world of Assassin's Creed Mirage. Enjoy! We here at TOWCB were all heavily inspired by Assassin's Creed Mirage, as it gave players a more detailed look at The Hidden Ones before their transformation into the Assassin Brotherhood. Although the game was short, it was well received by the overall gaming community and critics alike, as it returned the series to its roots, and took care in re-establishing cut features, creating a truly special game that acted as the ultimate tribute to the core identity of Assassin's Creed and it's fans. Look out for more art pieces by ItsACreed on our platforms. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Al is a French artist specialised in portraits who discovered Assassin’s Creed with Black Flag, and their initial passion for the golden age of piracy. They later discovered the previous and newer games to be able to grasp the depth of the lore this saga has to offer. They started regularly posting Assassin’s Creed fanarts in 2020 with the release of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and met at that moment many other very talented artists with whom they love sharing their work. They were delighted to join the partnership as it means to them sharing their work with many people that are as passionate as them about the Assassin’s Creed saga. Al Boncompagni (It’s A Creed)

Deciphering the Secrets of the Assassin’s Creed Shadows Community Challenge and Mystery Box Breakdown Share 1 Jan 2023 Written By: Edited By: TOWCB Team Colum Blackett Back To Database During the marketing campaign for Assassin's Creed Shadows, we were thrilled to announce that TOWCB / Isu_network Team Leader Colum Blackett (Col_96) was granted the rank of Veteran Master, and received an Assassin's Creed Shadows Mystery Box from Ubisoft! Straight away we gathered our team of codebreakers and set about trying to crack the secrets of the box. TOWCB Codebreakers: Ashlea_97 FrameHoldPhotos Edenoi ActualSpider-Man TheNerdyArcher We were thrilled to see a community challenge so early on in the AC Marketing campaign, and it provided many twists and turns which kept us guessing right until the very end. The Mission Upon receiving the box, Col was invited to a Discord server with other 'Veteran Masters' (content creators and box-owners). THE EXPERIENCE This Discord experience is separated in two parts: A Community quest that starts on June 3rd. You have 24 hours to solve all the community riddles. A Content Creators quest that starts on June 4th. They will be streaming live. As members of the Assassin's Creed community and thus, Apprentices, you are tasked to solve riddles that will give important information and hints for Content Creators and their dedicated quest. Follow their streams tomorrow to discover the end of the story but also solve their riddles together. In this adventure, you will be referred to as Apprentices, whereas Content Creators will be referred to as Veteran Masters. In the server, bots would provide clues and questions in order to progress further into the deeper layers of the challenge. The Box The box measured 17cm across by 23, and featured Japanese text on the box which translates roughly to '' bravery, honor, respect'', signaling positive virtues. 勇名誉礼思義羊ホ戈仁 The box was also secured using a puzzle lock, which took some time to open. Ash had a great deal of fun figuring it out. Master Komatsu Uchihira (Discord bot) provided a poem to help Veteran Masters to open it. The poem refers to the different levels of security on the lock, which all had to be completed in the correct order. Completing one level would unlock another, and so forth. Also provided was a diagram showing the correct order in which to open the combination. Here is our video showing Ash cracking the combination. Inside the Box: A blood-stained note A scroll detailing the quest A Map of Japan Hidden Blade poster Community Riddles Puzzle #1 : Apprentices were invited to the Discord server and encouraged to work together in order to assist Veteran Masters the following day. Master Komatsu Uchihira (Discord bot) provided a riddle which encouraged apprentices to rewatch the CGI trailer Answer: D.O Master Komatsu Uchihira (Discord bot) congratulates the apprentice and suggests that the letters could be initials that stand for something. Next, Apprentices had to mention the letters to characters (Discord bots) in order to gain more information. Answer is SACHI Puzzle #: Puzzle #: After opening the box, Veteran Masters informed Master Komatsu Uchihira (Discord bot) of their success, who congratulated them on opening the box. Next, Veteran Masters would receive their first instructions. It became clear that it was impossible to progress from this stage without the help of 'apprentices', so for those who opened the box early, like us, it was a waiting game. The event kicked off on the 3rd June 2024 when community members were invited to join the 'Assassin's Creed Shadows: The First Mission' Discord server. Puzzle: Origami? Puzzle: Sign language? The blood-stained note. VIDEO OF INK FADING AWAY 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 Launches Educational Discovery Tour for Assassin's Creed Valhalla News Share 19 Oct 2021 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Ubisoft has now launched the third entry in the Discovery Tour series, Viking Age. The non-combat educational experience allows players to explore and learn more about the places, people, and cultures of ninth-century England and Norway. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla's new educational expansion builds upon the prior releases covering Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece, allowing players to freely roam the Viking era to discover more about the history and traditions of the time. This entry however takes a new approach to how players explore history. Instead of embarking on guided tours, players will assume the roles of different characters and take on quests, which aim to bring them closer to the material by putting them at the center of it. (Ubisoft Blog) Another new introduction is the inclusion of Discovery Sites, that each focus on a different element of the Vikings / Anglo-Saxons culture, including Viking Age: War & Politics, Daily Life, Religion & Magic, Myths & Legends, Science, Law & Justice, Art & Culture and Trade & Economy. Players embark on 8 quests that feature such sites that host images of items housed within the collections of Discovery Tour’s museum partners: UK’s Hampshire Cultural Trust, Preston Park Museum & Grounds, York Archaeological Trust, The British Library; Réunion des Musées Nationaux; National Museum of Denmark. The entry actively encourages players to explore the time period in an authentic, narrative driven way, in comparison to the digital museum exhibitions of Greece and Egypt, making it feel more lifelike. By engaging with stories and playing as historical characters, new opportunities for learning are created. Although the quests are relatively short, each arc contains a wealth of history in a playable format that makes the educational platform feel more personal and memorable than ever before. The two new creative pillars, “History through stories” and “Learning by doing'', really are the driving force, combining narrative threads with historical information and virtual artefacts, bringing it to life. Viking Age is the strongest entry in the Discovery Tour series, and pushes the boundaries of virtual learning even further. Storytelling is at the heart of the experience, and was designed in close collaboration with historians and archaeologists. The non-combat approach also means that the tool can be used around the world to educate pupils on historical culture, with Ubisoft recently renewing its partnership with UKIE on the Digital Schoolhouse project. This saw the company release 5000 PC codes to 52 primary schools, who are now able to access the platform in unique lessons split between virtual education and traditional. Ubisoft has also developed curriculum guides that offer customised activities and lesson plans based on the field of study and the level of the students, in partnership with the Montréal McGill University, with a grant from Mitacs. (Via Ubi Press Release) Discovery Tour: Viking Age also treats all Assassin’s Creed Valhalla fans with 11 exclusive rewards to unlock in the main game, 25 Behind-The-Scenes stations about the main game development, and 24 exploration characters. Discovery Tour: Viking Age will be free for all owners of Assassin’s Creed® Valhalla and will be available on the same platforms as the main game. The PC standalone version of Discovery Tour: Viking Age will be available via Ubisoft Connect and on the Epic Games Store for £16.99. For the very first time in the Discovery Tour franchise, Discovery Tour: Viking Age will also release as a standalone on Stadia, Luna, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S | X in early 2022. History is our playground 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)

Journey to the East: A Review of Assassin’s Creed: The Silk Road Review Share 14 Nov 2023 Written By: Edited By: Michael Smith Colum Blackett Back To Database Ban ner by Thea Marie Rivedal (Moonchildgecko) from TOWCB Art Team. Article contains Amazon affiliate links which support TOWCB. Major spoilers for Assassin’s Creed: The Silk Road. Adventure stories have been a staple in my personal life since I was a child. From the early years of school where I explored the pages of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series, to the modern releases from TellTale Games’ The Walking Dead, Batman, and Tales of the Borderlands . I can remember hitting the Dead End or ' You Died' in the middle of a book and rushing back to try and fix my mistake, or starting over to take another path. It’s something that becomes a skill with thinking before a decision that as a gamer, I’ve learned to utilize better in my hobbies and day to day. Being able to choose a path and experience something in a way that only a percentage of other people may have done previously is one of the reasons I still play games to this day. In 2021, Hatchette Heroes announced a new entry in the Assassin’s Creed transmedia line, Le Livre Dont Vous Êtes L’assassin: La Route De La Soie , or in English, The Book Where You are the Assassin: The Silk Road (in short, Assassin’s Creed: The Silk Road). This new interactive novel, written by Mathieu Rivero, puts you in control of the French Assassin, Oisel. His story starts in Chinon, France where Oisel is tasked by his Mentor to travel to Antioch at the start of the historical Silk Road to locate and assist Master Assassin, Basim Ibn Ishaq (protagonist of Assassin’s Creed Mirage ) in investigating a new enemy. It is here that he learns of a branch within the Order of the Ancients called 'The Snake Eaters' and of their plans to take control of the Silk Road to control the trade and wealth that travels across the Eastern World. With the assistance of your close friend Matthias, and additional allies through the story, readers must choose the direction the Assassin follows to defeat this enemy and save The Silk Road from The Order of the Ancients. I waited for a while before I purchased the book as I had hoped that one day, AC: The Silk Road would be released in English. Yet, after a few years I decided to order and take the time to translate the book myself into my native language. Much like Oisel had to adapt to the Arabic and Sogdian languages of the Silk Road, I had to adapt to the French language using the only tool at my disposal, Google Translate. So with my phone and a word document, I spent two months scanning, formatting, and eventually reading AC: The Silk Road . During this time I would “read” the contents of the book and even have to spoil some aspects of the story so that I could better my future self’s experience reading the book. However, with all of the content that I scanned while editing punctuation for English and dividing each paragraph into individual sections for my outline, I didn’t feel that I ruined the overall experience. The day before I started writing this review, I spent an afternoon reading through my first take of the book and ended with one of five endings in the story, reaching what I believe to be the most positive ending, Future Mentor. What that means, I won’t spoil for you but the overall experience was enjoyable and made me feel like I was playing a solo campaign of Dungeons & Dragons . Navigation, Combat, and Tests made decisions for my overall outcome. Choosing which path to navigate through the various points along The Silk Road, planning my attacks in combat against drunkards and members of The Snake Eaters, and performing Tests using the books built in randomizer of icons printed in the corner of each page made this reading of the book and all future readings, unique. Assassin’s Creed: The Silk Road provides plenty of direction on how to read through and interact with the book. During the first two chapters, small sections of red text with the image of a Hidden Blade will explain the mechanics of the book from the mechanics that I shared above; Navigation, Combat, Tests, Obtaining skills and items, and the Appendices. These are embedded in the Paragraph that you are currently reading, or will direct you to a different paragraph to read the text if it was the currently read paragraph is printed after the initial notice. With 198 Paragraphs divided over 5 Chapters and 95 Appendices, there is plenty of content and replayability with the combination of five endings and various choices. On my first playthrough, I interacted with an estimated 100 individual sections and appendices, leaving a lot of text untouched. You are able to track your progress using the included bookmark (which can be reprinted from the publisher’s website). This bookmark provides a “save file” with the front Synchronization section, as well as the boxes for your Stamina, Max Stamina, and Stealth Damage. The back provides space to list the skills and items you have found and a space to lock them in once you have synchronized your progress. Unfortunately for me, I purchased the book second hand and did not receive a bookmark, but the one provided from the website was great, and to be honest I would have printed regardless as I don’t like marking items with my books. Later on in the book readers will find a pair of puzzles that present a challenge which provides not only a change in content, but makes the reader think like a member of the Brotherhood. In my playthrough, I put myself in the shoes of Oisel and thought hard about my options, keeping the tenets of the Brotherhood in mind and how my decisions could change the relationships with those that surround the lead character. The immersive storytelling from Mathieu Rivero made this experience meaningful as I felt joy, sadness, and fear as my tale brought me to the brink of desynchronization multiple times and excitement when I overcame an obstacle. It's a story that I loved so much that I began playing it again with my wife, allowing her to make all the decisions. After reading the first chapter, she was just as excited and wanted to see what would happen next. While she hasn’t finished it yet, I was super excited to see all aspects of Assassin’s Creed (even those outside of the Genetic Memory…) present in this story. Now, as often seen with mass printed media, I hit a few errors in my reading of the book. Two sections from my playthrough directed me to a paragraph that was either an alternative option to a scene I already completed (ie. choosing to train with one person over the other), or to a scene that was not relevant to the text at all. I was able to identify the errors’ correct paragraph (or what I believed it to be) and continue my reading without additional issue. While not game breaking, it was a disruption in my immersion. Yet, I don’t hold this in a negative light as the complex process of publishing such a book can be handled by multiple parties or departments in a company. I also found myself confused at a few points where I was unsure if I was supposed to recover stamina at the start of a new section, or only if a paragraph informed me that I was healed. Luckily for me, at the end of the story with only 2 HP remaining, I was able to finish the story with no further damage. There were also times where I felt the Test mechanic felt one-sided, or easy to manipulate. Each page has symbols of varying success or failure in the lower left or right corner and are used for the Tests by flipping through the book and stopping at a random page to get your symbol and gather the outcome from the text based on that. My wife said that she felt she could remember by feel, where an Eagle was (the highest success) and could potentially aim for this each time. Yet, I would watch her try, and end up “rolling” a Snake instead (the highest failure). However, this mechanic works for the book and can make the action scenes have an intensity to them when you are trying to roll a combat move multiple times and watch your health, or the opponents fall quickly. One of the unique aspects of the experience I had with this book was that I learned of the author, Mathieu Rivero’s work as a translator. Reaching out to him on the fact that I was translating his book opened a conversation which gave me the opportunity to ask a few questions about the book and his process. In a short back and forth over a few days, I asked the following and have provided his answers to highlight his experience with AC: The Silk Road . What were some of the challenges you had with writing an Assassin’s Creed adventure novel? When you talk about challenges for writing an AC novel, I’m reading “IP complications”. While writing for an IP is undeniably difficult, it also brings its own niceties. What’s difficult, and daunting, is the sheer amount of pre-existing material. I’ve scoured the AC fan wikis in search of many things and, whenever you’re talking about such things as an IP, there are legacies to consider. I wanted to incorporate the social element of AC, and that translates to the Antioch market, whereas the stronghold is all about infiltration. Each sequence is centered about one specific part of the AC experience that I wanted to put in the game. Sadly there’s no crafting and no min-maxing and some of the goofy AC humor isn’t there (while there are a few places where it gets lighthearted). Of course Ubisoft had its own agenda, and told me a few select details that should or should not be there. Overall I would say that while it gives you a humongous set of constraints, it has the benefits of bringing its own universe, its tropes, and constraint breeds creativity, that’s for sure! Did you use any reference materials for the story, such as books about the Silk Road? If so, would you share what you used for those that want to read more about the time period? Weirdly, I did not buy any books for this. I’ve always been a history buff, and the first novel I finished writing was about the Arabian Nights (not available in English, sorry, though the title would translate as 'Of Night and Gold'). So let’s say I already had a headstart when I started designing the story. However, I vividly recall spending evenings reading websites about the Silk Road, about power struggles in the area, about the dialects that were used at the time or trying to figure out how to describe Antioch the way it was, geographically. For Antioch, for instance, I had to look at the maps of the ruins, figure out where it would sit on Google Maps, and then make a mental picture of how the arrival would look like – all that for a puny sentence or two that probably no one cares about or would notice. I like research, but I’m in the camp of calling a spade a spade, and fiction can and should stray from reality at times. There are a few gaps in the book, and some historians might pursue me with a pitchfork… one day, when they read the book. Also I did not want historical accuracy [to] make things feel foreign and pull readers out of the experience. Were there any mechanics or content that you wanted to write about that didn’t get published? The way we worked with Ubisoft (and Hachette, the publisher of the book) was very helpful in not having cut content. First I did a test – which became the Chinon prologue, with some editing, and a grand plan, a structure and a game design document for the entire novel, so that Ubisoft would approve me writing stuff. Then I proceeded to work on the book and then submitted everything back to Ubisoft. They had a few nitpicks with some scenes, thought one of the endings needed some more love, so I touched up whatever needed to be touched up. With my publisher at Hachette, we had defined a certain scope that we did not want to go past, and I did go a little bit overboard. Not too much, though. I had not foreseen the endings would take as much work as they did! So no, no cut content per se. I scrapped a bunch of things to streamline a few moments, but rarely did our plan fail! Was the Silk Road story your decision, or was it pitched to you by Ubisoft? Ubisoft approached one of their former employees, who knew a publisher with whom I had spoken about adventure books, a few years back. My name was submitted unbeknownst to me, and I was contacted by Hachette. As mentioned above, Ubisoft had their own agenda and they wanted the story to happen around the Silk Road, they wanted a Basim cameo (why, of COURSE!) and they also wanted to have a male Hidden One named Oisel (old French for Bird). They wanted him to be of a mixed ethnicity, and the year 850 mark is perfect for that – the Moors had invaded, so a deserter could have had a child. That also helped come up with the excuse for Oisel speaking – kinda – French, Arabic, the dialects of Central Asia, and Chinese. They had an idea about an open world but clearly that was not possible (unless we did a choose your own adventure encyclopedia) in book form so we settled for a few select vignettes. I brought them the entire arc, what I wanted to do with Oisel (and Matthias), and they were on board with that. Having a somewhat canon ending meant the end could not go too far. We had to have a specific direction and a fixed end point. If you were to write another adventure book, would you write a sequel to this story, or would you visit another period and location? I’m not opposed to writing another adventure book. I’m handling a few different projects and writing books as your day job is a tough one, so I’ve dialed this back a bit. I’ve pitched something else to Hachette but they weren’t too much into it (it was a rogue like dating sim adventure book. Do what you want of this weird piece of information). I have other ideas, like an adventure book on a diviner with abilities to foresee pieces of the future. What I like most about this type of game is the involvement a player can have in the story, how emotionally invested you can be. I want to try experimental stuff. I have other things cooking but I can’t talk about them at the moment as they haven’t been announced, but it’s more on the side of board games than books. Writer's Commentary My time reviewing books for Assassin’s Creed has provided me with great insight to the authors that are building the future of the series. While we wait through the development process of each video game, the transmedia for the series is where I believe we will find the most world building and viewpoints of the global Assassins that lived in the timeline of Assassin’s Creed . Mathieu has opened a door for a new format that I would love to see continue with the transmedia, more adventure books with different characters and time periods that while the outcome could not be considered canon, the overall story could be. When I explain the lore of AC: The Silk Road , I would inform of the challenges the Assassin’s Brotherhood had with the Snake Eaters along the Silk Road in the 9th Century, but that the character lore should be considered “unverified” (when speaking in a historical sense) as everyone would be able to tell their own story, or what they believe happened. It's an opening for fun conversation and similar “this is what I did” moments that I love seeing from the games. If I was to suggest a new story for this, I would love to see either a sequel to this book with references to The Silk Road , or maybe a story that is based in a time of war such as WWII due to the amount of history and stories that have come from those periods that could be adapted for an adventure story. Assassin’s Creed: The Silk Road is available in physical format online for anyone to purchase. I made my purchase via Amazon, and we will share an affiliate link at the bottom of this article if you would like to purchase a copy for yourself. While the book is in French only, I would still suggest this book to anyone that wants a new avenue for the AC series and maybe one day we will see an English option from Hatchette Heroes. We would like to say a big thank you to Mathieu for joining us for this interview! Amazon Affiliate Link 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