Assassin's Creed (Main Series)

Assassin's Creed is a franchise revolving around Action-Adventure video games developed Ubisoft. The primary storyline covered in Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and Assassin's Creed III, revolve around central protagonist Desmond Miles and his modern day battle as an Assassin fighting against the current Templar regime under the guise of a pharmaceutical company named Abstergo. The central theme across all installments is the ongoing battle between the Assassins, the group most protagonists in the series belong to, and the Templars. The series thus far has grown out of just video games and into books, graphic novels, and its own live-action film.

Since launching Assassin's Creed, the first installment in the primary storyline, the main continuity of games has been developed for consoles such as PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, Microsoft Windows, and OS X. Across all the games in the main series and spinoffs, the Assassin's Creed franchise has sold over 93 million copies worldwide. The main series has been developed by Ubisoft Montreal, for the single player campaign and story, and Ubisoft Annecy, for multiplayer aspects included since Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

Gameplay

Much of the gameplay across all installments are similar, revolving around free runner platforming, free-flow combat, and stealth gameplay. While the plot revolves around Desmond Miles, the majority of gameplay is through his historical ancestors spread out across various eras. The user controls each ancestor through a device called the Animus, a machine that allows the user to access the memories of ancestors and relive them. Almost all of each game is played with a third-person perspective, the player going through missions to complete "sequences", or chapters in the main storyline. Players also have the option of completing side missions outside of the game's main story to receive money, equipment, or trinkets to sell at the in-game vendor.

Players are also given control of Desmond himself outside of the Animus. Over the course of each game, Desmond gains new Assassin skills and abilities because of the Bleeding Effect, a side effect of the Animus where the ancestor's memories are "bled" into the user's.

As of Assassin's Creed 3, a naval warfare gameplay element was included where the player takes command of a ship to either travel of destroy enemy vessels.