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Searching for the Creed: Assassin's Creed Florence Landmarks Other Share 18 Feb 2024 Written By: Edited By: Yasmin Page Colum Blackett Back To Database Banner by Thea Marie Rivedal ( Moonchildgecko ) Florence. The 15th century. The cobbled streets are bustling with merchants selling their wares — wools and silks dyed in bright colours, cheeses and breads, carpentry and armour. Bankers and nobles dressed in the finest velvet pass shops displaying artworks painted in the studios of the masters. Doctors call out their cures, masked in white and smelling of herbs and spices. This world comes alive half a century later in Assassin’s Creed 2. As the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, Florence was a city of economic and cultural development, but hiding behind the mask of wealth and beauty was the political tension and violence of medieval Italy. Through Ezio, players get to interact with key figures (Leonardo da Vinci, Caterina Sforza, and Rodrigo Borgia, to name a few), experience historical events (such as the Pazzi Conspiracy, the Siege of Forlì, and the Bonfire of the Vanities), and explore Florence as it would have been in the 15th century. The Assassin’s Creed series has always done this well; weaving the war of the Assassins and Templars into the game’s chosen time period to create an exciting narrative. History is rich with stories — with intrigue and murder, betrayal and honour — and through the medium of gaming we are able to experience them. It is as close as you can get to time travel. Although some important locations in Assassin’s Creed II don’t exist, such as Leonardo’s Workshop, La Rosa Colta and Palazzo Auditore, many of the locations that players can visit exist in real life. Here are several of the real/modern day versions of those places! Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore/the Duomo The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, known as ‘The Duomo’, is the most famous landmark of Florence. It looms over the city, the gold tip of the dome peaking over rooftops and between buildings, a constant reminder of its presence. Construction on the cathedral was begun at the end of the 13th century. The next hundred years saw it pass between several architects, who enlarged it from the original design and began planning for the dome. There was a problem however: the technology hadn’t yet been invented to build and support a dome of that scale. The city’s leaders decided to hold a competition to find an architect willing to take on the challenge and it was won by Filippo Brunelleschi. Considered an unconventional choice, both in how he was primarily trained as a goldsmith and sculptor instead of an architect, and for his unique suggestions of how to go about the construction, Brunelleschi’s design was nevertheless successful and has since been considered one of the greatest feats of engineering. The dome was finally completed in 1436, 140 years after the cathedral was begun. In Assassin’s Creed II, just like in real life, the cathedral is a central part of Florence’s history and culture, and as such it’s fitting for there to be a story section set here. As Ezio, players have to try to stop the Templar plot to assassinate the Medici brothers. Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici really were attacked during Mass by the Pazzi conspirators, Ezio’s Templar targets in game, who wanted to the Medici family out of power. The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore also holds one of the game’s six Assassin tombs. Ezio has to navigate the scaffolding inside the unfinished cathedral and climb high inside the dome to reach the tomb of Iltani. The Cathedral is free to enter, but visitors can also buy tickets to climb the bell tower, the dome, and visit the the museum and baptistry, starting at €15. Palazzo Vecchio/Piazza della Signoria For Ezio, this is where everything goes wrong. The tower prison cells that historically held people such as Cosimo de’ Medici and Girolamo Savonarola, now trap Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio. In the morning they are executed. It is here, standing in the Piazza della Signoria, that Ezio sees the darkness his city is capable of, and it is here, that he is set on his journey of revenge and justice. Originally called Palazzo della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio was where the governing body of renaissance Florence (the Signoria, or Priori) ruled from. The name was eventually changed to what it is today (“the Old Palace”) when the Medici family who were living there at the time moved their primary residence over the river to Palazzo Pitti. There are a several story points set here. The murder of Ezio’s father and brothers is the most poignant, but Palazzo Vecchio is also where Ezio assassinates Francesco de’ Pazzi, and where part of the ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ DLC is set. In-game, Francesco de' Pazzi is the only one of the Pazzi conspirators Ezio assassinates in Florence, but historically several of the other conspirators were captured and executed at Palazzo Vecchio alongside him. The rest were hunted down and killed in the years that followed — some were hiding as far away as Constantinople. The old stone building has an imposing presence, towering high over the piazza in front of it. It’s easy to imagine it being a place of power all those centuries ago, a place that inspired fear in those who rose up against the city, and a place that gave hope for change to others. The Palazzo Vecchio museum is €17.50 to visit, plus an additional €12.50 to climb the tower and battlements. Ponte Vecchio Ponte Vecchio is easily another of Florence’s most famous landmarks. So much so that when the German army retreated from the city at the end of the Second World War, it was the only bridge that wasn’t destroyed. This is where players are first introduced to teenage Ezio, as he taunts, then fights, Vieri de’ Pazzi’s gang and gains his signature lip scar. During Ezio’s time Ponte Vecchio would have been lined with butchers and fishmongers, but nowadays the shops crossing the bridge sell jewellery. Another feature of the bridge is the Vasari Corridor, which the Medici family commissioned Giorgio Vasari to build in the mid 1500s. They wanted a way to travel safely between Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti without having to ride through the city streets. The resulting passageway stretches one kilometre, crossing Ponte Vecchio and the Uffizi Gallery on the way to its destination. Ponte Vecchio is free to visit. Palazzo Medici Riccardi Palazzo Medici was the primary residence of the Medici family in the 15th century until it was bought by the Riccardi family in 1659. The Medici were one of the prominent banking families of renaissance Florence. Their power grew through the success of their bank and their involvement in the city’s politics (after the time period of Assassin’s Creed 2 some of the family members were even elected as Pope, as well as marrying into royalty), until they were the rulers of Florence in all but name. As a result, there were many attempts through the decades to remove them from power. As well as being key figures in Florence’s leadership, the Medici family were passionate patrons of the arts, commissioning works by artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo Buonarotti and Leonardo da Vinci. Their support of artists was one of the reasons that Florence flourished as the cultural centre of the Renaissance. There is a Templar side quest set in Palazzo Medici where Ezio has to save Lorenzo from the soldiers who have invaded his home. The quest gives players a glimpse into the interior of the building, including the courtyard, gardens, and several rooms. Nowadays the palace is a museum, displaying some of the many artworks owned by the Medici. Palazzo Medici Riccardi costs €11.50 to visit Basilica of Santa Maria Novella Built in the mid 13th century, the church of Santa Maria Novella is home to sculptures and frescos by some of the most renowned Renaissance artists (such as Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Filippo Brunelleschi and Giorgio Vasari.) In Assassin’s Creed II it hides one of the Assassin tombs (the tomb of Darius), and is also where Ezio overhears the Templars’ plan to assassinate the Medici in Sequence 4. Tickets cost €7.50. Basilica of Santa Croce Another of Florence’s churches, Santa Croce is the burial place of some of the most famous figures of the renaissance. Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli are all buried here. In the game, this is where Ezio kills his first target: Uberto Alberti, the Gonfaloniere of Florence, Templar, and the man responsible for the murder of his father and brothers. Tickets cost €8. Church of Santa Trinita The church of Santa Trinita is a far smaller church than the others on this list, but no less important. This was the church that featured the opening credits sequence of Assassin’s Creed II, when Federico challenges Ezio to race him up the bell tower. Looking out at the city in front of them, the world at their fingertips, anything feels possible. And for us as players, it is. Santa Trinita is free to visit The Uffizi Gallery Another place that may be of interest is the Uffizi Gallery. Originally it housed artworks from the Medici family’s private collection, including a wide selection of Roman sculptures, and it has since expanded to become one of the most famous art galleries in the world. Nowadays the gallery is home to more than 300,000 artworks, including several by Leonardo da Vinci such as the Annunciation (1472-1476) and Adoration of the Magi (1481). Leonardo’s Annunciation is one of the paintings players can buy for the Auditore Villa in Monteriggioni. Also, the gallery’s courtyard is lined with statues of key figures from the city’s history, several of which Assassin’s Creed fans will recognise — Leonardo da Vinci, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and Niccolò Machiavelli. While the Uffizi Gallery doesn’t feature in the game — it was built almost a century after when Assassin’s Creed 2 is set — it is definitely worth a visit. Tickets are €12, or €18 for combined access to the Boboli Gardens and Palazzo Pitti. Conclusion This is by no means a definitive list of all the Florentine landmarks that are featured in Assassin’s Creed, but these are the most important to Ezio’s story. Fans can walk the streets Ezio walked, steal through the narrow alleyways, climb the towers he scaled (albeit not throw themselves into a conveniently positioned hay bale) and enjoy the stunning views of Florence and the surrounding Tuscan landscape that Ezio scanned from his vantage points. Ubisoft has done a wonderful job of re-creating renaissance Florence, leaving fan’s eager to trace Ezio’s steps. Rich with history, culture and beauty, Florence should be at the top of the list of places to visit for every Assassin’s Creed fan. Sources: Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore: Vasari, Giorgio, and George Anthony Bull. The Lives of the Artists . Penguin, 1971. “ The Duomo. ” Encyclop edia Britannica , https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-Duomo “The Brunelleschi Dome.” Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, https://duomo.firenze.it/en/discover/dome Ponte Vecchio: “Ponte Vecchio.” Visit Florence, https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-monuments/ponte-vecchio.html “The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) in Florence.” Flanigan, Theresa. Smart History, https://smarthistory.org/ponte-vecchio-florence/ Medici family and Palazzo Medici Riccardi: Hibbert, Christopher. The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici . Penguin, 1979. “ The Palace.” Palazzo Medici Riccardi, https://www.palazzomediciriccardi.it/en/the-palace/ Palazzo Vecchio: “The Palazzo Vecchio Museum and Tower.” Visit Florence, https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-monuments/palazzo-vecchio.html Santa Croce: “Tombs and Memorials.” Santa Croce Opera, https://www.santacroceopera.it/en/themed-tours/tombs-and-memorials/ “Santa Croce.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Santa-Croce Santa Maria Novella: “Santa Maria Novella & Museum.” Visit Florence, https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-churches/santa-maria-novella.html Other articles in the series: Searching for the Creed: Assassin's Creed London Landmarks Banner by Thea Marie Rivedal ( Moonchildgecko ) comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Yasmin is a Digital Artist based in Melbourne, Australia who discovered the Assassin's Creed series in 2019. Since then she has fallen in love with the franchise and created beautiful realistic digital artworks of several of the main characters. By joining TOWCB, we hope to introduce Yasmin to the AC Community by collaborating on a number of exciting projects such as art releases and podcasts. Yasmin Page

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Succeeded… What Now For Ubisoft? Analysis Share 5 Jul 2025 Written By: Edited By: Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon) Gargudon Back To Database Three months’ time ago now, after two delays and one of the most intense and controversial marketing campaigns in gaming history, the highly anticipated Assassin’s Creed Shadows was finally released, at last taking us to a fan favourite location over many years. Maybe, maybe not against all odds, it quickly turned out a massive success, ultimately having one of the best releases in the history of the franchise, reaching 1 million players in less than 24 hours, that number only growing exponentially. Despite this and the critical acclaim though, it is no secret a lot was hanging on this game for Ubisoft, the future of the very company itself possibly having been decided by it. This was mostly the result of a heavily financially disappointing 2024, plummeting stock prices and a potential company buyout, but the perception of the studio among fans and the public is not what it used to be either, after years of beloved flagship franchises undergoing heavy change, internal conflicts and more. So now that the fateful new instalment of the studio’s most iconic franchise turned out a massive success after all, what is next for the company, and how can they rise up again to their former glory? We will be exploring this in the following article, diving into the future of their flagship franchises, other outlets, fan relations and more. Focus On Key Franchises, Drop One-Off Games As mentioned, 2024 was one of if not the most financially disappointing year for Ubisoft ever, with both major releases of theirs that year heavily underperforming; the return to the golden age of piracy in Skull & Bones, and a new adventure in the galaxy far, far away in Star Wars Outlaws. To this day, both games have only sold around 1 million copies, which may necessarily not sound like a small number, but for an AAA studio of that size is. But were these two titles even necessary and the right output? One was a game that ultimately felt like nothing more than a failed second crack, at what is one of the company’s most successful and iconic titles even 12 years later; 2013’s legendary Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag. Secondly, should Ubisoft even have taken on a brand like Star Wars? Something which has already proven super successful in recent years with another studio - EA - 2019’s Jedi Fallen Order, and the 2023 Survivor sequel, proving some of the best and most beloved Star Wars games since the days of Battlefront II 20 years ago. If Ubisoft wants to avoid sales fiascos like this again, one obvious and easy move would potentially be as simple as this; drop one off games like these two “failures”, and instead continually focusing on their key franchises, that remain iconic and always only seem to get bigger - Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Tom Clancy’s. Additionally if not already, give up on franchises that once were great and promising, but dug themselves into ground with the years, best example being Watch Dogs. A franchise that started out with a bang, in a way being a new version of Grand Theft Auto… But with hacking, making for a fun twist and unique, new experience. While its 2016 follow-up more or less performed as it should, and was met with critical acclaim, for some it was also missing an array of the elements that made the original great, making players, including myself, kinda fall off. By the time the third instalment - Legion - was announced, many players just didn’t really care simply said, possibly also giving the shall we call it aimless direction of the game, for example being able to play as ANY NPC in it, signalling a lack of narrative. Fan Relations & Listen To Player Feedback Disappointing sales numbers aside, Ubisoft’s relations with players and fans has taken many hits in recent years due to a number of reasons. From solely a gaming perspective, the two mentioned beloved flagship franchises underwent stylistic changes to different degrees in the late ’10’s, clearly not to everyone’s liking. Assassin’s Creed (in)famously took a more loose RPG oriented approach with 2017’s Origins, and 2021’s Far Cry 6, were missing elements that made previous instalments as iconic as they were, survival and skill progression being at the very core of them. Following AC Origins that introduced this different style, an array of fans were begging for a return to roots… Only for the next two games to crank the RPG elements up to 11, almost completely ditching the classic Assassins VS. Templars aspects and narrative. Despite its perhaps smaller scale and some lore elements from this new era being carried over, 2023’s AC Mirage was as much a return to roots as possible, bringing back classic Assassins VS. Templars, (improved) stealth, and a gameplay formula reminiscent of the classic 2007 original. And then once again, AC Shadows re-introduced some of these RPG leaning elements. Can the AC franchise survive with all this push and pull, for one period of time more or less completely ditching the elements that made it what it is, then having it make a comeback, then for it all to come to a mix? Sure, games and franchises need to evolve, and a good example of a game that went against everyone’s expectations yet turned out a massive success - if not one of the all time greats of video game history overall - was Black Flag. But when the criticisms begins to outweigh the positives, it changes company dynamics, is it a sign Ubisoft needs to start listening to player feedback more than has been the case in recent years, and set aside any artistic decisions that may not turn out as thought? At this point, when AC fans say they want a more linear story and classic Assassins VS. Templars, it’s because they want it and to stay. When Far Cry fans criticised Far Cry 6 of feeling overloaded and long, lacking skill progression and a terrifying and deep villain on the level of Vaas Montenegro, they meant it. Another noteworthy aspect of this is following trends. Everyone in the gaming industry does it, Rockstar Games often having set the standard with every new game of theirs, more or less shaping the open-world genre single handedly. A wide array of elements from the first couple AC games can be traced back to GTA, Far Cry was inspired by classic FPS games but put its twist on it, and when a game in 2015 came out called The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, it revolutionised the RPG genre, hence it makes sense Ubisoft would take note of that, and try to put their twist on that. As we well know though, this mostly only caused polarisation amongst fans, and Ubisoft seemed to fail at capturing the RPG feeling in the same way. Despite the success of The Witcher 3, was that really meant to be the game that would lay out the blueprint for the next decade of gaming, everyone trying to replicate that style since it clearly worked on one of the most iconic games of the ‘10’s? Since that, there have been many other landmark games that didn’t follow that RPG formula, so why are Ubisoft still clinging onto a blueprint that was last trending 10 years ago now? Ubisoft Television One wouldn’t necessarily know it, but for years Ubisoft have had a television division, the CEO of being Yves Guillemot’s brother, Gérard. In recent years, their most popular output has probably been producing the Apple TV+ original comedy show Mythic Quest, which despite recent cancellation, ran for four successful seasons over five years, to critical and fan acclaim. A number of projects based on Ubisoft titles are currently also in development; from a Tom Clancy’s The Division live action film set to star Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain, and to be directed by David Leitch - known for John Wick, Deadpool 2 and Fast & Furious Hobbs & Shaw among others - a Just Dance and Rabbids project, and of course the Netflix Assassin’s Creed live action series. But will these films and shows prove successful, and can this TV division do enough to keep the company afloat? The Assassin’s Creed series is highly anticipated among fans, and recently announced its writers room lineup, including several writers and producers who have worked on some of the most high profile shows in recent years. Otherwise much still isn’t known about any of these upcoming projects, and only time will tell as to their success a lot potentially could be hanging on. Despite anticipation and mixed reviews from fans, Ubisoft Television’s first big film - 2016’s Assassin’s Creed - wasn’t necessarily a success, mostly receiving negative reviews among critics and underperforming at the box office, but there is always room for improvement and the Tom Clancy projects could turn the tide. Additionally, we live in a time where the “video game adaptation” curse has at last mostly been lifted, with shows like The Last Of Us for HBO and Fallout for Amazon receiving almost nothing but praise. So if executed right, Ubisoft Television’s projects in development have the potential to take the company to completely new heights. Internal Company Healing Last but not least, Ubisoft has a great deal of internal fixing and healing to do, after years of internal scandals and their handling of, massive layoffs, rumours of toxic work culture and more. Many probably remember the summer of 2020, where a dark side of the gaming industry as a whole was exposed, Ubisoft being hit HARD, with different beloved community icons of many years inside the company, finding themselves with heavy allegations of sexual misconduct made against them. This was probably the proper beginning, of the mistrust towards the company among many, that’s then only grown with the years. About a year later, it was revealed that little if anything, had really been done internally to handle this conflict, once again enraging and saddening many fans. As a result of Ubisoft’s mentioned tightening financial situation, in the last year alone, hundreds of employees have also been let go, following the closure of multiple Ubisoft studios in an attempt to cut costs and stabilise the company. Last year the online game XDefiant was infamously shut down, causing just under 300 people to lose their jobs. In January this year, three more studios - Leamington, Düsseldorf and Stockholm were also shut down, resulting in an additional 200 people being let go. This could be the start of a dangerous pattern. The company does indeed need to stabilise, to keep its studios up and running and people’s livelihood intact, also maximising work and company efficiency. Finally, following the announcement of AC Shadows last year and the controversies that followed, rumours started circulating of toxic company work culture, and them prioritising DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) over hiring the most competent workers. While Ubisoft never made any direct comments on this nor confirmed or denied anything, comments made by AC Shadows’ Senior Writer - stating how "There’s more than enough games out there with white men as the only playable characters" - as well as a photo of the “diverse” team working on the game could be interpreted the wrong way. Whether anyone working on the game were hired directly for their skills or just to meet “diversity” quotas or not, controversies like this are best avoided in the future. All this aside, there is no doubt parts of the AC Shadows promotional campaign were actually controversial, insensitive and a result of bad company management. One notable example of this was the Yasuke action figure with a one legged Torii gate, which could be seen as a mockery of the iconic Sanno Shrine in Nagasaki, that was destroyed following its destruction by nuclear bomb in 1945 after World War II, a deep trauma in collective Japanese culture and history. Overall, Ubisoft have a lot of work to do, if they want to fix their company, and restore it to one of the leading elite video game studios it once was, putting out hit after hit, making big money, and helping setting the standard for the video game industry. How this is going to be accomplished we don’t know if anyone really does, if there is one formula for it. By redirecting focus to hit franchises that despite change and criticisms, only seem to get bigger still accumulating new players, and dropping one off games that are likely to turn out fiascos, getting Ubisoft Television up and running like never before, keeping relationships with fans healthy and alive, and doing everything they can to internally heal, it is certainly possible they can go a long way. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Ubisoft can rise up to their former glory again, and how do you think this can be achieved? Be sure to let us know in the comments, and stay tuned for more articles like this! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Gustav / Gargudon is an active community member, who started out in podcast hosting in 2016, but today mostly specialises in video creation, interviews & composing. By joining The Ones Who Came Before in 2019, originally reviving 'The Memory Corridor' podcast, which had been offline for nearly a year, he has had the opportunity to expand his audience and further develop his skills. 

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

Assassin's Creed Odyssey Merchandise Guide 12/6/18 Share Here we will be logging all of the merchandise we find for Assassin's Creed Odyssey! This article will be frequently updated Struggling to tell the difference between the many different editions of Assassin's Creed Odyssey? We have you covered, with our Assassin's Creed Odyssey Edition Guide! Alexios Figurine by UbiCollectibles Amazon Ubisoft Store Editions of the Game Merchandise Figurines/Statues Kassandra Figurine by UbiCollectibles Amazon Ubisoft Store Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – Kassandra 9" Figurine by ThinkGeek EB Games Replicas Broken Spear of Leonidas Replica by UbiCollectibles Amazon Ubisoft Store Clothing Clothing Merchandise Difuzed released preview images of their upcoming Assassin's Creed Odyssey clothing range! Here we see all of the pieces in the collection. Shirts/Tops Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Spartan Helmet Men's T-shirt by Difuzed Link Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Alexios Destiny Men's T-shirt by Difuzed Link Assassin's Creed: Alexios T-shirt Bol Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Odyssey Logo Space Dye Men's T-shirt by Difuzed Link Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Embossed Odyssey Logo Men's T-shirt by Difuzed Listing Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Cult of Kosmos T-shirt by Difuzed Amazon Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Kassandra Tank Top Link Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Tape Men's Longline T-shirt by Difuzed Link Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Spartan T-shirt by Ubi Workshop Ubisoft Store Kassandra Tshirt HeroCity Link Alexios T-shirt Attitude Holland Link Spartan T-shirt Attitude Holland Link Assassin's Creed Odyssey Charge T-shirt Time City Link Alexios side T-shirt Attitude Holland Kassandra T-shirt Attitude Holland Odyssey Circle Tee Link unavailable Grey Assassin's Creed Odyssey T-shirt Attitude Holland Black AC Odyssey T-shirt Time City Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Odyssey Logo Oil Dye Pintuck Men's T-shirt Difuzed Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Leap T-shirt HeroCity Assassin's Creed Odyssey -Emblem T-shirt Figurine Discount Assassin's Creed Odyssey -Hoplite T-shirt EMP Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Light Grey T-Shirt George Assassins Creed Odyssey Battle Pose T-Shirt Dark Knight Assassin's Creed Odyssey Tee MrGugu Assassin's Creed Odyssey Long Sleeved tee Assassin's Creed Odyssey Alexios T-shirt by AbyStyle Link Assassin's Creed Helmet Tee HotTopic Assassin's Creed Odyssey T-shirt Amazon Brazil Assassin's Creed Odyssey T-shirt Amazon Brazil Hoodies/Jumpers/Jackets Assassin's Creed Spartan Hoodie by UbiCollectibles Link Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Technical Dark Women's Hoodie by Difuzed Product Reveal Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Official Sweatshirt by UbiCollectibles Link Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Technical Hexagonal Men's Hoodie by Difuzed Amazon Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Apocalyptic Women's Hoodie by Difuzed Product Reveal Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Spartan Men's Hoodie by Difuzed Product Reveal Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Official Coat by UbiWorkshop Link unavailable Assassin's Creed Odyssey Spartan Hoodie by UbiWorkshop Ubisoft Store Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Apocalyptic Warrior Throw Over Men's Hoodie by Difuzed Amazon Assassins Creed Odyssey Taped Sleeve Hoodie by Difuzed Playstation Gear Spartan Cap by UbiWorkshop Retail link Hats/Caps Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Odyssey Logo Beanie by Difuzed Product Reveal Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Premium Odyssey Logo Snapback Cap by Difuzed Product Reveal Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Metal Badge Odyssey Logo Curved Bill by Difuzed Product Reveal Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Apocalyptic Snapback Cap Product Reveal Assassin's Creed Odyssey logo hat Ubisoft Store Keyrings Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Odyssey Logo Metal Keychain Product Reveal Assasssin's Creed Odyssey - Premium Keychain With Leather & Metal Product Reveal Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Odyssey Logo Metal Keychain Product Reveal Helmet Keychain (This looks really familar, but I can't quite figure out why) Originally available as a pre-order bonus from Gamestop Odyssey Logo Keychain Amazon Assassin's Creed Odyssey Logo Metal Keychain Copper-Coloured PopMerch Abysse Assassins Creed - Crest Odyssey Metal Keychain Gamescom Literature The Art of Assassin's Creed Odyssey Amazon UK Forbidden Planet The Art of Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Limited Edition Hardcover £40 from Forbidden Planet Assassin's Creed Odyssey: The Official Novel by Gordon Doherty Amazon Assassin's Creed Odyssey Strategy Guide by Prima Games Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Collector's Edition Guide by Prima Games Amazon More info Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Official Platinum Edition Guide Amazon Mugs/Cups Kassandra Mug by GBEye More images Alexios Action Mug by GBEye More images Assassin's Creed Odyssey Mug by GBEye More images Alexios Mug by GBEye More images AC Odyssey Mug bandUp! 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Rally The Creed Podcast The Ones Who Came Before Team are proud to present Rally the Creed, an original live podcast hosted by members of our team! The live show, which airs on a Sunday at 10pm GMT on TikTok is hosted by Colum Blackett (UK AC Community Ambassador) & James Davis (TOWCB Video Content Creation Team Leader). Each week a new guest is invited on to the show, lifting the lid on the lives of content creators, their honest thoughts and feelings on the franchise, and hopes for the future. 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. Edited by Charlie Cooper (TheAssassinsLord) Music by Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon) Rally The Creed Live! Add a Title 24) In episode #24 of Rally the Creed Live, an Assassin's Creed Podcast, host James is joined by ACJohnny from Beneath The Hood Podcast! Topics include: Defending the AC RPG games, pitching Assassin's Creed Hexe and the controversial wind mod for Assassin's Creed Unity. Spotify Add a Title 23) In episode #23 of Rally the Creed Live, an Assassin's Creed Podcast, host Col is joined by The Exile (Harrison) from The Podyssey! Topics include: Reflecting on 2025, the highs and lows of the year, Pitching an Assassin's Creed game set in Tudor England, and tainting the Assassin's Creed franchise through weak storylines. Spotify Add a Title 22) In episode #22 (The Creedmas Special) of Rally the Creed Live, an Assassin's Creed Podcast, host Col is joined by James Davis (TopChef1288) from TOWCB. Topics include: Secret Santa surprise unboxing, James' big win and casting news for the upcoming Assassin's Creed Netflix TV Series. Spotify Add a Title 21) In episode #21 of Rally the Creed Live, an Assassin's Creed Podcast, host James is joined by stand-in guest Col from TOWCB. Topics include: James experiences backlash for the first time, iconic duos in Assassin's Creed and discussing the declining quality of writing to create a focussed narrative. Spotify Add a Title 20) In episode #20 of Rally the Creed Live, an Assassin's Creed Podcast, hosts James & Col are joined by RTC Editor Charlie Cooper from TOWCB Video Content Creation Team. Topics include: The Attack on Titan collaboration for Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft's problem with release quality & news on the AC Netflix TV series. Spotify Add a Title 19) In episode #19 of Rally the Creed Live, an Assassin's Creed Podcast, host Col is joined by Marco from Access the Animus! Topics include: Creating an AC Community, deciphering Isu messages & marking 16 years of Assassin's Creed II. Spotify Add a Title 18) In episode #18 of Rally the Creed Live, an Assassin's Creed Podcast, host James is joined by TallManGames. Topics include: Co-op in Assassin's Creed, Love for AC Odyssey & Blind Ranking Assassin's Creed characters. Spotify Add a Title 17) In episode #17 of Rally the Creed Live, an Assassin's Creed Podcast, host James is joined by co-host Col. Topics include: Comments made by Yves Guillemot at Paris Games Week which contradict recent internal Ubisoft decisions, updates to Assassin's Creed parkour and ranking Assassin's Creed characters to create Mount Rushmore. Spotify Add a Title 16) In episode #16, host James is joined by UK Content Creator BPRGaming. Topics include: Content Creation & the journey so far, Accidentally leaking Juno due to a miscommunication & Reimagining Black Flag as an RPG title. Spotify Add a Title Special Episode: The Podyssey x RTC Live Col from The Ones Who Came Before and Rally The Creed Live joined The Podyssey to talk everything Ubisoft and Assassin’s Creed! Add a Title 15) In episode #15, the Halloween Special 🎃, hosts Col & James are joined by SisterlyThrower & Jebs from The Ones Who Came Before. Topics include: The darkest moments for Assassin's Creed, potential storylines for Hexe and Pitching an AC Game: Black Death . Spotify Add a Title 14) In episode #14, host James is joined by UK Content Creator & Skit maker Calvin Whiteway (formerly Roberts), from The Ones Who Came Before Video Content Creation Team. Topics include: The definition of love, losing Marc-Alexis Côté and the reveal trailer for Assassin's Creed Mirage: Valley of Memory. Spotify Add a Title 13) In episode #13, host Col is joined by UK Content Creator WillisMakesMovies, host of The Podyssey (alongside The Exile). Topics include: Starting The Podyssey, meeting The Exile, making slop (easy to make videos), analysing Assassin's Creed & a potential cancelled Assassin's Creed game set during The Reconstruction Era, featuring a slave Assassin fighting The Ku Klux Klan! Spotify Add a Title 12) In episode #12, host James is joined by Cosplayer / Prop Creator Rick Boer from RBF-Productions! Topics include: BTS life of a Cosplayer, almost drowning, mental health and mechanisms to cope, accidentally fuelling Black Flag Remake rumours and more! Spotify Add a Title 11 ) In episode #11, host Col is joined by Gaming Content Creator, AndyReloads! Topics include: BTS life of a Youtuber, beating burnout and mechanisms to cope, narrative choices in AC Shadows. Spotify Add a Title 10 ) In episode #10, host Col is joined by Gaming Content Creator, Ironside George! Topics include: Content creation as a parent, Ubisoft events & the future of Assassin's Creed. TikTok Spotify Add a Title 9 ) In episode #9, host Col is joined by Gaming Content Creator, JorRaptor! Topics include: The Claws of Awaji, Content Creation & Animus Hub Potential. TikTok Spotify Add a Title 8 ) In episode #8, host Col is joined by Declan Rose from the Let's Talk Assassin's Creed podcast! Topics include: Modern Day, Assassin's Creed Podcasts and Discovery Tour. TikTok Spotify Add a Title 7 ) In episode #7, host Col is joined by Dave Woodward from AC United Kingdom! Topics include: Upcoming Mirage DLC, Creation of AC United Kingdom and Assassin's Creed Tattoos! TikTok Spotify Add a Title 6) In episode #6, host Col is joined by Arshak from AC Landmarks! Topics include: Assassin's Creed Mirage DLC, Gaming Landmarks, Upcoming Projects and hopes for a Black Flag Remake. TikTok Spotify Add a Title 5) In episode #5, host Col is joined by Streamer Laury_Runs, known in the AC Community for her 24 hour AC livestreams and fundraising efforts. Topics include: Working from home, preparing for a 24 hour stream & life during Assassin's Creed Time Periods Spotify Add a Title 4) In episode #4, host Col is joined by Youtuber HangryHiggs, known in the AC Community for his in-depth Assassin's Creed news coverage and gameplay videos. Topics include: content creation, burnout and the AC Community in 2025. TikTok Spotify Add a Title 3) In episode #3, host Col is joined by Calvin from The Ones Who Came Before's Video Content Creation Team. Topics include: Skit creation, Assassin's Creed Mirage and future DLC content, Potential Game settings, Modern Day Assassins and more! TikTok Spotify Add a Title 2) Join TOWCB Team Leader @col_96 with guest James Davison TikTok as we discuss Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag, the upcoming Netflix series, the 2025 Community Fundraiser and more! TikTok Spotify Add a Title 1) Rally the Creed returns in a new format! Join TOWCB Team Leader @col_96 on TikTok as we discuss all things #AssassinsCreed! Sundays at 10pm BST See you there Assassins! TikTok Spotify Rally The Creed Reboot 1) 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. Spotify 2) In episode #2, Col, Gustav and Finn from TOWCB Team discuss Assassin's Creed Mirage, potential settings for future games and creating music inspired by the series. Spotify 3) In episode #3, guest host Jack from ThePhotoMode E-Magazine joins TOWCB Team members Lisa Zaman (Portrait Artist) and Aaron Young (Writer) to discuss all things in AC. Spotify 4) In episode #4, host Michael Smith from TOWCB Core Team discusses LGBTQ representation in Assassin's Creed with guests Ollie (@ItsOlliebyGolly ) and Louise (@TheNerdyArcher ). Spotify 5) In this new episode of Rally The Creed, Gargudon and Col look back on 9 years of The Ones Who Came Before, from Col first creating the site in 2014, first getting recognised by Ubisoft, our two guests first getting acquainted, the site growing and expanding, the future and much more. Also touched upon is the imminent release of AC Mirage, what to expect from it and the impact it will have on the community. Spotify 6) The Rally The Creed podcast is back at last, this episode hosted by Gargudon, featuring UbiCypher from our team and Arshak from AC Landmarks. Covering everything from an evaluation of AC Mirage, with the game having been out for a while now, hopes and expectations for AC Codename Red with more in between. Enjoy listening! 7) In Episode 7 of Rally The Creed, host Gargudon is joined by one of the newest recruits on our team, video creator and streamer Andy, also known as SisterlyThrower. At the core of this episode is a proper introduction to Andy, talk about our growing video venture and future content, the American saga and more. Enjoy listening! 8) In Episode 8 of our community podcast Rally The Creed, host Gargudon is joined by in-game photographer and video creator Armin, better known as Mentor Captures throughout the community. Together, the two talk photography in the AC community and its evolution in gaming overall, as well as the music and soundtracks of Assassin’s Creed; from favourite tracks, iconic composers, soundscapes, fan themes inspired by and more. Spotify 9) In this special ninth episode of our community podcast Rally The Creed, part of celebrating 10 years of The Ones Who Came Before, host Gargudon is joined by Aaron (Falconswift) and Jack (VirtualTourism) from our photography team, to talk the new upcoming instalment in the franchise, Assassin’s Creed Shadows. From expectations for the world and story, gameplay features, photo mode and more. Enjoy listening! Episode originally recorded 13th July, 2024. Edited by FrameHoldPhotography. Spotify 10) In this special tenth episode of our community podcast Rally The Creed, site founder Colum and Gargudon reflect on 10 years of The Ones Who Came Before. From the site’s origin and growth, the evolution of our team, our hosts’ 9 years of friendship, looking to the future and much more. Enjoy listening! Thanks for 10 years to every single one of our followers, whether you have been with us from the beginning, have just hopped aboard, or anywhere in between. Cheers Assassins and here’s to 10 more! Spotify 11) Andy (AKA TheSisterlyThrower) from TOWCB Video Content Creation Team hosts his first episode of Rally the Creed podcast, covering all things Assassin's Creed with community member Jenerator3‬! Spotify Rally The Creed Podcast (Original Series 2020) Welcome to Rally The Creed, a brand new Assassin's Creed community podcast by The Ones Who Came Before! In each episode, Ashlea_97 will be joined by members of the community to discuss the franchise, giving listeners a unique perspective on the world of Assassin's Creed. Listeners will also have exclusive behind-the-scenes access to one of the biggest AC fan communities, and gain an insight into what it takes to create and manage a community. Spotify Link Promo image created by our fan Maor. Twitter Add a Title 1) Episode 1 Ash and Col discuss the creation of TOWCB fan community, and how fans can start up an Assassin's Creed project of their own. Also available on Spotify Add a Title 2) Episode 2 In this episode, we discuss our new roles within The Mentors Guild, Marketing for Assassin's Creed Valhalla and the upcoming Netflix TV Universe. Also available on Spotify Add a Title 3) Episode 3 Community discussion led by Gargudon, featuring guest Kyle Marvell. Also available on Spotify

Female Vikings: The Real History Breakdown Share 27 Oct 2020 Written By: Edited By: Lauren Harris Ashlea Buckley Back To Database When the first trailer for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla released and fans were introduced to the protagonist, Eivor, who can be played as either male or female, it was the subject of much discussion. Fans debated over how realistic the concept of a female Viking warrior was. Could a female Eivor be historically accurate? Or was it simply a gameplay decision made for the benefit of representation and player choice? In this article, we look at the true history of women during the Viking era and the role they played in their society. According to Judith Jesch, Professor of Viking Studies at the University of Nottingham and the author of Women in the Viking Age (1991), women could not be Vikings as the Old Norse word “vikingar” only applied to men. The idea of female Viking warriors being a historical fact seems to have originated with a DNA study into the remains found in a grave in Birka, Sweden, in 1889. For over one hundred years, the remains were assumed to be of a male warrior. However, in 2017, DNA proved that the bones belonged to a woman. The researchers then published their assessment that the deceased must have been a warrior woman. The reasoning for this was due to the possessions found in the grave, such as pieces of a chess-like board game. Items like this were often found in the graves of warriors, and so the assumption was made that this must have been a warrior. Vikings historians were quick to dispute this conclusion, however. For one, there was no concrete evidence that board games had any connection to warriors. Also, it was very possible that bones had been mixed together during burials, and that this was not specifically a warrior’s grave. Sadly, most scholars believe that female Viking warriors simply did not exist. However, that does not mean that women had no role in Viking society. Actually, research shows that Viking era women had a level of equality with men that most societies would not achieve for many, many years. In Assassin's Creed Valhalla, players can let the Animus choose which perspective to view the memory stream from depending on its strength. This is to encourage fans to play as both characters, rather than as just one. Women had a number of important roles in Viking society. Many of these involved work around the house and farm – but women were not simple housewives. In fact, they were responsible for all the wealth in their household. The women controlled the money and the keys to the property. If the men wanted to use either of these things, they would have to go to their wives first. Additionally, since the men were often away exploring, raiding, or voyaging, the women were in charge of making the decisions. They were the ones left behind to keep the economy flourishing and prevent the village from falling apart. In what was an incredibly progressive move for the time, women were allowed to have occupations outside of the home. They were traders, priestesses, and even rune masters. Often, women would produce textiles and sell them in the village. Sometimes, the power of a woman could overshadow her husband. Some men would admire their wives for this fiery personality, but others would feel emasculated. Regardless, society always respected a powerful woman. Evidence of a powerful Viking era woman was found in a burial in Oseberg. Remains of a woman, assumed to be of nobility or even royalty, were found buried in a large ship. She was interred with carved wooden furniture, a tapestry, fine bedding, and household utensils. This suggested that she had power within the society and was respected by her peers. Law was also much fairer to women in the Viking Age than in other periods of history. Women were able to inherit land from their parents, though less than their brothers would receive. A woman would also receive money from her groom upon marriage, of a similar value to the dowry she would present to him. Married couples in the Viking Age were able to divorce, a progressive concept in itself, and if they did, the woman would get to keep her own dowry and that of her groom. They were also free to remarry without judgement. Abuse of women was not tolerated in Viking society. Rape of a woman was a crime punishable by exile, and a woman could demand a divorce if her husband hit her three times. That said, female infidelity was not acceptable and was punished, though men were allowed to have mistresses. Another way that Vikings showed their appreciation for the women in their lives was through rune stones. Whilst most rune stones were erected for men, many were also erected in memory of women. This shows that Vikings wanted people to remember their women and felt that they deserved the same memorial as the men. Eivor is a fierce Viking warrior, and the leader of the Raven Clan. Despite the historians suggesting that female Viking warriors did not exist, there are many stories in Norse literature of women riding into battle alongside the men. Where did these myths come from? The Icelandic sagas with tales of Viking shield-maidens and Valkyries were written centuries after the Viking Age, which makes it difficult to believe the stories they tell. However, what these sagas do show is the way the Norse respected and admired strong women in their society. The women in these stories were depicted in various ways. Some were Valkyries sent by the god Odin to retrieve fallen warriors from the battlefield and bring them to Valhalla. Some were mortal but with supernatural powers, like fortune tellers and prophets. Others were regular humans who picked up a sword and shield and went into battle with their male counterparts. Famous female warriors in Norse literature include Sigrdrifa the Valkyrie, who appears in the poem Sigrdrífumál also featuring Sigurd the Dragonslayer. While little historical evidence has been found to support the idea of Viking warrior women existing, there have been some accounts which could lend support to the theory. One is from an Irish history book written in the 12th century which speaks of a warrior named “The Red Maiden” who attacked Munster with a Viking fleet in the 10th century. Another is from 11th century Greek historian Johannes Skylitze who recorded that there were armed female Vikings among the warriors who attacked the Byzantines in Bulgaria in 971. As with the Icelandic sagas, though, the fact these sources were written hundreds of years after the Viking age makes the stories less credible. Other evidence which could suggest female Viking warriors existed comes from two sets of remains found in Norway. One set was the skeleton of a woman around 20 years old who was buried with a complete set Viking weaponry. The other was a skeleton of a woman around 18 years old who had a full set of weaponry along with equipment for a horse. There is little reason for the women to be buried with these possessions unless they were important to them, suggesting that they could have been warriors themselves. However, under Viking law, a woman would gain all her husband’s belongings upon his death. It could be that these weapons belonged to their warrior husbands and were buried with the wives for sentimental reasons. To conclude, historians believe that the existence of Viking warrior women is unlikely – and so too would be a character like female Eivor. However, it is clear that women held more power in Viking society than any other culture for years to come. Women were not subservient and they were free to make their own decisions in life. It is said that no one could tell a Viking era woman what to do. We have to wonder then if a woman wanted to be a Viking warrior, who was going to stop her? In that case, maybe there were female warriors lost to the annals of history – and maybe Eivor was one of them. Available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation®4, Epic Games Store, Ubisoft Store on Windows PC, as well as on UPLAY+, and Stadia. Also coming to PlayStation®5. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Lauren is a online article writer who joined the program in 2019, which allowed for her work to be viewed by a larger audience. She is especially interested in Assassin's Creed lore, and wrote a number of thought provoking articles which you can find here in the Community HUB. Lauren left the program in 2021 shortly after the 'Assassin's Creed Infinity' announcement, which understandably left many fans feeling uneasy. We wish her the best of luck with her future projects. Lauren Harris

Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Greek Glory Breakdown Share 24 Jun 2025 Written By: Edited By: Hayden Bird Colum Blackett Back To Database When Assassin’s Creed Odyssey launched worldwide in October of 2018, many fans and gamers alike were eager to see how the developers at Ubisoft would take the franchise next after a major series reboot began with the previous game, Origins. 2017’s Assassin’s Creed Origins was a major success for Ubisoft and served as a solid and necessary rethinking of the overall franchise. The series was in dire need of something new after the financial disappointment of 2015’s Assassin’s Creed Syndicate which was a direct fan response after many gamers starting feeling that the series itself had run its course after a near decade of its existence, and was badly needing fresh and new life into it. Ubisoft followed the path of a full reboot and after the positive reception from both critics and fans of Assassin’s Creed Origins , Ubisoft had serious momentum heading into 2018. Promo image for Assassin's Creed Odyssey showing Alexios Before the announcement of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey , fans were not even expecting a new game in the series that year as Ubisoft pointed out the need to pause their old strategy of annual installments, as they released a new Assassin’s Creed game every year since 2008 at the time. The series took a full year off before Origins released, and many fans expected much of the same, a quiet 2018 with a potential release the year after. Ubisoft surprised fans at E3 2018 by announcing Odyssey . Fans were very excited to finally be able to explore the heavily requested historical location of Ancient Greece. Odyssey was set to build upon everything that was great and loved with Origins . The fan feedback was positive of the reboot with new RPG style gameplay elements and more advanced character customization than previous games experienced. Ubisoft set themselves up in a good position to deliver with Odyssey and clearly understood they simply had to expand on what everyone enjoyed with its predecessor rather than changing up the format too much again. Ubisoft was in prime position to capitalize on their own success, and they did just that. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was also a significant first in the series. The ability to choose a character to play as. Ubisoft tried this idea in 2015 with Assassin’s Creed Syndicate by allowing players to switch between a male and female character, but this was the first time you could play as your chosen protagonist for the entire game. Odyssey also allowed gamers to play as a female protagonist for the very first time. The character, named Kassandra, was the fan favorite amongst the pair, while the second playable character was a male named Alexios. The story of the game made it so you choose your own character, but the character you do not select still plays a significant part in the game itself, that way no character is being forgotten. Players also loved the option to choose your own dialogue responses in game. It took the RPG side of the game to a whole new level, as the game before, Origins , did not have an option to select a variety of dialogue choices and featured a single male protagonist, whereas Odyssey switched things up and gave players their own freedom to choose a character of their liking. So, Seeing these big changes for the first time really excited fans all around the world. Promo image for Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018) showing the Cult of Cosmos Assassin’s Creed Odyssey also took different parts of their game and made them bigger and better than before. The game's map was larger than that of any prior game in the Assassin’s Creed series, by quite a lot as well. The map was measured to its full length at 250 square kilometers. A good example of how big this map really was is that if, in game, you made your way through the map from end to end, it would take you two full hours to make it across. The map was unique and was full of famous Greek islands and the many spots of ocean which is known as the Mediterranean Sea in Greece. In the game, the player could earn and acquire a ship to sail across the many plots of the ocean spread out across the map, making traversing the playable area a lot faster and smoother. The fan feedback of this large map was mostly positive, as some loved having such a massive area of land and sea to explore, while others argued the time spent travelling across the map to your different quest objectives got exhausting and they’d rather be able to quickly maneuver the map. But overall, the idea and reality of such a large playable area was appreciated by the fans. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey had many great parts to not only its story, but gameplay as well, but one area of the games fans enjoyed a lot was the DLC, short for downloadable content, that was released and added onto the games story ending. The DLC story arcs were split into chapters where one chapter would be released at a time and fans would have to wait to continue their adventure until the time the next chapter released. The story DLCs were very admired by fans who spent the extra money on the game's season pass in order to get access to these missions. The DLC features two main storylines that were each split up into three chapters. The DLCs were called ‘Legacy of the First Blade’ which told the story of how the famous and iconic signature weapon used by the Assassins in the series that was known as the hidden blade, came to be in the world. The second DLC was called ‘The Fate of Atlantis’ which focused around the fabled underwater kingdom of Atlantis. Both of these expansions were well received and offered the players additional hours of new gameplay after the completion of the main story. Promo image for 'Legacy of the First Blade' The season pass of the game also offered an incentive for fans to spend the extra money on it as it offered a remaster of the 2012 game Assassin’s Creed III along with the standalone expansion, Liberation . The remaster and expansion were later offered as a separate purchase outside the season pass, but it goes to show how much content Ubisoft packed into these DLCs. Two major story expansions along with a remaster of a fan-favorite game in the series. It was a serious payoff for fans who spent the extra money to get access to these great additions to the game. Ubisoft put all their effort into not only the game, but the future of it and player experience post-launch. It is safe to say that Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was a very strong follow-up to a massively successful series reboot. Ubisoft took the correct path by building off the momentum they created a year before, but to still add new things and different changes that were fresh to gamers and made it a worthy journey into Ancient Greece. Ubisoft played their cards right in trying to continue to satisfy longtime fans, but to also introduce new players who could’ve been unfamiliar with the series, and Odyssey was their first experience in the franchise. It catered to all fans both new and returning. Odyssey will certainly be remembered for a long time, as it set the bar high for similar games and the Assassin’s Creed series as a whole. It managed to please fans who were looking to enjoy more of what its predecessor offered, but also include unique elements that made it feel like a true and full mainline Assassin’s Creed game that it certainly was. Kassandra in Assassin's Cred Odyssey (2018) 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

The Ultimate Photo Mode Guide released by FrameHoldPhotography Breakdowns Share 4 May 2024 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Back To Database TOWCB Core Team member FrameHoldPhotography is pleased to release the Ultimate Photo Mode Guide! This video combines a love for virtual photography with experience working in TV and film to explain what all of the settings in Photo Mode do. Described by TOWCB Virtual Photography member Turið Torkilsdóttir as an ' AMAZING PhotoMode Guide for Assassin's Creed, explaining each setting in detail', this video is an essential tool for fans looking to enhance their skills. We guarantee that this comprehensive breakdown of the photo mode tool will make a huge difference within the community, as it provides both confidence and knowledge to take their skills to the next level. Be sure to subscribe to FrameHoldPhotography on Youtube for more in-depth videos. 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 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)

Summon the Brotherhood: A Review of the Summoners War X Assassin’s Creed Crossover Event Review Share 10 Apr 2023 Written By: Edited By: Michael Smith Colum Blackett Back To Database Banner by Thea Marie Rivedal ( Moonchildgecko ) from TOWCB Art Team . Starting in the month of March through May 1, 2023, Summoners War is collaborating with the Assassin’s Creed franchise for a variety of events including a themed dungeon, exclusive Arena opponent, and five characters from the games. Ubisoft is well known for their openness to cameos or crossovers with properties within their own IP umbrella and other companies. It is a simple way to promote both games and introduce fans to each other and the respective works. This is most commonly seen with mobile games as the games as a service model results in various events that are great for promotion and drawing in new players that hopefully will continue to play once said event has ended. What is Summoners War Summoners War is a gacha-based team building RPG game where players “summon” characters using scrolls of various types to collect characters of various designs and strength levels (or ranks). These characters are upgraded by playing through turn-based levels where your team of 2-5 characters (based on level difficulty) will fight waves of enemies, progressing through a story based around the releasing of a “dark magic” in a fantasy world (something that I did not pay much attention to). The game walks you through all aspects of the game through tutorials and quest lines, showing you how to level characters via EXP and absorbing weaker characters, merging creatures to get new ones, and building a personal island with multiple buildings that provide things like shops, storage, and speciality focus for things like summoning and mining resources. Event Story The story for this event has fan favorite and original Assassin, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad appearing on the player’s island with the Assassin’s Headquarters. He informs the host character, Ellia, that he is searching for the Templars and asks for both her and the player’s help. This Headquarters building acts as a daily Assassin Quest hub that will reward the player “Codex Pages” and game materials such as currency and summoning scrolls in return for completing quests such as fighting the mysterious Master X in the PVP Arena or completing a set number of campaign or dungeon missions. The Codex pages are used to claim rewards from the various event campaigns that will be discussed below. Characters The characters included in the crossover between Summoners War and Assassin’s Creed are Kassandra from AC Odyssey, Bayek of Siwa from AC Origins, Eivor Varinsdottr from AC Valhalla, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad from the original Assassin’s Creed, and Ezio Auditore da Firenze from AC Revelations. Each character (with the exception of Altaïr) can be summoned in any of the five character types, Water, Fire Wind, Light, and Dark. Altaïr is a Light exclusive character that is rewarded in an event that is detailed further in this article. During the time I played the game and events, nearly 60 hours, I was able to get each of the featured Assassins with a mixed coverage of types (all but Darkness). My first character was Kassandra, followed by Bayek and Eivor, then Altaïr from one of the event campaigns, and lastly Ezio after multiple batch summons from the RNG based gacha system. I played with each character, focusing on leveling and evolving them quickly to reach the higher start ranks which improves their stats and chances at success in the various game modes. I reached the highest ranking of 6-Stars with Bayek and Kassandra before ending my initial playthrough of the game. I was able to play the full campaign (non-event themed) on nearly all difficulty levels, using these characters to progress through the story quickly. Event Dungeon An exclusive event dungeon is included with the update that started the collaboration with Assassin’s Creed and has players work through a pathway dungeon that varies in difficulty depending on direction selected. The enemies are at post game levels (from my experience) and unfortunately for me were too difficult to fight even with the high levels of my characters (from both Assassin and Summoners War). Due to this, I was unable to explore the dungeon in full but was able to at least see what the boss was for the event. The Legion Commander of Conviction is the event boss and is a really cool design. This Templar commander looks like a formidable foe to defeat with your team of Assassins or other characters. Per the notes in the image, he uses magic power from the Piece of Eden that is influencing the dungeon. I had hoped to defeat him at least once during my play, but the dungeon feels more designed for those that are already playing the game. Altaïr Giveaway Event The first Event is designed around collecting Altaïr, and is broken down across 7 rounds where players must defeat a set number of Monsters & fight a set number of matches in the Arena to be rewarded energy and currency for the game. Once they have completed the two tiers for each round, they are provided a Hidden Mission that will reward more currency & summoning scrolls. At ranks 3 & 5 players are rewarded Ezio themed Emojis for the game chat and the Assassin Altaïr at the end of round 4. The final round 7 rewards an Assassin’s Creed Summoning Scroll which gives a guaranteed Assassin summon, whereas the normal scrolls can reward an Assassin, but it is random among the other characters. What is nice about this event is that you do not have to complete the Hidden Missions to progress, you only have to defeat Monsters and fight in the Arena, but you do have to complete them for the themed rewards. Altaïr is rewarded after finishing a set amount of Assassin Missions from the Headquarters. Collab Gift Bag & Monster Skill Level-Up Event The second event is based around collecting the Codex Pages from playing during the event. Players can claim energy and currency each day after gathering Codexes in increments of 10 (up until 40) and then Summoning Scrolls every 20 pages from 20 - 180. At 100 scrolls collected and 200 scrolls collected the player is rewarded with exclusive themed items. First is a Collab Outfit for Ellia that dresses her as an Abstergo Scientist, Ellia opens her book to release an orb of light and adjusts her glasses before closing it again. Second is a Collab Building, the Assassin Post, which has five spaces for players to display your Assassins (or whatever character you choose). Players can place this anywhere on their Island and activate it to see a cool hologram display of the Animus field and the Assassin’s Emblem. Pages are not consumed for these items but, the Codex pages can be used to pay for caches of items from upgrade monsters, scrolls, runes (used to boost characters), currency, and energy. This is a great way to progress quickly as a new player as players only have to play the game and save the Codex Pages for the caches. It is also the event that players can claim Codex Pages to rank up the skills of the Assassins which is normally obtained by using duplicate characters of the same name to level up that Assassin (ie. using Kassandra to level up Kassandra). Collaboration Treasure Chest Event This event is broken into two mission sets assigned by Ezio and Summoners War character, Archangel. Ezio requires you to clear Brotherhood missions from the Headquarters and enter the Arena, World Arena, or Guild content gamemodes. Archangel asks for players to Enter dungeons of various types and play Scenario missions (story missions). Once players complete 2 Ezio missions and 3 Archangel missions, they are given a Key to open one of 28 chests that reward similar rewards to the caches from the previous event. Once all chests are claimed, the keys can be exchanged for energy and currency. Trial of Ascension Event One of the various game modes is the ladder based Trial of Ascension where players climb a battle tower and are rewarded every 10 levels. In this event, each level cleared gives the player 1 point that can be used to claim Summoning Scrolls every 20 points up to 150 (the last two rewards at 120 and 150). There is also a reward for clearing the first 10 floors on Normal and Hard difficulty. If the player clears Floor 50, they can claim an Assassin’s Creed Scroll for an Assassin summon. Assassin’s Creed Scroll Giveaway Event Bayek hosts this event and rewards points for completing an array of missions that each reward different amounts of points and allow the player to claim rewards every 1,000 points. The best reward is an Assassin’s Creed Scroll at 6,000 points. There isn’t much to this event, just a lot of play required. When the event had started, I claimed around 2750 points as I researched the game for this event. Collaboration Special Reward Giveaway Event What appears to be the final event has players defeat the Boss in the Event Dungeon and clear Assassin Brotherhood Missions. Players will be rewarded an Assassin’s Creed Statue, Kassandra Emojis, an Assassin Brotherhood Rainbowmon Transmog (which is used for upgrading a character), and lastly the Assassin’s Fortress building for their island. There is still time to claim these for the event, but if players have the same difficulty curve that I experienced, that may not be possible to get the all. When I first started the event, I rushed through most of the game just attempting to get the Assassin characters. Over the 60 hours I played for this article, I started to follow along with the Summoner’s Way questlines to figure out what to do and enjoyed playing the game more once I did that. I made a few mistakes and used characters for leveling my Assassins that hindered me from completing quests until I summoned that character again, but with all of the prizes I received from the events, they were easy to replace. The game is worth looking at just for the crossover, and can be played afterwards if you end up liking the game, but jump in sooner than later as the individual events end within the next few weeks and if you want these characters, they won't stick around forever, so jump in and help the Brotherhood! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Mike Smith is a collector of all things Assassin's Creed and a major supporter of transmedia who joined TOWCB as a writer from 2021 - 2024 With nearly a full library of Assassin's Creed media, his work explored the universe in order of Genetic Memory. Notably, his Assassin's Creed Timeline became an essential tool for fans of the franchise looking to complete their collection and consume AC media in a particular order. Michael Smith

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Music Fan Theme - The Wind Between The Cherry Trees - Available Now! Breakdown Share 27 Mar 2025 Written By: Edited By: Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon) TOWCB Team Back To Database Link to listen on Apple Music Link to listen on Spotify For a while now, we here at The Ones Who Came Before have been getting into the world of music, interviewing composers who have shaped the sound of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, covering iconic tracks, as well as writing our own original fan themes inspired by different instalments. This tradition of course continues with the newly released AC Shadows, hence we are excited to announce our newest original track inspired by the new game - The Wind Between The Cherry Trees - written, arranged and produced by Gargudon from the TOWCB team! This is an in depth look with the brains behind the track, at the process of how it came together, as well as some of the influences behind it. And of course, make sure to also check out the full track, available now wherever music is streamed! Track breakdown & writing process I had so much fun creating this new fan theme for the new instalment, at last heading to a fan favourite location over many years, 16th century Feudal Japan. Before I even started properly producing the track, I already had a very good idea of how I wanted it to sound, what elements I wanted to be at the forefront of it, and what ambiences and emotions I wanted to capture. The setting of the new game meant so many fun opportunities and possibilities for choice of sounds and instruments; I always knew I wanted emphasis on something very ambient and tranquil sounding, with lots of Japanese stringed and wind instruments. The opening and final sections of the track, are meant to capture the peace and tranquillity of the vast forests of Japan that can be explored in the game, filled with massive waterfalls, blue skies, diverse wildlife, and like the title suggests of course, blooming pink cherry trees, or as they call it in the native tongue, sakura. I feel like the prominent koto, fused with the ambient plucks and pads, perfectly captures these sceneries, and can serve as the soundtrack to meditating and or practicing katana moves on the highest mountain. In between these two sections though, is a perhaps slightly darker and more intense, yet also quite cinematic sounding interlude. I wanted this part to mainly centre around massive sounding percussion with big taiko drums, while also giving it an element of traditional African music, as an homage to Yasuke’s native background. My favourite part about this interlude section though, is easily the throat singing, a common ritual practiced throughout Southeast Asia. Recording those parts was also super fun and challenging in a good way, as it had me looking into different techniques, learning something new in the process. When I tracked them, my voice was also pretty rough, following a nasty round of sickness, which in the end may or may not have been an advantage, it then having a certain rawness to it. Track influences There was a number of different influences for the track, from things I’ve written myself earlier on, Jesper Kyd’s iconic AC soundtracks, to a couple of “normal” songs even and more. Two songs that were major influences, were actually these two by Nashville artists Alana Springsteen and Robyn Ottolini, “Look I like ” and “ House I Grew Up In ”. First of which I also did a super fun remix of it once, reusing a lot of elements, sounds and melodies for this new track. For songs labelled “Country”, both have a lot of sounds and ambiences you wouldn’t necessarily associate with the genre, having prominent sections with what sounds like a koto, or some other Eastern stringed instrument. Robyn’s song was a major influence for the first section, recreating certain sounds and vibes, and reusing the chord progression and koto melody. Alana’s (and my remix of) served as influence for the final section, also reusing the chord progression and a certain melody played on koto. Additionally I once again used the melody from my AC Unity inspired fan theme “French Highlands”, it being played on flute during the middle interlude. If a new version of Ezio’s Family can be written for almost every game, so can I reuse my own written themes. Of course I also turned to the master Jesper, using some ambient samples reminiscent of his legendary AC2 soundtrack, samples of birds singing and a waterfall to create a very lively soundscape and some realism, and of course as mentioned, throat singing, where a major inspiration was the loading screen music from another massive Ubisoft game, Far Cry 4, also set in a similar culture and part of the world. And that concludes this in-depth look at our newest original AC inspired musical fan theme! Once again, make sure to check out the full track, available wherever music is streamed, add it to your playlists, maybe even having it on in the background while exploring Japan! That and let us know what games you would like to see inspire future fan themes! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Gustav / Gargudon is an active community member, who started out in podcast hosting in 2016, but today mostly specialises in video creation, interviews & composing. By joining The Ones Who Came Before in 2019, originally reviving 'The Memory Corridor' podcast, which had been offline for nearly a year, he has had the opportunity to expand his audience and further develop his skills. 

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

This Week in Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography: 20th to 26th November Community Share 30 Nov 2023 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Colum Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the weekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from The AC Partnership Program. Every week we will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. This week’s guest judge is Ultra Violetra a real talent within the virtual photography community and known for some beautiful Assassin’s Creed captures. Ultra is also a Mod @ VGPNetwork and @ ThePhotoMode . Keep an eye on the site as more weekly shots are added, we are looking for captures across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture for a chance to be featured. This week’s theme: NPC All Father Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ _Virtualtourism “Rise, Eivor….and awaken” I love Norse Mythology so having it feature so prominently in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was excellent. The whole Loki and Odin face off was interesting to watch, especially with how the two are so pivotal to the events of Ragnarok. I did love the assassination scenes too as Eivor fought between two personalities. I felt Jack captured the essence of Odin so well with this shot. Surrounded by darkness and riddled with pain, Odin appears from the shadow of his own hood. I really like how the lighting gives us a glimpse of his grey beard and showcase the runes on the tip of the hood. Such a brilliant capture of the All-Father. The Details Game: Assassin’s Creed Mirage VP Artist: @ Dario_OtherEyes The Ones Who Came Before Photo of the Week Judge: @ UVioletra Dario has captured a beautiful NPC that appears curious yet weary. The character’s skin texture and the lighting is perfectly matched, creating a gorgeous shot of the week. Aaron “Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent” Something Assassin’s Creed Mirage has perfected is the variety of NPC’s. The amount of different cultures walking the streets of Baghdad is quite special. It adds so much variety and makes for some really interesting NPC shots. This beautiful capture shows exactly what I mean. I adore the lighting of this shot, with the shadow covering half of her body. The warmth of the photo really does give you the feel of the desert whilst also highlighting the details of this amazingly crafted NPC. She definitely looks like she is being tailed by the order, let’s just hope Basim gets to her first. Valka Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ NIKOOO_WOLF “I am better than well. I am present.” Valka is the Raven Clans Seer and the women responsible for guiding Eivor in her visions. Her stunning character design and warming personality have led to her being one of the stronger NPC in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. This side shot of her is extremely beautiful. I love the white mist in front of her and the clouds in the background. It reminds me of when we first meet her upon the snowy mountain. The level of detail on her clothing and face have been emphasised, and together with the saturation makes this shot look like a piece of art. Randvi Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ Kristina_m0509 “Married off in service of peace between two clans.” For me Randvi is one of the best but most underused NPC’s in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. She serves as a strategist and potential love interest. However I was always disappointed that she didn’t accompany you more often. This capture of Randvi is exceptionally beautiful, the colours on show match the feel of the game. That stunning blue sky behind her not only looks great but elevates Randvi’s presence. I think the little details of her character design are wonderfully shown through that luscious golden sunlight. Excellent virtual photography of an NPC. Stowe Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ Kristina_m0509 “Eivor, I beg you, Alfred’s men or not, they are Saxons and Christians.” Stowe is The Reeve of Lunden and close friend of Eivor. It was nice to see our Viking hero team up with an Anglo Saxon. Stowe is a man of pride and honour who plays a critical part within the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla story. The Lunden arc is probably the most 'Assassin' section of the game and I really enjoyed it. Here we have a strong portrait of Stowe surrounded by a striking wintery background. I quite like how he is framed in this shot, and the details are impressive. The shadow across his face adds mystery and I am getting super hero vibes from his stance. Once again an excellent NPC capture to round off the showcase. And that sums it up for this week’s Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out this week’s photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next week keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

What we want to see from Assassins Creed Mirage Wishlist Share 15 May 2023 Written By: Edited By: TOWCB Team Colum Blackett Back To Database Here are the key things that members of TOWCB Team are hoping to see in Assassin's Creed Mirage. Aaron Young (TOWCB Writing Team) Improved Parkour, Stealth and Photo Mode ''I would love to see Mirage replicate the Unity formula with its atmospheric City and excellent parkour. I would quite like the memory sequences to return so that we are able to replay moments without having to restart the game. If possible I would also adore the reintroduction of customisation that Unity did so well and Jedi Survivor has just replicated. I can’t wait to be a real Assassin again patrolling the rooftops. As an archer I really hope Ubisoft has reconsidered the use of bows. I understand that they can be a little over powering in a stealth focused game, however AC III pulled it off. It’s bizarre to think Basim would not use one. To balance the gameplay why not make arrows sparse like the last of us. An Assassin with limited tools is surely the best. Finally and most importantly for me would be the inclusion of Valhalla’s photo-mode. The love that is out here for Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography is phenomenal with many tags still trending long after the games have gone. It is clear that Virtual Photography sells games and keeps a title in people’s minds. There is a respect for the Assassin’s Creed photo-mode despite how basic it is compared to say Horizon. I am most at home with the Valhalla Photo-mode but would love to see: -More distance -Expressions -Poses -Outfit Changes -Day and night options -Custom Lighting -Save Camera Positions -Photo-Mode in cut scenes -Hide Characters -Close up shots Even just a few of these things would go a long way to pushing the Assassin’s Creed photo-more tools on.'' A mock-up of how Assassin's Creed Mirage could look by FrameHoldPhotography ActualSpider-Man (TOWCB Writing Team) Narrative Pay-offs, Isu Puzzles and Links to Valhalla ''The setups of Valhalla’s multiple cliffhangers deserve their payoffs. By that I mean we need to see William Miles and crew synchronize Basim’s DNA into memories for William to experience. We need to see the impact of a Reborn Isu teaming up with Assassins. We need to see the Modern Day fallout of Layla’s sacrifice. We need to learn whether Loki had forged that last recording Layla sent to “not come find her”, or if that was truly Layla’s final wish. And regardless of that wish, we need to see Loki chastise William for leaving his son to die, and explain to him that Desmond is alive in another plane of existence as The Reader. It worries me how de-emphasized the Modern Day has been in the advertising for upcoming titles, reminding me of the same happening to the parkour in the past, and I hold out hope for at least SOME Modern Day answers in Mirage. It also being centered around our new Isu ally, I crave more meaningfully intricate Isu Language puzzles, and not just using Isu transliterations to spell English words, but broadening the language with needed AC-centric words we don’t already have, like colors (red, blue, yellow, white), relationships (beyond “Mother/Father”, we need brother, sister, partner, enemy, ally), time (more than “day”), etc., that would bring a huge smile to my face! Of course, surrounding the historical portions, I’m wanting this “return to form” to be a balance of Brotherhood’s scope, Unity’s parkour system, and a mix of the RPG combats. Personally I found the thousand things to do on the newer trio’s maps to feel like meaningless busywork when they weren’t somehow connected to the overall narrative, where Brotherhood excelled. Unity should be the benchmark of AC fluid motion mechanics, and I’ve sorely missed depth to the traversal, so I’d like to see its return. And I did have fun engaging in different styles of combat with different weapon and armor loadouts in the recent games, so I would like to see that consistency stick around, but with preferably much less damage sponging. It is a power fantasy, after all! All in all, I just want to see how Ubisoft decides to run with having full-on Reborn Isu DNA being in Assassin possession, something the Templars have been attempting to do since Black Flag. Are we gonna see the internal struggle of the mind between Basim & Loki firsthand? Is Basim going to have his own regressive memories from the Isu Era to flesh out more of Loki’s backstory? Are they going to link Basim & Roshan’s history up to Valhalla in meaningful ways? Fingers crossed, I sure do hope so.'' Colum Blackett (TOWCB Admin) Improved Parkour, Alamut Castle and Smoke Bomb Crafting Pieced together using quotes from our new podcast, Rally the Creed #1 . ''I think Assassin's Creed Mirage is sort of meant to be like a stepping stone. It's like a smaller bite-sized chunk of a game and then a bigger game is to follow. Fans are waiting for a game that really is ticking all the boxes in terms of the pillars of the franchise. If you look at real parkour. They have to reinvent that whole pillar if you ask me. People who are free running. they do this for a living, they're performing moves never seen in an assassin’s creed game, and time after time it's sluggish in-game. They need to really look at the parkour in Valhalla, really. It's sort of set the framework for parkour opportunity. The opportunity to do parkour is excellent, but parkour itself isn't. You want to really move and feel like an eagle above the crowd.'' ''There's a lot of things that they could do that, even though it's meant to be a smaller game. They could really add some scope to it. I mean for example it's set in a region that we've not really seen before. It looks like it's going to bring in Alamut which is the original Assassin castle. So where you had Masyaf in Assassin's Creed I, this is like a precursor to that. So like a base for the Assassins, so is literally the birth of the Assassin Brotherhood after the Hidden Ones go into hiding. '' ''And the cool thing with that trailer is that when Basim uses the red smoke bomb, that's almost like a call-back to Revelations, where you could craft your own smoke bombs. And that's a mechanic they could bring into this game. You can put blood in it, you put gold in it. You could have people running in the street. You know, the the beggars will run after you. It's a distraction and that's great for an Assassin. If you hiding in plain sight, I mean, you literally have got something in your pocket that can bring the whole street to the other side and you can just sneak in.'' ''If you're playing like an Assassin, why not unlock Assassin robes and you'll know you're getting rewarded by the Brotherhood, and with this game Mirage, it looks like you start as a Novice. I mean in the trailer he's literally a street thief who comes from nothing who works his way up through the ranks, and every time he does a mission he could gain a different piece of equipment, or by doing more training'' Listen to the full episode below to hear our full discussion on Assassin's Creed Mirage. Fr ameHoldPhotography (TOWCB Admin) Fluid Parkour, Replayability and Chain Kills ''I would love to see Mirage mix my favorite elements of the classic AC formula with subtle flairs of what we saw in the new RPG trilogy. A return to fluid parkour in tightly packed cities like we saw in Unity and Syndicate would be amazing, along with black box missions for key targets. The ability to replay missions and memories is also something I would really like to see come back in Mirage. There are so many key moments in Odyssey and Valhalla that I would love to replay, but I don’t feel like starting another game just to reach that one moment. I prefer the combat system and skill trees that were present in Origins, Odyssey, and especially Valhalla, and I would like Mirage to incorporate vastly different playstyles and builds for Basim. While I would like there to be more of a focus on stealth in Mirage, having the ability to spec out different builds for poison, traps, and range could be really fun. I would love to see Mirage bring back multi-kills as well—chaining kills in the older AC games was too much fun. Lastly, I want Mirage to include a more robust Photomode. Having the ability to change time of day, lighting, poses, and outfits would be amazing for virtual photography!' A mock-up of how Assassin's Creed Mirage could look by FrameHoldPhotography Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon) (TOWCB Video Content Creation Team) Varied Gameplay, Levelling Up & Optional Objectives ''Really I’d just love to see a return to the old, pre-Origins formula gameplay and structure wise. This mainly means the return of memory sequences over quests, and more varied gameplay overall; everything from main story missions with optional objectives, side missions, collectibles, 100% total completion etc. Origins did everything too loosely, there was no real difference between main and side quests, everything felt quite repetitive, and more or less being forced to play side quests in between main ones to necessarily level up was quite a drag, and made me quite uninvested in the story. Speaking of leveling up, I honestly have nothing against that; earning XP and skill points, and buying skills to upgrade your character. It works really well in both Unity and Syndicate, and in other Ubisoft titles like Far Cry, but there it works much better as you level up and acquire more skills as you naturally progress through the story.'' Screenshot by Col_96 from Assassin's Creed Unity Joe (UbiCypher) (TOWCB Social Media Content Team) Return of William Miles, Hassan-i Sabbah cameo & a Notoriety System ''I'd like to see if William appears as the user of the Animus reliving Basim's memories, and an interaction between him and Basim out of the Animus, Mentor to Mentor discussing the future of the Brotherhood now that Basim is the first ever recorded human being from the past to actually have revived (except Juno) and the consequences over the rest of the cells scattered around the globe it could cause to learn about such information. Also, William learning of Desmond's consciousness being within the super computer and undertaking a mission to try and bring him back somehow would be beautiful. Of course, the birth of the Assassins as we know them to finally wrap up the whole Hidden Ones ordeal and perhaps a cameo in the very end or post credits of Hassan-i Sabbah (perfect occasion to make his physical appearance) in the first mandates of the Creed. I'm intrigued about the parkour since lately there have been statements about the whole Unity inspiration thing being dropped for a more similar movement set tweaked from Valhalla. Weaponry, gadgets, locations, architecture and sandbox traversal also appeals to me as I always loved to go to the objectives on the roofs feeling like a real Assassin rather than walking which we have had a lot of in the last three iterations. I hope the dye mechanic is also back as well as a notoriety system, along with an economy one too similar to the Auditore through renovations.'' Promo image for Assassin's Creed II Michael Doyle (TOWCB Admin) Impact upon the World, Economy options and Building a Spy network Pieced together using quotes from our new podcast, Rally the Creed #1 ''But I think yeah that that does touch on something as well which is what we don't see too much of in Assassin's Creed is how the missions are linear, so obviously traditionally you kind of stuck to a path whereas now you can kind of roam around and you can kind of leave the area to to reapproach from different vantage points. But we don't really see too much of missions, where your actions impact story. So, you know, if you go to spare someone's life versus if you don't. If you decide to assassinate someone, from behind, or if you try and take them from afar, we don't really see how that impacts the story. And I think that'd be quite an interesting one to see in the newer game. But perhaps you then hear the guards later on talking about the events: Did you hear, he was killed without even being seen? He was behind a painting, that would be cool because then it brings you into the world almost as if you're having this impact on the the NPCs around you. Be quite an interesting one to look at.'' ''That's why I loved Assassin's Creed II. Just the ability to build out this thing and then it makes you money that you can then use, and then reinvest it. I think you could, especially if we're looking back at you know, Mirage and the idea that perhaps, he's on the streets and he hasn't got a lot of to begin with, watching that transition as you play the character into actually owning things or being able to invest in things. Maybe you can buy your own market stores that make you money and then they could be lookouts. So then you can get letters saying, Oh, they've seen guards here or they've heard this and you know, building more of a massive experience in the city. I think that would be quite an interesting one as well. And I think, especially in a game like Assassin's creed, that's what they would have. They would have eyes on the ground. They would kind of have this network. They don't join the Brotherhood, butthey're out there sort of being the eyes and ears.'' ''That'd be a great throwback. If you kind of see, you know, that's coming in from each of these people. Not teaching them, perhaps, but, maybe giving them wisdom, giving them insight, the odd skill that you can teach. Then you build this whole experience as a player of the game, you feel like you're not just playing as one character. You're almost playing as a community. You're playing as if you're part of a movement. Against the enemy, not just you as a lone wolf, which some games do feel like, even though you do have people around you, it is just very much you versus everyone else. Be quite nice to have that sense of camaraderie.'' Listen to the full episode below to hear our full discussion on Assassin's Creed Mirage. Mike Smith (TOWCB Admin Team) Discovery Tour at Launch & Basim's ageing ''I would like to see a more in depth Codex for the history of the characters and locations. With the listing of a new Discovery Book Wonders of the Orient I am hoping that a new Discovery Tour will be available at launch, or released as a DLC. I would also like to see Basim age over the course of the story to see how he becomes the Basim we know at the beginning of Valhalla.'' Peter Strat (TOWCB Video Content Creation Team) Stealth Tools, Intricate Level Design & Improved Parkour. ''For me I'd love to see a renewed focus for the two of the three main pillars on the series when it comes to gameplay. Combat has received a number of changes over the years but the other two pillars, parkour and stealth, have for the most part, regressed in terms of depth and player expression. Parkour had many layers, allowed for player expression and gave you more control in the early games in the series. However in recent titles, this has slowly been stripped away. A lack of control, options and overall fluidity as you move through parkour sections in recent titles has really made me miss the prior games. Stealth is a strange one but the tools you had access too in titles like Unity and the readability and consistency of a game like Origins slowly fell away. Another aspect I'd love to see return is a renewed focus on locations and further more, more intricate level design. The first couple of games felt grounded in their cities and they felt like a "main character". Cities had depth and a level of connectivity that made running around the rooftops such a blast. Sadly that's been missing, especially in the RPG trilogy. From a story point of view, I'd love to see a return of target focused plot lines and sequences. Something about learning all about a target, how to deal with them potentially and getting to know all about their character has felt sorely missed in the last few games.'' Yasmin Page (TOWCB Art Team) Historical Events, Animus Database Entries & The World Feeling Alive ''What I’m looking forward to most in Mirage is seeing how they develop the world and tie Basim’s story in with the historical events of the 860s. That was something I really liked with Assassin’s Creed 2 (for example) — that Ezio’s story really felt really grounded within the Italian Renaissance and his actions impacted real people. It really builds into the idea that the Assassins and Templars have always been there in the background, pulling the strings and shaping the world as we know it. Following on from this idea, I would also like to see a return of the Animus database, providing information on the historical events, places and characters that Basim will encounter in game. It’s a small detail, but as I first got into the series through my love for history, it really enriched my playing experience. If not a database, then another Discovery Tour would also be wonderful. Also, like many others in the team have said, I would love to see a return to Unity style parkour and the stealth of the earlier games in the series. It provided a different kind of challenge to missions other than just combat (although that is fun in itself). Stealth and parkour are such intrinsic things to the Assassin’s Creed series, and while I have loved the more recent titles it was a shame to see them lose importance. Ultimately though, I am excited to explore the world they build. The environments of Assassin’s Creed have always been full of life and detail, from the NPCs to the buildings and the music, and I’m sure that Mirage will not disappoint. ' We would like to say a huge thank you to all TOWCB team members who contributed towards the creation of this article! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author A collection of articles from The Ones Who Came Before team. TOWCB Team

This Week in Assassin's Creed Virtual Photography: October 12th - 18th 2020 Community Share 19 Oct 2020 Written By: Edited By: Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the second article of a new weekly virtual photography initiative hosted by Gustav Poulsen from The AC Partnership Program. Each week, five Assassin's Creed shots will be showcased here on TOWCB website, in order to promote virtual photography and community contributions. Gustav is a seasoned pro when it comes to virtual photography, and has a keen eye for special shots. Look out for more Photo Logs over the coming weeks, some of which may include Assassin's Creed Valhalla! Familiar Shore The first picture from this week’s recap is from Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered. Taken by Instagram user @ shaysredemption , it brilliantly captures the beauty and photogenic landscapes of the North Atlantic. With everything from cute penguins, a clear ocean, cliffs & ice mountains, a beautiful night sky and more in the frame, this picture easily makes the top of this week’s recap. Ghost Rider This week’s second picture has been taken in AC Origins by Instagram user @ assassinscreed_shots. Amongst its many elements, it features a beautiful photogenic sunset and blue sky, but most importantly it features Bayek riding in to the sunset accompanied by a… Mysterious companion to say the least. Whether this is an actual ghost, a result of Bayek hallucinating from the desert’s heat or something third, it sure does look freaky. Finally, the photographer has also paid attention to the picture’s depth of field, choosing to focus on Bayek, making the sunset even prettier by blurring it. For this week’s third select, we have another capture from AC Origins; this one taken by Instagram user @x___stardust_gaming___x. In it we see Bayek underground, exploring what looks like a sort of temple; only Anubis would know how old this place is. The photographer has really paid attention to camera placement, as Bayek looks so small compared to the massive ancient site surrounding him. Above him, we see but a fragment of a clear night sky and an opening, securing Bayek’s freedom can he find a way to reach it… The second last picture on this week’s list is from Assassin’s Creed Unity, and is taken by Instagram user @ zbanko_yt. This pictures’ main quality is its timing, as it perfectly captures Arno mid-air doing a wall eject, jumping backwards from one ledge to who knows where. Other than Arno simply looking cool, a beautiful blue sky can be seen in the background, along with but a portion of Paris. With all these factors as well as a cinematic vibe to it, this picture just had to make this week’s recap. Fading Faster, Falling Further Down a Hole That’s Absent of Light For the final capture of this week’s recap list, we have yet another one from AC Rogue Remastered, also taken by @ shaysredemption . This one captures Assassin gone Templar Shay Cormac, masked and geared up with dual swords, running through one of the beautiful, green landscapes of New England. You would think this picture mostly is peaceful, given the beautiful skies colored by the imminent sunset, and all the majestic tall trees surrounding Shay. But as the title suggests, the picture has a dark tone to it. The mix of the lack of brightness, dry saturation, and Shay furiously running away from… Who really knows what, makes this picture too good to not take up the fifth and final spot on this week’s list. Thanks for checking our this weeks's photo log, and to all of the virtual photographers who contributed torwards this article! Until next time, look out for #TOWCBPhotoChallenge on Twitter to take part in our weekly challenges! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Gustav / Gargudon is an active community member, who started out in podcast hosting in 2016, but today mostly specialises in video creation, interviews & composing. By joining The Ones Who Came Before in 2019, originally reviving 'The Memory Corridor' podcast, which had been offline for nearly a year, he has had the opportunity to expand his audience and further develop his skills. 

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

Assassin's Creed Mirage Roshan Cosplay Project by Rick Boer's Fantasy Productions Community Share 22 Jun 2023 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Here are some photos from the Roshan Cosplay Project currently being created by the team over at RBF-productions-NL ( Rick Boer's Fantasy Productions), a company dedicated to delivering high-quality custom-made props and costumes. Although Assassin's Creed Mirage has not yet been released, we can't wait to learn more about the former-slave turned Hidden One we first met in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The Assassin's Creed Mirage reveal trailer made it clear that Basim's Mentor, voiced by the wonderful Shohreh Aghdashloo would be a hit within the community, and it's been great to see this project come to life through regular social media posts. Back in September, we rounded up images for the Basim Ibn Ishaq cosplay project, which you can find here. We will be updating this page as the team over at RBF-productions-NL release more images. Links to their social media channels can be found below. Original release: 8th May 2023 Updated with new photos 22nd June 2023. Website | Instagram | DeviantArt comments debug Comments (1) Write a comment Write a comment Sort by: Newest Guest Oct 15, 2023 Merci Colum, from France Like Reply About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

This Week in Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography: 1st to 7th May Community Share 9 May 2023 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Colum Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the weekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from The AC Partnership Program. Every week I will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. Aaron is a keen virtual photographer and loves to post his journeys through Assassin’s Creed on Twitter. Keep an eye on the site as more weekly shots are added, we are looking for captures across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture for a chance to be featured. This week’s theme: Portraits & Quotes Basim Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ Majdulf47 “A man you trust with anything, can take everything” a quote that sums Basim up. He works in the dark but not necessary to serve the light, although his origins story may expand on this. I admire this shot so much. I love the lighting across his face as he exits the shadows. The level of detail in this capture is excellent. I am in awe of how good his facial features look. A really stunning Assassin’s Creed portrait. Ragnar Lothbrok Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ JinxyVP This shot gives me massive Ragnar Lothbrok vibes. The way Eivor/Havi is staring into the abyss is reminiscent of Ragnar in the TV show Vikings. I can hear him saying “Don’t waste your time looking back, you’re not going that way.” This is such an atmospheric shot amplified by the striking background. The short hair and the beard help with the Viking feel and I admire that face tattoo as it adds something different to the shot. Guided by the Light Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ Its_Gurly “The truth of a man lies not in the land of his birth, but in his heart. A king must be a king on his own terms. He cannot be his father, he can only be himself”. I feel like this quote and capture go together so well. Eivor spends most of his time with regret about his father’s death and the lack of ambition from Styrbjorn his adopted father. I feel the shot symbolises Eivor breaking free of his past and stepping out of the shadow of Sigurd. A beautiful capture that amplifies every detail, kudos for the shadow work truly spectacular. My Saga has ended Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ KeenEyeVP This week’s #Thorsday shot had to be Eivor deep thought about her time in England. There is a sadness to this shot. “My road forward has been a muddy one. Slick with blood and tears, but we can reach its end together”. I felt this quote best summed up this shot. Once again the shadow work here is excellent and that face tattoo brings some nice Origins vibes. Eivor always gets you with her eyes though, so mesmerising. Spinner Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @Cll3ar You would think this shot was right out of The Witcher. The three spinners play a big role in Norse mythology and also in Eivor’s journey. “Deep under the earth, where the corpse serpent gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasil, the tree of life, there are three spinners. Three women who make our fate” Eivor feels like she is in control of her destiny but we all know that is not true. This moody and gothic shot embodies the quote in exquisite fashion, the lighting is on point to make it incredibly eerie. The Ones Who Came Before Photo of the Week: Judge: Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon) from TOWCB Video Content Creation Team Taking the title as Photo of the Week this round is "Spinner" by @Cll3ar . A perfectly framed shot, with a very special and mysterious tone and look to it, where Eivor and her brightly coloured outfit shines perfectly in the otherwise dark. This shot also feels like something that could be a poster for a movie / show, or and album cover, with its simple yet very cinematic style. And that sums it up for this week’s Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out this week’s photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next week keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments (1) Write a comment Write a comment Sort by: Newest Guest May 10, 2023 Fantastic Article! Thank you for including me with other incredible Virtual Photographers. I look forward to your next ~Jinx 💙 Like Reply 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

Colours in Assassin's Creed - a short review Analysis Share 18 Apr 2019 Written By: Edited By: Thea (Moonchildgecko) Ashlea Buckley Back To Database With the white hood and red attire, the hidden blade and a hunt for the Pieces of Eden, it’s not that far-fetched to say the Assassin’s Creed franchise is littered with symbols. Some may be in plain sight and speak for themselves, whilst others are to be found when taking a second look and digging deeper into the symbolic meanings. However, just finding the symbols doesn’t always make it clear what they mean. It’s time to take a closer look into the franchise and see what it can reveal through its symbols, statuses, clothing, attire and weaponry we’ve become all so familiar with. For this article, the focus will be on the different colours that appear throughout the franchise, from the standard red and white, seen with the templars and assassins alike, to a brief look on the differing of colours according to game and historical setting. Why the Red and White? When speaking of colours, the numbers in the spectrum would take ages to describe and decode, some colours barely have names, some only numbers. They are infinite. Yet the three colours it is mainly agreed upon that all the others originate from are blue, red and yellow. Additionally, some are more human made colours like black and white, where white is defined as the absence of colour and black having all the colours combined. Through time we humans have supplemented the colours with a variety of symbolic meanings and usage. Some colours have had totally different meanings through time and place, and some have stayed the same. What then lies beneath the red and white clothing we familiarise with the Assassins? White is the colour of the long robes we are introduced to in the first game. The Assassins, during the crusades, use the clothing to blend in with scholars as a way of disguising themselves while in big crowds or when there was a need to come close to a specific target without them knowing; in most cases simply to slip past guards without any danger. White is mostly associated with purity and peace, quite an ironic choice of wardrobe when our beloved characters dwell in the occupation of assassinations. To choose the white robe as a way of blending in is, of course, ingenious, and it is a tradition the later Assassins keep up. Speaking of purity, wearing white attire in a dessert would keep it somewhat neat, but when rolling around in mud, blood, dust and dirt from the highest rooftop to the lowest sewers and caves, staying white would be a hazardous fulltime job. Traditionally outside of the AC franchise, when introduced to an assassin of any background, be it a ninja, a mercenary or just someone up to no good, they are, more often than not, clothed in black or dark colours to hide their identity and presence. To dress in white may as well be the Assassins way of boldly saying “we are here, and we’re not going anywhere”, as the colour white truly stands out in both night and daytime. If you want to stay hidden, don’t wear white, you’ll be seen from a mile away. Still the Assassins choose to wear it if given the chance. This can be interpreted as a way of letting the enemies know the Assassins don’t doubt their skills and presence, with no fear of being seen. Throughout the franchise, Ubisoft manage to design each character in a way so that they keep their beloved white colour and remain hidden in plain sight. The dressing also alters with the time and place we meet the given character. After a while, it seems like the hood becomes the soul symbol of the Assassins, and the white recedes more. Red is the colour of blood, of love, of hatred and of pulsing life. Its relation to anger, aggression and war also makes it a contradicting colour all depending on which culture the colour is viewed through. The active and masculine colour has been a symbol of both power and peace, of strength and happiness. In Egyptian mythology, the colour is linked to evil, seen as being the colour belonging to the god Seth and the chaos serpent Apep. In the Roman period however, it was a colour of the war god Ares, and was associated with strength and war in a positive way, giving courage to the soldiers. In Chinese tradition, however, the colour is a representative of luck, happiness, fertility, energy, wealth and life. When it comes to Assassin's Creed, the colour red appears together with the main characters throughout the franchise, mostly as a piece of fabric. Its representation can be linked to the colour of blood, a colour of power and strength or a combination of both. To have red being linked to the symbolic meaning of blood isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it appears in the franchise, blood can be viewed as something cleansing. The first time we see this colour in association with an assassin is on Altaïr, as a red fabric underneath his leather belt. This tradition follows the future assassins from Ezio and all the way up to Evie and Jacob Frye. Later in the franchise with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, red is the colour of Sparta; a city and its citizens built for war. Blue is a colour which has been represented for thousands of years. Its meaning is varied and rich. Albeit having different meanings, its foundation lies in the infinite, the divine and heavenly. Blue being the colour of the sky and the ocean, it represents that which is far away and out of reach, a cold and distant colour. This may be why it has represented gods, deities and that which can’t be reached by humans. In ancient Egypt the colour was a representation of the sky and linked to the god Amun who was often painted blue but has also been linked to death. In Assassin’s Creed, the frequent use of blue is in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, where the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens sparks the use of both red and blue. There are no clear sources pinpointing the colour blue to Athens. This link may be a representation from modern times as it is an opposing colour to red, the colour of Sparta. Athens was also right next to the sea, so blue might be a colour they could have chosen to represent themselves. Having Athena as their chosen god could also have amplified this choice of colour, where the colour also represents both wisdom, fertility and the female gender. Gold is a powerful colour, or more correctly speaking , metal. Although gold is not found in the colour spectrum, it is often used as a way to show power, wealth and divinity. It has throughout time been a symbol of the sun, the gods and immortality, used by many cultures from the dawn of human civilisations. The metal is also associated with hidden or illusive treasures that illustrates supreme illumination. In ancient Egypt the flesh of the gods was thought to be made out of gold, hence the gilded face masks and sarcophagus's of royals. Its representation and link to the sun god Ra was also present in the golden pyramid tops, standing as a mountain of gold. The link between golden apples and immortality is also found in both Japanese, Greek and Norse mythology. The golden apple may have given it away, but both gilded and gold objects are to be found throughout the entire Assassin’s Creed franchise. Most notorious are the Pieces of Eden, powerful objects inhabiting great scientific knowledge, history, illusions and the ability to control the free will of humans. They come in several shapes and sizes, most know as apples, but additionally appear in the shape of a scepter, a sword and as the golden fleece (has streaks of gold in it). Black Darkness and the absence of light, shadowy and mysterious. The colour associated with death, dark magic, temptation, grief, loss and old age, black has mainly had this meaning through both time and cultures. Before moving on, its still important to note that black has its feminine side in Yin from the Chinese tai-ji symbol of Yin and Yang, and was associated with the ancient land of Egypt and the gods Anubis and Pluto; though in the latter both are gods of the Underworld. The colour black has also been hard to dye, suggesting its status as a wealthy colour. Moving on, the colour with its grim symbolic meaning may have the larger strategical advantage. If you want to lurk around in the dark and do things which normally would be questioned, like the occasional assassination, roof-observing or casual stalking, black is the go-to-colour. It is also noticeable through the Assassin’s Creed franchise that the colours of the in-game-characters turns to a darker point rather quickly. In this case, but not only, the truly black attire fully emerges with the Frye twins in Victorian London and its darker era. Coal and smog in the air, trains, carriages, mud and blood makes the black colour-of-choice an appropriate candidate, keeping the twins at a rather low key profile (or maybe not, I’m looking at you Jacob) giving them the blending effect and staying classy. Both the twins however also mostly have a tad of red with them, indicating a sense of tradition and salute to the old Assassin Masters. A Colourful Franchise As every Assassin has their own take on the traditional attire, customizing it to their need, time and place, it leaves us with a grand and astounding collection of outfits through the franchise. The traditional hood first used by the mercenaries in Greece. The white as an adaptation to the desert perhaps by Bayek and Aya. Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton’s white robes as angels of death. Pirates, rebels, visionaries, brothers and sisters, the colours are many, the stories they tell even more. With black as the leading colour for the more modern Assassins working their way through corrupt regimes, states and organisations, it also may be symbolically fitting to the era. If we take a brief look upon the franchise, the closer we get to today's society, the darker the attire becomes. Mostly as a way of blending in, it could also symbolise the Assassin’s mourning over civilisation. Put in context with the symbolism of black, you could almost suggest the Assassin’s role is needed as a destructive force necessary to keep the balance of civilisation in check. It doesn’t mean they enjoy it, watching society crumble to greed, it simply indicates that they’re not going anywhere for the time being, unaffected by their choice of dressing and colour. Sources Cirlot, J.E. (1983) A Dictionary of Symbols. 2nd edition. London and Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Shepherd, R. and Shepherd, R. (2002) 1000 Symbols. London: Thames and Hudson. Tresidder, J. (2004) The Complete Dictionary of Symbols in Myth, Art and Literature. London: Duncan Baird Publishers. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Thea is a full time student studying archaeology at the University of Bergen in Norway. She is a huge fan of the franchise and enjoys writing both fictional and academic texts. In her spare time, Thea is a passionate artist, creating detailed pencil sketches and watercolour/acrylic paintings. She has even created tattoos and replica historical props/ clothing before! In Summer 2022, Thea joined TOWCB's art team, where she will have the chance to work on a variety of projects and expand her art portfolio. Thea (Moonchildgecko)

Assassin's Creed Mirage: TOWCB Spoiler-Free Review Reviews Share 1 Jan 2023 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database ''A solid entry that recommits the series to providing a memorable stealth experience'' Assassin's Creed Mirage is here, and our admin team over at The Ones Who Came Before headquarters were lucky enough to play the game early thanks to the Community Development Team at Ubisoft! Taking players back to 9th century Baghdad, Assassin's Creed Mirage is a thrilling stealth game that will surely act as a turning point for the whole series. Recent entries delivered expansive narrative arcs that can be overwhelming for players, but Mirage does everything it can to d eliver a more focussed narrative experience, with a main storyline which can be completed in 15-20 hours. This is a breath of fresh air, and a much needed change, as the risk of getting lost in its own size was beginning to seep in. The biggest strength of Assassin's Creed Mirage is that it isn't afraid to embrace it's identity, proudly reclaiming control over it's own image. The series found itself in a period where it began to lose itself, but Mirage is AC rediscovering itself after an identity crisis, and once again finding what makes it special. The game acts as a very reflective piece of content, and shows great awareness from the development team over the recent issues fans have had in general. I t r eintroduces mechanics which should never have been removed, and builds on the past to deliver an extremely strong and well thought out story that feels like the ultimate culmination of what came before. There's no doubt that Mirage is a solid entry that recommits the series to providing a memorable stealth experience. It really is a special game, and fans around the world are in for an absolute treat. After a lackluster marketing campaign, the main driving force of the marketing pushing general interest has been the passion of the development team who have been vocal in their belief in the project through intervews and dev diaries. After the announcement back in 2022, the community immediately got behind the time period and main character, as Basim is someone who immediately generates interest after his intriguing appearance in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. More importantly though, Mirage promised to return Assassin's Creed to its roots, and it certainly delivered. Comparisons can be drawn to just about every other game in the series, most obviously AC1 and AC2, with a parkour system inspired by Unity. The charm of the game is how it acts as a prequel to the original, released back in 2007, but drives the series forward by reintroducing elements from later games such as a notoriety system. To spark interest, Mirage soesn't need to do anything too innovative, past games laid the groundwork for mechanics, and the game just needed to reintroduce rather than reinvent. Rather than trialling new systems, Mirage examines what worked in previous titles and brings them back in a triumphant blend of past and present, colliding to produce the future. ''A triumphant blend of past and present'' Graphics and Stability I was immediately impressed with how stable the game feels at launch, encountering no bugs or glitches whilst running the game on PC with Ultra settings. In what feels like the most stable release in recent memory, Mirage runs on PC at an uncapped framerate, meaning high-powered machines can deliver an incredible experience for gamers. Baghdad and it's surrounding area are incredibly impressive, with the game doing a great job at bringing a real sense of individuality to the Round City, with each district feeling different from the next, something which was also featured in the original game. It's noticable how poorer districts of Baghdad are run-down, and the living conditions for those living there are insufficient. It's clear that the team did their homework when creating the city, taking great care with its overall creation and delivery. Mirage re-introduces impressive crowds, and along with it, the notion that an Assassin is but a blade in the crowd, waiting to strike. One thing that makes the city feel alive is how NPC's react to Basim's presence when he raises his notoriety. You can hear guards discussing his acts, or comment on his likeness to the culprit they are searching for. Regular civilians will even report Basim to the guards, in the hope that he will be reprimanded for his crimes. This is a first for the series, and a really nice feature to be introduced. Baghdad is a living, breathing environment, and the regularly changing day and night cycle and quest opportunities keep it interesting through the playthrough. The controls feel familiar, something which will be a relief for long-time fans. Change can take a long time to adapt to, but the controls for Mirage feel right, with no remapping needed. Safe parkour routes can be navigated by holding down space, and parkour down returns by pressing 'C', a nice and simple system that is made more dynamic through the flair of freerunning the game adds. One thing I did spot however graphically is how the faces sometimes let the game down. I found that Basim's facial expressions can be comical at times, especially in cutscenes. making him look wide-eyed and youthful. This may be something which the team choose to address in future patches, as releasing a stable and issue-free game at launch is more important. I would be keen to see enhanced details on faces added in a future update later down the line. In order to capture the beauty of the game, Photomode has been available at launch, something which will no doubt thrill the virtual photography community, who are eager to dive in and explore the world. During my playthrough, I frequently found myself stopping to capture the moment with the familiar photomode tool. I can't wait to see what the community manages to produce. ''Mirage re-introduces impressive crowds, and along with it, the notion that an Assassin is but a blade in the crowd, waiting to strike.'' Parkour Parkour is encouraged at every turn in Assassin's Creed Mirage, and the city of Baghdad provides many paths to elevation that compliment the enhanced flair of Basim's movement, which takes inspiration from Assassin's Creed Unity. The dynamic new parkour system is a break away from the wooden, sluggish freerunning styles recent games have provided, opting for a complete overhaul that introduces a splash of intensity and charisma. It feels as if the team behind the parkour animations really wanted to give Basim some personality within his movement, moving away from an uninspired, dated system. Elevators can be found on the streets to take Basim to the rooftops in seconds, giving him the element of surprise over unsuspecting enemies. Movement across the city is aided by the return of the corner swing, which featured heavily in Assassin's Creed Revelations. Ropes bridge the gap between buildings, providing clear routes to navigate. Mirage introduces a new mechanic for parkour, the pole vault, a balanced piece of wood which can be used to cross gaps between buildings or even water. This is a particularly usefu l feature when Basim is being pursued by guards, as each pole has a one-time use, meaning he cannot be followed. Speed of movement is adjustable in the settings, meaning players can tailor their parkour experience. Basim is faster and more agile than Eivor, and animations were produced specially to give players a sense of speed when running, jumping, vaulting and free roaming. Players will notice how the new parkour system allows Basim to glide over objects, moving seamlessly with flair. Also noticable is Basim's ability to jump further than previously possible, leading to more opportunities when on the more. I actually found the new parkour system to be much more realistic than what Assassin's Creed fans have been working with recently, leading me to wonder if the team possibly took inspiration from real-life parkour artists / freerunners. The range of movement in this game is seriously impressive, and it's only a matter of time before we s ee masters honing their craft and navigating the city of Baghdad with creative variety. You can climb fallen trees, which I found to be incredibly useful to gain an aerial advantage. In what is certainly the first 'traditional' Assassin's Creed game in years, Basim certainly has the moves to match his status within the Brotherhood. The game brings back Open windows for Basim to climb through, like in Assassin's Creed Unity,making the game feel more open and lifelike. Overall I think the game lends itself well to parkour, hinting at it's existence at every opportunity. I felt that it was especially pushed within the layout of Baghdad, and missions seem to provide routes for parkour which make quests easier when followed correctly. A good example of this are the tailing missions which make their return. I think Mirage's parkour is way better than the sluggish system we saw in Valhalla, and the introduction of new animations and fluidity makes it interesting and useful rather than a painful hinderence. ''Basim moves seamlessly with flair.'' Stealth Stealth in Assassin's Creed Valhalla was a step in the right direction, but Mirage goes even further fixes all of the issues players had in the previous title. Social stealth has been restored to it's former glory, and feels more alive than ever before. Basim can blend with crowds, pay groups for cover, use benches and hay bales for cover, and finally, stealthily enter a roof garden to dispatch a nearby guard with a whistle. It feels like the series has come full circle, bringing back the original stealth mechanics in a more lively open world. I like how guards are inquisitive, but don't spot you straight away like in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The player can once again hide in long grass and bushes to keep out of sight, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Basim can hide in prayer booths, and use them to hide bodies. The same can be said for the roof gardens, which featured in Assassin's Creed I. The most noticable change from Assassin's Creed Valhalla though are the new kill animations. Whilst waiting on a corner, Basim will cleanly dispatch an enemy with the hidden blade to then calmly drag their body out of sight. It's an instinctive but deadly manouver, and it very often prevents other enemies from spotting a body. Basim also has 'Assassin focus', a rapid series of moves that take out enemies so fast, the Animus simply can't keep up, resulting in a glitch effect. This feature was heavily controversial at first as some fans felt it was a supernatural fast-travel power, but it has since been explained as Basim's lightning fast reflexes. It can be incredibly useful to get out of tricky situations. The system stems from a similar thought process to what we saw in Assassin's Creed Syndicate, where Evie Frye could practically turn invisible by controlling her breathing. Air assassinations are the best they have ever been in the series, aided by Basim's long distance jumps, you can take an enemy out from further away than usual. You don't have to be directly above the target, which makes it fun to run and jump down on a target, dropping in to deliver a killing blow. The game provides great variety when it comes to assassination animations, so with practice, fans will soon be performing incredible speed runs featuring a balance of parkour and aerial assassinations. Death from above is extremely satisfying, and it seems that Basim and his Eagle Enkidu have more in common than first realised, moving swiftly like an Eagle above the crowds. The notoriety system returns in Assassin's Creed Mirage, and will affect all players as it did in the Ezio games. Tear down Wanted posters or pay heralds to reduce Basim's notoriety, reducing the heat as he moves through the city. When the wanted level is at its peak, the city will turn on him, making it incredibly difficult to operate undetected. For the first time, civilians will inform the guards of Basim's actions, and call for them to intervene should you commit a public offence. Information gathering plays a crucial role in the game, with all assassination missions starting out with an investigation. This is a real throwback to the original game, where Altair also had to conduct investigations to discover information before he could act. This is because he was demoted to the rank of a novice, which Basim is at the start of Assassin's Creed Mirage. Eavesdropping returns, and is once again a clever way of gaining information. During my play sessions, I have found it quite rewarding to once again sit on a bench and listen out for intel which could aid a later assassination mission. Basim's tools are essential to unlocking the full potential of stealth, with each tool in his Assassin arsenal acting as a lifeline in the right circumstances. The smoke bomb provides cover, masking his actions. This can be useful for assassinations or even for disorienting targets in order to pickpocket. You can escape guards in a cloud of smoke, as was demonstrated in the first trailer for Assassin's Creed Mirage. The Trap is a bomb which condures a plume of gas that renders guards immobile, giving Basim the chance to swoop in and deliver the finishing blow. The blowpipe, which returns from Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag, can be used to either knock out or poison enemies from distance. Throwing knives are similar, providing clean kills from distance. As the game does not allow for Basim to carry a bow, this is the main option for long-range distance kills. The noisemaker is a distraction device that can create a diversion, moving guards away from certain areas or clearing the path long enough for Basim to move. Finally, the flame, to light dark tunnels. This is my least favourite tool as I have not yet found a way of making it work in a stealth situation. Ideally, I would like to be able to throw the torch to set oil spillages on fire or even tents, but so far they have simply burnt out. Overall, the tools are incredibly important to increasing Basim's chances of a successful stealth mission, so I recommend unlocking them all as early as possible when playing Mirage. Finally, Basim's Eagle Enkidu can be used to look for opportunities in the world, and highlight the presence of nearby enemies. After a while I found the eagle mechanic to be quite jarring, as it hones in on a particular point of interest, but it certainly gets better with upgrades. Overall, I found the stealth system in Assassin's Creed Mirage to be excellent, restoring old mechanics and making it deadlier than ever. Basim has the killer instrinct, and his actions feels decisive and calculated. I think fans will be extremely pleased that Assassin's Creed is once again focussing on its stealth roots, and is now pushing itself to be better than ever before. ''The player can once again hide in long grass and bushes to keep out of sight, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.'' Combat In Assassin's Creed Mirage, combat is a last resort for Basim. Before enhancing skills, the game provides a primitive combat system, which amplifies the overall commitment to providing a masterful stealth experience. Attacks are hit-for-hit, and stamina depletes quickly, so it can be tough for the players who wish to battle their way through Baghdad. It certainly can be challenging, especially when facing numerous adversaries. Basim will be cut down in the street as his stamina depletes. Some attacks cannot be parried, leading Basim with just one option, dodge out of the way, a move which heavily depends on stamina. On hard mode, it's frequent to die whilst trying to take on numerous enemies, something which was never a problem in the RPG games. I like that this is the case though, as it really encourages players to reconcide their method, and resort back to a stealth approach. Skills add another element to the combat system, introducing features that make it easier when facing opponents. 'Kick Back' is a skill which introduces a powerful kick attack upon completion of a successful parry, which can be used to disorientate or even cause the death of an enemy by kicking off buildings or even into wooden structures which can collapse. This skill is similar to the Sparta Kick from Assassin's Creed Odyssey. 'Counter Roll' allows Basim to quickly move out of the way as an unblockable attack is about to land, moving him into a strategist position behind the enemy where he can inflict damage. Finally, 'knife recover', which is also a useful skill for stealth, which adds auto-collecting throwing knives which have already been used. In close-quarters, throwing knives can be used to eleminate enemies who are charging towards the Assassin. Although combat is quite basic in comparison to previous entries, it does provide a real sense of progression, as Basim climbs the ranks within the Brotherhood. The once-charistmastic thief uses his new training to defend himself in a scrape, and that's what the game does well. It feels like Basim only uses combat if there are no other options, as a true Assassin should act as a blade in the crowd. Plot Assassin's Creed Mirage follows the transition of Basim from a street thief to a Master Assassin. Players begin the game in Anbar, where Basim the thief uses his skills to steal money and food to help those around him and him self. The early on pickpocket tutorial introduces players to the timing mechanic, which can be tricky to master, but essential if you wish to avoid conflict. He wants a better life for himself and others around him facing poverty. He is a conflicted character, carrying a family burden, as his father Ishaq was an architect who was simply forgotten after the construction of the Great Mosque of Samarra was completed, when another took credit for the project. Ishaq was exhiled, and died in poverty, scarring Basim foreve r. He also finds himself experiencing nightmares, where a Jinni torments his resting hours. This is the first time seeing recurring dreams in the series, showing their intensity and effect upon his life. Fueled by confidence in himself and his abilities, Basim seeks a better life for himself, setting his sights upon the Assassins, an illusive group who provide work for street thieves. Desperate to prove himself, but lacking discretion, a trait worthy of The Hidden Ones, and something which is noticed by Mentor Roshan, rejecting his initial advance s to join. Basim is aware of the existence of The Hidden Ones and aspires to aid them more, but not to help their cause, but to better his own position in life. The game quickly evolves from tutorial missions to a main mission which gives the player a reason to care about the enemy faction, The Order of Ancients, which Basim stumbles upon. The opening main mission, the Winter Palace infiltration sets this up nicely, introduces the organisation as a powerful faction operating from the shadows, controlling the leaders of the land, and through their influence, the people. The Order operates ina similar way to the version we saw in Assassin's Creed Origins, hiding behind masks and nicknames to keep their identities secret. Upon joining the Assassins, Basim must hunt them down one-by-one to aid the cause of the Assassins. Additional areas in the game are a nice surprise, as the game was purely advertised as Baghdad. In fact, players can also visit the outskirts and other areas such as Alamut and Anbar for plot purposes. Basim is moved across the map seeking information on his targets and reporting to various Hidden Ones Bureaus. In this sense, the game feels very much like Assassin's Creed I, where Altair would travel across The Holy Land. Although short, Mirage features one of the strongest Isu stories we have seen so far, and makes it more personal and import ant than ever, continuing the reincarnation narrative outlined in Valhalla. Unfortunately the game continues the trend of gradually stripping away Modern Day gameplay that has left players with very little since the Desmond games. The narrative pushes an interesting modern day story through cutscenes, which is certainly better than it's entire removal which would probably be easier for new players to understand. For fans following the ongoing Modern Day narrative, Mirage has a lot to be excited about. I like how the Modern Day seems to be once again moving towards making the threat for humanity , similar to what we saw in Assassin's Creed III, where momentum came to it's conclusion as Juno escaped her prison and unleashed herself upon humanity. Shorter stories work so well in the Assassin's Creed series when told correctly, and what I like about Assassin's Creed Mirage is that it feels like it found clever ways of connecting the past and future. Hopefully this trend continues one-day with the introduction of 'Assassin's Creed Infinity', a project which is set to introduce a launcher which features all past and future content. Mirage reflects Basim's clever and cynical nature in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, revealing his troubled past and journey tow ards becoming an Assassin. Basim's actions have consequences, and Mirage takes the time to remind players of what more recent games in the series have been missing. Conclusion Assassin's Creed Mirage delivers a strong narrative which serves as a poignant tribute to Russell Lees, a writer who sadly passed away during the development of the game. Immediately after booting up the game, the award-worthy music takes hold and doesn't stop, providing atmospheric and moving tracks and sounds throughout. Basim becomes the embodiment of the Brotherhood, acting as its blade from the shadows. He is the stealthiest Assassins yet, using his tools to take down targets, masking himself in the crowd and creating opportunities to lure out targets to strike. The Voice acting was excellent throughout, with highlights from Shohreh Aghdashloo ( Roshan), Lee Majdoub (Basim), and notable performances from the voice actors behind Fulash and Rayhan The stand-out performance from Mirage is Baghdad itself, a city which feels bustling with life and diversity. Each district has it's own personality, and the use of Arabic speaking voice actors abd script writers makes the experience feel more authentic. Finally, I think fans will be particularly impressed with how the team behind Mirage hits pause on the RPG direction of the franchise, and sets a new course, rediscovering what makes Assassin's Creed special and reintroducing cut features which feel familar and refreshed. The game feels extremely satisfactory for old fans of the franchise, and is a great place to start for new players looking to kick off their Assassin's Creed journey. I hope that the developers behind Assassin's Creed Mirage go on to work on future AC projects, and that we don't suddenly have a huge surge of rushed content after this huge step in the right direction. Assassin's Creed Mirage: 9.5/10 'A solid entry that recommits the series to providing a memorable stealth experience'' 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)

Difuzed unveil Assassin's Creed Mirage Merchandise Collection Merchandise Share 17 Jun 2023 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Aaron Young Back To Database Difuzed unveiled their Assassin's Creed Mirage merchandise collection, containing apparel, accessories and collectables. Look out for the items as they make their way to retailers later in the year. Updates Article originally published: June 9th 2023 Updated 17/6/23: Assassin's Creed Mirage socks added Clothing Assassin's Creed Mirage - Men's Zipper Hoodie Feel part of the many generations of assassins that have existed with this Assassin’s Creed hoodie. This sleek black hoodie is made with soft fabric for warmth and comfort. The premium Assassin’s Creed graphic elements are thoughtfully placed for a minimal but sleek look. The Assassin’s Creed logo printed on the chest comes in high-definition rubber, while the larger back print is thinner. You’ll also find a woven damask label stitched on the left sleeve to complete the look. Assassin's Creed Mirage - Men's Zipper Hoodie Transport yourself to medieval Baghdad every time you wear this Assassin’s Creed hoodie. The soft cotton blend material will keep you comfortable and warm during the chilly weather. But it’s the sleek Assassin’s Creed Mirage elements that are the highlights of this gaming merch. On the front, you’ll find a sleek high-definition rubber print of the Assassin’s Creed symbol. On the back, there’s a matching character art of Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s protagonist, Basim Ibn Ishaq, in a tonal thin rubber print. There’s also a woven logo stitched on the left sleeve for a cool extra detail. Assassin's Creed Mirage - Snake - Men's Short Sleeved T-shirt Assassin’s Creed fans are all waiting for the upcoming game trilogy and this Assassin’s Creed t-shirt is the perfect way to show support! Fellow fans will immediately recognize the graphic elements on this gaming t-shirt, which features a high-definition rubber print of the Assassin’s Creed symbol and screen-printed graphic art element from the Assassin’s Creed Mirage game. The large print on the back matches the chest print. Assassin's Creed Mirage - Spider Scorpion & Eagle - Men's Short Sleeved T-shirt This Assassin’s Creed t-shirt will be the perfect addition to your gaming merch collection. Made with 100% cotton, it’s comfortable and comes in a trendy beige color that will be easy to mix and match with anything in your closet. The front features a high-definition graphic rubber print of the Assassin’s Creed logo on the front chest, along with a tonal screen print of game elements from the Mirage sequel. A larger screen print of the Assassin’s Creed logo can also be found on the back of this gaming t-shirt. Assassin's Creed Mirage - Men's Hero Item Hoodie Assassin's Creed Mirage - Blade - Men's Short Sleeved T-shirt Assassin's Creed Mirage - Men's Short Sleeved T-shirt Are you ready for the latest Assassin’s Creed installment? Not until you have this sleek Assassin’s Creed t-shirt! The eye-catching front graphic element is made with a high-definition rubber print, and features Assassin’s Creed iconic logo. The back features a larger graphic art, which is a combination of screen and high-definition prints that are inspired by Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s main hero, Basim Ibn Ishaq. This Assassin’s Creed t-shirt is made with 100% cotton for comfort and durability. Assassin's Creed Mirage - Men's AOP Short Sleeved T-shirt Make a fashion statement while showing off your love for gaming when you wear this trendy Assassin’s Creed t-shirt. The trendy navy blue 100% cotton material is both comfortable and flattering. The t-shirt comes with a cool all-over print featuring the iconic Assassin’s Creed symbol. There’s also a woven logo stitched on the left sleeve with the Assassin’s Creed symbol. Assassin's Creed Mirage - Eagle - Men's Short Sleeved T-shirt Show your love for one of the best action adventure video games ever made with this Assassin’s Creed t-shirt. Made with comfortable 100% black cotton, you’ll feel comfortable while showing your fandom to everyone else. The front features a white screen print of an iconic game element, the eagle, in contrast to the familiar Assassin’s Creed symbol, which appears as a high-definition rubber print on the chest. Assassin's Creed Mirage - Basim - Men's Short Sleeved T-shirt You might already have your pick of favorite Assassin, but don’t close your doors just yet. Basim Ibn Ishaq might have a place in your heart and this Assassin’s Creed t-shirt will be the perfect way to show that. Made with 100% cotton in a trendy navy color, this Assassin’s Creed t-shirt will look good with any outfit, especially with the vibrant front character art of Basim, which is a combination of screen and high-definition rubber prints that gives this gaming t-shirt an elevated premium quality. Accessories Assassin's Creed Mirage - Men's Snapback Caps Assassin's Creed Mirage - Adjustable Caps Assassin's Creed Mirage - Crew Socks (3Pack) Get this great set of three socks inspired by the iconic game. The first pair features a stunning Bleached Sand color, adorned with the classic Assassin's Creed symbol in a darker shade of beige. The second pair comes in a captivating dark blue shade, embellished with an intricate pattern in Vintage Indigo color, showcasing the famous symbol of the game. Lastly, the set includes a pair of sleek black socks, with beige accents on the heel and front of the foot, and a finely knitted artwork on the side, depicting elements from the game. With their stylish design and subtle references to Assassin's Creed, the Mirage socks are the perfect accessory for fans to showcase their love for the legendary gaming series while keeping their feet comfortable and fashionable. Assassin's Creed Mirage - 3D Metal Keychains & Bifold Wallet Are we missing anything? Let us know and we will update the article. We will endeavour to keep this article up to date as more merchandise is announced. 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)

AC Community Questions: Michael Doyle Community Interview Share 7 Jul 2022 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database For this round of Assassin's Creed Community Questions, we invited Michael Doyle, member of the Assassin's Creed Partnership Program // Isu Network's Writing Team. Col: Hi Michael, thanks for joining us today! Please could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your connection to the Assassin's Creed Community. Michael: Hi I'm Michael, I'm 25 years old and I'm from the UK. I've been playing video games for as long as I can remember, with the first game I ever played being Cool Boarders on the PS1. My connection to Assassin's Creed began when I was about 10/11 years old, getting the first game on release in my local Blockbuster. One of my favourite early memories from Assassin’s Creed is a horse glitch that launched my character across the map. More recently, my close friendship with TOWCB admin team has brought me back into the AC Community. Col: Which Assassin's Creed game is your favourite and why? Michael: AC III - I loved the history, weapons, different environments and Connor’s character development. Especially with the twist that his father was a Templar. I also loved the introduction of the battle ship mechanics, which was a great addition to the franchise. Col : Have you visited any of the locations from the games? Michael: I’ve been to Rome, where I was able to explore the Castel Sant'Angelo, the Pantheon, the Sistine Chapel and the Colosseum. Whilst at the Castel Sant’Angelo I also recreated some assassin parkour photos. Col: What would be your dream setting for the upcoming AC Netflix TV show. Michael: My ideal location for an upcoming AC Netflix TV show would be Egypt, as this is one of my favourite historical periods and would be totally unique. Col: Where do you personally think the franchise is heading to next, and are you excited for the future of Assassin's Creed? Michael: I’d love to see the franchise do something in the modern day, almost like the Kingsman, with honour and tradition in todays world. The idea of a modern day assassin in futurist city like Singapore or Dubai would be interesting take. Col: What are some of your most recent Assassin's Creed Community Projects, and what are you working on currently? Michael : As I am new to the community I have only just starting writing content. So far I have recently written a Valhalla weapons guide for a fire build. However, I am looking to do more of this content over the coming months with a focus on how-to, and tips and tricks to optimise gameplay. Col: Do you have any personal AC goals you would like to achieve? Michael: I have always wanted to speed run an assassins creed game, preferably AC III. I have speed ran a number of games in the past such as Skyrim and Crisis 2, but never an AC game. I’d also love to meet the voice actor of Ezio. Col: What do you think Ubisoft are planning to show at the September AC event? Michael: I think Ubisoft are planning to show the new AC Title, in addition to the AC Infinity hub which I can see being marketed as a similar platform to the Halo Master Chief Collection/Halo Waypoint. All we can hope for is that the Ubisoft showcase is going to be more exciting than the September Apple announcements. Col : Do you collect AC merchandise? If so, what if your favourite item? Michael : Not yet… I do collect Marvel, Harry Potter, Pokémon and Star Wars merchandise. The only AC merchandise that I remember owning is an original AC poster from HMV. If I could own any one piece of AC merchandise it would actually be a game, and that would be the Ezio Collection. Col: Where can our community members find you online? Michael: I have a new Twitter account where I keep track of the AC community and all the latest Ubisoft content. We would like to say a huge thank you to Michael for joining us for this round of AC Community Questions! 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)

Ubisoft Secures Multi-Year Partnership With Funko and Good Smile For Assassin's Creed and Rainbow Six Siege News Share 19 Apr 2020 Written By: Edited By: Ashlea Blackett Colum Blackett Back To Database Ubisoft are set to expand their range of collectables for Assassin's Creed and Rainbow Six Siege by securing new deals with both Funko and Good Smile Company. According to Licence Global , Funko will create Pop! Vinyl figures for a range of “Assassin’s Creed” titles and “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege” in North America and Latin America. Also in development is a new range of Funko art-style apparel and accessories. The products will be available online and in stores in early 2021. “Partnering with both Funko and Good Smile Company allows us to amplify our immersive worlds our fans love in our games and allow them to experience and collect their favorite characters in highly collectible formats that are high-quality, unique and innovative,” Sarah Buzby, vice president consumer products at Ubisoft. Also in development is a new range of Assassin's Creed figures by Japanese manufacturer Good Smile Company for their Nendoroid line, a popular range of collectable figures. The company are also creating Assassin's Creed action figures for the Figma series, which have smooth joints and full range of motion created by Max Factory. These products will be available globally. "Ubisoft has been a trusted company in the gaming industry for over 30 years and they continue to bring authenticity and creativity in every game they publish,” Takanori Aki, CEO and founder of Good Smile Company. “The formation of this partnership between Ubisoft and Good Smile Company creates new avenues for fans to connect with the games they enjoy and to continue to expand the successes of both organizations. We at Good Smile Company are excited to see this partnership come to fruition.” Merchandise collectors have been asking for new Assassin's Creed Funko Pop! figures for years, with the most recent release being for the movie in 2016. Look out for the new range of products in early 2021, and keep an eye on our social media channels for updates. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Ashlea is the Editor/ Charity Project Coordinator for The Ones Who Came Before on its wide variety of social media platforms. Her main responsibilities for TOWCB involve creating and editing articles, organisation of events and coordinating our charity fundraising, as well as hosting the Rally The Creed Podcast. Ashlea Blackett